Tokyo, Japan

A short but fine adventure by MicBy Read more

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Trip start
November 26, 2009
Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Tokyo, Japan
November 26, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
TOKYO! Our definitive "first time" trip that started it all. First time planning an itinerary, first time in a foreign country (besides the motherland), first time riding the subway, etc . We compared all our trips to this one. We were wide-eyed and nervous. We came into Tokyo at night and were scared to try anything that was not in English…meaning pretty much everything. So after getting tired of starving and wandering around Ginza we ended up eating at our hotel's restaurant and overpaid for dinner (like all our first meals after that).Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Ginza, Tokyo
November 26, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Ginza is like Tokyo's Beverly Hills. That building with the clock was Mic's Big Ben. There are high end shops everywhere which basically didn't interest us but since it was near December all the Christmas decorations were up. The already beautiful city looked even better.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Ginza, Tokyo
November 26, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Cereal lip balm? Why not?
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Ginza Station
November 27, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We had the day planned to visit the Imperial Palace in Marunouchi and Akihabara, the otaku capital of the world. It was our first time using the subway! Thankfully it wasn't too difficult but man rush hour in Tokyo was crazy! We had step to the side during the rush because it was so overwhelming. What was also cool was that the subway map system was in English. The subway was very organized and clean. It was interesting to see all of Mic's opponents on their nintendo DS in the subway.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Marunouchi, Tokyo
November 27, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
On the way to the Imperial Palace we saw some amazing foliage. Living in Vegas means its extremely rare to see anything this beautiful. We get two seasons: summer and winter. We were also on the hunt to find Marunouchi Cafe which had this machine who made your coffee for you…kind of like a futuristic vending machine that's way better than the machines that's been out. It was pretty good for a machine at that time. Unfortunately I ordered an iced drink so I couldn't complain to the machine.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Imperial Palace
November 27, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
While on our trek to the Imperial Palace we saw the statue of Kusunoki Masashige in the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. We remember listening to random tourists who spoke english--which made us a little bit at ease and tempted us to follow them. The Imperial Palace looked amazing with its bridges and high walls. Its a great reminder of Tokyo's history and their respect in preserving it.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Akihabara, Tokyo
November 27, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Otaku town!!! This was definitely on top of my to-do list! Akihabara is every geek's dream--electronic stores, video games, arcades, and lots of French maid themed restaurants. I'm not so much into the French maid stuff but I am a manga/anime fan so we were on the hunt to find the Tokyo Anime Center. It took us forever to find it since there wasn't any signs and we had to ask some people who were nice enough to try to help us in broken english. We truly appreciate the Japanese people for their kindness. But when we finally found the Anime Center I was pretty disappointed. I was expecting to be amazing with wall to wall all things anime because it was in Otaku land but it just felt like a tourist trap. Oh well.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Ikebukuro, Tokyo
November 27, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
After Otaku city we ended our first full day in Tokyo at Sunshine City. Sunshine City was basically a mall with themed levels of random things with exhibits and vendors all about that theme. There was this one level that seemed like a spooky/halloween level that Mic was too scared to go in. Another one level was all about ice cream. They had rows of exhibits of all kinds of flavors and its different types of packaging. One area was all about gyoza with different vendors. The one we chose a great and delicious!Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Ueno, Tokyo
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
On our second full day we decided to tackle the Tennoji Temple, Kitchen Town, the Drum Museum, Tokyo Tower, and the Mori Art Museum/Tokyo City View. But first pastries...
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Tennoji Temple
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Here at the peaceful and quiet Tennoji Temple was a beautiful courtyard and a century old bronze Buddha Statue. Outside of the Tennoji Temple was the Yanaka Cemetery which was a little creepy. We felt a little uneasy taking picture of tombs but did it anyway.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Asakusa, Tokyo
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
On the way to the Drum Museum we stopped at Sometaro where we sat on tatami mats and cooked okonomiyaki which was basically pancake/crepe filled goodness. And yes, I cooked it with a little help with some locals who were sitting next to us. Great stuff!Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Asakusa, Tokyo
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Being a music lover and an amateur musician I was excited to visit the Drum Museum (Taikokan). It was great because we were allowed to play most of the different types of drums they had on display. They also had exhibits of their ancient drum collection as well. After we went to Kitchen Town (Kappabashi) to buy some souvenirs and shopped. You can tell you were there because of a giant chef head and tea cups. Real cool spot obviously find kitchenware at discounted prices. What we loved was seeing everyday Tokyo life as we wandered through the streets to each destination. Tokyo is beautiful.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Tokyo Tower
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Mic had a field day taking pictures of Tokyo Tower. Every few minutes she was taking shots of the tower--which I didn't blame her nor minded at all. It was cool walking towards it as it brightly stood over everything. We didn't go up the tower since the line was super long but under it was decked out with Christmas decor and photo op spots that had lines too.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Roppongi Hills
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
We really took in the vastness of Tokyo through Tokyo City View. Mic was right when she's talked about taking pictures of huge structures as oppose to taking pictures from them.
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Roppongi Hills
November 28, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
After hours of wandering with tired feet we didn't care for standing during dinner for a meal that hit the spot at this modern izakaya. Some of the things we loved was this chicken soup (pictured) which was great since it was chilly outside and grilled rice ball.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Meiji Jingu
November 29, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
On our third day we wanted to visit Meiji Jingu, Harajuku and Shibuya.

While at Meiji Jingu we saw a wedding, washed our hands and even wrote a little prayer. The place huge and elegantly simple at the same time.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Meiji Jingu
November 29, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Harajuku, Tokyo
November 29, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We had a great time people watching and did some shopping! Young japanese are fearless when it comes to fashion.
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Harajuku, Tokyo
November 29, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
In the heart of this street was this super delicious tonkatsu joint that was quiet and not terribly busy. It was a such a contrast to was happening outside. After walking around and window shopping we stopped by this bridge were some cosplayers were hanging out. Did I mention they were fearless?Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Shibuya, Tokyo
November 29, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
The famous street crossing in Shibuya! It is the most populated street crossing in the entire world. We got some drinks from Starbucks and watched from a couple of stories up. It's crazy to see that many people cross. Mic wanted to see it during the day and plus we can visit the Hachi statue that honors the obedient dog which became a frequently used meeting place. While walking around Shibuya we visited Madarake--a cool underground manga joint. Shibuya felt a little older and a little gritty than the other places we visited in Tokyo but we still loved it. We ended up coming here twice!Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Tsukiji Fish Market
November 30, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
On our last full day in Tokyo we chose to take on the Tsukiji Fish Market, Ghibli Museum, Shinjuku and then Shibuya.

We had to wake up extra early for Tsukiji but it was worth it! Its crazy how huge tuna are and how huge the fish market was. We were like in a whole different world. Never-ending aisles and aisles of fresh seafood. And while we were there we had sushi for breakfast...the best sushi we've ever ate. If I were to pick my last meal it would sushi from this restaurant we ate at. The funny thing was we randomly chose Daiwa Sushi yet it was actually the place Mic wanted to try in the first place. I've never tasted sushi so fresh--even the uni didn't have a hint of fishiness to it!Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Daiwa Sushi, Tsukiji Fish Market
November 30, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Sushi and Asahi--breakfast of champions!
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, Japan
November 30, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
As an anime fan and also a Studio Ghibli fan coming here made me extremely happy. The funny thing was getting a ticket at Lawsons (their 7-11) was pretty difficult because the ticket machine was in kanji. But the cashier was helpful and kind enough to show us how. The Ghibli Museum was the farthest we ventured out of Tokyo. We really enjoyed the ride and a glimpse of life in another city in Japan. I wasn't expecting the size of Disneyland or anything but their attention to detail was right up there Disney. Their exhibits of their art and the huge statute from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Sun was amazing to see.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Shinjuku, Tokyo
November 30, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
This place rivaled Shibuya to me. They're both pretty similar in many ways with their shopping and bright lights but I think Shinjuku looked a bit more cleaner. Mic was on point when she described the signs for the businesses looking like books. Such a cool place.Read more
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Tokyo, Japan MicBy vs.
Shinjuku, Tokyo
November 30, 2009 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Mic finally got her tempura fix! Their way for ordering food was genius by using a machine and pictures. Its funny because our first night we felt too shy and overwhelmed to actually try this but after a couple days we were confident and plus it was pretty easy. And the food was so good!Read more
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