Tokyo: Arrival

I`m in Tokyo right now and so far it has been quite nice. I caught a flight from Seoul at 10:20 on Friday morning and got to Tokyo about 12:30. The flight was pretty turbulent for the last 20 minutes or so and coupled with a tad too much wine on Christmas/late night/early morning, I thought I was going to be sick. Luckliy, I was fine.

After finding my way through customs and money exchange I was on a train bound for Asakusabashi station. Last night and tonight I am staying at the Khaosan Tokyo Ninja hostel and it is REALLY nice. I highly recommend it for anyone traveling to Tokyo. I`m actually staying in a room with three guys, kind of random/crazy, but perfectly fine. Anyway, yesterday I went to Sensoji Temple and walked around the grounds and the market in front of the temple. At the temple, I did what the Japanese were doing and tossed some coins in and made a wish/prayer. It seemed fitting not only because I was in Tokyo, but because the new year is quickly approaching and it is always a time for reflection and hope. After the temple I got some delicious udon, which warmed me right up. I don`t think I`ve ever actually felt the power of a warm bowl of noodles until yesterday. Since it was an early morning, I called it an early night and hung around in the hostel`s living room with random people and watched Japanese pop stars belt it out in front of a live audience.

Today I got up a little later than anticiapted, but I still managed to fit everything schedule into my day. I started at Kappabashi and the kitchenware market where plastic food is king and knives are commonplace. I bought a lovely pair of chopsticks and wandered aroubd looking at all sorts of kitchen gadgets, restaurant wares and pottery. Later, I decided to go to a clothing/shoe market and woubd up buying a new pair of shoes because my new Converse were killing my feet. I got a bice pair of Adidas tennis shoes and felt much better. Afterward, I headed to Ginza to check out the Sony Building where all the new products are on display. I never realized Sony had so many electronics! The digital cameras caught my eye as I am looking to buy a new one, but I held off. Ginza is insane. Lots of people, huge ritzy stores. Gucci, Chanel, Tiffany, Coach, Harry Winston, Apple and so many more. I checked out Coach and the Nissan showroom. I went to a 9-story stationery store and spent a good chunk of time there and bought a few things, but nothing too spectacular. Eventually I settled on an early dinner at a place Lonely Planet recommended called Zest Cantina. It is a Tex-Mex restaurant with Japanese cowboys, but the chicken in my quesadilla was undercooked. They had really good pico de gallo though. Tomorrow I`m meeting up with my friends Sayo and Sayo. We went to Cottey together and I haven`t seen them in about 5 years. It is completely insane how fast time goes by.

It`s weird being in Japan. I got here in less than two hours from a place I have lived for almost 6 months. It is completely mind blowing to me that I can be in another country in such a short amount of time. The other crazy thing is that all around me I see Asian, but they aren`t the ones I`ve been living with, they speak a different language, they have a different alphabet. I actually think I know more Japanese than Korean, but I have wanted to speak Korean in every situation. It`s one of life`s amazing experiences.