a little trip to tokyo.

so. i think i start every statement i make usually with "so." but so. last weekend i took my second outside-of-malaysia trip, to japan! i had four full days to do anything. as per my usual way of life when i don't have to work, i stayed relaxed and made my plans based off what seemed like a good idea. of course, also as per my usual way of life in general, the only semi-planned thing i did was go to disney. i still didn't even decide on that until the night before. i have found that because of my tendency to get lost (although i pretty much owned the tokyo rail system, thank you very much), unless i am with other people who are better organizers than i, it is better for me to just pick a place and go and explore than pick out things to see and plan my days around that. i think life is more fun that way anyway. so, i maybe didn't see all the "omg you must see" things, but exploring is just as fulfilling as anything else. all of that being said, here is some of what i saw:


this rollercoaster is in tokyo dome city, which is where the tokyo giants play, and also has a small amusement park. the rollercoaster wasn't running, but there was also a ferris wheel. i'm not really sure how, but we rode the ferris wheel without getting tickets? it was kind of strange. but anyway. it's always strange to me to see rollercoasters over actual roads. this kind of formed my general opinion of tokyo, in that there is so much to see and so much there, everything feels like it's on top of each other.


this is at one of, if not the biggest (i forget what all the books said), the biggest pedestrian crosswalks in the world. i didn't really get a good picture of it "in action," but essentially, when the little green man lights up, the entire road swarms with people. i felt like a very tiny little fish. it's outside of the shibuya train station. shibuya has tons of little shops and just places to explore. i did a lot of shopping. not very much buying, but a lot of looking. tokyo kept me extremely satiated for the very fact that there are little boutiquey shops everywhere and they all have different things. there were also a lot of vintage shops in shibuya, so it was fun to spend hours looking through decades-old clothes/accessories from classic designers. i just loved it.


meiji jingu is the shrine dedicated to ........ wait for it .......... emperor meiji. right outside of the actual shrine is a wall (well, it's a circle, so, i don't know what you call that) where you can, for a small donation, write down your wishes on a piece of wood. reading them (the ones i could at least. while they were mainly japanese, there were many english and russian!) was interesting. this one bothered me though. i continue to rant about this because the cultural norm of girls being taught to believe they are not complete without a boyfriend and that being a large desire in life really bothers me. in life according to katelyn, you should live on your own and become your own person and have your own adventures and be comfortable with yourself before attaching yourself to another human being. otherwise, your happiness and enjoyment of life depends on that person. i know it's a cultural thing and it exists everywhere in the world but it is bothersome. buffy says it in a more eloquent way: "Because... okay. I'm cookie dough. I'm not done baking. I'm not finished becoming whoever the hell it is I'm going to turn out to be. I make it through this and the next thing and the next thing and maybe one day I turn around and realize I'm ready. I'm cookies. And then, you know, if I want someone to eat m--- or enjoy warm, delicious cookie-me, then that's fine. That'll be then. When I'm done." i'll stop ranting now.


but really this is how everyone should think.


so. tokyo disneysea!! in my not-planning-planning of visiting disney, i compared the two parks. tokyo disneyland has a lot of attractions that are found in magic kingdom at WDW, and so given that i was only going to permit myself one day of frivolous disney-ing, i opted for disneysea. it also helps that according to the crowd calendar, it was going to be the less-crowded park of the two on the day i wanted to go. it has several more attractions that are unique to disneysea. i have to say, i really loved them all, but i think the indiana jones ride might be one of the best attractions from any park. i really liked it. the day i went was an extremely low-crowd day, but by noon the big rides were all at 50-60+ minute waits. it's insane how that happens. i made good use of fast passes so it was easy. the food was all good (although i didn't eat at any of the sit down restaurants, just the carts and counter service), and typical disney-fare. i only spent about $50 in food, which i'm positive would have been doubled at WDW. considering how expensive tokyo is, i don't think that's so bad. the only frustrating thing is the lack of english, but that's why it's TOKYO disney, so i can't complain about it. i'm sure in the reverse, it's very frustrating for non-english-speakers to visit WDW/DL. at the end of the day, disneysea = good decision.



the churros were mickey-shaped!


if i must refer back to my earlier posts, my biggest challenge in coming to malaysia is food. everyone knows this. after everything i ate in japan was delicious, however, i gained some trust (at least more trust than i have in malaysian food.. shhh..). and so, when given the opportunity to eat at a yakiniku restaurant, i did not shut it down. and not only did i sit and watch the meat go from raw to cooked and didn't die, i also ate not just the chicken, but also the beef and the pork. somewhere, i think my mom and dad are crying. and i'm still alive. it was really good though!!!


the girl with the smile necklace loves any sign for smiles. this was no exception.


i spent my last day running around yokohama. this included visiting its doll museum, which delighted me, traveling to the top of its little tower and looking out from the observation desk, strolling in yamashita park, more shopping, and finally ending with a visit to the foreign general cemetery.



people are so relaxed. i love it.


the cemetery was interesting to see. it's at the top of a hill, so the actual cemetery goes down the hill. it has mostly brits, but a few americans. i thought it was done nicely.

so. my general opinion of tokyo is that it is cute, which i think is usually the general opinion of tokyo. it's also very black and white, literally and figuratively. i sat on many trains and saw people wearing nothing but conservative black suits and white ties. in contrast, i saw the harajuku girls and cosplayers wearing crazy outfits. it was quiet, yet also full of chaos in some areas. the people were very polite, and extremely helpful. it was interesting. i would probably go back some other time because while i feel like i walked all over the place, i know i did not touch even .0000001% of the city. for now, it is checked off the list.

but what is the list? i have no idea what the list is. part of me thinks i should start making a list of the places i want to visit while i'm out here, and make a mini-schedule. then i sit down and try to make a list and find something else to distract me. thus far, my trips have been/will be people-motivated, in that there is/will be a person i know to visit. i must move beyond that and go places where i know no one! this is still just the beginning :)

anyways. so that was tokyo. i will have a kl post later this week i'm sure, as there is a lot going on now - to include me driving! if not though, a very happy fourth of july to all ♥

oh and also this week happens to be the week of the birth of my very most best dearest darlingest wonderful friend in the world. i wish i could be there to celebrate with her!

a happy birthday to a happy 25 year old!

Categories: japan, tokyo, touristy things