After a morning spent relaxing and talking with our Airbnb host, Tomo, and his family, we boarded the train Saturday and rode to Tokyo. We arrived almost as soon as Typhoon Halong did, which curtailed our sightseeing somewhat, but we still managed to hit most of the sites we wanted to. After grabbing some Udon near our new Airbnb in Tokyo, we traveled to Asakusa, a big souvenir district and home to the Sensoji Temple, the oldest in Tokyo, though large parts needed to be rebuilt after the war. We bought a lot of souvenirs for ourselves and as gifts, and then headed back toward our apartment for a yummy Sushi dinner followed by drinks at a whiskey bar.
Sunday was the bulk of the typhoon, so although we were able to spend some time outside in the morning at the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden - a huge park reminiscent of Central park with a traditional Japanese Garden and formal French and English gardens, as well as a large greenhouse - we got rained out pretty quickly and needed to head inside. We decided to check out the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which focuses on the history of Tokyo. By the time we'd finished that and grabbed some Ramen, the rain had temporarily broken, so we jumped on the train and went to Shiboya Station, Tokyo's version of Times Square and one of the busiest intersections in the world. It's a huge, fashionable shopping district, and every time the light changes, people flood the intersection to cross to different areas. It's a famous spot for movies and sightseeing. After doing some browsing at a cafe/bookstore, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner at a Spanish restaurant, after getting thoroughly drenched by a big rainstorm.
Although the days weren't quite as packed as they were in Kyoto, we enjoyed Tokyo. It's definitely more of a westernized city and just so huge. Things that looked on a map like they were walkably close, really weren't, and trains/subway became a requirement from moving from place to place. Though I'm glad we visited - a necessity, since we're flying back to the states from here - I'm much happier that we spent the majority of our time in and around Kyoto.
Sunday was the bulk of the typhoon, so although we were able to spend some time outside in the morning at the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden - a huge park reminiscent of Central park with a traditional Japanese Garden and formal French and English gardens, as well as a large greenhouse - we got rained out pretty quickly and needed to head inside. We decided to check out the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which focuses on the history of Tokyo. By the time we'd finished that and grabbed some Ramen, the rain had temporarily broken, so we jumped on the train and went to Shiboya Station, Tokyo's version of Times Square and one of the busiest intersections in the world. It's a huge, fashionable shopping district, and every time the light changes, people flood the intersection to cross to different areas. It's a famous spot for movies and sightseeing. After doing some browsing at a cafe/bookstore, we headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner at a Spanish restaurant, after getting thoroughly drenched by a big rainstorm.
Although the days weren't quite as packed as they were in Kyoto, we enjoyed Tokyo. It's definitely more of a westernized city and just so huge. Things that looked on a map like they were walkably close, really weren't, and trains/subway became a requirement from moving from place to place. Though I'm glad we visited - a necessity, since we're flying back to the states from here - I'm much happier that we spent the majority of our time in and around Kyoto.