It's 5:16AM here in Shinjuku, Tokyo and I've been awake in bed for about an hour. With a 13 hour time change, nearly 16 hours of traveling, and a body that refuses to sleep because of its extreme state of confusion, what better time to write my first blog post in Japan than now? Since arriving in Japan, here are a few observations that I think you all will enjoy:
- The toilets. It's interesting because in Japan toilets are either holes in the ground or the fanciest pieces of technology you have ever witnessed. In Tokyo they tend to be the latter. All of these fancy robot toilets have sensors that, as soon as you sit down, start generating a noise as if you have just flushed a toilet. I believe this is because of the Japanese conception of embarrassment. People don't like others to hear them doing private things like peeing or, God forbid, doing the number two, so they have these sensors to cover up any personal biological sounds. They are also heated, which would be a particularly nice touch in the winter time. Let's hope my home in the infamously snowy and cold town of Yokohama-machi will have a heated robot toilet. Here is a picture of the robot toilet in my hotel room:
Please note how the flusher is on the side of the sink to the left. Also note the panel with quite a number of buttons. Those include a built in bidet and a "dryer." You can guess what the dryer is for.
- The food. If you don't already know that Japan has amazing food, well now you know. On top of having great TASTING food, they have these wonderful meal displays in the windows that make it seem as though anything you order will taste fantastic (which is largely true). I really, REALLY wanted to find a ramen shop last night because I was craving some real ramen (not like the Maruchan stuff you get at the grocery stores in the States). Unfortunately, my growling stomach couldn't hold out for the ramen shop so we settled on a delightful little udon shop. I got udon with a big umeboshi (bitter plum) in the middle of it. A lot of people don't like the bitter taste of umeboshi, but I really enjoyed it.
Meal display in front of a pasta shop.
- The city itself. Tokyo is my favorite city in the world and I recognize that I am completely biased. But it really is a wonderful city- the people are polite, the food is great, there are SO many things to do, the public transportation is PHENOMENAL, and it's incredibly clean (especially for such a big city!). One thing that has changed a bit since I've last been here a couple years ago are the number of trees everywhere. I recently read that Tokyo has taken an initiative in recent years to add more greenery, which is really great since sometimes Tokyo can look like a grey blob of buildings and skyscrapers.
The greenery lining the streets just outside my hotel room in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
- And finally, for your viewing pleasure, a few more snapshots that I managed to sneak in while being herded with the other couple hundred JETs from Narita Airport to Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku.
A dark shot and I'm not even sure what it's really of, but I was mesmerized by the fanciness of the hotel with its chandeliers and bowing hotel staff posted throughout the lobby. I obviously didn't take a picture of a bowing hotel staff member because that would make me an obnoxious American, so the picture of the chandeliers will have to suffice.
A view of Shinjuku from my hotel room.
The pool below my hotel room. My roommates and I were surprised at the amount of PDA going on in the pool- aren't Japanese people supposed to be really conservative or something?
For those of you who have made it this far in reading my blog post, I thank you and must take advantage of this moment to advertise for All Nippon Airways (ANA). IF you ever fly to Japan or get the opportunity to fly on ANA: DO IT. They are amazing. Amazing service, more leg room than I could hope for on a 14 hour plane ride in economy class, and above satisfactory food by airplane standards.
That's all for now. I'll probably be creating another tab for posts pertaining to cultural commentary and will use this tab as a way to pictorially document my experiences in Japan, so be on the lookout for that.
For those of you who have made it this far in reading my blog post, I thank you and must take advantage of this moment to advertise for All Nippon Airways (ANA). IF you ever fly to Japan or get the opportunity to fly on ANA: DO IT. They are amazing. Amazing service, more leg room than I could hope for on a 14 hour plane ride in economy class, and above satisfactory food by airplane standards.
That's all for now. I'll probably be creating another tab for posts pertaining to cultural commentary and will use this tab as a way to pictorially document my experiences in Japan, so be on the lookout for that.