Ok, so where were we.....
As well as visiting nearly every shopping district and mall in Tokyo, we also saw lots more. Ueno Zoo was a real highlight that we pretty much stumbled upon. We were strolling through Ueno Park on a really sunny afternoon, after seeing the Imperial Palace (worth doing but you can only see bits from a distance) and the zoo is nestled at the end of the park. It was also possibly the most value for money attraction in all of South East Asia - 500 Yen admission! thats like less than 4 quid, and the place is huge with every kind of animal you could imagine and a really nicely laid out clean environment with a monorail running between the two main sections.
As you can see from the pictures the animals were amazing, the only thing more amazing was the number of photos Sam managed to take during our visit (trust me, the ones online are the edited version, we're talking 10 photos per animal! :-))
After the Zoo we wondered back through the park as it was just starting to get dark which is when any district of Tokyo come to life in a blaze of Neon and Ueno was no different. I spotted a gargantuan Pachinko Parlour (Japanese slot machines mixed with Pinball) that I wanted to see, and this led us through to a massive street market under the tracks of the elevated railways which had to be seen to be believed. You had to basically pick a direction becuase there was no way to see it all, it went on in every direction as far as the eye can see, everything from fashion to fish to arcades to coffee shops. It was a great sight, absolutely buzzing and one of the first things I think of when I think back to Tokyo.
On another day we headed out on the train a bit out of Tokyo central to a place called Shimo Kitizawa which is more traditional in architecture (no space age skyscrapers that know your name) but has become a bit of a hub for cool, cutting edge fashion. Again it went off in every direction with different shops on different floors of each building (including basements and roofs!) and sprawled for miles. Every possible taste is catered for and is very, very cool as well as generally reasonably priced. After some sushi in the street we stopped for a drink in what has to be the worlds most coolest coffee shop (so cool that you could order the furniture or buy the coasters!) and had the best iced tea and iced chocolate coffee of all time. I would fly back to Tokyo just for that damn iced coffee.
On Valentines day we headed to Yoyogi Park in Harajuku. The park is massive and houses the biggest Shinto Shrine in Tokyo. Harajuku itself is another cutting edge fashion district that looks like Rodeo Drive in Hollywood (it also is home to the Ometosando Hills shopping complex) with lots of winding alleys of the main strip with more small boutique shops. Harajuku is also the place to see all the Cosplay kids dressed up (google it!)
We picked probably the best day to go to the park as not only was it scorching, we also got to witness a traditional japanese wedding within the grounds of the Shrine which was beautiful. We wrote a wish and hung it on the temple (the done thing). After the shrine we went into the traditional japanese garden which winds its way through the park down to an absolutely stunning lake. The other largest Shrine was actually just down the road from our Hostel in Asakusa. We somehow made friends with some random, rather large, Japanese dude who had the worlds smallest dog! After stroking him for a bit the guy just gave me the lead and left for like 20 minutes! The dog made a home in Sam's lap until he returned.
We then walked from Harajuku down to Shibuya which has the worlds largest and busiest pedestrian crossing that makes Oxford Street look like St.Mary's street (Google QFront for a look). We headed back to Asakusa to chill in the hostel before going to Denny's for dinner! Dont ask us what we ordered, just know it was nice, very japanese and filled us up good! They also gave us a bell to ring when we required service, nice!
The last day was one of the most memorable of all. Whilst doing some washing in a laundrette the size of a microwave, we decided we would try and find the giant glowing sphere we has seen in the distance from the top of Tokyo Tower, which we had discovered was in fact the worlds largest Ferris Wheel! This was located in Odaiba, a kind of artificial island in the middle of Tokyo Bay, so after spending the day in various parts of Tokyo we headed over there as night fell. Little did we know that just getting there was going to be one of the most awesome things we would do.
In order to get to Odaiba you need to get the Monorail. This is no ordinary monorail - we're talking driverless, warp speed, Captain Kirk, twisting, flying type monorail. It flys through skyscrapers, over expressways, under roads and then loops 360 and goes right in the middle of Rainbow Bridge, a huge structure that links Tokyo to Odaiba. It was unbelievable and once on the bridge gave the most stunning view of the Tokyo skyline.
Odaiba itself is like a mini Las Vegas with Hotel Resorts, huge malls, the worlds largest indoor theme park as well as the Ferris Wheel! Which incidentally you have to walk through the worlds largest car showroom to get to (you can test drive Toyota cars on the indoor track!!!). It was simply amazing at the top of the Ferris Wheel, we could see for miles and was truly breathtaking and a great way to say farewell to Tokyo. Plus, we even had heated seats!!!
There are so many little things that havent made the blog that made Tokyo the craziest place on earth, but you just kind of have to see it to believe some of it. We would love to go back some day and see all the madness again, just maybe next time stay in a room slightly larger than a drinks cabinet. Maybe the Grand Hyatt at the top of Roppongi Hills! :-)
Sayonara Tokyo, Hello Singapore.......................................................
