Last Few Days in Tokyo

So our holiday in Tokyo was coming to an end before the 10day trip back through Japan to Hirakata. After the Brits all left Hannah and I really didn’t have that much to do, so to prevent vegetation in the house we’d go out for really random walks trying to get to places near us, mostly shrines. The only thing I wish I had done in Tokyo was go to the book market and Umeda and go to Akihabara more on my own to explore it all properly. Oh well ^^ It’s stuff I can do next time. One night randomly though Myra’s friend Cheese came and cooked for us. The numpty managed to slice his finger open but it didn’t stop him cooking and omg the food was soooo good. I must remember to the marinades and stuff he used to cook with. Things like a mixture of cooking wine, soy sauce, sugar, and then various spices mixed together.

On January the 14^th Hannah and I went on a trip outside the main Tokyo distract to Tama Zoo! It was a zoo Hannah had really wanted to go to because it was apparently the largest and most natural zoo inTokyo. (Note: most zoos in Japan are really poor and small and not very good for the animals). And it was a really impressive zoo! Took us 6 hours to wander around and stop for lunch and we saw all kinds of cool animals. We seemed to time it just right as well to catch most of the animals getting fed like the koala, red pandas, and wolves. I’m just a tad annoyed that I lost about 200 of my photos from that day ;_;

Next it was my turn and we went to the Ghibli Museum on the 17th which I had really, really wanted to go to ^o^ And it was so cool! We couldn’t take pictures inside *sadface* but it was just…so AWESOME! It was like a European house but not and it was full of cool little contraptions and drawings and devices and hidden little details and a cat bus that children could play on! On the roof was a robot from Laputa Castle in the Sky which you could take a photo of. If I ever get rich I want to build a house like the Ghibli Museum >8D

Our final whole day before we had to pack was the 18^th and we spent it with one of our new housemates walking the Rainbow Bridge at sunset! It was so cool! I really, really, really love Tokyo as it’s getting dark and the city scenery is just so pretty! At the end of the bridge we found a random beach! A beach in the middle of Tokyo! Who would have thought it XD

The following day we packed and then the day after finished packing, sent a parcel, georged ourselves on Taiyaki (fish shaped pancake dough sweets filled with anko, but these had chocolate, strawberry and other flavours)…it was good ^_^ And then we left Tokyo for our first destination of Kofu in Yamanashi!

I have to say I think Tokyo is my favorite place in Japan so far. Being able to explore it every day was fun and not having money meant I had to walk everywhere which meant I got to really to know it well. There were a few things I wish I’d done but nothing I regret doing. People say Tokyo is too big and too full of people, but I found that apart from the salarymen in the stations people were generally very nice, especially if you spoke Japanese ^^;; I never experienced a busy underground train where we’d have to get pushed onto the train but Brit and Cait who were there for a week said they had. I think I’ve gotten used to the large crowds of people and I’m happy to take my time trying to get through them all and I think I have a skill similar to the Japanese of being able to walk through a crowd without touching a single person. The Japanese tend to have body language and unsaid rules about elicit when it comes to moving around in public, which I think can sometimes be very similar to Britain.