• Lifeinpictures,  Musings

    A week in Tokyo!

    My husband and I decided to do the slightly unusual for our honeymoon, so instead of doing the usual romantic European honeymoon we decided to go to Japan. I was very skeptical initially. Neither of us had been to Japan before, but the more I read about Japan the more fascinated I got about it. We decided to go in June initially, but it didn’t work then we decided to go in September. So all packed, we left from Chandigarh and we had issues with our tickets and Air India suddenly canceled its flight and so on (I can literally write another post on what Air India guys did to us). It was something like some forces were stopping us to reach that bloody place! But looking at the brighter side, we became friends with all the people on our flight and we met a really cool Japanese Designer, Hideto Nishimoto, check out his website here. On the evening of 6th, we landed at Narita International Airport! Weather was amazing! Since taxis are really expensive in Japan, we decided to reach Tokyo by train. We met a cool German guy ‘Benjamin’ (he was exploring Japan from past 3 months and he had an adopted Indian sister, isn’t that cool!?) Soon we reached at our station Suidobashi and then we started looking for our Hotel. It was drizzling, we saw a few school girls walking down the street with their umbrellas and we asked them if they knew where is ‘The Niwa’!? They couldn’t understand us but they could figure out that we were asking about the particular hotel. I can’t explain it in words how happy they were to see us, they  put their umbrellas on us, constantly smiling and giggling, they escorted us to our hotel. That really made our day! It was really amazing to experience something like that and that too on our first evening in Tokyo! Also, you don’t get to see something like this in India!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!
    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    We had only a few hours to explore on our very first day, so we decided to go to Akihabara (largest city collecting all kinds of electronic appliances and devices in the world) which was closest to where we were staying. For  the tech-savy, this is a super cool place! You can get any electronic item you can think of! This place was crazy! It was like going to another planet! Here are a few pictures from the crazy town called Akihabara!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    For the next two days we explored the streets of Shinjuku, Ginza, Tokyo Tower and Shibuya! Ginza is a high fashion street in Tokyo. You will see all the big brands, local designers with amazing stores, specialty stores and there are plenty and plenty of places to eat (not for vegetarians like us, we lived on bread for most days, on our last day we found a south Indian place- that was our first proper meal in Tokyo!) Shibuya is a place where you will find young crowd, it’s a very happening place. It has one of the world’s busiest crossing, and Hachiko Statue as well (For those who don’t know, you must watch Hachiko movie – it’s a movie about a dog and his endless love for his owner) Here are a few pictures!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!^^ This particular picture is one of those unforgettable moments of this trip. We were on the metro and we asked someone to help us with directions/ metro lines. A guy helped us and sat on his seat and got busy with his stuff. Before getting off the train he gave us this piece of paper with directions to different stations written on it. We were stunned, amazed and shocked with this act of kindness and will to help others. I mean who does that!? I had never seen anything like this in my life and I was completely stunned. We had so many experiences like this in Tokyo where people go out of their way to help you, even if they don’t understand English. There was a point where we were hesitated to ask for help because – these people, they leave their own work and start helping you in anyway they can. For us the people were the absolute highlight of the trip.

    For our rest of the days in Tokyo, we explored Meiji Shrine, Imperial Palace, Akasaka and Shibuya! You can’t expect places like Meiji Shrine and Imperial Palace in a busy city like Tokyo! Akasaka is another very fashionable place with lots of cool bars and places to eat.

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    img_1789 A week in Tokyo!

    Tokyo lives up to its hype of being the most fashionable place in the world. I didn’t see even one person who wasn’t well dressed. Everyone was stylish in their own way. We saw so many different styles/fashion in Tokyo! This place has completely changed my perspective on clothes and living. We couldn’t see as many places as we wanted mainly because it was raining all the time! It just wouldn’t stop raining! But, what a place! People watching is so much fun in Tokyo because people are so stylish, so proper, so organized, so respectful and helpful! I’m definitely going to visit Japan again and explore Kyoto and Osaka – it will something to visit these places in the cherry blossom season!
    XX