Tokyo: Day 1

Day 1 in Tokyo, and we hit the streets early… not because we didn’t want to waste any time, mainly because of the crippling jet lag! We left the capsule hotel at 8am, and within ten seconds Hatti had seen her first vending machine, one of many thousand that populate the city. We found the venders to be largely similar, mainly variations of green tea, but the hope is to encounter machines that serve coffee / pizza / Mexican food etc.

First stop was breakfast, a cafe that could be reached on the metro, supposedly a stone’s throw from Hiro-o Station. We had researched this particular breakfast joint meticulously… but we walked in the wrong direction. Hunger dictated that we settled on produce from a local bakery instead.

Now energised and hydrated, we began to wander north, an unguided exploration, but we happened to  stumble upon Shibuya, the busiest crossing in Tokyo… in a seemingly dormant state.

On route we noticed the occasional v. old shanty building nestled amongst the crisp clean monsters. One in particular was so full of character that we stoped to take a picture… to the bemusement of a local oldie.

After Shibuya we walked North to Yoyogi park, it was teaming with runners; we did a few laps naturally. To remain fully transparent, the second lap was accidental… it only became apparent when we approached a series of water features that looked remarkably similar to those we had seen on the first pass.

Even a couple of astronauts turned up, not to run, but take photographs of blossom with massive lenses.

Nearing exhaustion we had a quick wander through Harajuku, a hub for style conscious youths / folks desperate to buy knockoff tees.

We headed back to the hotel to regroup / rest in preparation for a late lunch.

Interlude:-

After out rest, finding the restaurant we had bookmarked for lunch was a challenge (you may notice a theme emerging), it was a small independent business on the fifth floor of a building in Shibuya. Great food though, would recommend Umi Café.

The kind folks at the restaurant bundled our almost unconscious bodies into the lift and we managed to navigate the streets / metro back to hostel for a well deserved sleep.

James