Snapshots of Tokyo

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This summer I was lucky enough to go on another holiday, in addition to the previous Singapore trip. My dad, sister, and I stayed in Tokyo for a few days. It was a very tiring trip, what with the five hour layover in Osaka and the daily walking, but it was a lovely trip! 

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What I love about Tokyo is that the setting sun is absolutely beautiful. The sky turns different colours before becoming totally black. I always thought the sky at night would be a navy blue, but that's only Hong Kong and its light pollution. Tokyo's sky is dark enough for you to see stars.

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People in Tokyo are so friendly. The ones working in shops and restaurants always smile and are polite. Here's a snazzy little anecdote for you: I was ordering a chai tea latte in Starbucks on our last day. The guy at the counter was very patient when I gestured at the menu, attempting to order the drink with soy milk (aside from the standard greetings, I know nothing of the Japanese language). At the pickup counter, a soy latte was called out; I knew it was mine because of the 'soy' and the 'latte', and nobody else was ordering. I asked the employee there if it was a chai tea latte, she took a look at my receipt, apologised, and remade the drink. After, I handed her a plaque the guy at the cashier gave me for soy milk. I think she just realised I wanted soy milk, because she apologised again and remade it again. What I'm trying to say is, it was most likely my fault for the order mixup as the counter guy probably didn't understand my pointing at the menu. It must have been hard or frustrating to take an order from someone who speaks no Japanese, and have to remake a drink thrice. Still, the girl was super nice about it all!

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I love that there are toilets available literally everywhere in Tokyo. This sounds deranged, but toilets are quite important, especially when travelling to different places. The weather was hot during out stay, so rehydrating was important. Of course, we were bound to have to use a toilet at some point. Many restaurants have there own toilets, and they're clean. I'm just going to leave it here before it starts to get weird!

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The food, of course, was amazing. We had sushi, ramen, curry, and crepes - unfortunately we couldn't find a tempura place around. One of my favourite meals we had was in a restaurant with a machine to order food (pork cutlet rice with egg was our pick of the night). These restaurants are common in Japan, inexpensive, and the food tastes good. Before our trip I researched about Tokyo sights and eateries. One blogger claimed that even the cheaper ramen in Japan tasted better than the ramen from where she lived (America? Australia?). I think I have to agree with her; the ramen we had was definitely tastier than ramen we've had in HK. 

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Train culture in Tokyo is considerably different than in Hong Kong; passengers are prohibited from taking or making calls. Being the noob that I am, I forgot this rule one train ride and took a call from my mum. Unsurprisingly, I got stares until my dad and my sister quickly reminded me. I can just imagine the chaos is would cause if Hong Kongers were not allowed to answer their phones, but the people in Tokyo stick by it. 

Overall, I had a great time; I feel that I've soaked up a small part of Tokyo culture from our stay. Be sure to keep an eye out for my coming Japan Haul video!

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I'll see you next time! x