(Image: Shibuya Crossing Source: CNN Travel)
(Here's a little summary of my trip to Japan this Christmas Break– I wrote the story a little bit like a journal entry. First-person, structured by day)
My mother and I were traveling for the first time just the two of us. My dad was suffering from a detached retina and the pressure airplane of an airplane cabin would only inflame his injury. He drove us to the Bush Intercontinental Airport and we were wheels up at 6:00AM.
First off– we did not make first-class off of standby, but we flew to Japan out of LA, so it was only an 11-hour flight. I slammed some melatonin and slept for most of the flight. I watched the movie "Little Miss Sunshine." Kinda a downer film– Steve Carell plays a depressed professor. Airline food was not too bad, fried chicken and cheesy noodles.
When we touched down in Japan – we exchanged money and grabbed a taxi. Taxi's in Japan are stupidly expensive, and we racked up a 70 dollar bill for just 30 minutes of driving.
We stayed at the briefly vacated apartment of a model (she was on vacation in Mexico). The building owner was a Canadian who's been living in Japan for the last 20 years. Eccentric guy, but he had a great accent. He ran a trendy apparel shop out of a refurbished Volkswagon.
The first night, we ordered ramen through a vending machine (you put in cash, hit a button, and then a waitress takes the slip of paper that the machine spits out). I love how you can use technology to avoid interaction in Japan. After dinner, my jetlag knocked me out pretty quickly.
The next day, we went to Ginza, the shopping district. The best place was a 12 story stationery store– I loaded up on postcards. We ate sushi that night, but I wasn't a fan of authentic raw sushi. I prefer my raw fish encased in rice, slathered with chipotle mayo, and lightly-fried. Ramen still takes the cake.
Day three– my mother and I went to an old temple and then walked to the zoo– it was closed for the New Year. Then we went to this awful amusement park place with really long lines. Afterward, we fought through a big crowd at Shibuya crossing (Shibuya was the district where we stayed, famous for the biggest street crossing in the world). The crowd was for New Year's Eve. I was starving and not in the mood to celebrate. I rung in the New Year by falling asleep in my boots at 11:30 PM.
Day four– my mom ditched me to go do some sightseeing on her own. I hung around in the apartment until the afternoon. My mom took all the cash, so I had to go to McDonald's (they take credit card). No complaints here though, east Asian countries eschew ice for some reason, and McDonald's is pretty much the only place to get an icy beverage. I went to Starbucks and watched the Shibuya crossing for an hour (this Starbucks is famous for its second level window view of Shibuya Crossing– a scene from "Lost in Translation" was filmed there).
My mom finally contacted me around the evening– we went to the Tokyo Sky Needle for an aerial view of Tokyo. Great sights! The city is absolutely vast, and Mt Fuji really adds a lot to the skyline.
Final full day in Tokyo– I finally got to go to the zoo! My mother and I waited in line for two hours to see the Giant Panda. Absolutely worth it. Then we went to the TeamLab Borderless museum, which is an exploratory art installation. Basically, there is no map of the museum layout, you just wander into different rooms, which have a variety of light shows, or contemporary art installations. Super popular, pretty interesting. We had wagyu steak for dinner, but we had to cook it ourselves on a little grill. Bizarre taste– image combining steak with bacon, and you'll have an idea at the texture and flavor. It was a great way to top off an amazing trip!
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