After the wedding most people went out to Roppongi but as the party pooper that I am I of course decided for date night with my Japanese futon!

The next day at 7:30am I was ready to go and explore Tokyo on my own! After all, I had been there for 3 days and had barely seen anything!

To my surprise Wes still hadn't come home! It wasn't until 11am that I got a message from Kay asking me if I saw Wes since apparently he was lost in Tokyo! hahaha


Using the metro in Tokyo is very easy as long as you have google maps or the app City Mapper, they tell you exactly what you need to do and where you need to go. I got a metro card from Kay and put $20 to use while I'm here. The trains are a little weird because the city has 3 different rail companies and sometimes to go to your destination you have to change lines and at times that means you have to pay double the fare! Super strange!

Map actually has zero info in English!

My first stop of the day... Senso-ji Temple!!! This is an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa, I believe it is the oldest one in Tokyo!




As you get out of the metro station and walk a block you see the entrance of Senso-ji packed with hundreds of people!  The walkway to the temple is lined with lots of fun little shops selling Japanese trinkets and food.


Look... Sushi looking candy!!!! j

And Japanese flip flops!





After you somehow make your way through the crowds you see the other gate for  Senso-ji in front of you! This time I asked a stranger to take a photo of me and of course I was disappointed!
Who in their right mind takes a picture with half of "THE thing"?!?! ... I mean... I have a mirror, I can see myself everyday in it! but I do not have the temple.. how hard is it to figure out that when somebody asks you for a picture they kind of sort of want the WHOLE object in the picture... I sometimes don't understand humans!!!


There are so many shrines, temples, and statues all over town that it is very common to see a lot of people "praying"... I actually don't know if praying is the correct word for it.




Now... Senso-ji...

I knew nothing about it or Japanese traditions so I was a little shocked by what I saw just because it is so strange to me! Also, there is not much learning here because they have nothing in english so I was out of luck!

People set these little papers on fire (have no idea what they are called or what they are for) and it creates smoke, then people get close and start putting the smoke in their face and even rub it in their hair! I do not know if they inhale but it was very interesting to see.



Then I also saw this fountain...



This is extremley popular in Japan and I have now seen it more than a gazillion times all over Japan. So people have to take a laddle with the right hand and fill it with water from the fountain and wash their left hand, then they do the same with the other hand. After they do the hands they rinse their mouth, they pour a little water in their hand (do not put laddle in mouth!), bring it to the mouth, rinse, and spit water out. I think this is a cleansing ritual.




At the temples you always see a big box with openings on the top meant for people to throw in some coins (in Japan you have $1 and $5 coins) and then they bow and clap their hands... very interesting to watch!


Then I took some time to walk around the area to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I wonder what this means!

So... I saw all these people shaking boxes and I just had to know what they were doing!
I had no one to ask so I started to listen to people's conversations and this one young Japanese guy was helping one of his friends and telling her exactly what to do... apparently it tells your fortune!
(and then I saw the english instructions! haha)


I decided to do my own but I needed help so I asked that guy because the numbers are in Japanese and it would take me forever to find the right drawer to match my stick.

All the boxes have sticks inside and they all have a number. First you have to put a 100Yen donation, then grab a box and give it a shake.


Put it upside down and get your stick with a number.

Then, you have to find the drawer that matches your stick.


I got a bad fortune!!! :(


What's bad fortune for some is good for others! Mine read "Marriage and employment are both bad!" Well, that's good news for me!!! I do not want a job or a marriage otherwise I wouldn't be here! haha

If you get "bad fortune" you don't want to take it with you so you hang it and leave it at the temple...


After the temple I decided to walk slowly to Ueno Park and enjoy walking Tokyo.


Pretty much everywhere you walk you see temples pop up in the middle of the street


Here in Japan tourists can pay $30 or so and a guy will run with a carriage pulling you and showing you the city!!! Crazy!

Tokyo Sky Tree in the back!


Ueno park is full of museums but unless it is Modern/ Contemporary art or "real life event" museum (like holocaust, apartheid etc) I am not interested so I decided to skip them and instead walked all over the park.

I really enjoyed going into the temples that I found along the way... Japan has so much history and I wish that I could learn a little more when I go to these places but usually there is nothing in english... I'll have to ask google!













My next destination was Shinjuku Gyoen park. I got there and I got so wet it was uncomfortable! I walked from the metro station to the park to find out that it was already closed!!! So annoying! but quickly I made it to my next stop... Akihabara!

So Japanese seem to be obsessed with anime so I decided to go check out the neighborhood where they sell all the anime and my mind almost exploded! My eyes couldn't believe how many people, shops, and books there were! It's insane! I had no idea people were into this kind of stuff!

There are shops after shops that sell literally a gazilion of comic/ anime books and ALL of the stores were full of people!!







There are also a lot of arcades!!!

And this one just bothered me... Japanese girls dressed up as maids, they put these ridiculous outfits and for $50 or so wait on you and they take a picture of you with them with a polaroid to take as a souvenir!

 Maybe she is a maid... maybe not! With the fashion here you never know!!!
Isn't she rocking that teddy bear backpack?!?! haha

 From Akihabara I went To Ginza, where all the super fancy shops are.

I got off the metro and found... A HELLO KITTY STORE!!!!


They literally have any thing imaginable hello kitty! It's kind of crazy!



I got out of the store and found... a Hello Kitty bus! hahaha that was a total coincidence!


After that I just walked around window shopping and getting wet!

I have found Japan not to be as expensive as everybody says it is! Compared to SF they are pretty much the same! I think people think of Japan as expensive because they are comparing it to other countries in Asia where everything is really really cheap!

In Ginza, just like in any upscale expensive touristy street, things were beyond crazy expensive!

For instance... the flowers below... $216!!! My aunt (a florist) can make the same thing for $30!

 Other places that I visited in Tokyo were the Shinjuku Gyoen Park (on a different day)which was nice but not amazing. I  highly recommend the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and going up to the 42nd (or so) floor for a view of the whole Tokyo and even Mount Fuji on a nice day. And lastly going to the temple by Harajuku station, Meiji Shrine! Unfortunately my SD card went crazy and decided to stop working and I lost 5 days worth of pictures.

Some of the crazy things about Japan other than their toilets...

I ended up staying with my friend K for 5 nights but for my last night I really wanted to try one of Tokyo's famous Capsule Hostels!!!



Taking shoes off!!!
In Japan you never never never ever! wear shoes inside the house or hostel or even stores!!!! Once you arrive to a hostel or a house they have a specific place for shoes. Some hostels (most of them actually) have slippers that you borrow to wear inside. My problem with these slippers is that everybody uses them so I think it's kind of yucky to put somebody's elses slippers on.
Some hostels even have bathroom specific slippers, meaning there is a row of slippers waiting for you when you get to the bathroom!

Also, many many small shops have the no shoe policy! You must take your shoes off and grab one of the slippers in the basket near the entrance!



Fruit!!!
They wrap every single piece of fruit in cushiony plastic and then cover that with plastic or put the wrapped fruit in an independent container!!! How crazy is that?!?! So wasteful it makes me mad!!!


7Eleven is a fine establishment to get food all day long!
Every single Japanese eats at 7Eleven! They have fresh food every day!

You order meals from a vending machine and pay for them, then get into the restaurant and your food is ready!!! DID I SAY CRAZY?!?!


There are millions of vending machines... EVERYWHERE... At super random locations like in somebody's garage, or in the middle of a small street.
Also, the card that works for public transportation you can also tap it on the vending machine and get a drink without needing cash!



ALL Kids wear hats as part of their uniforms and they look super cute!


So many things to see here in Japan... Can't wait to see the rest of the country!!!!