Travelling to Tokyo was an awesome experience that made me appreciate the timeless beauty of Japan where time seems to be slower and everything runs in absolute perfection. If you want to do a travel for exploring a culture that is entirely different than ours, this is a travel you should do.
I have to say that i wasn't quite sure whether it was a good idea or not doing this trip to Tokyo at the beginning but after my friend Antonio talked me a bit about it, and since i love to explore and to meet new cultures, it didn't take long before he convinced me so we booked a flight with a great deal from a popular travel website, for flight and hotel and we were all set. We booked the Sunroute Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku that is a very good location in central Tokyo, actually the area is Shinjuku which is one of the many urban areas of Tokyo, it's like it's a city in the city. I suggest you to check out this travel website which i recommend if you are thinking to do a vacation out there far in Asia (and you can also book several other destinations worldwide)....and if you want to get all the best information before your next travel takes place, buy a travel guide today.
Flight took about 12 hours from Rome, we had a direct flight and as soon as we stepped off the plane we were already greeted by Japanese's efficiency in fact at the very airport there is a thermo camera that checks if you have a high temperature, in fact when you are on the plane, if you have a temperature, the kindly ask you to go to the security guards, since they are very concerned with sicknesses of various kinds, we found that out later on.
As soon as we went after customs, we were going to reach our friends at the hotel and we were supposed to have an easy taks that means to get a coach for going to the hotel, and i was thinking....hey i speak good english, no problem! Yeah right..... if you think that everybody speaks english in Tokyo, you have to forget it! In fact on average Japanese don't want or do not speak english, let me explain....by doing our research and by having more info during our stay in Tokyo, we found out that they are very concerned to speak perfect english - since they want to do everything perfect - so if they don't speak perfect english they rather don't speak and happens often that you end up speechless in the middle of the street having no clue on where to go!
Anyway we were looking for the bus to the hotel but nobody was speaking english but thankfully there was a guy that was speaking perfect japanese and english that gave us a hand! One of the first things that got our attention were the massive signs that you find around the city, and they are very concerned about smoking, in fact you cannot smoke outdoors in most areas! If you don't believe me, check this out....
A forbidden smoking sign in the street...
Another one, this time the cigarette is sad....
And there are many of these symbols around town, the funniest thing for us was that the cigarette was so big in this sign, and we couldn't figure out why they made the cigarette so big, maybe for making it bold that you can't smoke. Misteries.
A very smart way to keep the fuel station.
But in Tokyo you also find very efficient things such as this fuel station, in fact they put the tubes coming down from the top and not the other way around like we are used to have in Europe, this way they can optimize the occupancy of the fuel station, since spaces are very limited. In fact this is yet another important thing to keep in mind...when booking an hotel in Tokyo, never take the cheapest basic room, since they have rooms much smaller than our standards (both us and europeans) so make sure to get at lest a "deluxe" room, or you will definitely need to have your room upgraded, trust me on that. Finally still speaking about hotels, most of them don't have breakfast included, however there is plenty of bars around town where you can have your breakfast. We found an italian Segafredo bar where we were having breakfast every morning, with about 15-20€ you can have a regular caffelatte, 2 brioches, one toast and an orange juice, we even had the coffee card! As usual, keep your eyes open!
Dramatic View from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku
Another view from the same building...
I just love Japanese alphabet..
One of the super crowded markets, see how much stuff there is!
This is Harajuku Street, where i had a photo shoot with the gorgeous Maya, check her photos from fashion photography.
Tradition is always present in Tokyo, especially at the parks.
When people ask me about my travel in Tokyo, i always say that one of the things that got my attention the most was the fact that the air was really clean, even if this city has something like 12 million people. For instance when you go to New York City or London, you can tell that there is pollution, whereas in Tokyo the air is really fresh and clean like you are in the mountains! And i am talking about the very city....the parks are another story in fact the air there is even fresher, and it's quiet, people go there for praying and for meditation as well. I definitely suggest to visit the Ueno Park, we really like that one.
A girl with a traditional kimono or yukata near a temple in Tokyo.
Only girls designer stores in Shibuya Crossing at the 109 building!
We could never imagine that there were so many girls in Tokyo, i have to say that, in fact on a sunday afternoon we were having a walk and we decided to go in Shibuya, that is one suburbs where there are just young people and it's full of trendy cafes and designer stores as well, anyway we arrived to the Shibuya Crossing that you can see here and this is particular because - it's present in many movies, i think there is a scene also in Lost in Translations - when the pedestrial signs turns green, there is a moltitude of people that starts walking all together and it's really incredible, i suggest you to check some clips on youtube for having a better idea of the amount of people. Anyway, we ended up at the 109 building and with our great surprise there were ONLY girls stores inside, it's like 12 floors full of girls designer clothes, really incredible! Again, welcome to Tokyo.
Tokyo Tower.
If you are after touristic spots, i definitely suggest to visit the Tokyo Tower, of course it's very similar to the Paris one however the view that you have from the top is really dramatic, see the next photos.....
Night view from Tokyo Tower.
Tokyo's skyline from the top of the Tokyo Tower.
Girls in Tokyo want to look western so they often bleech their hair like this...
And then they go to special rooms where they can have a photo shoot.....
The 2 photos above need a little explanation, in fact this is actually pretty weird. We can say that japanese culture is traditional but at the same time it's very different, especially when it comes to socializing, in fact we noticed that you rarely see people randomly meeting and in fact i asked this to Maya, my japanese friend and she confirmed that, in other words, it's very difficult to make new friendships and meet new people, unless you are friends with them since childhood or from school. And this is true, we asked this to several people and they all confirmed. So, girls dress up real pretty all the time, also on a random week day but nobody looks at them, and we found that very strange, but on many days happened the same, so we came up to the conclusion that since every girl needs to feel beautiful, they created these special rooms which are present at playrooms with videogames, where girls can get into and have photos, so they know that they look pretty and they can offload these photos to their cell phones and show to their girlfriends....maybe i am wrong but it would make sense. Also you can see how they changed the look during the years...all blonde.
And now....for all car enthusiasts and in particular for all Nissan GTR fans, here are some photos from Tokyo Auto Salon 2010 where we were invited at Pirelly's hospitality booth, many thanks for that! Enjoy these photos and come back soon for more news and info about this trip....
Crazy modding and colors for this car, with carbon hood.
The very famous Keiichi Tsuchiya, if you don't know about him, read his Wiki Article.
Nissan GTR Power, in yellow...
Nissan GTR Power, in white.....
Another hot ride at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2010.
This was a very famous pop group in Japan and they were doing a live performance.
Car enthusiasts know that this car is fast, just a "little" bit ;-) Read full car specs.
Hostesses always present at events like this.
My friends are car enthusiasts so we managed to find Honda's flagship workshop for tuning, people send engines from USA and Europe to this workshop, since they are the best....enjoy the photos.
Spoon Engine official workshop.
Another Honda Integra prepared by the masters....
Honda S2000 Spoon. A Monster.
There is so much to say about this Tokyo travel so i am going to update it with some more info and details with time, keep on visiting the page if you want to know more about our crazy adventure in Asia and if you are planning to make a new travel, check out my travel sponsor, they are top class when it comes to travels.
Last Updated By Gabrio Linari. Saturday 17th, 2010. Want to share your travel experience in Tokyo? |
