[Samari]

Just got back today from Tokyo. It was a very good experience. I'm not sure where to start. Well I just want to say that I went into Tokyo seeking a great adventure and I wasn't disappointed.

I stayed in Roppongi (where I lived) for about ten days. I did a lot of exploring on my own because my buddy was kind of a couch potato and wanted to stay on AIM for like four hours a day. So I just figured out the public transportation system myself and got myself a map and just went around. I got lost at times, but that was part of the fun I guess. I know enough Japanese to basically "survive", so it wasn't too bad. And everyone was really nice. I also met up with another friend during my stay who told me all about life in Tokyo and what to do and where to go to have fun.

I remember checking the weather before I left for about 10 days on weather.com. It looked really grim, but miraculously most of the days were quite nice. It didn't rain that bad and there weren't any thunderstorms like predicted. So I was really happy.

I tried to explore as much as I could in the time span given. My feet hurt so bad from all of the walking. I went to Tokyo Tower (the place I wanted to go to most), Tokyo University, checked out the scene of all the Harajuku kids on Sunday, went to Yoyogi and Ueno Park, Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo City Hall, The Sony Building, went to a night club, ate a lot, and just basically soaked it all in.

Everything was so much better than people told me about. Maybe it was just because it was my first time, but I enjoyed every moment of it. Tokyo seems like a really clean city too. One that appears safe for the most part. And the people are very polite. Not to mention in fairly good shape. Heh, and I loved the vending machines being everywhere! I must have seen 100 different ones during my stay.

Oh and the women! My goodness, I've never seen so many attractive women in one place before! A great amount of them dress quite provocatively as well. Not to mention quite slim looking. I literally saw a gorgeous looking girl once every 1 or 2 minutes during some instances. Short shorts, high heels, mini skirts and beautiful legs all the time. Especially in crowded areas like some subways or during the night near places like Akihabara, Shinjuku, Roppongi, or Shibuya. A lot of them seem to have that really sincere "cute" persona and charm. I'm assuming a great amount of them are single since there are so many. Also with Japan's negative birth rate. A very good place to find a nice looking single girl I'll say. Even the stewardesses on my Japan Airlines flight to and from were gorgeous. Pretty cool for Economy class.

I also had the chance to go to Kyoto for a day. That was really fun. Didn't get to go everywhere obviously, but the city looks really laid back in some aspects. Doesn't seem to have the glitz and glamor of some parts of Tokyo, but there are still a lot of decent sized buildings and cool shopping areas. Not so many westerners there either, which I enjoyed.

My only regrets are that I didn't have a true exploring partner to share the fun with. I had to do a lot of things on my own. Including going to the club. That kind of sucked initially. Also not being able to fluently speak Japanese. I was lucky to know the amount I did. For quite some time I was contemplating whether to continue studying Japanese on my own before this trip, and this place has really inspired me to do so now. I like to talk to people in general when I travel, and so it sucked at times when I couldn't really carry a conversation.

Anyways, all in all, Tokyo was an awesome place. For anyone that has never been, find a way to go someday. Aside from all the of major site seeing and hot women, there really does seem to be a certain "serenity" about the culture and landscape. Quite peaceful. I noticed this especially when I went to the big parks like Yoyogi (biggest public park I've ever been to) and just went around drawing people to improve my illustration skills. The park experiences may have been my favorite parts of the trip. I wish I was still there actually, but it's back to boring life here in northern California. But yes, I plan to return again one day, and next time I'll be better "prepared".