nice2beme

Finally I am going to far away Eastern country and I can’t fade my excitement about visiting it.

Only 15 hours separate us from the most far away Eurasian Island of Japan. Our official visit to the Ship for world youth program has started and it offers us many of new pleasant openings. Our excitement was the fuel we need to stay fresh and sound after the long travel.

So far as we had a very short transfer in Paris, we were almost late to our next plane to Tokyo. This thing caused some delay of our luggage to arrive, so first day we were not able to change our clothes. Lucky we that our hotel offered us all the basics we need to recover after the long flight.

Our Japanese friends met us at the airport and upon the arrival to our hotel they checked our temperature in order to understand our health conditions. That was a bit unusual for us since the thermometer we use to measure the temperature is so much different from the one we use in Ukraine.

Afterwards they offered us name tags with a special bag which might save us from the flue. As they said the vaporization of the items will help us protect our health.

One of the first openings from the very beginning (in Narita airport) was different toilet styles. Using a toilet is quite a challenge in Japan for newcomers. It looks like a remote control machine which offers you warmed up the seat, shower, and automatic flush.

Before coming to Tokyo I was supposed to see something like New York Timeshare or 5th Avenue, but it is a bit different. Narrow streets, thousands of lights, bright colors and not that high buildings is just a short descriptions of the Japanese capital. The city seems to be quite cosy, regardless the fact that population of Tokyo is almost the same as in the whole Ukraine. Some sources say the number of citizens here is about 30 millions of people.

There is a short overview of what we have experienced in Tokyo so far:

All the citizens of Japan are very polite and friendly. They are delivering references all the time they are addressing to you. We have a unique experience in a shop of cosmetics with a lady who was so patient towards us, strangers who don’t understand the language and want to get tax-free products from the store. We were trying to understand each other for about 20 minutes and the lady seller didn’t get mad, she kept smiling and explained to us the situation again and again.

The amusement centers of the city are fool with shops, restaurants, cafes, playing rooms, different attractive activities where everyone could find something for their taste. If you will come to Shibuya – one of the central parts of Tokyo you would be surrounded by variable music which you could have heard in Japanese anime. This sound is everywhere and it makes a special atmosphere around. We felt each other like heroes of Japanese cartoons.

I was impressed by numbers of playing rooms called “Pachinka” which are quite big and could welcome hundreds of people in a time.

I can’t express our wondering when next to the fridge with yogurts, juices we found a fridge with team and coffee drinks, which were hot! This special “fridge” warms up the drinks and keep them warm until the buyer will get it and finish.

Our first meal upon the arrival to Tokyo was consists of  miso soup, noodles and well, how can we get deeper into the culture of Japan without trying the cuisine accompanied by sake;)

Public transport is an expensive thing here. Let’s say to have a ride on metro and mono railway to one direction will cost you about 4-5$. It is cheaper to go shopping here =D But the view which you could observe from the mono railway on the way to Odayba island was worth it.

On that place we saw the bay of the Pacific Ocean and some units – reminders of the NYC, like the Statue of Liberty.

That is what we experienced about Tokyo just in two days. So if you are planning to go here you need to reserve much more time to visit places around. In 4 days we will get back and continue our exploration of the most Eastern capital in the world.

Visiting such places are truly inspiring.