Tokyo is green, trees, flowers and many parks all over. I walked a lot in Tokyo, easily more than double than I do at home.
And I visisted several parks. Here are a few.
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Beautiful, serene and known for its scenic cherry blossom trees. A must place to go for all the people that visit Tokyo during cherry blossom season.
Close to Shibuya station I found Miyashita Park, I walked up a flight of stairs and found a small park there in between the rooftops. I visited a couple of more parks similar to it.
This next park I liked so much that I went there twice. Yoyogi Park. Full of flowers, large trees and nice walking paths.
Statue of Quetzalcoatl, did not excpect to see that in the middle of Tokyo.
If you find yourself in Tokyo and wonder what you should see I recommend going to Asakusa to get a feeling of old Tokyo and past traditions. Walk through the Kaminarimon Gate (Thunder Gate) and start exploring. The original gate was built around 1000 years ago. I thought Asakusa was very beautiful and if I ever go back to Japan and Tokyo which I hope, I will visit this area again. Afterwards you can walk to Tokyo Skytree and that right there is a full day of fun in Tokyo.
The first place my brother took me to see in Tokyo was Shibuya. Well.....we ate first in his neighborhood. Then we hopped on the bus from Sasazuka where he lives and got off in Shibuya, home of the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing.
Tokyo holds a very large population and this is the world's busiest pedestrian crossing. It is kind of unreal the first couple of times you and the large mass of people cross the street together like a large herd. Somehow everybody makes it across safely before the traffic starts up.
This is the view from the Starbucks that is there. Get a window seat, sit down and watch the city go by for a while.
There are several animal cafés in Tokyo. Here are a few examples, besides these I saw mini pig, cat and there is also capybara cafės and probably others that I am not aware of.
I did not go to any animal cafės during my stay. And I love animals, therefore I didn't go. Would I like to hold a hedgehog, hug a capybara and pet an owl? Yes of course but I do not think it is right to hold these animals captive and allow a bunch of people to paw on them every day and take selfies with them over and over agaon. I am sure the animals are stressed.
If you really just have to go to an animal café.....look up ethical/guilt free animal cafés and go there. Do the right thing!
Gandhi once said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated". Well I think animals are mistreated everywhere and can be treated much better, so let's all make a greater effort to treat all animals better.
After seeing the public restrooms in Japan Tati says, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by its public restrooms".
I do not like public restrooms. I would rather pee outside than use a public toilet and if I just can't hold it then I hover and flush with my shoe clad foot, like I touch as little as possible inside a public restroom. Use one of those blowdryer type hand dryers after I wash my hands? Never. I rather my hands air dry than get sprayed down with poop particles.
In Japan I actually enjoyed using the toilet. Sit down on the toilet seat in Japan? No problem and yes please.....I did not mind sitting on the toilet at all in Japan. Every public restroom I visisted was spotless. Because the Japanese people do not act like savages, they are so civilized it is almost unreal. Well, unreal for a brute Westerner like me, not unreal for one of them.
Check out these public restrooms......enjoy!
First you have the option of wiping down the seat with some sort of a rubbing alcohol solution, not that it is needed but I did it anyways and it is fun to do.
Everything is explained, in several languages. Sit your ass down on the toilet seat please, no squatting on the toilet seat.
I mean look at this.....it is just beautiful. I was seriously so impressed. Good job Japan! You can even sit there and peacefully look at a picture of Mount Fuji.
Another example of perfection. Nothing is destroyed, no grafitti. Imagine that.....!
You can choose how you wish your undercarriage to get washed. The temperature of the water, the strenght of the stream that washes you, the area you need washed. It is like picking out a fun adventure.
My friend Kazumi said that all foreigners are impressed with the public restrooms in Japan.
Welcome to a small tour of the Tokyo subway! I managed to navigate on the subway on my own although it took some time to understand it. And yes it can be confusing but it is manageable. First of all, it is CLEAN. No graffiti. No trash. No destroyed seats. Nobody is loud. Nobody has their feet up on the seats. So people CAN actually behave normal on the subway?
Japan is a civilized country, the subway is just one of the many signs of that. I very much appreciated the Tokyo subway. It is amazing.
Tokyo subway guide.
You get a card (Suica card) that you add money to, you use this card to get through the gates. Entering and exiting.
Exiting a gate.
The subway cars can get very crowded. You are not supposed to talk on the phone while riding. Put your phone on silence, use the texting function to communicate. Do not listen to music and do not talk loudly with somebody else. Be mindful of others. People on the subwat want to unwind and relax before and after work, listening to somebody else's drama is not relaxing. I totally agree with all of that. Exiting the platform can feel slightly claustrophobic due to the crowds, just relax and go with the flow. Pay attention to what side to stand on the escalators, walk the stairs.
Some cars are designated for women only during morning rush hour. It should be like that everywhere.
This is cute. Don't rush, the trains run frequently.
While riding you get useful information about the weather and other things.
