Tokyo: First Impressions

We arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, and have spent the first few days recovering from jet lag and exploring this vast city. Our hosts for the next 3 weeks are more Kiwi friends, Luke and Vanessa. They have been living in Tokyo for 5 months and have a cool apartment that we are able to stay with them in.

Ok, so first impressions of Tokyo (and Japan). Obviously, the language has been difficult, as we don't speak more than 2 or 3 words of Japanese. Luckily, a few (but definately not all) of the signs have some English, so at least we know which direction on the subway to head. Other times, especially at the shops, we find ourselves just pointing at what we want and hoping for the best. No nasty surprises yet, except a chicken ciabatta roll which which was lost in translation and became chicken soup (and sadly never became a roll again).

We have become pretty good (or so we think) at using public transport overseas, and we especially like to use the underground systems to explore the city and then head back home. London's Underground is old but works well, the interchange stations are well placed and you can get where you want to pretty easily. Paris's Metro is very nice in its layout, a little dirty in places, but again pretty straight forward. The MRT in Singapore would have to be our favourite, very simple and easy to use. Tokyo's Metro would have to be the most confusing we have encountered so far. It just doesn't make sense at times. It's also not separated from other lines, so some of the trains that come by are actually going out of the city - which doesn't happen on other underground systems. Matt had a mare on the metro this week, where a 2 line trip turned into 5-6 lines (I lost count) and over 1 hour to get to the desired destination. I'm sure if we could read the signs it would be better.

 It will not defeat me!

But not all grim. Some things bypass the language barrier. We have had some of the best coffee we have had so far in Tokyo. These flat whites would seriously compete with anything you can get in Auckland, AND check out the art on top! Mamma Dee, you'd better work on something more than the fern.

The food also is as expected, amazing. Different to Japanese at home, however, its not all about sushi and sashimi. At the restaurant above we had 'Shabu-shabu', where you are given thin slices of raw beef and pork, which you cook yourself along with vegetables in a pot of boiling broth. It is delicious, and unlike anything you have tasted before (unless, of course, you have had shabu-shabu).