I was fortunate enough to have a work assignment here in early March.. barely a week before the Sakura start blossoming. In hindsight, I wish the work trip had been scheduled a bit later, so I could've at least enjoyed the start of the cherry blossoms. Perhaps some other time.
The trip was good, anyhow and I would've enjoyed it a whole load more if I had the chance to venture out of the city. But meetings were jam-packed into 2 whole days, and because I was with the CFO, I couldnt be naughty and skip any of them
Itu pon I had taken an earlier flight in, so I could at least roam around town before sitting down for work. The weather was still pretty cold, and me being me, got cold hives all over again. The ones I got from London hadnt even healed properly yet!
A friend of mine loaned her Tokyo guide book, and I didn't really look at it at first because I had googled my way through lining up an itinerary filled with shopping + fish market + sushi, but damn, the book was really helpful when I nearly got lost in Shibuya en route to Omotesando. And I held on tight to it through the trip, as if my life depended on it, cause it really did
Nevertheless, despite forewarnings of the confusing subway system, I find it awfully easy to navigate, after the initial period of orientation. The walks between lines and from the station to an exit can be pretty daunting tho (some are so far, it could warrant another train stop in between!). The Japanese can speak English, contrary to popular belief, and even the ones who couldn't, know enough English to spew 3-4 English words and coupled with hand gestures, make out sentences that I could understand. So no biggie. Of course, a lot of their signages were in Japanese, but English translations are more often than not there too, so really, it wasnt that bad.
Let me see if recall all the places i went to correctly:
Day 1: Narita Airport - Akihabara - Ginza - Shibuya - Omotesando - Tokyo Disney (but didnt go in sbb dah lambat)
Day 2: Work work work - it got dark by 5pm, so didnt really go anywhere - but did get to go to Harajuku nonetheless
Day 3: Work work - Shinjuku - Tokyo Government Buildings for touristy activity - Tempura resto yum! - Roponggi
Day 4: Tsukiji Fish Market (biggest fish market in the world, but it was CLOSED!!!!) - smaller seafood shops around - the only sushi outlet with English translations and got sushi daging kuda - balik
So I didnt get to see all the places in the guide book, but I didnt too shabby either. In between, I got to see the Imperial Palace n gardens as well, albeit from afar.
I didnt know I could write this much, I guess I loved Tokyo more than I think I did! A friend is planning a Hokkaido trip in summer, and am really psyched to go... but we'll see.
