Another adventure in Tokyo!
December 13, 2022
We spent the last couple of months in Japan… and all I can say is WOW, what an experience! I’ll start with Tokyo (before Alan’s mom came to visit!), which is where we spent about half that time.
Tokyo (and Japan as a whole) was so different this time around. Last time, I felt like people were so quiet and shy. I don’t know if being cooped up from Covid made people more social or what changed… but I felt like it was one of the most outgoing and friendly places we’ve been.
We pretty much saw people nonstop. We met with friends and acquaintances from the past, made tons of new friends, ran into business opportunities, must’ve been interviewed a half dozen times, even YouTube made us some new homies. 😂
Once again… because I’m not very good at posting updates, I’m just making a list of highlights for my future self to look back on.
-Being some of the first tourists back in Japan after their reopening and getting interviewed for the news a bunch 😂
-Meeting up with a FB friend, that we’d met at a grocery store in 2019 (in Tokyo actually!) and kept in touch with. We happened to be there at the same time as him and linked up! Him and his friends took us up the Tokyo Skytree, bar hopping in Golden Gai, to our first Maid Cafe, and to a sushi restaurant where we drank snake liquor.
-Somehow having an entire conversation over dinner with some Chinese/Japanese business guys using entirely body language. 😂
-Petting a freakin capybara.
-Being invited to a street music show by a stranger, actually going, the show being busted up by the cops… then running into and befriending fellow travel video makers that we had recognized and contacted earlier that day. Small world. Lol.
-Costume/cosplay shopping in Tokyo’s biggest otaku (anime nerd) districts
-HALLOWEEN!!! (Everything about it!)
-Spending hours in Ginza chatting with a local street photographer.
-Trying rainbow cheese corn dogs and getting cinnamoroll nails done in Harajuku 💕🌈
-My cat latte art in Shimokitazawa.
-Eating yakitori dinner with a couple of young local guys who are very successful Youtubers… we had a nice chat and they told us all about what it’s like being young in Japan.
-Meeting with some fellow travel & video friends to get our fortunes at the Senso-Ji temple and exploring Akihabara… and making future plans with them!
-Eating way way too much tempura and yakiniku… like way too much. lol
-Familymart. Coffee.
This non-exhaustive list definitely doesn’t even begin to capture the experience. But we had a great time and we’re grateful Tokyo welcomed us back so warmly!
Can’t wait to visit again one day!
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