I haven’t updated my blog in months and I failed to mention that I made a life changing decision a while back. That decision has now landed me halfway across the world in Japan. Long story short…I’m going to be living here for a year! I’ve always wanted to experience living in Asia and while it was scary taking the first step, I think it will be a worthwhile experience for me. =D

I’ve officially been in Japan for three days now. Being back in Tokyo feels both familiar and foreign at the same time. Right now I’m still in vacation mode – I have about two weeks before classes start. Currently I’m filling up my time meeting friends and hitting all the touristy spots.

The day after I landed, I spent the entire day with Yuka, Junko and Tomomi going to Mt. Takao. I’m surprised I managed to do so much physical activity after enduring a 13 hour flight! Lol. We didn’t actually hike up the entire mountain, but we did have to walk quite a bit even after getting off the chair lifts. It was a super nice day out but I was sweating buckets not long after we started our hike.

There’s quite a lot to see going up to the top, not just the scenery but also little shops and a shrine called Yakuoin that you pass through on the way. We also ate our way up the mountain, first grabbing some dango, then getting soba before we made our way down. As much as I prefer walking downhill than up, the ground was actually quite slippery coming down the mountain. In fact, the pathways were very narrow and the majority of the stretch didn’t have guardrails, so it would have been a steep plunge to the bottom if I ended up slipping. =S

After making it partially down the mountain, we opted to take the cable car the rest of the way down. I think it was neat being able to experience both the chair lifts and the cable car, so I highly recommend trying both. After returning back to the city, Junko took us to a Korean yakiniku restaurant in Kichijoji. It was my first time cooking meat over a charcoal grill (actually I did more of the eating than grilling, but that’s beside the point lol). The food was really yummy!

The day after Tomomi took me walking around her neighbourhood. We grabbed lunch at this ramen shop with the walls completely plastered with Bob Marley posters. Lol. Later in the evening we took the subway over to Shimokitazawa. Shimokita is a super trendy area for locals with lots of indie and second-hand shops. It has a real unique feel, especially if you explore the stores off the main streets.

Earlier today Tomomi and I got to Ginza before 10:00AM to line up for tickets to watch a Kabuki performance. It was my first time seeing it and the ticket process seemed a little confusing at first. Basically there are two showings a day, one matinee and one evening, with each showing consisting of three plays. Each play is its own story and there’s a short intermission in between. If you want to sit close to the stage then you need to buy tickets to all three plays. While those tickets are more expensive, they allow you to buy in advance and gives you guaranteed seats.

However, if you only want to see one or two plays, then you need to line up to buy same day tickets. These only allow for seating or standing on the fourth floor but the tickets are super cheap. Ours were only 1,200 yen for tickets for the second performance, which was called Momijigari.

Kabuki to me is very much like Opera – pretty to look at, hard to understand. The story was about a demon disguised as a princess who lures a warrior into her trap after he comes up the mountain to see the autumn foliage. The music and dialogue were hard to appreciate without knowing much about the story or kabuki itself, but the costumes were absolutely gorgeous. I highly recommend going if you can get in line early enough to snag the cheap tickets!

Later in the afternoon we spent time window shopping in Ginza. I don’t think the stores have changed much, but the amount of Chinese tourists wheeling suitcases around have definitely shot up. Lol. It was fun nonetheless trying on Burberry trench coats. =P

More adventures in Tokyo coming up soon!