Tokyo

[I'm With Stupid]

There's shitloads to do there. I took a day trip with friends down to Zushi beach, which was great fun. Ueno has an amazing park with loads of museums in it, although at night time the area nearby turns into a bit of a red light district. Akihabara is basically a geek's heaven, so that's well worth a visit. Harajuku is the centre of fashion, and it's a great place to go at the weekend to see all of the people dressed in ridiculous stuff. But for actual shops, I think Jiyugaoka is better and less full of tourists. Asakusa is the more historical area of the city, although it's not as good as somewhere like Kyoto. There are day trips that you can do out of the city that might be a bit better for temples and stuff like that. On the other hand, it's so easy to get around Tokyo, that you might as well do it. I didn't really spend much time in Roppongi, although it does have the Tokyo Tower, but the Sky Tree has kinda overtaken that now. One good tip is to go to the Metropolitan Government Building. It's the tallest building in the city and has a free observation deck.

Oh, and bring cash. And don't expect wifi anywhere except your hotel.

 

[che_don_john]

Great place, but whatever you do, don't press the orange button on the toilet.

OK, you're gonna have to tell us why, now (plus any other essential do's and don't's). because nobody has yet warned me about these orange buttons.

 

[MCFCTrick]

Fantastic city ... of course it is full on, but cool. And try and get time out of it ... get the Bullet Train to Mount Fuji .... Kanpai!

 

[Biffo123]

Ha ha , forgot about the toilet seats , Moomba can probably explain things better , but they are all pretty space age . Full of buttons to heat them up , tilt them at different angles and others to shoot those jets of water all over the place . Had to use the loos one night in a restaurant , then spent a pretty stressful 5 mins trying to work out which button actually flushed the thing with people waiting outside to get in , managed to work it out in the end , funny now but not at the time

Also agree that Kyoto is well worth a visit

 

[che_don_john]

Just got back from Tokyo, fantastic place. Quite different from what I was expecting, too.

I had imagined a bustling city with people walking around with blinkers on, cramming into trains and bumping into each other on the streets without apologising (basically a London in the Far East).

But instead it was quite a relaxed place, a nice pace to it. People there are super polite and no-one invades your personal space. You can walk around without feeling that someone will snatch your personal belongings, or that people will ever try to swindle you out of money. I saw a row of about 25 bikes parked by a railing - not one of them locked.

We stayed in Ginza, which is great but really just like any other shopping area in any major city (only with more polite people and staff). The parts I liked more were the shrines (particularly the Meiji shrine and park) and Akihabara (where they sell lots of games, manga/anime, etc).

Also, the food is unbelievably good. You feel much healthier after spending a week there - I had a full-English at a posh cafe when I got back, and felt pretty sick afterwards.

Only regret was that I wasn't able to step out of Tokyo and visit any of the islands, Fuji, etc.

 

[CTID1988]

Theres a bar in Tokyo with a room above it with a glass floor, so the ceiling of the bar is see through. Women come out and take a shit on it, then a guy cleans it up, then another woman comes out and takes a shit and so on and so on. All while you're enjoying a nice pint of Asahi

 

[bluemoon32]

Theres a bar in Tokyo with a room above it with a glass floor, so the ceiling of the bar is see through. Women come out and take a shit on it, then a guy cleans it up, then another woman comes out and takes a shit and so on and so on. All while you're enjoying a nice pint of Asahi

Sounds like Birmingham

 

[CarlosTevez'sEnglishTutor]

Bump.

Anyone ever been to Tokyo or Seoul? I've never been to Asia, the whole Goa or Bali thing has never appealed to me, but would like to take in one or both of Tokyo and Seoul. Any recommendations?

 

[N1985]

Going in October for a fortnight. Cannot wait. Had some great recommendations off here in the Holiday thread. Well worth a look

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Bump.

Anyone ever been to Tokyo or Seoul? I've never been to Asia, the whole Goa or Bali thing has never appealed to me, but would like to take in one or both of Tokyo and Seoul. Any recommendations?

I’ve been all over the world and Tokyo is my favourite place I’ve been to. I can never find the right words to describe the place, it’s just completely different to anywhere else I’ve been.

I’ve been wanting to go to Seoul for years but still haven’t had chance. Korean BBQ’s take some beating.