Open air Sauna

Thursday, July 30 2009

I love Tokyo!

Well, except for the humidity. I seriously can’t think of a place that I’ve been to that has the same intensity of humidity as Tokyo… and by that I’m comparing it to the likes of Egypt, the Philippines, and summer in Chicago. Spots of sweat starts visibly forming in my shirt within a few minutes of being outside. I may sweat a lot (or some even say I have sweating problems – I do, afterall, start sweating the moment I smell spicy food 5 feet away), but the only other place sweat starts dripping from my skin that instantaneously is in a sauna.

Anyway, I still can’t complain. Sweating problems in Tokyo sounds like a champagne problem, considering that I’d rather be sweating in Tokyo town than being stuck in middle America.

With that said, I’m definitely starting to get used to the metro system here in Tokyo. It’s really no biggy as long as you are used to any other metro system (in other words, if you can connect point A to point B, then you should be fine). Perhaps the only difference is with the Japanese system compared to others (western Europe in particular) is that you pay for every stop. They do not have a system here where you can get a pass for the whole day and go around as much as you want. In hindsight, this is probably where Tokyo gets expensive. If I want to go around the city as much as I want, the price adds up every time I use the metro.

The touristy things I checked off today are the Imperial palace and the garden. It was quite….OK. I’m not sure I can say I was blown away by it… but I suppose it’s still worth a trip. Then after I came back to the hostel to take my midday shower, I explored Shinjuku later that night. This was the first night I truly see Tokyo at night… and this is when I can truly say I was blown away by it. For me at least, the lights in Tokyo are more spectacular than Las Vegas at night …maybe because it doesn’t feel tacky?

Then I stumbled upon the “red light district” of Tokyo where I was approached by numerous guys and gals asking if I needed a massage (and um, and sex on the side…). I got approached so many times I thought it’d be funny if I capture it on film…and I did. Those suckers didn’t know I already have my video cam on when they approached me…so you can watch the video yourself ☺

Anyway, lights out. I’m off to bed.