ありがとう、東京！

I was in Tokyo for 2 weeks, and am still feeling really shitty about my vacay coming to an end.

I grew up being in touch, albeit indirectly, with Japanese culture, as I had a relative who married a Japanese and moved to Japan. And then I got into touch with Japanese music and anime, which further fueled my desire to visit the land of the rising sun. I thought my virgin trip would be with family, but even after my sisters had visited Tokyo Disneyland/USJ, I still hadn't, despite being the most outwardly obsessed with all things Japanese (even to the point where I "learned" some Japanese).

And then a few months back, I saw GazettE announcing their tour final in Yokohama, and on a whim I thought "why not?"

So we bought plane tickets (#JALftw) and started planning. Well, I started planning.

I was so nervous about finally going to Japan that I completely forgot about picking up my portable Wi-Fi and had to separately book an internet in the form of a SIM card.

Tokyo just blew me away, but I think that was more toward my "objectification" of Japan than anything else: that Japan was great. And it was, for the most part. I never had to worry about being run over, or pick-pocketed, or even wolf-whistled at. Trains were on-the-dot on time, and the service staff always went above and beyond to ensure that their service was the best that they could give.

But going from debilitating desk job with a maximum of 4000 steps a day, to exploring every nook and cranny possible - and still not being able to cover everything - while racking up to 25000 steps a day was refreshing.

Conbinis and the vending machines that were everywhere were godsend. Food was always decent, I burnt out my brain trying to read Japanese and navigate, and there was always so much to see and do, something new in the corner to try and explore.

I had others ask why I was spending so much time in Tokyo when I could explore other cities and prefectures. For me, 2 weeks wasn't nearly enough to explore everything I wanted to explore in Tokyo itself, let alone having to try to jam everything I want to do in other cities and prefectures in a short trip.

Hopefully I get to explore more of Japan moving forward, and visit more cat cafes.