Japan
Tokyo has been at the top of my “to do” list for as long as I can remember. Mainly because I watched too many cartoons as a child! For those who are old enough to remember Robotech, you will enjoy the life size Gundum robots at Diver city! Or if you are a Hello Kitty fan, you must have afternoon tea and pancakes with a life size Hello Kitty at the Hello Kitty Café. It simply must be done 🙂 If you remember to book your tickets about a year in advance, you can also catch a train to Mitaka Station, where a roundtrip bus will deliver you safely to the Ghibli Museum. One of the best adventures awaits you there, so please don’t miss out, tickets must be booked well in advance. Another day trip I highly recommend is to Kyoto to see Kinkaku-ji , The Temple of the golden pavilion, about 3,5 hours by train from Tokyo. If you book a day trip via a private tour guide, they will also drive you to the Arashiyama bamboo grove. However, if your plan is to explore Tokyo only, you will still need at least 5 full days as there is SO much to see! Here is a list of all the places I crammed into my 4 night stay in Tokyo: Shibuya scramble to see the dog statue; Harajuku Takeshita street; Shinjuku Kabukicho; Akihabara(geek’s town); Asakusa at Kaminarimon Gate – Sensoji – famous Japanese traditional temple; Ueno Zoo to see delightful baby Pandas and the Roppongi Hills shopping centre, for amazing evening city views. I also met an amazing couple, who drove me around the Tokyo express way 4 times, just to admire the many glitzy sports cars on show! I was also fortunate enough to see a spectacular fire works display during my short visit. The city is even more alive and vibrant at night, and with the subway trains playing a funny little tune every time the train stops, to all sorts of food vending machines, I was thoroughly entertained even by the little things. The only thing that was difficult to figure out in Japan were the toilets! Luckily they come with picture instructions, else I would have accidentally rinsed my face instead of flushing the loo! I also embarrassingly ordered a Cheese Fondue for Breakfast one morning, as I could not read the Japanese menu – but nothing could ruin my visit to this splendid city! 😂