So when trying on clothes in Japan, they give you this.
It's to protect the clothes from makeup.
Ohayo gozaimasu! Today's my first day,... well no, like my second day in Tokyo and
it is humid out here. People have been telling me this is like the worst month to
travel. It's pretty humid. I've been standing here in the spot filming and
catching up on instgram stories and my legs are kind (uh) ...I felt the first drip
of sweat rolling down my leg. But this is insane, look, we are here! Tokyo is a sprawling cosmopolitan city a polite and
orderly culture steeped in traditional and culinary arts it also has a history
of mixing tradition and innovation and although I'm half Japanese, like any
other country, Tokyo can present some fun culture shock for travelers like myself.
Here's my first impressions of my first 48 hours in Tokyo. Upon arrival what
really surprised me was Tokyo's dense crowds.
That's because Tokyo and its prefectures has a population of up to 13 million
people and while there's plenty of space per person, these are some of the biggest
crowds I've seen in a city, let alone crossing the street. Vending machines are
ubiquitous in Tokyo. They're virtually everywhere which is good when you're
looking for a cold drink. The going range for these type of drinks are probably at
roughly around $1 USD, but they even have vending machine restaurants and I think this
has to do with Tokyo folks being busy and needing quick convenience. Despite
the fact this is fast food, food in these restaurants are still prepared by hand
and made with care. Yet another vending machine restaurant. This one
has pictures on the buttons, so that you can see what you're ordering or what the
the dish is. Japanese luxury toilets or Toto toilets are something you might find
in public restrooms. They've got a remote on the side , where each button has a
feature, such as bidet, front or back...
there's even a button for flushing sounds, so you can have a bit of privacy
when you do your business.
What I loved is that Tokyo seems to think about motherhood. In Tokyo, you'll
occasionally find mother and child stalls with special seats for the child.
Sometimes they even have their own private family bathroom. As part of
Tokyo's dense crowds sometimes pedestrian traffic during rush hour can
be a challenge. When you're arriving early in the morning when all the
businessmen or the business folk are like passing through the Metros, it's kind of hard to cross.
You have to wait to kinda like zig your way, zagging
through. Um, like joining the flow is another thing I found. It's almost like trying to
figure out when to jump in when you're skipping rope, because the flow can be
pretty continuous and in one direction. It's almost people screaming in a line. It's a fairly organized
line. One directional stream. I'm gonna have to either wait for the flow
to die or I'm gonna have to zip! Let's watch and see..
Ok. I hope this is the right line, cuz I don't think I want to go back. A lot of my initial
excitement happening in Tokyo metro stations because you'll need them to get
around. Yes i think i've got the stream of traffic right now, because I was
coming in and a lot of people were coming towards me. If you're going counter traffic I think you just hug the
outside. That's what I'm getting. The people who are going counter (traffic) just kind
of hug to the outside or I don't know... maybe that's the flow of direction. Okay,
let's let's just merge... just like a little tadpole swimming... merging with the
pod.
Another thing about Tokyo and Japanese culture is that it's very orderly.
Take for instance standing in line while waiting for your train. There's
definitely no pushing and shoving. Escalator etiquette this is an unspoken
etiquette you'll find in other Asian countries like Taiwan and Korea. The left
side is for standing right side is for passing. Do not stand in the passing lane.
If you ride the Metro be prepared to walk, stand and climb, as escalators
and elevators can't always be relied upon.
In Tokyo you always find directions and signs. The only problem is sometimes, it
can get to be a bit much. Okay, so this is going to Akihabara. You've got that side
that's going down. You've got this side that's going up. It's also color-coded to
some level.
Some metroas are big... like, really big. You can almost certainly get lost, due to the
fact they're hub stations with many connections. There may also be many signs.
If you get lost, take a deep breath even locals get lost
in some of these large metro stations. Whether you're looking for trains, a
JR line or an exit just to get out... but I'll talk more about my Tokyo travel
tips in another video. Oh my god I need to have a map... ok, Tokyo...
Ueno... Chiba ... Shinjuku Station is actually a really large station. All of
these places right here exist either in or nearby the station. These
buildings are located in that direction.
Got a guy here to help guide the crosswalk and I guess traffic situation.
Even though we have a crosswalk light and a traffic light right there.
What I'm gathering this guy is here to kind of help -I guess - guide the traffic
in this little intersection right here.
And actually when I first noticed him he's kind of sounded like he was a
director calling for 'Action!'
So he's helping I guess, be like the crosswalk signal for the pedestrians and
the bus and that's just this small intersection right here, where this weird
kind of u-turn... As a traveler I always have my eye out for too obvious and
inevitable things... The thing about stations is they also have restrooms! This is handy to have!
So while you might not find many trash bins commonly available on the
streets, you'd at least know that there's restrooms that are in the train stations.
I feel like in the United States, it's a completely different story. You've got a
lot of trash bins everywhere and no restrooms in sight. In Tokyo culture, there's no smoking
on public streets ,except for where smoking is actually allowed. "No smoking
on the street". Bad.
That's like $200 (correction:$20 USD)! I was very excited to visit one of my favorite clothing shops- Uniqlo
which originates in Japan. But there are some cultural differences...
So when trying on clothes in Japan, they give you this.
It's to protect the clothes from your makeup. Although we have a Uniqlo in the West,
it doesn't mean our sizes run the same as Japan's.It's a good thing they have fitting rooms here,
because the sizes here run a little small,... like a "little small". Apparently I'm either a large
or an extra-large, whereas normally I'm a medium-small. In a city that's mostly about walking,
sometimes you just want to sit. I'm in a convenience mart right now.
There's really no place to rest on some of these streets in Tokyo . Sometimes
convenience marts have this little area here, where you know, if you get a drink
of get food,.. you can eat there and just hang out. Some people even
take work there and kind of just work ...kind of like a Starbucks. So I kind of did that
for awhile. Because its so hot outside. So now getting back to the road! Oh, I'd better get a drink before I go!
But the cool thing is that you know, so far I've noticed with that one, at least
there's an area by the window with sitting room and you'll
notice when you're walking on the streets in Japan, there's no real place
to rest. I mean, I feel like... I feel like... you have to pull off to the side so
other people can walk by. Yeah so that's like an area with air conditioning so
I was very much attracted to it. But yeah it's kind of cool cause you'll see
businessmen in there kind of working and you hanging out like a Star...
treating it like a Starbucks! Like a Starbucks (pointing). Just open the door and the warm air
came in ... It was like foof! Safe to say it's pretty warm out today but these mini
marts ..I like them. I like them a lot. They're like Family Mart's and 7-Elevens
in Japan. They're kind of like our convenience stores with a lot of a
variety of little meals and snacks dishes and drinks. If you enjoyed this
video remember to give it a thumbs up give it a share and if you're new to my
channel please subscribe for more of my solo travel adventures as I take you
inside and knock off my bucket lists of travel let me know what you think of my
video above all may the GRRR be with you.