Hi there, I'm Amy from Cakes with Faces
I've been travelling to Japan for 10 years
Today I'm going to take you back
To my first trip
And talk you through what I did
All the hits, misses
All the things I wish I'd known
So we can share some memories
And there'll be some useful tips along the way
If you're planning a trip
Have a look at my Japlanning series
Which is all about how to book everything
Then how to get by when you're in Japan
They're all together in a playlist on my channel
And there's new Japan videos every Thursday
If you want to subscribe
My first trip to Japan was in April 2010
I stayed just in Tokyo
I went for 8 days
Which isn't long at all
There's so much to do in Tokyo
You could easily stay for longer than that
You wouldn't get bored
I stayed in Shiodome, which is a modern, business district
It might seem like a random place to stay
But back then, I didn't know all the areas so well
I wouldn't say it's the best place to stay
But it wasn't bad
I stayed at the Park Hotel
I picked that one because it's on top of an office block
So I knew we'd be guaranteed a really good view
And the view was amazing!
You could see over Tokyo Bay
And all the skyscrapers
It was really good
Our room was actually pretty big
Which isn't typical of Tokyo at all
Most hotel rooms are tiny
We lucked out with this hotel
Every time I've looked at it since
It's been way out of my price range
So I think it must have been on special offer
I funded my trip by selling my childhood collection of My Little Ponies
My parents had kept them all in their loft
I had all the houses
And about 300 ponies
So I sold them all online
And used the money to fund my first trip to Japan
This was the year before I started Cakes with Faces
Which is my business
It's just me
I design t-shirts, like this one I'm wearing today
Clothing, accessories
And I sell them online
It's cakeswithfaces.co.uk if you want to have a look
Because it was before I started Cakes with Faces
I had a lot more free time then
So I made this scrapbook
With all my pictures, tickets, leaflets & everything
Which is really nice to look through now
This was also before I'd ever made a video
So I've got some photos to show you
Some of them are pretty bad!
And I've got footage of some of the same places
From when I've been back since
There's videos about a lot of the places I'm going to mention on my channel
If you want to know more about any of them
So I'd arrived in Japan for the first time ever
And I needed to get some food
Now you know how I always go on about how great Japanese food is
And how you should try as much of it as you can
Well the first thing I ever ate in Japan
Was Subway
*fail*
Now, I think that's pretty bad
But at the time I was just so proud that I'd managed to acquire food
Before I went, I was actually pretty nervous
BEcause I didn't know how different everything was going to be
Or if everything was going to be in Japanese
Or if I'd even be able to understand anything
I'd taught myself a bit of Japanese
So I was just really proud
That I'd managed to order this Subway
Being so nervous about my first trip
Is part of the reason why I make my videos
To show you what it's like
On the whole, it turned out to be nowhere near as difficult as I thought it would be
On my first day
I went to Odaiba
Which is an area in Tokyo Bay
I don't know why I picked there
But it was quite close to where I was staying
It's actually a really interesting area
That's kind of different from the rest of Tokyo
It's not always featured in guidebooks
I'd heard about a boat called the Himiko
Which is designed by an anime artist
It looks really cool
I'd actually seen it from my hotel room window
I wanted to take it over to Odaiba
But it turned out, it wasn't running that day
So here's a tip for you:
If there's something like that, something particular you want to do
Just check the opening times
Or the running times
Because they might not be what you expect
So we took the regular boat over to Odaiba
And looked round some shopping malls
And Toyota Megaweb
Then we went to Miraikan, the science museum
I was actually really impressed with it
It's quite advanced
And in-depth
They had loads of robots
There was a model that explains how the internet works
And we saw Asimo, Honda's robot
He can kick a ball and he can run
Which is pretty impressive for robots
On the second day I went to Akihabara
Which is one of the places I was most excited about going
It's the centre for anime in Tokyo
With loads of shops with figures
Merch, anime, manga, games & electronics
You can easily spend a whole day there
In fact, lots of you guys in the comments
Said you went there several times
I just couldnt believe how much there was
And how cheap the figures were compared to in the UK
But actually, on my first trip I missed out on quite a lot
Because I didn't realise how much was upstairs
And below ground
Sometimes it looks like you're going up a fire escape
Or some creepy staircase
That you shouldn't be going on
But that's normal
Just have a look and see what you find
After that we went to take a look at the Imperial Palace
Which is where the Emperor of Japan lives
You can't go in
But you can see it over a bridge
And you can walk around the grounds
And the, quite near that on my map
I spotted "Godzilla statue"
So of course, we had to go and have a look
And it was so funny
Because it turned out to be tiny!
They've actually replaced this one now
With a bigger one
You can also see Godzilla in Kabukicho
On top of the Hotel Gracery
Which is a really good hotel
There's a room tour on my channel
And finally, I looked round Ginza
Which has a lot of designer shops
Which I wouldn't say is a must do
Unless you're into designer label shopping
Looking back now
I think this seems like a lot to pack into a day
This isn't the ideal itinerary
It's just what I did
And it was quite a short trip
On the 3rd day I went to Shibuya
To see the famous scramble crossing
I also looked round Shibuya 109
Which is a shopping mall with lots of womens clothing stores
It turned out to be a bit more girly than my taste
But if you're into kawaii fashion
You should definitely go there
There's not a whole lot of things to do in Shibuya
Apart from shopping
There's arcades, karaoke, lots of places to eat & bars
But if you're going to Tokyo
You probably want to see the scramble crossing
And it's right by the station
Now there's also Shibuya Scramble Square
Which has a new observation deck
On top of a skyscraper
And that looks really good
And of course, Shibuya's right next to Harajuku
Which I was so excited about going to
Ever since I saw the Fruits books with all the really colourful fashion
It's the centre for alternative fashion in Tokyo
I spent the whole time on the main street, Takeshita Street
Actually, on my first trip I didn't even realise there was more than that!
If you're into Japanese fashion
Or cute clothes
You can easily spend a whole day in Harajuku
Obviously, I found plenty to keep me occupied just on Takeshita Street
But if you cross over the road at the end
There's also all the backstreets to look round
And there's also the area around Cat Street
Both of them are a bit more laidback
A bit more trendy
With lots of boutiques and things
As Takeshita Street's become a lot more touristy and crowded
You might find you prefer those areas
After that we went to Nakano Broadway
All this seems like a lot to do in a day
But I was on a fairly short trip
When I've gone back, I've spent the whole afternoon just in Nakano Broadway
It's a shopping mall with lots of figures
Collectibles, and all sorts of merchandise
You really could find anything there
It's a little bit cheaper than Akihabara
If you're into figure shopping
I'd always recommend you go to both if you have time
In the evening I went to Shinjuku
Which I thought was a bit like London
It's really busy with lots of shops and restaurants
We spent ages looking for this restaurant that does veggie burgers
At the time, I didn't know as much about finding vegetarian options
And it was quite difficult at times
But I won't go into that now
On my first trip I didn't have a pocket wifi
So I didn't have the internet
And I'd always get one now
It makes it so much easier
Just to be able to look things up
Check the maps
You can look up train times & opening times & things
On the next day, we had a day out of the city
And went on a coach trip to Mount Fuji
Which was how I discovered, I'm not a big fan of coach trips
If I went back now
I'd definitely go independently
There's lots of ticket packages for the train for tourists
And you can do what you want
Take your time
And it's a lot cheaper
But at the time I was kidn of nervous about taking the train independently
I didn't know if everything was going to be in Japanese
And I didn't want to get stranded at Mount Fuji
And not able to get back
So we went on a coach trip
It's actually not like that at all
And I would have been fine
But I didn't know that then
And we did get a pretty good view of Mount Fuji!
Often you can't see it very well
Because it's hidden by clouds
So you're lucky if you get a good view
We went up on the coach, just above the snow line
It was really cold!
As part of the tour, we took the shinkansen (the bullet train)back
And I was so excited
Because I'd always wanted to go on the bullet train
Even thought it was just a short trip
I couldn't believe how smooth & comfortable it was
I took this really terrible video on my 1 megapixel camera
At the end of the trip, the tour guide was hand-holding everyone
And gave everyone really detailed instructions
About how to get back to their hotels
But we sneaked off
And went back to Akihabara
As I said, if you're into figures
You're going to want to go there more than once!
In the evening, we went to an Alice in Wonderland theme restaurant
Now I don't know how long it took us to find this place
We went round the block so many times
Looking for it
In the end, what we were looking for
Was this tiny sign on the wall
In between 2 shops
You had to go up a lift to get to it
What I didn't realise at the time
Was not everything's at street level
You have to go upstairs quite often to find things
So we took the lift up
And inside, there were these huge storybook pages
Which we went through
And the theming was beautiful
All the waitresses were dressed like Alices
And the food was really cute as well
Even the menu was adorable
In was in a little box
With a streetlamp that actually lit up
I just loved the whole thing
Usually at theme restaurants, you can't expect the food to be the best
And they are quite pricey
But it is a fun experience
For the last 3 days we went to stay at Tokyo Disneyland
Now I'm not going to go on about it too much
Because I know not everyone's into Disney
We were quite lucky
It can get really crowded there
And the queues can be quite long
But it wasn't too bad
One day, it was pouring with rain
So it was pretty empty
But we still had a good time
We splashed out & stayed at the Hotel Miracosta
Which is at the entrance to Disney Sea
From our window, we could see into the park
We could see the Mediterrannean Harbour area
And the volcano, Mount Prometheus
It was so good!
I was amazed at the theming of Disney Sea
It's so detailed
And so beautiful
There's two parks at Tokyo Disney
Disneyland & Disney Sea
Disney Sea is only in Japan
It's completely different to all the other Disney parks around the world
Disneyland is similar to the Magic Kingdom style parks
It's not identical
And it does have some rides you can't find anywhere else
If you only have one day
I'd always recommend going to Disney Sea
Just because it's different
But if you're really into Disney
You'll probably want to go to both
So that's what we did each day
I wouldn't say it's the ideal itinerary
But it's what we did
Looking back now
I can see there are a few things missing
Firstly: Studio Ghibli.
Which seems kind of strange now
I don't know why I didn't go
If you like the films
And especially if you like the artwork
You'll really enjoy it
Book your tickets as early as you can before you go
Because they sell out every day
The next thing we didn't do is karaoke
Which is so much fun
You're not on a stage in front of everyone
You get a private room, for just your group
It's just so much fun
I think it's an experience everyone should have
The next place we didn't go
Is Asakusa
Which is an older, more traditional area
With Senso-ji, the oldest temple in Tokyo
Now particularly at the time
I was a lot more into modern Japan
Than traditional temples & shrines
But usually, if people go to one temple in Tokyo
It's going to be Senso-ji
That does mean it's really crowded
So I think it's a good idea to pop into any smaller temples or shrines you come across as well
They can be a lot more atmospheric
And I also didn't go to Ikebukuro
Which isn't a huge thing
But it's one of the other main areas
A lot of people go for the Pokemon Centre
There's also an aquarium
A planetarium
A huge mall called Sunshine City
And Otome Road
Which is like a mini version of Akihabara
The first time I went, I actually didn't like it at all
Because I didn't know where to go
And I couldn't find the main areas
But if you follow signs to Sunshine City
That's where the good stuff is
So I guess that's the way it is
There were lots of things I didn't know about back then
And every time I go back to Japan
I learn about more new things
And I enjoy it more as well
So I hope that helped
Or you at least found it interesting
If you've been to Japan, let me know if that was anything like your experiences
And if you've got any questions
Put them in the comments as well
And I'll be back next week
I'll see you on Thursday!