- Good morning, everyone.
It's a beautiful sunny day in Tokyo,
and a perfect day to go exploring.
Today I'm here to try the Sky Hop Bus where you
can ride around to all of the famous tourist
destinations in Tokyo, and get off and on the bus
as much as you want.
There are two types of tickets.
There's a 24 hour ticket and a 48 hour ticket.
And each ticket allows you to get on and off these buses
as many times as you want within that period of time.
So this is a great way to see Tokyo if you're
on a very limited schedule.
And also a great way to knock all of the main toursism
destinations out of the park in one day.
Anyway the bus is about to take off and I don't wanna
be late, so I'm gonna get on the bus and get right to it.
Let's see what it's like.
I feel like a proper tourist today.
And we're off.
There's something about being able to feel the wind
in your hair while exploring a new city
that feels really exciting.
I love it.
This stuff's great.
This is the perfect day to be out here.
I picked a really good day to do a bus tour.
So the Sky Hop Bus has two routes, the red course,
and the blue course.
Today I'm taking the blue course which tours around famous
sites such as Tokyo Tower, Rainbow Bridge, Odaiba,
and the original Tsukiji Fish Market.
Here's Tokyo Tower, the first stop.
I forgot how big this is.
Somehow in my head I was thinking, "Well I know
it's smaller than Skytree."
But when you see it in person you're like, "Okay, no,
"but that's actually a big tower."
That's a huge tower.
Of course, you can choose to ride the bus
for the entire length of the route
and just watch the city from the road.
But if you'd rather spend more time at a particular location
you can simply hop off and explore.
The buses run about once an hour.
And you'll be given a schedule to refer to,
to make sure you know when the next bus is coming.
So each seat has audio guidance in different languages.
We've got Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish,
French, and German.
According to the audio, this is the third,
where'd it go?
The third largest Ferris wheel in Japan.
Yup.
After a quick round-trip joy ride on the blue course
I returned to Marunouchi, the starting point for this trip,
and hopped on the red line.
Using the coupon and special offer booklet that comes
with my ticket, I decided to plan the rest of my itinerary.
So I hopped off the bus and my fist stop is this
Washi workshop where you can make
traditional Japanese paper.
And coming into the shop I actually didn't know what
to expect, but I had heard that this was a really good
experience and it's something a little bit different
from calligraphy or kimonos and something that I
really personally wanted to try.
I made my own Japanese paper with a cute Sakura design.
It was not as hard as I thought it was gonna be.
Through all of the steps the teacher was very good
at coaching me along.
And I really, really love the result.
There's so many different textures, different colors,
different types of paper.
I had no idea walking into the store that I would see
so many different patterns
and designs that actually excite me.
I didn't expect to be this excited about paper
but here I am.
Here we are.
We're doing this, look at this.
Presenting your Sky Hop Bus coupon book at the counter
allows you to get a free bookmark.
The red course takes you through iconic neighborhoods
in Tokyo, including the new Tokyo Skytree, the famous
Asakusa and Senso-ji Shrine, Ueno, and Akihabara.
This is a good route to experience
both modern-day pop culture and tradition.
So if you're planning on coming to Japan but you don't
have a lot of time to plan your trip and do a lot of
sightseeing, I do recommend that Asakusa is one
area that you check out.
It's got Tokyo Skytree, and Senso-ji, which are two
really, really cool spots to visit.
But also the vibe of the town here is very old
fashioned and traditional.
And there's lots of really cool shops that feel
like they've been around here for ages.
And you never know what you're going to find.
Senso-ji is an ancient Buddhist temple,
the oldest temple in Tokyo.
But it's vibrant red color, and the streets lined
with vendors selling traditional snacks and items
make it a popular tourist destination even today.
Dress up in a kimono and stroll the scenic side streets,
or take a moment to feel the spiritual energy.
This is a great stop on any itinerary to Tokyo.
For lunch I decided to check out a tourist-friendly
restaurant called Origami, as it was recommended
to me in my Sky Hop bus coupon booklet.
They even have a prayer room
for their Muslim customers to use.
So the thing that really stands out to me about the menu
here is that it's Muslim friendly, Halal friendly,
and it's got vegetarian and vegan options as well.
So you can still enjoy an authentic Japanese dining
experience without feeling like you're missing out
on anything which is really good.
I decided to go for a Wagyu set lunch,
using high-grade local Wagyu beef.
It is served on a hot plate with dipping sauces
and wasabi on the side.
Yes, in case you didn't know, Wagyu tastes amazing
when topped with a little bit of wasabi.
And hey, another tip.
If you present your Sky Hop Bus coupon book here
you can get either green tea ice cream
or a drink for free.
So depending on what you order on the menu,
for dessert you can steam your own manju.
And we have anko here, and brown sugar
and butter on the side.
This looks really good.
(speaking foreign language)
Here we go.
Whoa, it's way bigger than I thought it would be.
I made this.
Now, I've had Japanese manju before, but I've never
had it fresh, fresh from the steamer.
I just made this.
It doesn't get fresher than this.
And it's really nice when it's warm.
This would be really good
with like a cup of tea or something.
Mmm, it's a perfect way to end a meal.
After lunch I caught another Sky Hop Bus, and to my surprise
this was my favorite design yet.
The seats in a dome at the front of the bus
allows you to see everything that's going on around you.
From the comfort of your seat.
(speaking foreign language)
- Hi!
(laughter)
- Bye, bye!
So I've been hopping on and off the bus all day
and each time I get on the bus it's like
a little bit different.
Some of them have clear roofs.
Some of them have open tops.
This one has a clear front and an open back.
It's really nice.
And if you look right now there's Skytree.
I really like this area of Tokyo.
It's very clean, very quiet, and the buildings
are relatively new, but also tall.
And they let the light in.
These streets feel like really nice to walk down.
It almost doesn't even feel like Japan in this area.
It feels more like a European city, super classy.
I'm into it.
And straight down this way we have the Imperial Palace,
where the Emperor of Japan lives.
So, yeah.
Pretty fancy area.
Finally after heading back to Marunouchi I decided
to make one more stop.
The tourist information center.
You can ask any questions you have about travel
in Japan, not just Tokyo here.
And with your Sky Hop Bus coupon book, you can get
some extra goodies as well.
All right, so back at Marunouchi, right in front
of the bus stop.
The bus is over there, but I'm done for the day.
I'm not gonna get on another bus.
But I did have fun this morning.
I took the blue line in the morning
and I saw Tokyo Tower.
I took the red line in the afternoon
and I saw Asakusa and Skytree.
It's great to be able to see all these things in one day
without barely lifting a finger.
Because let's be honest, the train lines can be very
tiring with all of the transfers.
And you don't even get a seat, most of the time.
So if you're looking for a low-key, relaxed,
easily accessible way to explore the city,
the 24 hour bus pass is a really good deal.
And it just gets you where you need to be.
What are your favorite places to visit in Tokyo?
Let me know in the comments.
And I'll talk to you again soon.
Thank you so much for watching.
Bye!
(upbeat music)
I can just keep doing this.
I can do this all day.
Bye.
(upbeat music)