Day 2: Shibuya , Harajuku , Omatesandu

Up early in the morning ( well not much sleep anyway since I ‘m eager to start the next day and I may have had some green tea early in the evening )

Gold's Gym shibuyaMy first stop along the way was Gold’s Gym in Shibuya, an impressive installation on 3 floors (see photos attached) It had all the amenities you expect from a gym , world-class gym including sauna and jacuzzi which felt good after the long travel. Their weights are not as new as those at home .. but right now I’m being picky .
After that, it was off to the land of cosplay Harajuku . It turns out that the Goths sleep in and I was there at 9 which was about two hours at the before any of the action, so I ended up taking a walk through the streets and check the punk / hippie cool shops and great crepes; they looked absolutely delicious and I considered eating the demos for a while but later thankfully decided against it. Take a look and say you do not feel the same .
Omatesandu next stop , where all major shops names. Not much to see here, think 5th Avenue , I ‘m not much for its designer boutiques to this was the shortest part of my trip .
Finally I went to where I was staying in Asakusa Smile Hostel . It is a picturesque place , I stayed in their schedule that was a few blocks from the main inn , but it was much more recent and facilities were spotless 🙂 🙂

Adrift in Tokyo (Edo)

The first post in my Blog will be about the First night in Tokyo – without a doubt one that wont soon be forgotten.

Tokyo subway map

Now this must be a first, but the flight really arrived 30 minutes  earlier than scheduled ! I knew the Japanese were efficient, and as they say if your early, you are on time and if you are on time then you are late. Or maybe everything is just reversed in Japan, like how the whole world goes through inflation but the Japanese economy (and prices) exhibit deflation.  Or perhaps its that one needs the additional 30 minutes just to figure the Tokyo transportation map and how one should head to where  needed. So after getting acquainted to the map, I made my way to the City from Narita Airport. Glance over at the map on the right hand side and you’ll understand.

However in the wake of getting into Tokyo and to my first picked area Shibuya which is plainly where all the adolescents hang out. I was expecting to see all the Japanese youth dressed up as their manga characters, but apparently that is more of a Sundays thing, so i’ll return then 🙂

Tokyo Internet Cafe cubicle

The one great thing that did come of this is that I did uncover a 24 hour internet and Karaoke establishment that offered extremely sensible rates for an overnight stay, it was really just what I needed/expected: private cubicle and your own PC (Quad-core processor and kick ass specs… unfortunately the OS was in Japanese :S but what do you expect? ) with extremely rapid web access. I’ll post an improved quality pic up when I get the chance, but here’s a pic that I took with my phone for now.

On that note, i’m really wiped right now so I’m going to catch some Asian Zzzzz’s however I’ll  leave you with a couple of additional pics that I took while walking around.

Shibuya is like Time Square on crack, it extends a hella’ far and offer some great views.

Pic on right :Am i simply seeing things, or is that a Fido sign, but backwards and  advertising a real-estate agent?

Backwards Fido Sign Shibuya Intersection