Do Androids Dream?

One of the many things I liked about Tokyo was that the scene you see during the day is nothing like the scene you see at night. When the sun is up you're able to take in the urban sprawl for as far as you can see but when the sun goes down the city becomes something else entirely.

You'd think that the cluster of so many tall building would cast a dark gloom upon the streets but this is not the case. Tokyo becomes quite illuminated, from the ballparks, the giant public tv screens, and the many neon lights. The city at night is truly something to behold.

Tokyo at night is almost futuristic in its presentation and if nothing else something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Walking around I thought of movies like "Bladerunner", "Johnny Mnemonic", and "The Fifth Element". And no place fits this image more so than Shibuya.

Shibuya is a district in Tokyo that seems to never sleep. It's a hub where trains, subways, buses, cabs, and any other form of transportaion appears to merge. With that being said it's funny that the way we reached Shibuya was just by walking to it. And for me it was like walking into a dream. The lights, the people, the activity just kind of takes you in all at once and leaves you wondering what exactly it is you're looking at.

Tokyo was a lot of fun. It's a beautiful city no matter what time of the day it is but for me I liked the look of it at night. And at no time did I ever feel wary about being out late. I always felt safe walking the streets, probably because they never turned out the lights.

My way or the subway...

After taking the most expensive cab ride of my life from Narita International Airport I realized that taking the subway was the only way to go in Tokyo. Of course one could always take a cab, rent a car, or ride the bus, but only if you had a lot of cash and didn't need to get anywhere anytime soon. I had never ridden the subway system before so once I stepped upon the platform at Shibakoen station I knew I was in for a ride.

Trying to figure out how the subway system ran was a little confusing at first. Some of the maps and ticket consoles were completely in Japanese. But in consideration of their Western visitors our host nation displayed some maps in English and even some, not all, of the ticket consoles had "english version" options. So once we figured out what to do we were quickly on our way.

The Tokyo subway system is truly an amazing thing. We'd open up our Tokyo guide book and pick a destination in town and the subway lines would have a stop at least several blocks from where we needed to be. We were zipping all across Tokyo, from Roppongi Hills to the temples at Asakusa, in what seemed like a matter of minutes.

I think what really impressed me the most about the subway system was the etiquette. Yes, there is a certain amount of etiquette involved while riding the subway. One thing I noticed is that while taking the escalators at the station everyone would stand to the left. This would leave the right side open for anyone in a hurry to walk by. It's not an occasional few who honor this but EVERYONE. Also talking on the subway is kept to a minimum or at least a low whisper. You'll see a lot of people texting with their cell phones but rarely see anyone speaking on their phones or having loud conversations.

The fact that I'm writing a whole blog about the subway system shows how impressed I was with it. Considering that Tokyo is a city of over 12 million commuters makes it that more amazing. So along with taking a tour or sampling the local cuisine, if one truly wanted to experience Tokyo, I'd recommend buying a ticket and riding the subway.

Reflections...

The continent of Asia has always held a certain wonder for me. A place so rich in history and culture that you could spend a lifetime there and not see everything there is to see. Well I didn't have a lifetime to spend but I was afforded two weeks in April of 2008 so I took a vacation there with my brother and a good friend. More specifically we visited the countries of Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. The following blogs are my attempts to process and reflect back on what was, for me, a truly amazing experience.

My journey to the Far East was such a whirlwind tour. There was so much to see and do but with only a limited amount of time. We wanted to see the sites, try the local cuisine, experience the culture and before we knew it our time in one country was over and we were off to the next. Sixteen days came and went and soon we were on a plane heading back to the U.S., overwhelmed and completely exhausted.

Now that I'm home I've had a chance to relax and go over the many, many pictures we took. It has been helpful because while on tour it all went by so quickly. It was a constant blur of sights and sounds. The photos help me to remember the course of events and relive certain moments that might have otherwise slipped my mind. So I'll start my series of blogs with Tokyo, the first stop on our jaunt across Asia.