日本

I As I have mentioned before, I was once lucky enough to go on a once in a lifetime, for me at least, trip to Japan. I often wonder if people who love this country such as myself hold back, out of fear of the distance, the language and cultural barriers and so on.

Firstly, I had never flown so far in my life. I splashed out for a direct flight, so I went straight from Heathrow Airport to Narita airport. A journey of 11 hours. Now, I am a big person. Tall, 5'9", and overweight. So 11 hours in an economy seat was a real issue for me if I'm honest. I barely fit. It was only because I was with friends who let me raise my arm rest I survived. 

My plane ready and waiting

I went to Japan in August. That meant I was facing temperatures up to 40c in the day and 100% humidity. As you can imagine that in itself was a daunting prospect, but I was too excited to care. Coming off the plane into the airport I was warm but not really any more than summer at home. And then I went outside. Like stepping into a warm bath only the more you move the hotter it gets.

Getting to the hotel provided the first language barrier issue. My friends both spoke japanese but both became incapacitated as we got lost with heavy suitcases in that heat, trying to find our hotel. This left me. With my pulse pounding in my ears I found anyone and managed to comminucate "Shinagawa Prince Hotel". I was in luck and they helped me to find the hotel. We all collapsed in the lobby and after check in we managed to shower, nap and head on out. I was treated to my first views of Japan at night.

     

       A street in the Yokohama Vivre Area    

     

                                                           Shinkansen (Bullet Train)

While I was staing in central Tokyo, I also travelled out on the Shinkansen to Yokohama for some sightseeing. I was far too excited to eat so I stuck to just making sure I kept hydrated as even at night it was around 26c or higher (I will compain about the heat a lot sorry). I went and took a type of picture called プリクラ (purikura) and bought a large amount of goods for my favourite band and exhausted and jeltagged I made my way to bed.

プリクラ

The rest of my days in japan were a blur of much the same acitivities. Shopping, eating, sightseeing and pictures. I found my new favourite food:

Katsu Curry

I made new friends and experienced many, many new things. Now, there were some downsides I have to admit. The language barrier meant that on the few occasions I explored alone I was very scared of getting lost. Also, as a large white person I stuck out more than a little and I got stared at constantly. I also had the most fun I could imagine possible. I was based in Shinagawa and I managed to explore the Shin-Yokohama area, the Yokohama Vivre area, Shibuya, Harajuku, Ikebukuro and Roppongi. I also went to see the GazettE live at Shin-Kiba Studio Coast.

My favourite place had to be Shibuya:

While I might choose to talk about individual experiences later, I will close this post by saying its not as daunting as it seems, when you travel somewhere totally foreign. Its scary in a good way, challenging and refreshing. I am far from satisfied by this one trip. I didn't do half of what I wanted. But what I did do was create memories that last forever.

Rei ♡