Sleepless in Tokyo (24th - 27th May)

As announced before, our next trip was to Tokyo, because you have to visit the largest metropolis in the world when you are already in Japan. Originally, we had planned to fly, but since the flight was almost twice as expensive as the overnight bus, we decided to take the bus instead, although I had a feeling from the beginning that I probably wouldn't be able to sleep on Thursday night. Our bus departed from Osaka Umeda, one of the centers of Osaka, and was surprisingly easy to find because there was only one bus stop that was used by various buses every minute. A friendly staff member confirmed the departure time for us, so we bought a little something to eat before the nightly ride could begin. At first, I enjoyed the journey, I'm fascinated by cities at night, but eventually it became uncomfortable and as expected, I couldn't sleep. To make matters worse, I realized that I had forgotten the charger for my phone, so I decided not to listen to music all night in order to save some battery for the return journey, and I turned off my phone and waited for us to finally arrive. And we did eventually. We arrived over fifteen minutes early (the plan was half past 6) and completely exhausted, and we had to get back on track. The first obstacle was the gigantic train station, from which we first had to find our way out, which we eventually managed to do, and so we strolled around Shinjuku before all the shops, restaurants and parks opened. After the first impression, some snacks and a bit of confusion, we went to the accommodation. We wanted to drop off our luggage there and take a one-hour break before heading to Shibuya in the evening. Shibuya is truly a crazy place, full of sensory overload, sounds, speaker and screen transmissions, and buildings that apparently were built according to the motto "form follows emotion". In addition, there are an incredible number of people crossing the street in Shibuya (5 million daily!), it's madness! But that is exactly why you go to Shibuya. We still had super ramen with dumplings (noodles filled with cabbage [and meat?]) and rice for dinner and soon went to the guesthouse, as the aftereffects of the long bus ride were slowly spreading and we also had to catch the last metro anyway.

On Saturday, our first stop was the Metropolitan Government Building, where there is a 45th floor with a 360-degree view, which is also free of charge. We arrived at the entrance at precisely half past 9. Apparently, this is still a more or less well-known insider tip, as only Japanese people wanted to go up as well. Unfortunately, there is no terrace, but that wasn't a big deal. During the day, the view was somewhat obstructed by the existing smog, but we had planned to come back in the evening anyway, as it's something completely different to overlook a city during the day or at night. Personally, I am usually much more fascinated by the night than by the day, but starting the Saturday like this was pretty cool. After that, we went to the National Museum, where various swords, samurai armor, calligraphy pieces, paintings, and painted folding room dividers were exhibited. The museum itself had large lawns and other museums, and it seemed like every school in Tokyo took a trip to the museum that day. I have never seen so many different (really cute) school uniforms in one day. After the museum, we also visited the garden of the Imperial Palace, which was relatively unspectacular, and the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, a large, Japanese-style park, which cost us 200 yen each (about 1.60 EUR), but it was definitely worth it. The park wasn't overcrowded and was definitely a place of relaxation. It's incredible how many old and really tall trees are located in the middle of the city and provide a calm and relaxed atmosphere in contrast to the fast-paced metropolis. We spent some time in the park and then made our way to the Rainbow Bridge, which is located at the harbor, from where you can observe a small part of Tokyo from the water. Our plan was to watch the sunset there, which was mostly spoiled by some gray clouds. Nevertheless, more and more people gathered at the small bay, and since we were curious about what had attracted them, we waited with them. The waiting was worthwhile, as when it was completely dark, a huge fireworks light show started on the water, controlled by several small boats. That was a wonderful surprise, and I am still grateful for the incredible luck that we seem to have quite often.

On Sunday, we first left the city and headed west to hike up Mount Takao (the most climbed mountain in Japan), in order to admire Tokyo and Mount Fuji from there. It was also very refreshing to go out into nature and do some hiking. It was relatively warm, but in the shade of the trees, it was perfect hiking weather. From the summit, we actually saw the silhouette of Mount Fuji. After descending, we went back to the city and went to the luxury district Ginza, where there is apparently a pedestrian zone on weekends, and you can't decide where to look because no building looks like another. We took a look at the largest Uniqlo in the world (11 floors full of clothes), then made a detour to the Tokyo Tower and made another attempt to see the sunset, this time from the other tower of the Metropolitan Government Building. It wasn't cloudless this time either, but we could still see the change of colors and admire the transformation of the city, which has hardly been built upwards. That was really beautiful, and after that we went to the techno district Roppongi, which is known for its nightlife. Here we stopped for a bowl of ramen and soon went to the train station to find our bus, which was supposed to depart at 11 p.m. This turned out to be not quite easy, as the bus stop was located in a side street a few hundred meters away from the train station, so we had to ask for directions, but since we had anticipated that, we didn't run out of time, as we had taken into account a buffer for finding the bus. I was quite tired, but I still couldn't sleep, so we arrived in a crumpled state at 8 a.m. at the dorm and greeted our classmates, who were already on their way to university. Monday was dedicated to recovery. Tokyo wasn't as expensive as feared, especially since we could save some money on food by getting some things from the convenience store, although I would never have thought of putting the dishes that are sold in plastic bowls (!) in the microwave before Japan, but you never stop learning. The 48-hour metro ticket was also very worthwhile, which cost barely 9 EUR. Of course, we could also save some money by taking the bus, although the comfort suffered a bit, but we are young and can bear it (haha!).