I do live in the suburbs, many of my neighbors are farmers and we even have a small plot of land, and the quiet and cool of the evening is extremely peaceful. The sunsets behind Fuji, and the endless blooming flowers are soothing for my soul.
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| Enjoying the sun at a local park |
Despite the "country side" feel of the Tama area, where I live, I am only a one hour train ride from largest and busiest train station in the world, Shinjuku. That being said, I go there about once a month and from their transfer to other train lines and explore different parts of Tokyo.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to explore many new parts of Tokyo that have opened my eyes to new aspects of this culture, and has revealed some of my new favorite hang out spots.
I want to share some of these new experiences and places that I have recently enjoyed.
The first week of May was "Golden Week" which is a week long holiday, meaning that the students and working people all have about 3 or 4 days off. It was a nice rest time and travel time for me, my team, and out Tokyo BEST friends.
Every year, during Golden Week, Tokyo BEST takes a trip called "Random Trip". We all enter the name of a station that we have NEVER visited, and then using a random dice app we choose a random location and all head there! The first Saturday of Golden Week, we set out to Tsukishima and Daikanyama.
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| A local man going for a walk with his tortoise! The highlight of the trip for me! |
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| Of course, we took a selfie with the turtle |
Tsukishima is known for it's famous fried pancake kind of thing, that is more like stew that you fry in a skillet. But what made it outstanding to me was the man that we found who was walking his tortoise! Yes! He was taking his tortoise for a walk! We enjoyed meeting the young guy who was only 12 years old, and we even got to touch him.
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| Stylish Cafe and shop area in Daikanyama |
Interestingly I had enjoyed going to Daikanyama just 2 days before Random Trip with my friend Hikaru. It is the most stylish part of Tokyo that I have visited! So fun! It is one of my new favorite places. Though clothes and accessories are expensive cafes tend to be reasonably priced. With Hikaru I visited a 2 story, 3 building wide book store! It had extensive English sections and so that was a lot of fun!
On Sunday, with my teammates we took a trip to Chiyoda, in the heart of the business district, for a art museum trip and walking around the Imperial Palace. This was a very professional area of Tokyo, and different from the stylish part I had seen the day before.
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| Carrie at the Imperial Gardens with the skyline in the background. |
Monday, I went with two friends, Sayoto and Ryoko, to Kichijoji, another stylish part of town that had a cool salad restaurant, a lovely park, with a beautiful temple, and interesting cute cafes and international shops.
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| Sayoto and Ryoko at the park |
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| This earthy cafe was our mid-afternoon snack spot! |
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| My housemates: Maina, Kanako, Carrie, and Miyo |
The next day, Tuesday, I went outside of Tokyo, to the prefecture next to Tokyo, Saitama, to see a beautiful flower park/festival that was happening for Golden Week. This was a "Share House Trip" for all 5 of us who live together! It was a joy to relax and have fun together!
We saw amazingly beautiful flowers, did wine tasting, made flower crowns and laughed lots as we enjoyed being in nature.
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| Running in the grassy field was such a joy! |
All in all I enjoyed my Golden Week adventures and the opportunities to see many new parts of Tokyo! This city is truly endless and so diverse! I love that!
