I'm too big for this country: Day 3- Tokyoooo

Day 3 is going to be hard to beat. I arrived to Tokyo late last night and all I could do was find my hostel and crash. But the good news was that falling asleep at 7 meant I woke up early today and had plenty of legs to go exploring... I would need them. I did a pretty extraordinary amount of walking today. Or as one of my current roommates Nik from New Zealand would say "kilometers and kilometers and kilometers bru."I set out for Tokyo Station (the main hub for subway/mass transit) on foot and only had to ask for directions once (great-success!) and decided that the days activities were Shinjuku District, Harajuku District, and Shibuya District.

Each have their own pulls or attractiveness about them. Shinjuku is filled with glitz, it has its own area labeled "Times Square" and I'm sure is unreal at night. But it also has one of the coolest parks in all of Tokyo- the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, which is kind of a mini central park. Harajuku is known for its fashion, think hello kitty. Everywhere. Tons of shops and boutiques, lots of weird food. Its pretty cool. And it also has a pretty sizable Shinto Shrine called Meiji Jingu tucked away in the corner. Shibuya seemed very business like but it also had a few quirks which I'll talk about later.

One of the funnier things I've done lately was buy my first train ticket. I enlisted help from a little girl, she was legit. And we're off....

I spent the majority of my time at the two parks: Shinjuku Gyoen and Yoyogi (where the Meiji Jingu Shrine is) and I couldn't honestly believe these two places existed in the middle of the bustling city.

Painted sake crates which were dedicated to the Meiji Emperor. The Meiji era was known for its integration of Western culture into Eastern civilization. The crates serve as a preservation of tradition amidst a boat load of cultural change.

Shinjuku Gyoen Garden. My favorite picture of the day

But I also got a pretty good perception of what it would be like to live inside this huge metropolis... people, everywhere. The Shibuya crossing says it all...