Tokyo is the most amazing city I have ever been to in my entire life. That intro sentence took me months to think of because I wanted some kind of sentence to express fully how I felt about going to Japan. I was lucky enough to visit Tokyo twice in the range of 6 months. One week in the bitter Japanese cold and one week in the sweltering heat. I loved every single moment of it. I had extremely high expectations before my first visit as I expected a very clean, orderly, culturally rich, delicious, and massive city. Tokyo managed to meet all my high expectations and then some.
Seeing Tokyo in the two seasonal extremes allowed me to see the many sides of Tokyo. Every single day, I always found a new glimmering side street to explore, some delicious restaurant frequented by locals, or some other unusual thing that a general description can do it no justice. The city is perfectly designed, so clean that even the supposedly "janky" side streets were meticulously clean and designed.
I'm not joking when I say that every single meal that I have had in Tokyo was an amazing experience. I actually still remember most of not all of my meals that I've had there; I can't say the same for any other cities. I ate amazing sushi as well as stuffed myself at a countless number of conveyor belt sushi restaurants. Ramen, though, is my most favorite type of the food in the entire known universe. I ate at all the popular chains such as Ichiran and Ippudo, but also random family owned restaurants. I've also ate at an amazing amount of soba and tskumen places; I remember eating at like 5 noodle restaurants in a day because all I wanted to do that day was to eat. Food in Tokyo is surprisingly economical too! Never have I ever eaten for under 8 or 9 bucks per meal in such a large and modern city. Try eating under that price range in a major metropolis in Europe or North America and you'll probably be eating some shitty fast food. On that note, the fast food in Tokyo is actually really freaking amazing. At any time of the hour, I can order a meal for under 5 bucks and be extremely happy. Then there's the street stalls that sell some pretty dynamite snacks. You got all the weeaboo classics such as takoyaki and taiyaki then you have these western and Asian fusions that taste exponentially better than any Korean/western/whatever fusion that I have to pay $20 for here in San Francisco. I love the food in Japan so much and Tokyo allowed me to perfectly eat all the different types of food from around the country.
Tokyo is amazingly beautiful in the metropolis sense. Every street felt like it had a sense of purpose, be it finding an amazing restaurant or a small temple still beautifully maintained. Somehow on two separate occasions I managed to stumble upon large cultural festivals and I gotta say Tokyo really knows how to throw festivals. Getting around the city is the easiest thing ever once you figure out how the train systems work. I do have to admit I managed to get completely lost a couple of times because the train system can be a little bit intimidating. However, it is the most punctual and efficient system in the entire world. Trains are never late and you can get anywhere purely using the subway/train system. Want to go to the largest Pokemon store in the world? Take a 25 minute train directly to the mall. Want to go to a dope ass onsen, but still be in the city? Take a 40 minute train ride directly there. And on the topic of onsens...
I fucking love onsens and sentos. To me it is the most perfect way to relax and wind down after a long day of eating Japanese ramen and tskumen. In my two trips to Tokyo, I think I've been to maybe 4 or 5 public baths. They range from spending like $5 for an admission fee to spending like $40 for the entire tourist onsen experience. And the awesome thing is that both options are worth it 100%. Though seeing some butt-naked old Japanese guys is a bit frightening. The relaxation experience is 10 out of 10 worth it I promise (well to me it is).
I could write paragraphs and paragraphs just gushing about Tokyo, but honestly I'm probably going back to Japan really soon and want to add even more to my experiences. The more I write, the more I will have the impulse to quit everything and buy a one way ticket to Japan.
10/10