Things to do in Japan

I thought Japan was going to be way less awesome than it was. I actually didn't have any expectations, because of the earthquake, there was some uncertainty about us going to Japan before the trip started. I'm SO glad I go the chance to go though. Here's some things I did, and suggestions of things you should do. Written really scrambled... deal with it.

Kobe:

Bunraku Puppet Theater

        This is an ancient form of puppetry that is considered to many to be a “dying art form”. It involves 2-4 foot puppets being manipulated by three puppeteers, and the show also includes a narrator and a man playing a shamisen, which is a guitar-type instrument. The show we saw was long, and there was something about the music that just made me fall asleep. It was really, really weird. But besides that, it was a pretty cool thing to go and see.

Spending a day with an awesome Japanese student

        Meet up with someone you met on couchsurfing. Set a goal for the day. We had one main goal for the day: Kobe beef burgers. Kobe beef is world renowned for it’s marbling, humane treatment of animals, and superior taste. As someone who is mildly obsessed with steak and all beef, I was beyond stoked to be in Kobe. Yohei took us to this street food place in China town and we all got burgers. We got the burgers and they. were. so. good. I wish I could explain it. Incredibly tender and juicy and just straight up delicious.
        After burgers, Yohei offered to take us to a few touristy locations, but we declined. We asked what he and his friends would be doing on a typical Saturday afternoon. He replied almost instantly “karaoke”, so we found a karaoke bar that had English songs and paid for a room. Karaoke in Japan is different than in America, you don’t just perform in front of everyone who’s there. You rent out a private room and you sing with just the people that you’re with. It’s actually way cooler that way. We spent the next two hours singing Katy Perry, Kesha, and rapping various different ridiculous songs. Yohei and I did a duet from RENT, which was simply fabulous. Definitely do karaoke.
        After karaoke, we headed over to Kobe University, which is where Yohei is studying European and American culture as a graduate student. They were having a fair that is apparently common for universities to have. GO TO A LOCAL UNIVERSITY. There were several student run booths that were serving cheap food, and there were bands playing all around the campus. We went and listened to this one band, and a mosh pit formed, which we all joined in. It was my first mosh pit, and it was absolutely epic. We walked around for a while and listened to other bands, but everything was starting to close down, so we got some discounted food and then headed out.
        We started to head back to the ship, but we realized we still had some time to kill, so we chose to grab some last minute food. We walked by this chicken stand that was passing out free samples, and it was delicious so we decided to go there. You basically got a cup full of chicken, and then they had a bunch of different sauces you could put on it. Choices included mayonnaise, barbecue, spicy, sweet and sour, chocolate sauce, and other crazy things... but no ketchup! I went with mayonnaise and barbecue sauce, and it was 1000 times more delicious than it sounds like it was. Eat street food. Lots of it.
        After chicken, we said a sad goodbye to Yohei and made promises to stay in contact via facebook and email. This was my first time spending an entire day with someone I met on couch surfing, and I must say that I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is planning on doing any traveling. Simply sign up on couchsurfing.com, and look for people in the place you’re going to. You can also use the website for places to sleep.


While sailing the ship from Kobe to Yokohama:

        Sleep. The entire day.


Tokyo:
        Hang out with a group of people you don’t usually hang out with, you’ll learn something new. Spend the entire time you’re in Tokyo walking around trying to find some bar that may or may not exist. Along the way, stop for Italian food at a restaurant that has happy hour, and have three drinks within about 10 minutes. Dodge the rain by running into British pubs, even though you just spend money on booze at a 7 Eleven. Stay there for a while. Pay the child fare for trains... they’re too expensive anyways. Or just don’t pay at all, and follow closely behind a Japanese person. Don’t be afraid to leave the group of people you’re with if you’re having a good time.
        Be awesome like Sonya and I. Spend the rest of the night taking stickers from various places around Tokyo, but get way more picky as the trip progresses as to what types of stickers are good enough for you. Try to find the fish market. Ignore the advice from locals telling you that there’s “no way you could walk there!” and just start walking in the direction you think it might be. We walked until about 4:45 in the morning. It was freezing, and we were slowly starting to lose our sanity and the feeling in our feet. get excited when you walk over the warm part of a train station. If you get too tired and cold to stay out until the trains back to Kobe start up, take NO shame in falling asleep at a McDonalds for a little while... they’ll let you stay there until customers start rolling in around 5:30.

Spend the day by yourself... and enjoy every minute of it.
        The last day in Yokohama, I woke up around 12 (keep in mind this was after coming back from Tokyo running off of 20 minutes of McDonalds napping) and headed out on the town by myself. Yokohama is really cool because the part we were in is incredibly serene and peaceful. There’s not a whole lot going on, and everything is just wonderfully quiet and calm. Soak this in, enjoy the serenity. Go to cool shopping districts. Find a sweet little food store that is Christmas themed, and get WAYYYY too excited about the upcoming holiday. Buy two bottles of sparkling cider, and cross your fingers they let you take it on the ship. I fucking love sparkling apple cider.
        After a bit of shopping, I walked to the theme park that’s in Yokohama. You get in for free, and then you pay for rides. The rides are over priced... but worth it. Ride a roller coaster completely by yourself! I was literally the only person on it, and it was fucking awesome. Ride a ferris wheel alone! And don’t panic about the height when you get to the top... even though it’s kind of scary. I really enjoyed the theme park, even though I was there for less than an hour.
        I went to the mall across the street, because I heard that was a good place to get steak. Turns out, the restaurant had closed. Was I going to let this stop me from eating steak? fuck no. I went to a restaurant in the first shopping district I was in and ordered myself a filet mignon and fries. The fires were cooked in truffle oil and perfectly seasoned with a pinch of garlic and a bit of salt. They were delicious. Then the filet... I just... there are no words. Ok, there are some words. As soon as I took my first bite, I said “Oh fuck yeah, that’s good” out loud. Keep in mind, I’m still by myself. In fact, I’m the only customer in the entire restaurant. Enjoy this feeling, you feel kind of like royalty eating a juicy steak and having the entire waitstaff paying attention to only you. Enjoy every bite of the steak, because you know ship food is coming up for a loooooooong time, and there won’t really be a way to escape it. Load up on more snacks with what you have left for money... you’re going to need them!
        I walked back to the ship super happy with the way my day had turned out. I had spent a few hours to myself to other ports, but I never really full out spend a day alone and did everything that I wanted to do in that city. It felt really, really good. I highly recommend enjoy time alone, because you just don’t get nearly enough of it.