Christmas in Tokyo

December 19-27

We happily write this post from the comfort of the Pacific Time Zone! Apologies for the delay--it took us longer than expected to get our bodies over the jet lag. While we can't believe this trip is over, we are so proud of ourselves for completing the journey, and very happy to be back home for a while.

The plan was always to try to find a way to fly home from Tokyo, though by the beginning of December we didn't know how long we would actually be able to afford to stay in the city. Funds were running low and hotels are pricey. Luckily, we booked a week-long cat sit that allowed us to stay in Tokyo through Christmas. We arrived in the city on Friday the 19th, the day before our cat sit was set to start, so we could meet the hosts and get to know the area before moving in. For those who don't know, Tokyo is HUGE, so it took us over an hour to get from the main train station to the hotel where we would be staying for the night. Fortunately, we booked a hotel that was attached to the train station, so once we arrived it was easy to schlep our bags to check in. Calvin's favorite part was that the "included breakfast" was actually a voucher for the honest-to-goodness Denny's downstairs.

Like most of our other cat sits, we were hosted by ex-pats living abroad. Our hosts this time were Matt and Tara, both of whom are teachers from the states and are currently teaching at international schools in Tokyo while raising their 18 month old, Walter. Their apartment was spacious, clean, and only a 15 minute walk from the train. We hadn't realized what hotel life had done to us over the past few weeks until we had space--I will never take a living room for granted again! The cats, Thor and Loki, were extremely sweet and cuddly boys, and we happily spent our first day at the apartment lounging around with them, finishing laundry, and resting up for the final week.

Even though it was only a couple of weeks ago, our stay in Tokyo was a bit of a blur, so I will try to capture the highlights best I can. Christmas is an interesting time to visit, because Japan really decorates and gets into the seasonal celebrations, but Christmas itself is not a national holiday. The big tradition in Japan is KFC for Christmas. It's such a big deal that you have to order your meal weeks in advance, and they sell out! We looked into doing this ourselves, but you can't reserve a meal without a Japanese address and phone number, so we settled for visiting the Colonel a couple of days early.

On Christmas itself, we also made a trip out to the Tokyo Christmas Market. There are a couple of big ones throughout the city, but the main affair is near the city center and themed to mimic a Bavarian Christmas village. There were several food vendors offering German beer, pretzels, and sausages. There were also churros, ornately decorated hot chocolates, and even a few Japanese dishes! We enjoyed some toasty mulled wine and listened to an enthusiastic quartet singing American Christmas classics along with gospel tunes. It actually felt like Christmas for a little bit!

Other adventures from our week, in no particular order:

We went to the famous Shibuya Crossing and took in the neon and chaos. We initially came to the famous intersection just to watch the disorderly order of pedestrians dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging each other, but soon found ourselves in the fray. Of course, we didn't actually need to go the way we had crossed, so back across the street it was, testing our luck a second time.

We explored the Harajuku District and tasted some social media-ready street food. While here we actually encountered a father and son duo who had specifically sought out the cheesy street food we had stumbled upon. They were busy filming videos of sandwich pull-aparts while we stood quietly by, actually eating our food. Honestly, Americans.

We went to a roof-top bar and enjoyed ornate cocktails. This was a very ritzy (gold in our cocktails? okay...), but surprisingly affordable bar, with a magnificent view of the metro station down below.

We journeyed out to one of the man-made islands off the city to see the Giant Unicorn Gundam. It's great that Japan has been able to successfully defend its island home through the use of military equipment such as this, and seeing such an important historical artifact was truly amazing.

We visited Sensō-ji temple and received fortunes for the coming year. A kind older Japanese man helped me go through the process--you pay your 100 yen, shake the tube, and pull out a stick with a number on it. Then, you find the corresponding drawer and take out your fortune. Happily, I received the "Best Fortune!" The man even came over to me to congratulate me, and told me to keep it in my wallet for luck. Sadly, Calvin was not so lucky and drew a "Bad Fortune," which seemingly countered all the good things in store for me. Thankfully, Sensō-ji provides a place to tie your bad fortune on an iron frame in order to counter its effects. We also invested in some blessings for good health in the year ahead.

We visited "Drunkards Alley" on Christmas Eve, which is a line of Izakayas where you can enjoy small bites and lots of beer. The shops themselves are technically inside, with a roof and four walls. The floor, however, is very clearly what used to be the street. You can just imagine the shops popping up over time on the side of the street, and eventually coalescing into the more orderly series of food stalls that we visited.

Perhaps most importantly, we ate so much incredible food! Teppanyaki and some of the best squid we've ever had, conveyor belt sushi on Christmas day, and of course, the gourmet delights of Japanese 7/11.

As our last stop of the trip, we were definitely feeling the burnout, so we did not explore everything we probably could have in Tokyo. But everything we did see and do continued our overall positive impression of Japan, and we ultimately had a lovely week with a balance of rest and exploration. Someday, we would love to return to Tokyo, perhaps with a bit more energy and a bit more of a budget, but for now, this was a perfect end to our adventure.