Arrival in Japan and Day 1

Arrival:

Upon arrival in Japan, we entered a really clean organized airport. When we were going to enter lines for customs, the attendant had us line up behind each other. I also noticed the obvious difference in clothing. Many of the women had on longer dresses with white T-shirts underneath. The men were mostly wearing business suits. Many of the women were wearing outfits that looked exactly identical if they were flight attendants. Their hairdos were styled exactly the same and they all looked like they had the same slender body type.

We met our tour guide and proceeded to the tour bus. The group was taken to a small market area where a meal was waiting for us. They had tempura, rice, miso soup, and a seasoned green bean dish set up. The servers were very eager to serve us and help us. After the delicious meal, we arrives at the Pearl Hotel in Rygoku.

Day 1:

At roughly 7:30am I headed to the lobby where I was greeted by a delicious breakfast buffet. There was a variety of fresh foods. The were vegetables and fruit along with a few types of fish based dishes and french fries. After, we boarded the bus and went out to our first destination. We were able to visit various shrines and tastes sweet treats. The shrines did not have vendor in them but the areas around the shrine gardens were full of vendors selling flutes, foods, coin purses, chopsticks and other items. At the vendors, I was able to try different treats. My favorites were a spicy dumpling snack with fish and shaved ice with lemon and strawberry flavoring. We all regrouped and headed toward another shrine area where we learned how to properly pray. The tour guide told us to bow twice, clap twice, pray silently, and then clap twice again. Also, at the shrines we were given 5 yen to throw.

We headed to Harujuku next were there were innumerable shopping places. We ate at a place that served sushi on a conveyor belt. My meal was around 700 yen (~$7.00). I ordered 9 pieces of sushi and left very satisfied. Next, we went to an owl cafe. There were a variety of owls, however, I was very displeased with this cafe. I wasn't aware that these owls would be chained to trees with a leather rope less than one foot long. There is barely enough space for them to spread their wings and there is no way they could fly. The owls sit there staring as numerous people weave in and out through the fake trees. I was heartbroken that these beautiful creatures were locked away in a small room.

After walking around the Harajuku district, I felt more light hearted. Our group met up and headed to Daiso, where different products are around 100 yen. After shopping, we headed to the train station and visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. We looked at various statues and explored some of the nearby areas. Soon after, we visited the Pokemon Center and saw some of the busier parts of Japan.

Once we returned to the hotel, we rested up and went out to eat. We ended up finding a nice little dinner with excellent service. We tasted a variety of food and left very satisfied. However, in Japan, tipping is considered rude and I feel like I was unable to express my gratuity properly. We visited a small convenient store close to the hotel where I was able to purchase various snacks. One of the snacks was taiyaki, a fish shaped snack that was filled with some kind of delicious cream.

After such a full day, I am excited to see was the fish market tomorrow will be like!