Tokyo - First Impressions

I made it to Tokyo safe and sound, and found my way to my hostel without getting on a single wrong train - a feat in a town with something like nine thousand subway stations (more or less).

My first impression of the city was the view from the train - dark, rainy, and punctuated with explosions of neon every few minutes. It was kind of like being in Blade Runner, without the deadly cyborgs... I hope.

My hostel is tucked away in a maze of narrow back roads off of Edo St., a major street in the Asakusa district. I'm 10 minutes away from Senso-ji temple, one of the major religious sites in the city. The area's supposed to be one of the more colourful ones in the city (in a good way), and there's lots of traditional craftsmen still practicing their craft in small shops squeezed here and there between the occasional Denny's and 7/11. I resisted the lure of the all-day Grand Slam breakfast a block away from our hostel, and went to a little udon noodle shop where you order by pressing buttons on a machine, which then gets you a ticket, which you then trade to the chef for some food. I chose based on the most attractive looking 1 inch square picture, and got curried beef with... egg, maybe? It's times like these I'm glad I don't have any deadly food allergies.

Another interesting first impression: I am now totally illiterate.

The jet lag's catching up with me, I'm gonna wrap it up for now so I can hit the sack. I've got an early morning planned tomorrow. On the itinerary: tuna auctions!