Ever dreamed of getting lost in the vibrant energy of Tokyo? Take a walk with me on my very first day in Japan! This more or less unedited adventure captures the rollercoaster of emotions that come with solo travel. We’ll wander through some of Tokyo’s most popular areas, soaking up the sights and sounds along the way. There are moments of pure elation, but also the inevitable frustrations and challenges to overcome that make travel such a wild ride.
#tokyo #japantravel #solotravel
Chapters:
0:00 – Tokyo Narita Airport
3:20 – Skyliner train to Ueno station
6:00 – First look at Tokyo streets
10:38 – My capsule hotel
12:48 – A quest to find Ramen
23:10 – Day 2 begins
24:38 – 7-Eleven Tokyo
31:20 – Tokyo Marathon
37:08 – Akihabara Electric Town
42:03 – Tokyo Namco Arcade
46:46 – Tokyo Metro Station – Akihabara
52:39 – A quest to find Tokyo’s Imperial Palace
59:34 – Tokyo Imperial Palace
01:06:12 – Pork Katsu Curry lunch
01:11:45 – Tokyo Pharmacy
01:15:48 – Tokyo Starbucks
01:18:57 – Tokyo Shinjuku
01:22:34 – Tokyo Shinjuku currency exchange
01:27:34 – Tokyo Omoide Yokocho food street
01:30:19 – Patrolling Shinjuku’s streets
01:36:17 – Tokyo Shinjuku Golden Gai
01:37:45 – Tokyo Public Toilet
01:38:19 – A quest for Soba Noodles
This episodes starts with me landing in Tokyo’s Narita Airport, my first time ever in Japan! I then take the Skyliner bullet train over to Ueno station where my hostel is closely located to. After checking out my capsule hotel I head out for my first bowl of Ramen.
Day two began with me heading to breakfast at the local 7-Eleven convenience store. Following that, I took a stroll towards Akihabara Electric Town which I thought was incredible! The Namco Arcade was a highlight for me. During my time in Akihabara I noticed the annual Tokyo city marathon was taking place which was a sight to see.
It was then time to take the Tokyo metro to Tokyo central station in where I tried for at least 45 minutes to find the Imperial Palace. It took this long due to many subway exits being strictly controlled by police and not allowing the public through! Eventually I found it, walked around the beautiful Imperial Gardens before hitting a local cafe for a spot of lunch, pork katsu curry.
After lunch, I grabbed a coffee at Starbucks but not before I ran into a Tokyo pharmacy to pickup some cream for my hands. All ago towards the vibrant district of Shinjuku. I was elated walking around the streets of Shinjuku, truly a trendy cyberpunk vibe. I almost got tricked for the second time during the video at the currency exchange there but instead managed to find one that was quite a reasonable exchange rate! Later, I grabbed a quick bowl of soba noodles before getting back to my capsule hotel for a good night’s rest.
It’s officially touchdown in Tokyo Narita Airport first time here it almost feels a little bit surreal to be here I’m very excited however you know it’s been a long travel day. I left the house like 12 hours ago at 5a.m. flew from Vietnam. Flight was delayed you don’t want to hear
About all that stuff but we’re here now and exciting times got to figure out and navigate our way through the airport and get a SIM card and Rail Pass and all that jazz. What’s this for? Card oh got it. Oh wow okay. first time I see this it’s a culture thing I
Guess. I think a may have just gotten absolutely Fleeced for a SIM card but uh never mind it happens maybe that’s just the price anyway I paid ยฃ34 / 6,500 Yen for a 15-day SIM card 1 GB per day seems a little bit expensive to
Me but there you go I’m not in Vietnam anymore I’m in Japan so that is what it is I’m just looking online here and it looks like I could have got a 16 day one 50GB for a lot less than I paid. Lesson learned I should have shopped around a little bit hello
The guy has just walked off as I need his help I need to get to Ueno, so… excuse me, would would I need um a liner ticket or a regular ticket to get to Ueno? Skyliner is the fastest way to get to Ueno station okay I will do that yeah.
Is it like a big difference in the price or is it reasonable? Skyliner costs 2570 JPY train cost is 1,270. Skyliner is okay next one departs in about 10 minutes just one ticket? which do you prefer window seat or aisle seat? aisle seat is fine do you have any IC card
Credit card? does it have a pin code? I can do it with my phone? It has a pin code yeah okay thank you um okay inside here? which way do I need to head? number one omg, it’s quite intense can’t lie to you right number one this way this is a little bit
Intense but we’re getting there ladies and gents we’ve got our ticket to take the Skyliner to Ueno station that’s going to take 41 minutes happy days 2570 Yen it’s not too bad it’s about 15 USD so we’ve already spent about 55 USD in the airport Japan trains they hold a good
Reputation around the world and this one is not um this one is not letting us down it is exactly on time as you expect in Japan okay we’re all settled in for our little 45 minute journey into tokyo I’m excited to get to the hostel
And I’m excited to put the stuff down to go out for that first walk when you’re in a new place and everything’s very exciting we’re almost there I was actually planning to go to Shinjuku or the Shibuya crossing, one of the main areas tonight. But it’s already 6pm and by the time I
Get to the hostel it’s literally going to be like probably seven or eight so I’m not sure we’re going to get chance to do that cuz my hostel is quite far away from that area but we shall see we shall see we shall go out for a night
Walk and see what we get up okay we are at our stop Ueno now we’ve got to uh take a 10-minute walk I believe to my hostel I’m staying in a capsule hotel for the third time in my life um so I’m looking forward to that
After all of that oh my God we’re finally out on the streets or we’re about to be it’s going to be my first look on the Tokyo streets I feel like I’m in like a in a video game or something I don’t know I’m like the main character right now
That is so cool it is just so cool there’s not even that much to see like I guess like the locals probably just think it’s a regular stream and then I’m looking around thinking wow so cool just look at it wow we’re here we’re here amazing
Okay which way have we got to go you know when you get that feeling when you’re walking around a new place you just got a big smile on your face wow just exactly how you imagined it exactly how I imagined it um I don’t even know what to say I’m
Stumped it’s just cool it’s just cool Japan just has such a rich culture and very unique way of doing things and just to see that in the flesh is just very cool and all of my um interactions so far with locals have been like incredibly polite as you would imagine
Everyone’s been so helpful I even had a laugh with the security guy in the airport that was nice and like everyone I’ve asked for help has like dropped everything and like tried to help me as best as they can which is really quite shocking um cuz it’s not what we usually get
It’s my first crosswalk here everything’s like oh my first this, my first that feels good the anticipation coming here was at an alltime high honestly I’ve done quite a lot of traveling over the past few years but this is one of the most excited times I’ve ever been to
Come to a country um just because it it has one been one of those bucket list spots for for such a long time I just witnessed something that uh yes again is exactly how I would have uh pictured it to be like we’re just on this tiny little
Road there’s no cars anywhere in sight but it’s a red light so no one’s Crossing so obviously I’m not going to be the odd one out and cross but yeah just think very interesting to see every like literally 20-30 people just waiting when there’s not a car in sight in
The UK we would we would just cross um whether that’s good or bad I don’t know but it’s a difference it’s an observation that’s all. I just looked down that street amazing wow my hostel is really in the middle of nowhere forward a bit and then left I’m in a quieter part
Of town Ueno. A little bit cheaper here as well that plays a big part in where you stay right oh I think I went too far okay I think it’s down that one let’s hope this place actually exists you know this kind of Street back home
Like this would be a scary Street to walk down at this time but here you don’t really have to be concerned about that right okay the door is locked what do we do? ‘this is the night entrance for the Hotel guests. 11pm – 6am. a.m. uh main entrance around the other
Side okay look at that just a vending machine for drinks on the street so funny. that’d get bashed up in most countries It wouldn’t be there for long. The drinks would be gone okay Hiromas hostel this is the front entrance that looks a little bit more warming
Okay let’s see if we can find the reception okay reception is here hello we Have Made It sure 306 this is my bed it will do the job it’s very small that’s not a problem better be quiet cuz it’s not just me in here hopefully we have some quiet guests
So I can get a good night’s sleep but I’m being a bit hypocritical there bathroom all very clean that’s all you want really is clean. Happy Days first thoughts it’s very clean um but it’s very small yeah I mean I usually put all my tech stuff like have a spare table just
Put it all over there like a charging station so I’m not really sure what I’m going to do about that but we’re going to figure it out this is uh this is the Japanese way at least if you’re a Solo Traveler so.. Ladies and gents boys and girls we are
Out and about on our first Tokyo Mission and I’m buzzing as you can tell. Oh I haven’t set my clock straight it’s just about to turn 8:00pm and your boys out to find some Ramen I don’t know what it is but walking around these streets even it’s just it’s
Just so cool like they’re just so Charming look at where I’m going look at this what’s this? What’s this? it’s cold really cold I did not put enough layers on what was I thinking? But honestly this this feels like it should be a very dangerous scary area but it’s not it’s absolutely not
Look woman with her dogs look at this tell me that just isn’t the coolest Vibe you’ve ever seen everything’s just how it should be I don’t know how to explain it but it’s just it’s just exactly how it should be. We have got four days in Tokyo
Followed by three or four days in nozawa Onsen up north skiing, proper bucket list item I’ve never been skiing before um I’ve been indoor but that doesn’t really count followed by Kyoto followed by Osaka the places that everybody goes I know but I am a tourist what can I tell you.
Turn left okay down here wow literally all these streets are like don’t know look just look at it do I do I really need to say anything just look at it wow it’s so unique I’ve never seen anything like it so cool look at this look at this I’m getting a bit too
Excited now I need to calm down I need to calm down oh turn left over there. it’s all right to get a bit too excited on your first time in a new place surely let me off guys let me off. so the name of the place we are
Trying to find is called Ramen Nagayama is it this one is this Ramen nagayama? Yes. okay there’s a wait it’s good Ramen then. good okay that’s good news that’s one tip for anybody who’s traveling right you find a place on Google Maps don’t overthink it just just find a place
That’s decent rated you turn up now it confirms if it’s good or not if it’s got if it’s full of locals that’s when you know if you turn up and there’s only tourists in there maybe you better move on to a different spot. but I’m happy to wait I’m sure it
Won’t take too long Ramen here is basically like fast food so I’m sure uh two people will be out very shortly and I can jump in their spot Oh buy here oh do you think you could help me? Cuz I don’t know what to get okay maybe like uh just the most popular
The most common one is okay. Maybe this normal ramen is ok? I was hoping to pay with card I think I need to go to the ATM they don’t take card I guess oh I made a grave error I’ve just waited for 30 minutes outside that restaurant and I was hoping that they
Take card but they absolutely do not so I need to go and get some cash it’s a shame because now there’s loads more people waiting outside let’s see if family Mart has got an ATM oh they do thank God for that we’re going to have to run back soon okay cash secured
I don’t even know what damage it’s cost me yet because I was just clicking buttons on the ATM oh that’s not good okay we’re back we are back oh oh dear okay looks like I might have to wait in the queue again I can’t explain to them so..
You reckon I should go for this one huh? Is this tonkotsu by any chance? normal, that’s fine yeah press this one and then what’s that going to cost 1,000 put that in there okay press that one got our little ticket and then what? And then press this
Okay thank you so much I feel like a child okay we’re in business now we finally uh managed to get here we’re finally going to get some food we don’t uh we don’t do this vending machine business in the UK so I’ve not seen that before very cool way of doing it easy
Way to uh get your order in not so easy when you don’t read Japanese though okay oh I’ll go for this one everyone has been very helpful though so that’s always makes things a lot easier you don’t want okay no worries no worries okay fair enough I will respect the
Privacy maybe he doesn’t one of his famous recipes leaking to the world okay right here we go should I put anything into it should I put anything inside? or just without? Some of this oh Garlic’s good okay yeah thank you she chose the right one for
Me right this is going to be our first first meal in Japan right here let’s see what tone it sets for the rest of the trip oh wow the broth is so flavorsome that is amazing that is so good I will be eating here again over the
Next few days I would imagine cuz it’s right by my hotel bye-bye thank you oh if you don’t mind let me give you a you can check out the YouTube channel I’ll give you this and you can check out the YouTube channel it will be in one of my videos
Can I give this to you this will be in my video thank you thank you bye bye wow everyone’s so nice everyone is so so nice that is a high standard that has been set for my first meal here in Japan um but yeah that’s going to end day one here
I need to go back and get some sleep it’s 9:00pm I say as if that’s late haha yeah whole travel day I’m shattered we’ll see you in day two. ladies and gents we are out day two you guessed it once again in Tokyo first full day sun is shining couldn’t ask for
More than that absolutely beautiful look at that unreal. We’re going to be uh walking to our first destination because I’m not too Adept with the public transport yet and uh it looks like it would take a similar time to walk as it would to take the metro so obviously your boy’s going
To get his legs working try and uh keep warm as it is pretty cold weather but it helps when the Sun’s shining so that’s all good but yeah we’re on the way to Akihabara electric town which is about half an hour walk so we’re going to get on our way there
Hopefully find some breakfast on the way cuz I haven’t eaten anything yet it’s uh 10a.m. I was actually hoping to get out a little earlier than this but you know you need sleep after a travel day don’t you hostel was pretty good I was uh pleasantly surprised um everything’s clean bed was
Comfy everyone was quiet which is the main thing in a hostel I did have my earbuds in but everyone was quiet which was a nice uh nice surprise but yeah we’re on the way 7-Eleven might have some breakfast for us let’s see I can get coffee in here as well
That is good news I will probably get a coffee okay this is where we have to figure out how to work the machine hot coffee yeah that’s a good sign I want hot coffee now what? please make your purchase at the counter so do I buy it here and then
After I can make the coffee okay one second I will look around first okay they’ve probably seen this many times. What a tourist. Doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing breakfast stuff okay thing is I’ve not quite adapted to the Asian breakfast yet so I’m looking for some kind of
Bread. that’ll do for me. Some kind of pastry um not quite sure 7-Eleven has got the job for me I mean there’s a lot of nice stuff for lunch all of this stuff I can do lunch but breakfast it’s a different story see even that looks pretty good
Right what else we got we got yogurts yakult oh the famous yakult yeah oh we know these Brands Meiji, yakult International Brands here we got the Japanese magazines look go we’ve got all the Japanese drinks we got coffee is here 120 yen how much is that oh that’s
Cheap very reasonable it’s about $2 No, $1 I’m definitely going to be checking my maths again after yesterday’s uh disappointment with the SIM card I overpaid by about three times what I should have paid which is unfortunate but it happens oh we found the bakery
Section okay okay this is what we were looking for can you recommend anything from here? do you like sweet? sweet is good I’m thinking maybe like a I’ve never seen these before custard and raisin no, i don’t know this. looks good and sweet. Okay nice okay I will
Try it. Thank you very much okay the local tells us we got to get this sweet beans and butter toast so we’re going to try it oh we need to buy the coffee first can you tell it’s my first day in Tokyo? yeah there’s two sizes? large one
This is the thing in uh okay thank you very much oh I need to pay now don’t I so I don’t pay you I pay the machine? Interesting. Okay it’s quite hard to do this with one hand 350 okay oh okay so I need to face up oh this way
Wow it’s the first time I’ve ever seen put cash in that way everything’s different in Japan okay there’s my receipt don’t need that okay brilliant it’s difficult to do everything with one hand thank you very much bye. Way right now we got to try and work the coffee machine
Okay first time I need someone to show me and then after it I’ll be okay uh normal I am absolutely roasting hot in here I need to get out ASAP black coffee that’ll do me and we’re headed out that came to 350 Yen not too bad not too bad at all
Cheap okay we’re going to put that here look actually we’re going to put that right here with the road View and then we’re going to give this something uh a try sweet bean and butter toast first time first time ever trying this let’s give it a go he you know what that’s pretty
Good oh it’s very greasy that’s quite good very sweet a little bit chewy very sweet but it’s a 711 version so I can’t imagine it’s the best one ever but even this is is pretty decent I think that’ll do me for breakfast that’s the problem when you’re in a cold
Country you’re prepared for the indoors. Sorry, you’re prepared for the outdoors then you go inside for 2 minutes and you’re sweating your bean off man that’s quite funny just now I stopped at a red light and uh these two middleaged Japanese women were looking over at me and then and uh I turned
Around and and they said very nice hair I was like oh thank you. I’m Walking off and she’s just “have a lovely day” wow what a nice interaction what a lovely thing to say we should do that more right if we uh like someone’s clothes or hair or whatever should
Compliment them more makes people feel good what’s wrong with making people feel good nothing what bit out of breath after coming up here I’ve come upstairs look to uh cross over this Mammoth Road they do a lot of these in China where they just raise up the uh
Pedestrian path over the road makes such a huge difference wow I’m literally not even at my first destination yet but I can’t stop pressing the record button and just showing you around look at this I mean I’m sure this is nothing special compared to what’s to come around Tokyo but man it’s
Just everything’s on different levels I’m just speechless. I’ve honestly never been this way when visiting a new country for a long time um I’m just so excited about everything feel like a little kid in a sweet shop and everyone has been so nice so
Far that always helps a lot you know put you in a good mood and it’s just awesome look at this I was about to say everyone going to work but I don’t think it is cuz it’s a Sunday so I’m guessing uh a bunch of people are probably off maybe going
Shopping or don’t know whatever they’re doing Japanese parking attendants. Someone’s in trouble someone is in deep trouble hello big trouble shouldn’t be parking there mate I’m not sure they were too happy about that what oh it’s so annoying cuz I’m on the way to a destination right but every
Street I look down I’m like oh i’ got to go down there i’ got to go down there but I can’t there’s not enough hours in the day to go down every Street in the city it’s a mammoth City it really is a mammoth City approximately 14 million people living here
Yeah that’s a lot that is a lot no way look at this it’s the Tokyo Marathon. I had no idea wow look at all the people this the first time I’ve ever seen a city marathon oh my word let’s get the selfie stick up in the air a little bit
Wow look at all the people come on Lads wow look at all of them I’m sure they don’t just run in circles but it looks like they are because there’s just so many of them are they running around the whole city? Man what a day to get here what a perfect day to
Arrive the Tokyo Marathon ladies and gents would you believe such a thing is happening on our first day here it’s like it was meant to be yeah I would have got involved if uh if I knew it was on oh I wouldn’t be able to run like half a mile before falling over
Christ honestly people who run marathons they’re built differently they are very very strong minded athletes incredible I just can’t get over that my first walk out of the hotel on the first day like just Tokyo marathon of course why wouldn’t it be? amazing fair play to everyone running
Okay I’m in uh Akihabara electric town this is where a lot of the games uh Japanese games came from like Sega games Pokรฉmon um and a lot of the maid cafes are here apparently but um I was quite Keen to go in a maid Cafe until I realized uh after researching
Online a bit it’s pretty much impossible to film in any of them so that kind of renders it a little bit useless in my opinion cuz I do think it’s a bit of a weird thing but maybe I’ll do one anyway and let you know how it is
Um but yeah I need to find a trash bin I am really struggling to find a rubbish bin to be honest that is one thing I I’m quite surprised about I thought they’d be everywhere here you know what I I’m just looking down every street and I want to go
Everywhere everything I look at is just like like what on Earth is this? Let me turn you around what on Earth is this? Look at it wow look at those buildings so colorful so like anime Arty it’s the anime District that’s what I was supposed to say Akihabara, the anime
District now I am going to be honest with you I am not a expert in any of these areas in Japan I don’t know why they’re here where they’ve come from um this is just me exploring as a tourist I don’t know anything about Japan
Basically when I when I come to a place I try not to uh do too much research about it because it’s nice to uh just explore it with the naked eye and take it for what it is and see it I don’t ever want to turn the camera off
There’s just too much to miss I mean just take it all in the things people are wearing the smiles on people’s faces the buildings you know there’s just so much to look at wow I just can’t look at this guy pink hair it must be a wig it’s definitely a wig
Look at this they’ve got these absolutely everywhere interesting that the girls here as well like even um girls that are like well over their 20s like even into their 30s they’re wearing like little pink bows in their hair and everything’s all about being very cute and uh it’s just very interesting
To see yeah in the west they uh girls try and look older whereas in the East particularly in Japan I feel like that that culture has spread out from Japan um you know it’s all about looking younger um so that that’s why they do that squeeze through there someone filming something
There just magnificent stuff right here oh my word that is the Akihabara electric Town ladies and gentlemen hey check this police car out I tell you what when I’ve got my Lamborghini he ain’t going to be catching me in there is he what is that? I mean don’t get me wrong
It is so cool it’s like a little Japanese box you know just exactly how I would expect a police car to be here and maybe they don’t even need fast cars because there basically no crime anyway so it’s not like they need fast cars to catch people there’s barely there’s barely a
Police presence here around this Marathon there’s like there’s probably one police officer per like hundred people or 200 people which is absolutely not what you’d expect for something you know as big as this event is but that really goes to show you know the uh the culture here in Japan it’s
Very calm and everyone’s very respectful and uh the etiquette you know is really a high priority although their their etiquette is very different to ours um but they they really value um you know people doing things a certain way I swear I’ve I’ve walked at least a kilometer without finding a single
Rubbish bin I’m not sure if that’s a thing here I didn’t know but can’t find the one anywhere so it’s hard to complain though when I’m trying to find one and I’m seeing places like this just look at that look at that that looks like it has just come out straight out of
A movie I feel like every street here I could film a video I could film a movie I film look at this is just taking the piss now look at it no words need to be spoken sometimes oh here’s a maid Cafe look yeah I’m pretty sure she’s uh stood
Outside the maid Cafe I don’t know I feel a bit weird about going in one of those feels a bit creepy you know like I want to do it to experience it but at the same time it just feels like wrong but I don’t know let me know in the
Comments if that’s something that has been like sexualized um because certainly like my or our Western point of view is that that’s considered like a very sexualized thing but it’s very weird because they’re they’re dressing up as like maids. I don’t know I don’t even want to go into that topic
But yeah I just wonder if it’s seen that way here in Japan or it’s just like hasn’t got that uh stigma around it at all. Namco I think uh my old man would love it here by the time I’d grown up um gaming had moved on to PlayStation and Xbox but
A little bit before my generation was all the arcade games that Namco and Sega were making oh this guy’s playing we’ll watch this guy can I watch you play okay come on you got this time this is the one there we go can he get it can he get it looks
Good oh oh okay you have to change it so it falls through that box wow so many different ones look this is to win some sort of like model figure see these kind of things these these model figures that never really been something I’ve been into myself but
You know they’re crazy popular in a lot of countries especially in Japan um and there’s like collectible editions and some of them sell for a lot of money really quite a fascinating part of the culture well let’s go upstairs just load of arcades I’m just going to keep the
Camera rolling let’s see what we find look at this a load more can win pikachu. Now in my head this would be something that like pretty much only tourists to coming to look at but it’s obviously not the case they’re still very popular with locals I mean
It’s a Sunday it’s probably a little hobby come out to the the Namco place and just try and win yourself a little Pacman why not? Oh this is where the real arcade stuff is check this out these guys are the Masters this guy’s done this this before, I know
Wow amazing I’ve never seen this drum one before looks popular though this guy is playing it as well. They’re all playing it wow look at that oh this guy is amazing I’ve got to take a video of this from what I know it’s like a flex to be
Good at arcade games if you’re like a Japanese kid I’ve heard that it’s like a proper Flex to be sick at games no one thought I was cool maybe I should have grown up in Japan. Oh there’s an underground this is this must be where it’s
At this is where the hardcore gamers are underground no windows oh yeah look at this oh my word I love that they still like proper play the the arcade games they haven’t only moved on to like PS4 you see there’s even the controller here like if
You want to use the controller but most of the guys are using like the the joystick and the buttons which is so cool it’s obviously a big thing gaming with the boys imagine this coming in here on a Sunday afternoon and gaming with the boys oh my God It must be so
Much fun I’ve literally got cold chills thinking about how good that must be what a journey what a journey so far oh man just what can I even say there’s just too much to do there’s too much to look at akihabara station. this is where
We try and figure out how we can get a Metro ticket. Oh deary deary me okay here we go uh resered seat or non-reserved seat oh my God there’s so many options I really don’t know let’s try this one I’m trying to get to Tokyo
Station I got money I don’t I don’t even know which one’s which I need to look at these first look this one’s got a hole in this coin’s got a hole in never seen that before okay this one’s gold that’s got to be a lot oh 500 okay okay I need
Help hello sir could could you help me get a ticket to Tokyo station 150 can I do it here? no, vending machine what line is it? platform number three. Okay, which is? Green Line, okay thank you I’ve got some help from the man and he tells me I need to get a 150
Um change it to English okay we got a bunch of change. Okay and we got a ticket now I think that ticket is going to get us through the gate hopefully so I think what you do is do I put that there? How do I put this there? Oh got to
Go through that one I think okay we’re through. The ticket did us wonders okay now we’re looking for the green line yamanote line for Tokyo okay this way God it’s quite stressful when you’re trying to figure it out for the first time I can’t lie. For Ueno I think
That’s the wrong way okay we need to go to Tokyo Direction yes I’ve seen the word that’s a good sign okay up here it seems what you do here is um yeah when you’re buying the ticket you buy it for the amount of kilometers that you’re doing something like that and then if
You have gone further than that when you get to the other station you have to pay the extra to to the guard very interesting way of doing. It I just realized I’m stood on the wrong side, everyone is stood on the left so I’m guessing I need
To stand on the left there’s a lot of like little cultural things that you know we probably get away with doing the wrong being a foreigner and a tourist but uh still you want to try and do things the right way if you can okay here we go
The Metro luckily this one is not crammed full as I’ve seen some funny clips at rush hour of the Japanese Metro trains people like the guards like pushing people in at Sides so first time on a Japanese Metro wow my head is almost touching the hand rails we’re just going to stand right
In the middle it’s actually very similar to the uh Chinese ones very modern very spacious very clean and very cheap too I just realized yeah I got this ticket 150 Yen that’s like $1 not bad not bad at all right this is huge absolutely monster all right we’re
Trying to find the uh the toilets which I see a sign for over here although I know we got the POV view going on but not going to be uh taking you into the toilet with me ladies and gents I’m going to give you a little life hack right here when
You’re traveling when you go into cities with uh Metro stations with like 25 different exits that all go to different roads tip, open your Google Maps see which direction you’re facing in and just walk that way and it pretty much always works so I’ve just found that we are we’re
Heading to here and we’re facing that way and then i started seeing signs for Imperial Palace. we’re going the right way uh I can see a bunch of signs with big red letters on so I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be going this way can I go this way?
Can I come this way? No. How how to get out? oh I have to go all the way back okay so down there right and then out okay thank you well that’s a shame I was I was going the right way but I spoke too soon didn’t I of course
The marathon’s on there’s high security around those exits only only staff can go that way not sure what that’s all about but I’ve been been instructed to go this way and right so that’s what we’re going to do have to have some kind of bag check so uh it’s fine yeah that’s
What we’ve got to do can we come this way? No, need staff pass so how to get out? okay can’t go that way either you have to have some sort of uh pass or wristband to go that way okay it’s for staff only right we’re going to find an exit
At some point I hope which way do we go? I don’t know which way to go hello excuse me do you know which way I I can get out just in here okay outside this building okay thank you so much okay we have clear directions now okay we found the
Way we found the way out they’re really running a tight ship around here which way we going to go? Let’s have a look okay we’re got to head that way that doesn’t look easy that does not look easy where there’s a will there’s a way it’s all Tokyo Marathon business I’d
Love to know how many people are doing it I think this must be the end cuz this is right outs side Central Tokyo they got big cameras everywhere it’s all happening these must be the first finishers the people who have got like
Just under three hours I have no idea how we’re going to get across this street to get to the Imperial Palace I don’t even know if we can go in the Imperial Palace right now. How can we get across? Underground?! good luck brother oh man okay thank you okay we’re going
Back underground oh my word we’re going back underground to try and get across but I don’t know if she knows that that’s all closed oh it’s difficult we’re seriously on a wild goose chase right here we’ve been trying to find our way to the Imperial Palace for the last half an
Hour but where there’s a will there there’s a way we shall get there we will not fail cuz this is one of the top sites in Tokyo so we got to get there and we will apparently I got to do a left left and a straight and a left and then uh
Eventually I’m going to find myself there look at that that is what you call Sky. We made it, almost wow what a journey just getting here was like a success. We’ve done it but we haven’t even seen it yet. have a good one guys okie dokie we seem to be making very
Good hedgeway now towards the Imperial Palace 45 minutes later we are fully on track the marathon is finished just behind me um yeah tons of uh tons of locals tons of Internationals doing the marathon it’s quite nice to see um all the staff speak English um so they’ve been really
Helpful it’s been a bit of a nightmare trying to navigate around it but um at least you know they had employed a ton of people to help people out so that was uh that was really good the Imperial Palace is over there however there are like guarded
Gates um with people there so there’s definitely can’t walk that way and I can see it’s guarded Gates over here as well um trying to get to the east of the gardens now I’ve just searched online seems you can’t go to the Imperial Garden without like a guided tour of some sort
So yeah and I think it’s actually fully closed today because of the marathon I just looked on Google it says it’s closed on Sundays and Mondays so I don’t know what’s going on um I’m going to ask these guys to see if I can get a walk
Around the uh the moat in the East Gardens but yeah I’m not really sure what the plan is now seems these guys have the same problem okay I’ve just seen what they’ve been told so I’m going to do the same thing the jacket’s off the shades are on what
A time to be alive here in Tokyo start of March it’s only like 10ยฐ but when the Sun’s shining down on you it’s like just gorgeous okay Security check to go in but free admission which is really nice I was expecting to have to uh pay something to get in
Batteries and Things okay thank you okay we are in we are in delightful stuff. Look at that behind me that’s like the old and the new right there what a contrast the Tokyo Imperial Palace was destroyed in 1945 wow in World War II one of the many consequences of the most devastating
Bombing in human history was the destruction of many structures and buildings in the Imperial residence on the night of 25th of May 1945 a coordinated firebombing raid was conducted on Tokyo’s Imperial Palace special mission was sent to specifically Target the Imperial Palace on that night and Therefore several buildings were
Destroyed and only a few survived the attack due to the immense damage caused by these targeted bombings the building of the new structures began in the 1960s and was completed in 1968 so there’s no joke in saying this place has really seen some history I always think it’s incredible when you
Think of like these areas where buildings have just been built and rebuilt and built again and added on and fixed and still they stand here today in all their glory and millions of people every year come to visit it it’s quite incredible really what a lovely area this is so
Peaceful and you have like the view of the city in the background with the old and the new together what a view check this out okay we’ve exited and now we need to go over here this is where the moat is look how pristine this area is I mean it’s
Just the road and a couple of buildings but just even the paint on the road is perfect I don’t know how to explain it just everything’s pristine I’ll check this out for a view halfway up the bridge wow that is most certainly a photo opportunity copying everyone else’s idea
It’s good ay? Yeah absolutely let’s carry on up here what an amazing City this must be to live in honestly what an incredible place to live look at this pigeon even this pigeon’s happy one thing I really love is when a country a city doesn’t sacrifice it its beautiful nature just
To build more stuff because it’s right in the center and it’s going to cost a lot and developers are going to make a lot of money from it no forget that this kind of nature should be left untouched and I’m not just talking about the Imperial Palace Gardens but just like
New York Central Park, Hyde Park in London and you know I lived in cities like Manila in the Philippines for example where they’ve completely sacrificed all of their nature they’ve cut down everything just to build more stuff and I didn’t realize how much I valued nature being around until I lived
There and it wasn’t available I have no idea what’s going on here but there’s loads of people mostly Young Girls by what I can tell so there must be some sort of event going on they all look very excited yeah not a clue not a clue right
On the edge of the uh Imperial Gardens something solo Festival maybe it’s a music festival? Looks like some kind of anime thing some anime thing anyway look at this they’re all getting some like merchandise oh look the queue must be long they literally queing up the stairs
Around here down here so this must be a big deal are you able to tell me what this is? What is this? It’s a anime thing? sorry my Japanese is not very good no worries it’s okay. Singing? Someone’s singing okay thank you wow I don’t know I won’t be visiting but nevermind
This is the moat view check this out so this is where you’d see all the cherry blossom all over these trees you know in about a month’s time and apparently you can take these boats here I don’t know if you can see that on the camera and uh apparently you have to
Book that like a month in advance when it’s cherry blossom season cuz like every man and his dog wants to do it it looks amazing enough even without the cherry blossom but with it I think that must be a sight to behold wow it’s one o’clock already and I’ve had a
Piece of toast and I’ve done about probably like five mile walking already so that’s the next jobby food okay I can see this is the place for food let’s have a look i can see oh that looks good to me some kind of pork katsu curry okay let’s figure out what’s going on
Here it’s a popular place okay hello uh do I sit and get a menu or do I order here? take Out. Thank you oh no I’m looking to eat some food oh okay that’s the full menu? And then come here to pay? okay and then come here after? ok, I’ve never
Seen that before so you pay at the window right oh okay I don’t know what any of it is I’m going to have to use the picture what a tourist are you in the queue, are you waiting? Oh okay you already you already pay?
Okay hello take away um well I would like to sit here outside is fine through that door over there right I really need to um learn a little bit of Japanese I feel a bit bad because I hate being that guy who goes to a different country and expects
Them to speak my language um so I’m trying to get away with just like body language stuff and like very basic English but I don’t feel good about it and I can tell that like the locals would prefer if I could speak a little bit of Japanese too so I think
When I get home tonight I’m going to uh get on the duolingo this is not sponsored but you know get in touch if you would like to but uh yeah I’m going to have to learn a little bit thank you wow looks great thank you so here we have the uh
Pork katsu oh wow real pieces of pork in there oh it’s falling apart it’s got like the uh fried breadcrumbs around it looks sticky. Holy [ย __ย ] that’s no joke that is really really good this is the stuff here we’ve got ourselves an espresso creme brulet now how does that sound look at this
I wanted a coffee and I wanted a dessert so espresso creme brulet can’t go wrong with that oh that is fantastic that is really really good oh man so good yeah it’s about 2500 it’s okay the rest is tip. Japan oh really, are you sure? Okay I want to, because it’s nice byebye
Wow I’m uh quite surprised with that I tried to give a tip and yeah they gave it back to me they really didn’t want me to it’s almost like it was offensive um different cultures different cultures what can you say now I’ve got an extra dollar in my pocket as well. Let’s take
You guys into a Japanese Supermarket even the logo is so Japanese let’s take you into a Japanese Supermarket even the logo is so Japanese let’s see what they’ve got in here oh maybe we need something I do actually need some cream for eczema on my
Hands it’s very dry here so seems to be getting worse no idea what all of this is some kind of medicine but yeah we’ll see if they got any cool little products little breads they got a bunch of these different like types of bread look apple bread apple
Strudel what is this some massive red bean filled donut oh this is what I was looking for look I’m going to take like three or four of these home with me I absolutely love this cereal but it’s so expensive when you buy it anywhere else definitely going to buy some of
Those before I leave I hope I don’t forget it’s very very nice coffees what else we got drinks you’ve already seen those in the convenience store no idea what any of this is oh baby food see that’s marketing you need to know what it is even if you can’t speak the
Language it’s good marketing baby oh they love this here the Pocari sweat oh this is like a powder Pocari sweat powder wow they’re massive into that they love it not such a fan of it me it actually does feel like I’m drinking sweat oh maybe it’s a pharmacy are we in a
Pharmacy? I think we’re in a pharmacy how have I only just realized that let me ask them if they’ve got anything for my eczema. Hello hello uh okay it looks like they do have something okay let’s try it I don’t know I can’t read so I’ll Trust
You there’s no way that’s only 90 Yen okay oh no it’s not 90 it’s 1,000 okay 1,000 is about what I was expecting oh wow see that she just put the amount in it thank you very much first time I see this that’s so cool thank you byebye
Wow did you see that she just typed in how much I gave her and then the machine just gave her the change first time I’ve ever seen that but yeah that’s a job sorted okay Japanese eczema cream hopefully you can sort me out you see this uh
Starbucks up here I’m on the way to Shinjuku Garden it’s about a 45 minute walk I just want to walk everywhere because it’s so damn Sunny um but I could do with a little break it’s 3:00 and yeah it’d be a bit rude not to get a coffee so we’re going to get
One and I feel like may as well try the Starbucks in Japan eh I’m sure a few of you might want to know what it’s like I could do with a little sit down to be fair because I’ve already walked like a lot is this the
Queue I think this is the queue. Are you in the queue? okay um hello i’ll get a Triple Espresso latte Hot or iced? Hot. For here? for here, yeah you have a seat? I can see one maybe you can give it me in a takeaway cup and then take if there’s
No seat I can leave okay card please. Oh it’s okay yeah I have it uh don’t do contactless here then? Seems not to be a thing still doing the old chip and pin method okay just a moment oh, just like that? That I thought I had to put the pin number
In okay thank you very much maybe there is not a seat we shall see that would be a real shame if not doesn’t look like it oh I’m sorry doesn’t look like it maybe we’ll stand and wait for one oh thank you thank you okay we got our
Latte. It’s piping hot I’ll tell you that for free. Oh there’s a seat available already are you leaving? okay thank you it is uh $3 pretty good not bad at all going to chill here for a while until uh we get some energy back oh no until this caffeine kicks in oh
Thank you until this caffeine kicks in and we’ve got some more energy to uh Patrol the place ladies and gents we have arrived in Shinjuku station the famous Shinjuku this is one of the main uh tourist attractions here in Tokyo so I’m excited to get a look
Around are we getting good at this now? Is it working again oh no it’s not what’s happened here then? got to go see the man and he’s going to give me a telling off and I’m going to have to pay some more money I imagine all the foreigners have the same
Problem it’s not just me hello it will not let me through the gate uh maybe I did something wrong I’m sure I did something wrong okay 20 yen I’m okay with that okay thank you very much 20 Yen extra that’s not too bad just did something slightly wrong but it happens
It happens where we’re going now we’re underground this just reminds me of China this does when like there’s just miles and miles of uh underground streets it’s crazy isn’t it crazy? It’s crazy I’m saying so much underground it’s crazy in the UK we have nothing underground here so much underground it’s cool yeah
I like it. It’s my my first day in Tokyo yeah first time here too so I’m making uh videos exploring yeah excited. Have a good day guys take care okay we’re going to, what nice guys oh sorry mate oh we’ve got to go up this exit I imagine we have exited Shinjuku station
We are losing sunlight unfortunately so the quality of this video is going to take a damn hit but not as hard as I’m about to hit the Shinjuku streets look at that mad looks sick it’s uh what time is it 5:00 almost Rush Hour going to be plenty of people
Around plenty of people look at this loads of people loads of them absolutely loads I’m just following the crowd to be honest I have no idea where I’m going but I’m sure it’s uh to the place where I need to be going that’s the beauty of
Here in Tokyo I don’t need to have a destination just walk around see anywhere everywhere is cool everywhere’s new everywhere is interesting so uh yeah don’t need to be too concerned about that. This is another like super typical in my mind anyway typical Japanese City Street just so much
Character now the lights are coming on it starts to get a bit naughty. currency exchange I could do with exchanging some currency to be fair yeah let’s do that let’s do that I do need to exchange some currency whilst I’m here so may as well right there’s a big Queue at this one
What rate are they giving oh not bad they’re giving basically the Google rate well there’s loads here so let’s just see which one maybe one of them does a better one I’m sure they’re all pretty much the same 189.9 yeah I mean same so uh this
One is free so may as well go into this one hello I would like to exchange some dollars please what is your dollar rate to Japanese Yen? Yes sorry? 8,000 sorry how much will you take? oh 8% oh okay never mind that that’s quite a lot thank
You oh I got that very wrong 8% there’s me thinking it’s a quality rate and then they’re like yeah we’re going to take 8% luckily I didn’t just go ahead with it $500 8% that’s like going to cost me like $40 to exchange it that’s a joke ‘no commission’ oh okay that’s why
This one’s got a big queue then yes thank you hello sir I have $502 which gets me how much? you can’t exchange $2 here thank you very much byebye that was very uh seamless and easy it’s cost us about 1,200 Yen to change $500 so it cost us about $8 to
Change 500 which is not bad at all it’s a lot better than the 40 from the other place that’s about 1% commission. I’m glad I didn’t get it over there 40% sorry $40 that would have cost me they are crazy. I’ve uh learned my lesson from the SIM card and adapted
Accordingly shinjuku is really starting to come alive the lights are coming on people are walking about it’s all nuts there’s not one thing about it that isn’t nuts yes okay I can hear some Chinese being spoken now I feel at home. I wonder if people here actually realize how [_] cool
Their city is I have a feeling some of them do but some of them don’t because I’ve met some Japanese people abroad who kind of give off the sense that they know Japan’s culture is kind of up there worldwide it has a very good reputation they keep a very good
Reputation for themselves because of their etiquette and politeness and Hospitality abroad so then when people come here they find more of the same I’ve literally never heard anyone say a bad word about Japan which is interesting because that’s very unlikely to be the case right pretty much every
Other country you’ll have some people say yeah it kind of sucks but every single person I’ve heard who’s been to Japan just says oh my God it’s the best place ever it’s so cool um so cyber Punk this is the ultimate cyber Punk street right like just little behind me this is
Nuts absolutely nuts another interesting observation this light was just red and everybody standing waiting to cross they didn’t all like get to the front and stand as close to the front as they can they kind of all waited back so there was quite a big gap between all
The people waiting to cross I mean that again a small detail just goes to show like the the politeness and you know oh excuse you, you got there first like other people are not trying to like push in front or get to the front you know everyone Waits their turn it’s wild
Just yeah small details very interesting to me oh my word that’s that’s the Highlight yeah down here check this out the smallest little Street you’ve ever seen with the smallest restaurants you may have ever seen look how tiny these places are what there’s not much room in there my word
Wow it’s like built for small people that’s so cool later very cool very cool oh my word look how tiny this street is man I can’t believe it this is the charm of Shinjuku for you look how tiny these places are full of people yakatori the barbecue wow look at this one
Full oh my word look at this one oh my God they’re pressed up against the door and there’s people waiting outside holy moly I’m going to have to eat in one of these places later I don’t know if I’ll be able to get in though there’s not enough room holy moly this is
Like just I’ve never seen anything like it what a cozy little vibe in these places like you know there’s there’s no way you can not talk to the people next to you right especially if you’re on there in there on your own look at this
Wow oh it says no pictures I didn’t realize that Ah that’s interesting enough some of them don’t want you to film I guess like I don’t know it’s a it’s a strange thing let me know down in the comments if you know why that is in Japanese culture there’s there’s literally like
No filming signs on restaurants and that guy I could tell I gave him a smile he looked at me saw the selfie stick and he was like that’s when I realized oh yeah there’s a sign that says Don’t film there’s a place called Golden Gai and we
Are going to head there have a little look around hopefully we don’t receive more of the same kind of hostility towards the camera um I imagine it probably will be the case though as it’s just over there so they probably got a similar Vibe going on but we shall find
Out holy moly we’re really in the thick of it now unreal stuff plane going over the top adverts on here oh this is the one I’ve seen on um yeah that’s the one I’ve seen on people’s Instagram stories it’s the 3D one right that cat’s popping out the screen oh my
Word look at this the lights are on what a Charming Alleyway okay we’re going to get you a little wide view here look at that oh my God looks so cool looks so cool let’s not hit any heads oh my God I just want to run I don’t know
Why I want to run just so full of energy maybe it’s that Triple Espresso latte I had earlier no way just no way look at this look at it oh my word I can’t believe all the colors look at that we’re just going to walk we’re just going to walk and
See see what happens try and not hit anyone over the head with this selfie stick because it could take someone’s eye out I will be very careful you see this sumo wrestler up here I would really like to see a sumo wrestling match that is definitely something on my bucket list
Oh it’s the little uh Jurassic Park geezer I wouldn’t say geezer but see him up there oh my God I’m literally the main character right now at least I feel like it I’ve not had this much fun just walking around in a long time holy [ย __ย ] excuse my
French just holy [ย __ย ] what else can I say there’s Sushi there’s wagyu there’s adverts there’s Madness going on in every corner there’s fashion there’s tourists there’s people with smiling faces there’s people with suitcases oh that rhymed Krispy Kreme I don’t need any more Krispy kreme I tell you that I was
Looking for fruit not krispy kremes God I just got a dirty look by that woman don’t know why she she looked at me like nevermind mind oh I don’t know which way to go everywhere looks cool no I don’t think this one looks the coolest this one looks the coolest let’s
Go this way look at all the all the flashing lights man the character the Swagger wow more photos shall be taken isn’t aren need just the perfect streets to take photos like every street you can just take a photo and it looks sick every street you can just take a
Photo look at this one another photo oh man feel like this video could be about two hours long look at this what’s this I don’t even know what this is okay here we are patrolling the streets of Golden Gai with Oli Barrett we’re here we’re doing it Solo in Tokyo
I was told there was supposed to be like a bazillion bars around this area but right now all I can see is restaurants so maybe I’m in the wrong place I don’t know I’m not quite sure look at this ‘girls bar nomnom’ what’s a girls bar nomnom that sounds a bit
Rude is it for girls or for guys girls bar is it for guys or girls I haven’t quite figured it out yet God I bet some of these hotels are very expensive right in the heart of Shinjuku I mean even a hostel here capsule Hotel was like $80 or $100
A night so I bet those ones with like proper nice rooms must be a lot well maybe someday maybe someday when I’ve got load of cash and there’s like a billion of you watching this video that would be amazing I can come back in like five years 10 years and I can stay
In one of those let’s make it happen check this please van out let’s not walk in the road it’s pretty cool though oh it’s a female driver how about that even cooler ladies and gents we are in the Golden Gai kind of quiet down here maybe it’s
Not late enough loads of intimate little bars very cool signs it’s probably about all you can see mostly can just see foreigners in them at the moment cover charge 500 yen yeah I’ve heard that’s a thing a lot of them have cover charges oh wow so cool
Wow there’s literally Like These Bars can that one can just fit like five people in I would stick the camera in there but like quite obviously they don’t want me to do that so I shall refrain from doing such a thing although I really want to cuz some
Of these places are just so cool like literally five chairs tiny little bar the bar owner is like talking with all the customers what a cool way to do business no words no words man what just crazy so quiet I was expecting there to be like hustle and bustle a load of
People but no it’s really quiet down there these are the outside public toilets even they are not too bad I mean it’s a bit dark and they’re a little bit like they’re not that clean but still they’re not too bad at all this is going to be the last thing I do today
Ladies and gents is go and eat some soba noodles cuz my legs are about to give away what are we on today so far 23,000 steps I’m absolutely shattered thing is I’m wide awake on like adrenaline but I’m absolutely shattered at the same time we are about to arrive at our
Destination look at this place this is just so cool everywhere look full everywhere full oh it’s a big arcade look wow really big one see I want to go check it out but I’m going to eat I’m starving I am really hungry okay we’re almost there around the corner and it should
Be it should be here, are we here? somewhere here is it this one? No no it’s not that one? It is indeed this one. Soba noodles here we go what do we want with our soba noodles? this is what I’m looking for I think. Is that prawn? Smells good anyway so we’re going
In what a relief they have English so this is going to be fun I’m looking for soba I’m sorry if I take a long time I’m looking for soba noodles with with Tempura uh tempura soba maybe with something else is okay I don’t mind soba with tempura crust is that it?
Maybe I can try two things like hot soba and something else No prawn. Oh okay oh never mind then I try something else chicken fillet that’ll do let’s try that one okay there we go oh I have to press it again oh no I lost it lost
Thi sone okay you better not click the wrong one here my first day here I don’t know if you can tell thank you so much guys for your help okay we we finally have some food ordered I was looking for uh the wrong thing it seems oh thankfully those guys were so helpful
Otherwise I really wouldn’t oh this is for me? Wow so fast okay thank you okay we’re really experiencing the uh fast food here in Japan so far we have got ourselves a bowl of soba noodles with some kind of chicken fillet now I haven’t got huge
Expectations as it was only 600 yen so soba noodles they’re kind of like wheat noodles I believe so let’s try I have no idea what I’m supposed to add in there what’s this? Should I just add some random stuff in there oh no I’ve got it on myself that is terrible
News now I’m going to stink of uh soy sauce or fish sauce whatever it is. Find it interesting how they have this like seating arrangement where you just like face the wall I’ve uh never been in a restaurant where you just face the wall I like this part of
The culture how they all put their trays back on the on the thing I think that’s so cool byebye that’s one word I’ve learned this is this is uh ‘vlogception’ I’m on the phone to you on the video. Hold on let me just talk let me just say something for the
Video. Okay that is us done that is us done for the day 25,000 steps is enough in one day we’re going to get on the Shinjuku Metro back to Ueno which is about 40 minutes back to the hotel get a good night rest and we will do it all
Again tomorrow thank you for watching take care
1 Comment
Nice