I had always wanted to go to Japan ever since I grew up watching anime like Pokemon and Doremon, and it finally became reality a week ago. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to visit Tokyo, Japan for 3 days, and it was everything I expected and more.
Before I left to Japan, my friends told me that I would have a hard time as barely anyone in Japan knows how to speak English and that a lot of restaurants and stores do not have an English menu. To my surprise, I did not have that much of a difficulty when I was there. On subway trains, there are both English and Japanese options and voiceovers. In most restaurants, there are English menus. As a result, my time in Japan was not as difficult as I imagined.
There were four things in Japan that I absolutely adored. First off, customer service is the best I have ever seen anywhere. It is such a big difference from Hong Kong because HK’s customer service tends to have a bad reputation for being rude as there is always a crowd and restaurants need to have a fast turnover rate. However, in Japan, everyone is so friendly and respectful here wherein they always serve you with a smile. Being a solo traveler, I felt very welcomed whenever I entered a restaurant.
Secondly, I can’t talk about Japan without mentioning the toilets. I had such a blast using the toilets in Japan, literally. I think I spent like half an hour sitting on the toilet just exploring all the buttons at one point. Oops.
Thirdly, the cherry blossoms are so beautiful and they were everywhere. It was like a scene from a romance movie, and I was in absolute heaven. I went two weeks early before the peak of the cherry blossoms, but there were some trees that were already blooming. I could only imagine what it would look like if all the trees are blooming.
Lastly, I think I ate ramen every day that I was in Japan. How could I not? There are so many different types of ramen, but my favorite ramen restaurant is called “Ichiran.” Ichiran is a restaurant where there is solo booths that are separated with dividers. When you enter, you order through a vending machine, and when you get to your booth, you are basically facing three walls as you can’t see the people besides you or anything in front of you. When your ramen is ready, the waiter/waitress will lift the divider up and give you your bowl of ramen, and even then, you will not be able to see the waiter/waitress. Their slogan is along the lines of not concentrating on anything else BUT the taste of the ramen, and boy, was it delicious.
Honestly, Japan is one of my favorite places of all time. Everything is so lively and fun in Japan, and there is such a unique culture here. I even love the subway rides in Japan as it is not built underground so you can see what is outside during the ride. I cannot wait to be back in the future, hopefully during the peak of the cherry blossoms season with the love of my life.
