Exploring the World: Tokyo

A week ago I returned from Tokyo! Ever since arriving in Beijing over a year ago I wanted to go and see Tokyo. It wasn't quite what I had imagined it to be honestly. I had fun though nevertheless!

I was in Tokyo for three full days and two half days. (Flying there and back). One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Tokyo was to go to Tokyo Disneyland. (I know a bit lame but who cares!). Also I wanted to explore Tokyo and see some of the sights.

Getting to the city of Tokyo itself from the airport is an adventure. The international airport is actually an hour away from the city itself. So you need to take a train into the city. Then from there you need to take the subway (giant headache) to find your hotel. It took us about 3 hours from the time we landed until we checked into our hotel. After checking into the hotel we ventured off to Asakasa. There we went to the Sensoji Temple

Sensoji Temple

After the temple we walked around the area then went and saw the Tokyo Sky Tree. The Sky Tree is the tallest free standing building in the world. You can go up to the top of the building but its a glass elevator and a glass top all the way around. Plus I got a bit freaked out when I could actually see airplanes flying in the sky in Tokyo. And it didn't help that Alex (my friend) said to me when a plane flew close what would you do if it crashed into the building..Thanks Alex.

The second day I went to Tokyo Disneyland! Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyworld are very similar. They have the exact same rides, same shows and even the same areas.

Same castle as Disney World. Though it was decorated for their 30th anniversary.

Parade had the same music as home! Though Mickey and Minnie were dressed up!

While the park was very much the same I felt the atmosphere just wasn't. Tokyo Disneyland isn't actually owned by Disney, its owned by some other company. Its a franchise that has to pay royalty's to Disney. That being said some aspects of the park were different than home. Everyone spoke Japanese at the park but no one spoke English. Last year I went to Hong Kong Disneyland and the staff knew English, Cantonese and Mandarian. Not to mention all the rides in HK were in English as well as one or two shows. EVERYTHING was in Japanese. Which is good considering I was in Japan. But kinda of weird. Usually the food is quite good in Disney, I wasn't impressed with the food in Tokyo Disneyland. They had this weird thing with churros. They loved churros..they were all over the park. It was difficult to find food and drinks. I asked a lady where I could buy water and she didn't even know. She had to pull out the map and look all over the park. In fact every time we asked someone where something was they had no idea. Other than those small details it was still a lot of fun.

The next day we went to Disney Sea. Disney Sea is a park that is different from any other Disney park. They have various areas such as Mermaid Lagoon, Arabian Coast, Lost River Delta, Mysterious Island, American Waterfront, Mediterranean Harbor and Port Discovery. Unfortunately the day we went was a dreary day. It rained the whole day and was very cold. This park had better food and more rollercoasters. (If your into that). It reminded me of a combination of Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

Nautical Mickey. Disney Sea has a nautical theme throughout the park. Each area is a different port. Ahoy Captain Mickey!

Port Discovery. This area is very futuristic

Part of the Lost River Delta Area. This area also included Mexican theme articles and food. It also was home to Donald Duck.

Part of the Mediterranean Harbor.

Arabian Coast. The rain didn't keep the crowds away.

Mermaid Lagoon. This area was cool because you were able to inside Triton's castle. Inside were rides, shows. It is made to look like you are under the sea.

A little blurry but this is what it looked like inside.

American Waterfront. This area was lined with stores and was designed to look like American from the 1900's.

Overall I liked Disney Sea. It was completely different to anything I had seen before. It would have been better if it wasn't raining..

On the fourth day in Tokyo we explored the city.