Us in Japan: Day 3 - Walk it out...and shop in Tokyo (56k warning)

Sometimes less is more...so I left the SLR in the safe and stuck with the GoPro and cell phone today. Not having an extra 5 pounds strapped around my neck feels good...also notice what I did with the title there. Talk about a throwback...

Anyway, when getting around in Tokyo prepare for a lot of walking in the hot hot heat of the subway. It's not uncommon that when changing lines you'll have to walk up to 300m from one line to the next. And unlike Toronto where you have the U with like one line going through it, it's a legit web over here.

Since there train/bus/subway is run by several separate companies in Tokyo, here's how I would describe it compared to back home: Tokyo Metro and Toei Metro together are like the TTC and JR Rail is like the GO. For the most part we've been taking Tokyo Metro because the subway is fast and never late. You might have to transfer like 12 times but it'll get you pretty much anywhere you need to go around town. Toei and JR Rail would do the job too but we're keeping it simple and sticking to one.

To make things even harder you can get passes for each individual company or combined passes if you're gonna travel a lot. Here's two machines you should get familiar with: The fare buying machine and the payment adjustment/transfer machine.

The way it works here is that you pay by distance from one station to the next. You then get a small ticket and use it to enter/exit off the different lines. If you mess up fare then the gate actually closes on you and you look like jackass in front of the fourteen dozen salary men waiting to get through. That's where the transfer/fare adjustment machines come in. The best thing to do is buy a pass if you plan to travel a lot.

Anyway, by my broad estimation I'll probably have like 5 new pairs of shoes by the time I get back. Since we're getting up at like 3 to go to the fish market tomorrow, we basically went eating/shopping today with no sightseeing goals in mind. We also had to change hotels which was a pain in my a-hole..

The shoe/boot game here makes everywhere else look like kindergarten. Even grandmas step it up to the streets and some of the shoe stores are just gigantic. I'm not exactly Turtle, but a cool pair of shoes is a cool pair of shoes and everyone seems to have them.

Anyway, here's a couple of cell phone shots from today...

Food courts here are just awesome



Lunch! Freaking amazing baguette, I could not resist.

Shibuya crossing, one of the busiest on earth. This picture does not do it justice. The intersection was probably the size of a football field, along with a stadium full of people crossing it. Also, Shibuya 109 and the scene around it.




Some randoms...







And like I said, just look for the lanterns for good food/drink. There's something about the hustle and bustle and rubbing elbows and having beers on the street with the regular folk that makes you enjoy the city life. But so easy to drop like $50CAD in a sitting...



No GoPro screencaps this time around...feeling super lazy. These days take a lot out of you...