Tokyo and How It Changed My Mind

I had originally intended to visit Tokyo for a week before heading home. Tokyo has changed my mind, however. I like Japan. I had some good times in Southeast Asia but was constantly bothered by the touristy atmosphere in many places and the fact that everyone was trying to rip you off all the time. I quickly got tired of interacting with all the party backpackers and having tuk-tuk drivers claim not to have the change they owed me. Tokyo doesn't seem to have these problems. The hostel I'm in is social but the backpackers here are actually trying to have real experiences rather than just trying to get wasted in a new country.

For these reasons, I've decided to keep traveling for a little while within Japan. I don't know where I'm going next but I've got my Tokyo hostel booked for another few nights so I have some time to find out.

Yesterday I met Oona and her friend Afnan in Akihabara. Akihabara is known for two things: electronics and maid cafes (cafes where women dress as maids and serve you). Maid cafes strike me as creepy and sexist so we just walked around for a while and I looked at the electronics. I had originally intended to purchase a ton of electronics parts for future projects but since I'm going to keep traveling I didn't buy anything. I will probably pass through Tokyo again before heading home so I can shop in Akihabara then.

After that, we took the train to Shibuya, the shopping district of Tokyo. We went to an big bookstore then an okonomiyaki restaurant where we cooked our own savory pancakes at the table. Then we parted ways and I went back to my hostel.

Making a friend in the train station.

I sat down in the common area of the hostel and started talking to some folks there. I met Larissa (from Switzerland) and Marius (from Germany) and they invited me to go to Akihabara with them. I had already been once that day but I had nothing better to do so I said sure. We walked from the hostel to Akihabara, which took about an hour. We explored the area a bit and went into an video game arcade. Arcades in Tokyo are a bit different than American arcades because every game has an ashtray next to it and almost all of the people there are adult men. We played some sort of shooting game which I proved to be very bad at. After a while, we walked back to the hostel.

I'm bad at video games.

Today was another slow day. Hostels in Southeast Asia never have kitchens because food is so cheap there but in Japan, backpackers often cook their own meals at the hostel. I bought a loaf of bread at 7-11 and had toast for breakfast. After that, I hopped on a train to meet a guy I had found on Craigslist selling a tent. I bought it so I can start camping which I've read is very doable in Japan. I still need to get a sleeping bag and some warmer layers though. After buying the tent, I went back to the hostel and walked to a laundromat to do laundry. Since then, I've just been resting in the hostel dorm room. I will probably go back to the common area soon to see if I can find some people to eat dinner with.