- By : Mr.Swaminathan Sitaraman
- Date: 10-08-2013
- Views : 3942
- [Ashikaga, Japan]
Why Tokyo? It’s one of my favourite cities – it’s an underestimated place and massively cool. I’ve been lucky enough to go there through work, and I really love Asia. There is an atmosphere and vibe that just doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. On the one hand you’ve got all the Harajuku (the super-chic shopping and entertainment district) girls walking around with one hair bunch in green and the other in pink and wearing fur or animal-print shoes.
On the other hand, you can walk along and there will be an ancient shrine – parts of it are very old school. Then again you can walk another 100 metres down the road and you come across one of the trendy pancake houses. It is an odd set-up in lots of parts, but visually it is so surreal and not stuffy or stuck-up. Also there are the loos. The first time I went to the loo in Tokyo, the toilet seat started vibrating and playing a nursery rhyme. I had never experienced anything like that.
Anything special I should pack? Fashion is such a massive part of the city, so I’d take some really nice clothes and lots of money, too, because Tokyo is very expensive. You have to save to go to Japan.
What’s the first thing you do? The city has lots of quirky cafés. We went to one where the waitresses, who were dressed like maids, ran around singing and serving ice cream. It sounded sinister but it was all very innocent. There was another place where you could pay to have a cat sit on your lap. Your expectation is quite high when you go there because you think something is going to happen. But then you discover that the cat just sits there while you have a cup of tea.
Where’s the best place to stay? We stayed in a really lovely hotel in Shibuya called the Granbell Hotel . It’s a boutique hotel and it’s not fussy and not too busy – some hotels in Japan are massive, but this is quite small and really central.
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