【亚裔夫妇旅游日记】首次踏足东京，日本之旅的震撼和惊喜时刻

We finally made it to one of our top bucket list countries, Japan. We'll be spending a month here exploring different regions of Japan and learning about the food, culture, and people here. And of course, we're starting our series in the busy and vibrant city of Tokyo. So we're starting our day here at the Lucky Cat Temple. It's called Gotokuji Temple. It's one of the lesser known temples in Tokyo. Because it's a bit further away from like the main hub of the city, we did go to the very busy, very popular Senso-ji Temple yesterday just to experience the vibe. And it was packed, but it was pretty amazing. It's one of the oldest temples in Tokyo, dates back to like 645. But that was a very different vibe from this place. It's so quiet here. There's not a lot of people. Let's go explore and see what's inside. These are so pretty. Look at them. I think we need to write one as well. These are people's wishes that they put on the back of the card that they leave at this temple. And hopefully it comes true from the blessings of all the lucky cats. I see the cats. There's so many. They're all here. Oh my god, look at the sizes. From humongous all the way to tiny, tiny. So cute. I think the cats are left here by people who come to make a wish and then they buy one of these cats and then they leave them here so the wish will come true. Sometimes you see them with the right hand up and then sometimes you see them with the left hand up. But all of the ones here are the same right hand. Oh, what's the difference? I'm not sure actually. These are called maneki, neko in Japanese. Maneki means bringing in luck, bringing in money, and neko is cat. So they bring the cats from home or can you buy them here? I think you can buy it here. Because initially when I walked in here and saw all these cats I was like, oh are these cats for sale? They're put so nicely, so organized here. I think we're gonna have to find one ourselves and leave a little cat here. Yeah, look at how tiny these guys are. I thought this one was small but look at that. Pinky size. I'm surprised they can even withstand the wind. Yeah, am I allowed to pick them up? No, no, you shouldn't pick them up. Doesn't it give you a happy feeling seeing all the cats? Yeah, we both are cat lovers so coming here makes me super happy. So the legend goes that in the 17th century there was a lord that is part of the Li clan and he was hiding from a thunderstorm just outside this temple here when he saw a cat sitting there. Well, the cat invited him into the temple and afterwards he dedicated this temple to his family clan and because the cat brought him luck he thought that this cat must be very lucky. So worshippers started coming to the temple and leaving these little cat figurines in hopes that they also have luck brought to them. I think that's such an interesting story how one cat changed the life of one person and probably the lives of many. I think we found the shop. I think you can buy the cat from here. I'm not sure though, let's check. You see the tiny one, the pinky size one is 500 yen or about four dollars. It's very expensive and the big one is 7,000. That's 60 dollars. They're all sold out. They only have the little one in the pocket and even these ones are sold out. That's a bit disappointing. I was so ready to buy the 1,000 yen one which is like the third size. That's too bad. But there is something we can do to still like bring in luck. Yeah to bring in luck. I can see it over there. What did you wish for? I just wish that during the next month while we're exploring Japan that you know all the cat energies of Japan is going to keep us safe, keep us healthy and we can explore this beautiful country. One thing I noticed about Japan is that there are signages everywhere. A lot of them are advertisements and also instructions. Instructions for you to behave in public areas. Like do not run, do not rush to the train, do not walk up the escalators, do not cross your legs. Everything is so organized and so tidy. I think that's why you don't hear people like yelling at each other because everyone kind of sees what they're supposed to do. So the whole of Japan feels so quiet in terms of people speaking. Yeah. So we're back in the city now and we're gonna look for a place to have lunch. Note said he's already found one though. So what's the place you found? I found a place that has a very good review. It's called Oreyu Shioramen Daikanyama branch. Sounds like a franchise. Yeah, I think it's a franchise. It has 4.2 stars. See this one is good because I have been browsing and a lot of places are under 4 stars review because Japanese people are quite conservative in their rating. And one interesting thing is that if you go on the main google map page, there's a ramen tab right on there because ramen is such a big part of the culture here in Japan. No, the one with the red sign. Right here. Oh, that looks so good. This one right here. Oh, it says please buy ticket. Buy ticket where? Inside I guess. I haven't been to like a ticket ramen bar before. I want that one. Okay, I think I'm gonna go for this one. Creamy salt soup. It's their number one best seller. That looks amazing. This one is so much bigger. This is for you. Thank you. This is perfect. Yeah, it's usually for like the business men who wear white shirts. But yeah, your shirt is put easily. It's white and it's brand new. So mine is the miso ramen. It's so full. It's so bold. So tasty. That does look so good. Let me try the ramen. It almost looks like a curry. Yeah, it's quite thick. I can't. I can't help it. You need to try the broth. It's good, right? It almost tastes like peanuts. It's so creamy. It's like peanut butter. That's really good. It's my turn, right? I finally can eat mine. Oh, in Japan, before you eat, you have to say Itadakimasu. I think it means like thank you for the food or... No, no. It means like I'm starting to eat now. So I just mixed mine together now. But it has pork and has bamboo shoots. Has spinach and egg. And my broth is different though. This is the creamy, creamy salt broth. Is it as good as mine? I think it's better. I don't know how it can be better, but I think it's better. Let me slurp my noodles first. You have to slurp louder. I don't even slurp usually. But coming here and hearing everyone slurping, I'm like trying my best to slurp. It's hard. But I don't want the chef to think that I don't like his food. So I'm going to try my best to slurp. His creamy salt broth is like another level. It's so delicious. Never had anything like this. Look at that. Nice and clean. New, new. That was so delicious. We're going for a nap. Well, we have to walk 16 minutes to one of the most famous spots in all of Tokyo. Is it Chibuya? Chibuya Crossing. Let's go. It's quite nice to pay first and then eat. Because then when you leave, you just go. And plus in Japan, you don't tip. Like it's rude if you leave a tip. They're going to chase after you and give you your money back. I love that. I love that culture. Coming from Canada where we like have to tip a lot. We should get the umbrella. I think so. Started raining so hard. Let's get one of the clear ones. Perfect. You ready? Much better. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Pass that away. Someone just broke the umbrella after five seconds. Wow. We're going to go this way. Yeah, the storm is coming. Yeah, out of nowhere just now. I noticed a lot of people have clear umbrellas. I think it's so that it's easy for you to see other people. So you don't run into them. Because everything in Japan is done to be considerate of others, isn't it? Yeah. It makes sense. Makes total sense. We are starting to enter the busy part of Tokyo where there's signage everywhere. Lots of shopping malls. Lots of just LED screens everywhere. This is pretty exciting because we've only been spending time just in the outskirts this morning. Of course, as soon as you purchase an umbrella, the rain stops. Like the rain just suddenly stops and you can even see the sky is opening up there. Yeah, the lucky cat. But anyways, we're now at Shibuya Crossing, which is one of the most iconic places in Tokyo. It seems that the best place to watch this is actually at that Starbucks coffee over there. You see everyone just like glued to the window. We'll make our way out there. We'll cross and just enjoy the atmosphere. And then let's go up and see what it looks like from up top. Look, they're crossing now. Oh, wow. Look at the amount of people. Such like a happy environment. Because people are just used to others taking photos in this area. You know what? I think all the tourists here make multiple cross. Yeah, you cross like many times. Just to get the photo. Just to get that one perfect photo. But we're going to do that too, right? We're going to go that way now. Yeah, let's cross again. I have never been so happy crossing the road. And like everyone's camera's out crossing the road. This is so much fun. We should go the other way now. Okay, next time. Next round. I love Japan. Me too. I'm so glad we finally decided to come here. We have been putting it off because we thought Japan was so expensive. Yeah, but I feel like coming here when you look at like food choices and shopping. You have choices. It doesn't have to be expensive. But I think one thing that of course is expensive is accommodation. Like hotels. Yeah, especially coming back from Canada. Japan is so much cheaper. Yeah, I would say so. Especially for food options. And I always love going to a new country because everything excites me. I do have a mission today though. Coming to Shibuya. I need to buy a birthday present for my six-year-old nephew who loves Pokemon. So I believe there is a Pokemon Center just up there in one of the malls. Let's go check it out. Oh wow, there's a live Pokemon in there. That's so sick. Gotta catch them all. So crazy how expensive. That's not bad. I was never really into Pokemon but now it's like such a trendy thing with our nephews. Let's see. What's this? I need a dragon one. This one. This one is a dragon. I think. That's a bird. Or is it a chicken? It's a half dragon, half chicken. Oh this one. This one is a dragon. Three-headed dragon. That's the one you're looking for? That's what my sister said. What's his name? Pokemon Scarlet? I don't, what? I don't know. Scarlet and Violet. I found it. This is the 5,500 yen one. Yeah, this is an expensive one. Your nephew has an expensive taste. But I'm a cheap aunt. That's a, that's an expensive one. What do I do? Is there a smaller one? I find it so crazy the anime and cartoon culture here in Japan. And there are actually people buying them. And not just like Pokemon. Across from us is Nintendo. Yeah. Which even has more people because people love like Mario Kart and all of those games. I think Japan is a perfect place for you if you enjoy like shopping for quirky things. Or if you like games and you like, you know, anime. And it'll be heaven for you no matter if you're an adult or a kid. Okay, we, we screwed up. We actually have another nephew, your brother's son, that is obsessed with Pokemon. And I just texted him, my brother, and he said NJ likes Mewtwo. You know what Mewtwo is? No. This guy. Oh really? I can't take that with me. It's way too big. Let's go find a Mewtwo. Yeah. A smaller one. Are they the same? Are they? They are the same. Let's see. Yeah. That's Mewfour now. Oh, two and two? Yeah. Wow. You should become a comedian. God damn. Got it! Mission accomplished. He's gonna be so happy. I actually quite enjoy it. I know. I'm actually scared to go into the Nintendo shop because that looks really fun too. Let's just walk past it. Okay. We had a wonderful day exploring Tokyo. I'm excited for the rest of the series. We'll be exploring more parts of Japan. So make sure to subscribe and as always, have a wonderful day. We will see you in the next one. Bye!