neigette's blog

Day 11 - Odaiba day I left with my friend in the morning around 9AM and headed towards Odaiba. I stopped by first at Teamlab Planets. I liked the exhibition - especially the velvet lined walls- but went through it really quickly in 30-40 minutes even though I did take pictures! The only exhibit I missed there was Cold Life. For lunch, I went to Venus Fort and headed to Teamlab Borderless afterwards. I spent a lot of time at Borderless and kept going in circles in the beginning. Some rooms made me really dizzy and I used the waiting areas to lie down for a minute. I think it was good to experience Borderless once, but I personally wouldn't go back again. The Forest of Lamps was my favourite room though and I thought the Mirrorless world got inspiration from Yayoi Kusama's infinity rooms. Teamlab Borderless Forest of Lamps I walked to Diver City afterwards to see the famous Gundam. The mall was further away than I thought but luckily I made it in time to see the...

Day 4 - Kyoto Arrival I finally had a decent sleep at my friend's house. I left early to catch the Shinkansen at Shinagawa. It turned out to be a good idea since I had free time and wasn't stressed. I did have to deal with rush hour traffic on the Yamanote line and had the experience of being pushed on the train by fellow passengers. Honestly though, it wasn't as bad as I'd imagined it to be - probably because I was warned about the traffic beforehand. I also finally learned to take my time and seek out elevators in the train stations. The shinkansen ride was nice - I think I saw Fuji but not completely sure as it was cloudy. Although the window seat was booked by someone else, no one showed up so I had 2 seats to myself. It was interesting to see the train culture too - for example, the train staff bow when they enter and exit each train car. I got to my Hostel (Piece Hostel) early so I dropped off my luggage and explored the nearby mall. I was really happy as...

A couple weeks ago, I went on my first trip to Japan (solo). It was a very rewarding experience but I had my share of unexpected events that I had to deal with. Part 1: Tokyo - Asakusa, Shinjuku  Day 0 -  Canada / US / Japan     I had difficulties even at the start of my journey because I tried to bring a hiking pole as part of my carry-on. Security wouldn't let me through with it. The airport storage fees were too expensive so I decided to test my luck and left my hiking pole in a washroom stall. Sadly, I never saw it after that ..    On my flight from Chicago to Tokyo, I realized how much I hated long distance flights. It was especially rough because the person sitting in front of me decided to maximize their chair's recline. On a positive (?) note, I set a record of watching 5 movies on the flight. I thought American Airline's flight food was better than my previous experiences with Air Canada, although I couldn't say it really impressed me....