Japan: Final Thoughts

I will (try to) post a final blog summing up my thoughts and experiences for each country. These will not be nearly as detailed as the rest, so maybe they will be more enjoyable for my friends to read ;) Also, please keep in mind that these are my own personal thoughts and opinions based on my observations only. They are not meant to be taken as anything more than that; and I strongly encourage everyone to travel and make their own judgments.



Overall Impressions
Country: Positive
People: Positive
Food: Positive

At first I wasn't too excited about the place because of my bad Couch Surfing experience and I wasn't meeting people. Still in Tokyo I went to Yoyogi Park, Shinjuku, Shibuya, the Sky Tree, Tokyo Tower, and had some decent food, including takoyaki. I did meet up with an old friend, though. Then I went to Kyoto, met GGG and fell in love with the country. In Kyoto I went to the Imperial Palace, a flea market, had the onsen experience, visited the monkey park, a shrine, and the Golden Pavilion. I had some okonomiyaki and yatsuhashi (AKA puppy dog ears), and made some good friends. I went to Osaka and saw some young kids boxing at a Thai Festival and went to Osaka Castle. I went to Nara, saw a giant Buddha and petted some wild deer. Then I returned to Tokyo and went to Akihabara, partied in Roppongi, and visited Shibuya (again). I tasted the best sushi in the world in Tsukiji Fish Market and I ate probably not the best in the world torisashi (raw chicken). I sang Japanaese karaoke and sipped some coffee at a cat cafe. Oh, and I met some more fun people in Tokyo. Returned to Osaka, caught up with an old friend, made a new friend, and relaxed.

Japan was clean and the people were, for the most part, very helpful and friendly. There was a language barrier, but that's half the fun. My favorite food was either sushi or okonomiyaki. The yatsuhashi was really tasty as well. My favorite thing that I did was probably the monkey park. The onsen was really nice, too. I would definitely go back to Japan.