Day 12: Tokyo

Started the day quite slowly as I slept bad again, and just chatted with the guys from my room, they were checking out today.
Once I left though I headed into Shinjuku and out to the Tokyo Metropolitan Tower as they have a free observation deck from the 45th floor of their building. It wasn’t a great view however as it was pretty overcast today and there was also a lot of pollution around. I did spot a nice park from up there so after heading down I went to it.
After that I navigated the train system to head out to Mitaka, its a little bit away from the main hustle and bustle, but thats where the Ghibli Museum is. Cant take photos inside, thats whys theres not many by the way.
But the Ghibli Museum…..wow!!  If you are interested by Ghibli in any way, or have any kids, I definitely recommend coming out here. Its not a big museum, but nearly everything they have is touchable or interactive, so the kids were having a ball. They have the cat bus from one of their movies that the kids can put on the head and drive around in, and also a giant one that they can all climb over. The museum is also set up a little like a maze, with random mini doors, or spiral staircases in the middle of the room up to the higher levels, or bridges, or a door to a balcony in the middle of two levels. They also have a cafe and I had a japanese hotdog, and they have displays about how they make stuff look like they are running etc.  It was awesome. Oh and they also have a mini cinema where you can watch a short 10min film they made about mouse sumo’s. The whole time I was there I just wanted to head back home and watch all the Ghibli’s back to back. It was fantastic.
After that headed back to the hostel for a bit of rest before meeting up with Mark to go out pubbing. We must have got crossed wires somewhere cause we didnt end up meeting, I dunno what happened.  So after that I went walking around Asukusa for a bit looking for food, until I eventually some coffee place called Jonathan’s. It was a bit westernised, but I ordered from their Japanese selection. It was good, kinda like chicken noodle soup with fat noodles and bits of chicken and the rice I put in, and extra chilli flakes mmmm.
After that just chilled in my hostel room cause nobody was there, I thought nobody would check in and I’d have a room to myself, but alas no, 1 guy came in about 10. I went to bed soon after that to try and get a full night sleep…

Nathan “Wez” Brown

Wez loves taking landscape and travel photographs, and sharing these as inspiration to travel. He has a goal to visit every Hard Rock Cafe in the world and have a shot in each of them. He can also eat nearly anything, and will try most things at least once.

Tagged as: ghibli museum, shinjuku, tower