Day 1 in Tokyo, Japan

I know it's only been a YEAR since we went to Japan, but hey, I still have photos to share! School has totally consumed my life for the past year, but I'm graduating in 2 weeks and can't wait to finally have some time for my blog again! No more excuses. :) I wanted to share some photos from our first day in Japan. Adam and I arrived separately, so we met up at the Narita airport and then made our way to the trains to venture into Tokyo. The train maps are SUPER easy to read...

So, we didn't have any issues finding our way. (Just kidding!) Haha, it wasn't that bad, it just looked overwhelming at first. Color-coded train maps are wonderful. I picked up our portable wifi device at the airport that I ordered online before arriving in Japan, which ended up being super useful the entire trip. I also purchased our train tickets online ahead of time, too. The bigger train system throughout Japan is a bit confusing because it's separated into chunks, and you can only purchase tickets for certain areas of Japan, so it's best to know ahead of time where you want to go. I knew we wanted to go to Nagano to see the snow monkeys, so the JR-East pass allowed us to travel that route. Unfortunately, this meant that if we wanted to visit Kyoto, we would have been required to purchase an additional train pass because it's in a different section of Japan. We ended up passing on that (they're a bit pricey!) in order to see the snow monkeys in Nagano instead. I'm still sad about it though because I'd love to see Kyoto! Maybe someday...FYI: I think the train system went through a big change right after we left because there were signs of upcoming changes everywhere. I'm not sure how different it is now, but this was the system while we were there. Also, I have some friends who went to Japan a few months after us, and they didn't purchase their train tickets ahead of time and it ended up being a huge pain in the ass to purchase them in Japan. So definitely check what is required before you leave home! Mini-rant time: Before I left for Japan, everyone kept telling me it was going to be impossible to keep a vegetarian diet. I sort of arrived with the expectations of eating fish/fish stock/pork broth, etc., and accepting that fact. I'll admit that I'm not an insane or super strict vegetarian, though. I love Asian food way too much and know that even in Seattle when I enter the International District for a meal, there's a 96% chance that what I'm eating probably has some sort of animal stock in it. Even though I'm a vegetarian and believe in animal rights, etc. I've always felt like vegetarians really miss out on important experiences when they travel abroad because food is such a big part of the culture, no matter where you go (and I happen to love food!) so it's unfortunate that they/we sometimes miss out on that huge part of the culture. Though I've gotten pretty lucky while traveling abroad so far, if I'm ever in a situation in the future where I'm in someone's home and they offer me food, and it happens to have meat in it, I won't turn it down because that'd be incredibly disrespectful, especially if I'm their guest. That's just a personal feeling I have about vegetarianism though, and I'm sure there are plenty of other vegetarians who would disagree.

Anyway! That being said, I was definitely pleasantly surprised when we got to Tokyo Station and stumbled upon T's, an all-vegan ramen spot. I was shocked. It was also hands-down the BEST meal we had while in Japan, and I went back two other times before I left because I loved it so much. Pure bliss.

Adam and I also had our first bowl of udon that day. Also yummy. Not vegan, but vegetarian.

Japan is all about the plastic food. The displays are always so impressive and as foreign travelers, it was really nice being able to point to what we wanted instead of struggle through the ordering process. Making these plastic dishes is an art in Japan. Check out this video - it's so fascinating!

We spent our first day exploring near our hotel. We stumbled upon an antique market and saw a woman casually walking her dog who was pretending to be human while walking through the market on two legs... The entire time. No biggie.

Later on, we walked around in search of food. We found a fancy cafe selling tiny things. They also had pretty plastic food displays.

I'll post more Tokyo photos soon. I have lots from Shibuya Crossing and Shinjuku that I haven't even started to sort through yet... Whoops! As always, thanks for reading! xo