21st May..

To be frank with you, Tokyo was not on my top list destination to visit. Mostly because i feel that holiday is more about escaping everyday life where my everyday life is crowded bustling Jakarta city. Of course, compare to Jakarta, Tokyo is more comfortable and convenient. It has great public transportation system. And the most important thing is it is safe for woman to travel alone in Tokyo. You can not feel more safer when you have a police post just across your hotel.

I feel Tokyo is a unique place. It has a balance of nature and mega city. It has a futuristic outlook. Bottomline, it has everything i can imagine.

The first thing i do is visiting the famous Shibuya crossing. It is reachable easily using public train. The best spot for observing Shibuya crossing is cafes facing intersection of Shibuya. There are a few cafes and one of them is Starbucks Coffee. It has perfect angle to the entrance to Shibuya Railway Station. The only shortcoming is this place is touristy, meaning many person come to this place with the same objective as mine. The entrance is full of people queuing to order. When its my turn to order, i just realise that they only serve tall size, i think its to speed up the line. Even though the cafe is full, i manage to get a single table in the middle where i can’t see the crossing. Moments later, a guy stands from window side table. With split second, i grab his chair. I spend about one hour just to enjoy observing the busiest crossing in Japan plus to get the perfect time lapse video.

Another tourist spot in Shibuya is to see Hachiko statue. Hachiko is a legendary folk tale from Japan. Hachiko was a golden brown Akita who remembered for his loyalty to his owner. He waited for his owner everyday in Shibuya Station for over nine years after his owner passed away. It is a heart melting story that been produced in several movies. His statue is still standing in front of Shibuya station, but i feel it kind of lost its tale. Maybe it is because the crowded people smoking around Hachiko’s statue or just my lame thought.

Shibuya and Shinjuku is a place to visit if you want to feel the youthful energy of Japan millennials. The fashion, the color, the style are vibrant. For traditional people, this style maybe too much. For me, this style is refreshing. I am not saying i will color my hair to electric purple. Its just cool to see different kind of style.

This kind of style encourage me to see whats in their local fabric stores. I start with Yuzawaya in Takashiyama Departement Store in Shinjuku. How i even shop fabric in Japan with zero Japanese language? Easy, with Confidence.

No, i am joking. Japanese people is always helpful. The price of the fabric is clearly written in the fabric. All i need to do is bring it to cutting corner where shop assistant will cut the fabric in the length you request. After that, i just use body language. One. Two. or Half. and Smile. Each indicate the length i want in meter, and the other gesture is to make sure that they understand my quirkiness and shyness. Then, the last but painful thing is to pay. Its easy as the cashier shows the total price in number, not in in Japanese character.

The last place of the day is Roppongi Hills. Roppongi Hills itself is similar like SCBD in Jakarta, a business district. It has an observation deck located in 238 meter tall Mori Tower. It also host Mori Art Museum which often has interesting exhibition in house. In this observation deck, i can see Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Midtown. Unfortunately, i can not stay long since i need to go back to the hotel. It has curfew hours. But, i see that as a good thing since i still need to save up energy for my last two days in Japan. Yes, my spring in Japan series is going to end in one more post. Stay tune!