I recently went to Japan, and honestly, it was one of THE BEST trips I’ve ever had. After landing at Narita Airport, I took the high-speed train straight to central Tokyo. The train was very fast, and really quiet. Like… almost too quiet, LITERALLY no one talked. At first it felt a little awkward, but I actually liked it a lot. It made everything feel peaceful and I can finally take a little nap.

Once I got to the hotel and dropped off my stuff, I started exploring. Tokyo felt super clean with no trash, no smoke and ugly smells, just clean streets with fresh air. One thing I found worth learning are with the escalators, everyone stood on the right. I believe this is a pretty good habit

The city itself looked almost like a black and white photo, most buildings were either gray, black, or white. It might sound boring, but it actually felt calm. Way calmer than Shanghai. I liked that. The whole city felt cozy, not super fast-paced or stressful as compared despite being arguably the best megacity in the world.

The transport system was amazing. Trains were always on time, stations were clean, and everything was easy to follow. You could literally walk around the city without ever touching the ground because there are so many walkways and tunnels. It felt like I was walking in the sky all day.

The food? Incredible. I tried katsudon (fried pork rice bowl), kaisendon (cold rice with raw seafood), and omakase (chef chooses sushi for you) and more, it all tasted amazing-fresh, simple, but full of flavor, which is the general Japan lifestyle basically. I even learned some basic Japanese words&phrases like “gohan” (rice), “mizu” (water), and “kudasai” (please) from Duolingo to help me order. Super useful! 👍duolingo

One additional thing that really inspired me was seeing elderly chefs still working, the chefs were focused and careful. It made me respect their work so much and actually made me motivated as I write this blog post right now.

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