HeyNoobz

When we were deciding where to start our trip we knew we wanted to begin in either Australia or Japan and we knew we wanted to begin our trip in March or April. We have family in Australia (Hi Rob and Steph!) and we had several bucket list items in Japan, so it was hard to choose! So, we decided to think with our wallets and chose Japan since it was a cheaper flight. Well, we made the right decision…

The first night in town we were picked up at Narita airport (after a sleepless 12 hour flight) by Yama, our hostel host. We drove with a complete stranger in the pitch dark on the wrong left side of the road in a car that has definitely seen better days to the Narita Airport Hostel. We barely slept that night as well, from excitment/jetlag/freezingness on a thin mat next to 3 other travelers. This all might sound negative, but it totally wasn’t because what we got out of it was the best tip from one of our roomies, Isabella, who told us we absolutely must go to Ueno Park. So we did!

The next day we made our way on the metro into Tokyo to find a place to stay near Ueno Park. That’s right, we came all the way to Japan without anything booked for our 2nd night in town. Genious or adventurous? Well, it certainly turned into an adventure as we blindly walked the streets in the rain in search of some wifi which I don’t think Japan believes in or something because it was impossible to find! Greg remembered an app he downloaded before this trip with hotel/things to do/restaurants/etc recommendations so we opened it up to see if there were any hotels near by. There was! And it wasn’t a million yen! Win! It was awfully small though….but compared to the not so clean sheets we slept on the night before it was a palace!

We spent the rest of the afternoon in search of the best ramen ever (another post on that one to come soon), then took a “nap” at around 5pm, waking up at 6am the next morning. Woops!

We woke up to sun and warmth so we finally headed to Ueno Park to enjoy the infamous cherry blossoms (a.k.a. sakura). You guys! This park was amazing! Not only did we think it was amazing but so did everyone in Japan, apparently.

All the locals were sitting under the trees getting their Hanami on.

The trees were so spectacular to see in person, pictures don’t do them justice….but I’ll try.

Inside Ueno park is Ueno Zoo which is also covered in Cherry Blossoms. Not a bad place to be a Mountain Monkey!

The beautiful Shinobazu Pond was filled with people rowing swan shaped boats, street acrobats showing off their talents, and even birds enjoying the views.

It was a day to remember.

♥ Casi