The Ten Things I Love About Tokyo
1. Ladies carry their Birkins on the train. The bags sit on their lap casually like it’s always an ordinary Tuesday. They sit on the laps of the ladies like some nonchalant cat.
2. Uber is on time. Like all the time. Like everything else in Japan. The Uber driver sits on the right side of the car, wearing a formal attire, and addresses the passenger politely. And the car is always immaculate. Meanwhile, in Manila, all we have is Grab with its reckless and uncouth drivers in cars that have seen better days.
3.The konbini is a destination by itself. The egg sandwich is good in both Family Mart and 7-11. And the snack section offers crackers wrapped in green nori, KitKat that comes in flavors other than the matcha, and egg-topped dinners that are as good as restaurant fare.
4. You can cross the road with a huge crowd and not once will you get bumped. Each person is inside an imaginary bubble. Everyone respects everyone’s personal space.
5. It’s quiet. No one chitchats on the train. People keep their phones on silent mode. Even the din of conversation in a packed restaurant on a busy Sunday will not violate anyone’s space. You can hear your thoughts.
6. School children take the train on their own. It’s safe.
7. There is so much respect for the traffic lights. There is comfort in knowing that green means go and there is reassurance that everyone else follows the rules. I know this is basic, but I live in Manila where it’s different.
8. The train system works and it’s easy to get from one place to the next. I took the Narita Express to Shinjuku and rolled my suitcase all the way to the hotel lobby, and except for getting lost inside the train station, which is a normal Tokyo experience, it was easy.
9. The food packaging reflects the actual size of the product. I think it’s a packaging rule, but it says a lot about truth and integrity. On a side note, the famous snack called Tokyo Banana tastes like a real banana.
10. Of course, the food is amazing. The beef is as tender as can be, the seafood fresher than anywhere else, and the mochi makes the spirit sing. I had fine dining in the hotel’s restaurant where the fish of the day was plated like art, and I had burger steak on the 14th floor of Takashimaya, and both meals were spectacularly memorable.
Arigato Gozaimasu.
