The first two days in Tokyo

02/01/2012-03/01/2012

I love traveling by train- so Japan is perfect for my purposes... So many trains, and the tickets are cheap! I got train/metro/bus etc. cards in both Seoul and Tokyo, because they're easy and fast to use. No need to know the exact routes because you pay as much as you travel.

In Seoul, T-money card (picture on the right) is the most common card I think, or at least it's the only one I found. You have to pay for the card, and then add some money on it, and you can use it as long as the card has some money in it. I put about 50€ on my T-money card, because I wanted to make sure I could afford all the journeys in Seoul and around... But I actually about 40€ was left on the card when I left korea!! I don't know how that's possible, because I used the subway quite a lot :o The card is still in my wallet, waiting for the next trip... Who would throw 40€ away anyway??

The card on the left in a Pasmo card, the transportation card used in Tokyo area. Also, cards called Suica are sold there, but the cards are basically the same, except that the Suica one has a cute penguin in it!!!!! I bought my Pasmo right after arriving in Tokyo, there were no machines selling Suica ones nearby... What a shame :( Going around Tokyo is a bit more expensive than in Seoul, but it's still not really expensive (compared to the public transport in my hometown... I just count my monthly bus fares here in Oulu, it'll cost more than 256€ in a month if I didn't have a bus card... Crazy isn't it? With a bus card it's 36€, and I can use the bus as many times as I want.)

Anyway, the thing that's really great about T-money and Suica cards is that you can actually use them as credit cards. I didn't know it was possible, or actually I hadn't even heard of the whole thing before my last day in Tokyo... I was waiting for a train in Ueno, and got thirsty. I saw a vending machine with text "Touch this censor with your Pasmo/Suica card to get a drink"!!!! I bet I looked like that--> http://www.flickr.com/photos/riazorenho/1016624342/ when I noticed that those cards can actually be used for buying stuff! Awesome...

My friend linked that video to me years ago... So of course I had to try to find such pudding in Tokyo!! I couldn't find a Giga Pudding, but found something that was alike! And luckily not that big, I mean, gigantic... Yummy!!:)

The above pics were taken near my hotel in Asakusa. And the Fanta grape is from my first "trip" to KFC... The food wasn't that great, but something really funny happened to me there! An older woman, probably in her 70's, came to talk to me like this: (partly in English, partly in Japanese, so sorry for my mistakes) (W means the woman, and M is me)

W: こんにちは.

M: ああ、こんにちは!

W:あなた は アメリカ人 です か?

M:私 は フィンランド人 です。

W: English?

M: Yes.

W:フィンランド?

M:はい.

W:すごい... Student?

M:16 歳です.

*W gives me some Hello Kitty items*

M:??

W: Take.

M: ハローキティ?

W:はい, ハローキテです.

M:ありがとう!

W: Have a nice day!!

That was really strange indeed... But the woman was super friendly, I think I've never met anyone so kind so a stranger before :D

//RECENT:

I will have a free day tomorrow, no school at all♥♥♥