Hey everyone! Recently I took a trip to Japan for a couple of days, so I thought it'd be cool to share some of that experience with you as well as some pictures that I'm sure many of you would love to use for reference. So for the next few days I'll be posting stuff about my trip. I stayed in a town called Narita near Narita Airport. Narita is like a blend of the city, a small town and the countryside. There's lots of neat little things here and there that you rarely find anywhere else in the world that make Japan what it is. For example near the entrance of our hotel is a locker stand for umbrellas. There's also a box of transparent umbrellas outside for guests to borrow and return when it's raining. And outside chains hang from the roof over small drains, so that when it rains instead of water dripping all over the place, the chains are connected by a system that lets the water run along them and drip down in one spot right into the drain. In the lobby near the dining places, as well as in the windows of street restraunts they have visual models of food in their bowls so you can see precisely what it is you're ordering and in what portion and on what plate with whatever accompanies it. I ate some meals at the hotel, and when out I grabbed some 500 yen bowls at various eating joints and sometimes I picked up sushi and other things from the local supermarket. Stores are expensive outside when you do the conversion of dollars to yen, and surprisingly the hotel shop had some modestly priced things. There are a lot of cute and cool things in the shop!
I spent some time walking around the area when we first arrived, just exploring the streets and checking out the neighborhood, taking in the street signs and flora. The weather was very pleasant and sunny that day. Everything smelt like fresh cut grass and here were people attending to the trees and grass here and there keeping the roads and gardens very neatly. The streets were tiled along the highway with plaques of various animals and flowers. There were people's homes here and there with nice gardens and bonsai trees as well as little stores and parking places. Some people have vegetable gardens and grow other things. Everywhere you look, everyday items take on a different shape and function than you're used to...
What I also liked ere Japan's famed vending machines that you find located all over the place with lights and even ones that talk to you with visual displays of drinks from juices, pop and alcohol to cigarettes, coffee and soup bowls!
