Although a lot of people probably think I’ve been gone for ages (and it’s true, this trip has been quite a good amount of time) for me, I feel as though it’s whipping by in an instant. Not only did Taipei pass by in a blur, but I’ve already finished almost half of my time here in Tokyo.

Tokyo. A small part of me still can’t grasp the fact that I’m actually here.

Every time I visit a new place, a whole slew of emotions mixes in together in a hodgepodge of confusion. I’m overwhelmed, excited, nervous, happy and hopeful all at the same time. I still remember the first times that I visited cities like Washington DC, New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, Beijing and many other places. Each of these cities are so wonderfully different, and a visit just doesn’t seem close to doing it justice.

Although it’s not true for EVERY city, there are quite a few places that made me think to myself, “Wow…I really wish I could live here.”

I know that some people immediately think, “Well sure, of course you think you want to live there. You’re vacationing and doing nothing but having fun. It’s not like that in real life.” And to that, I respond: You’re absolutely right.

I think that when my heart instinctively says, “Wow, I want to live here,” it’s because I know that there is so much more a certain place can offer me that a few days just won’t be able to come close to delivering. I want to know what it is like to walk down the street to work. I want to be able to carve my own special memories and life in that wonderful place. I’d like to know first hand how people live, and I know that each time it will change me.

A long time ago I compared cities to different types of people.  Dallas is like family, Toronto is a fun friend, and New York is the popular person in the crowd that you hope to one day get to hang out with.  Perhaps with Tokyo and Taipei, they are people I know that I love!

Tokyo and Taipei tug quite a few strings of my heart for a number of reasons. Taipei because of the personal sentiment that exists there — it’s where my mom grew up, my grandfather and grandmother took care of their family, and I’m able to speak the language. With Japan, it’s just inexplicable. The second I sat on the train and started to watch the lights of the city whirl by, I felt like I fell in love at first sight.

Since these past few days have been jam packed, I hope to do a detailed recap of my trip later on. But for now, each of these days has been full of walking, window shopping, and eating. At first glance, I thought Japan was quite similar to the other Asian countries that I visited. Man, I could not be more wrong.

First of all, people did not exaggerate how CLEAN everything is. Everything. I’m amazed that I don’t wrinkle my nose at strange city smells, and my week long allergy attack in Taipei cleared up as soon as I walked around Tokyo. And the bathrooms at the convenience stores? Probably 10x cleaner than my own bathroom. Oh, and all the bathrooms come with a heated toilet seat.

Another thing I noticed is the people. As superficial as it sounds, I’ll go ahead and just say it: people in Japan are a lot better looking. Maybe it’s because the girls know how to put on makeup, or maybe it’s just the initial shock of it all. Either way…wow. Additionally, everybody seems very polite. Sure, they might not be the most friendly, but they are definitely quite cordial. Other than this one cash register guy who told me to hurry up as I fumbled with the change, it’s been quite pleasant.

The first night was mainly around the Asakusa area, where we roamed around and saw the Sensoji Temple at night. We later visited it during the day when it was packed, and I’m definitely glad I had a chance to see it when it was calm and peaceful. The next day was full of walking, which included shopping at Harujuku, a stop to see Hachiko at Shibuya, and browsing at Shinjuku. As a bonus, we also did a quick walk around Roppongi, the “Little West” of Japan.

Today was also a fantastic day. We first started it out by moving our things from Ando Ryokan (more on that later) to Toyoko Inn, and luckily happened to walk by the Bandai building. We took in some sights including the Asahi building, and then finally Asakusa during the day. I had my first experience scraping and eating Okonomiyaki, and afterward we walked off the calories at Ueno Park and Tokyo Daigaku. The busy day was topped off with a successful trip to Akihabara, which was like a jam packed CES — all day, all the time. I successfully piloted a Gundam, and then ate an AMAZING unagi dinner. It was all wrapped up nicely with some time to snack with family and reflect.

Tomorrow is another big day, including the GHIBLI MUSEUM!

Although the few days I have spent here doesn’t even BEGIN to scratch the surface, I hope that the small voice in my head nudging me to come back again (for a visit, or even better, a longer extended amount of time) will not be drowned out by the day-to-day life back at home in the US.

Until then, it’s time to sleep and look forward to the next day!