Ah crap, I’m remembering now how keeping a blog updated while traveling is really difficult! Sitting down to write a post rather than just living in the moment and enjoying myself doesn’t seem to happen often. And now, I’ve got a five week backlog. Yikes.

My second week in Tokyo was just as jam-packed as the first. From parks to partying, art exhibitions to onsen experiences and even two separate day trips outside the city, I hardly stood still. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. Yet again I’d cobbled together a group of friends for myself here. When I got a message from them asking if I wanted to hang out, the answer was always yes. This led to a fair few experiences I wouldn’t have had if I’d just stuck to my own company. And that’s the beauty of travelling solo.

Starting with Tokyo itself, I ticked off a few attractions that I had come across in my research. This included some more beautiful parks – seriously, London can learn a lot from how Japan sets up their city parks – and several art galleries. In those, I got to see an original Van Gogh (not what I was expecting) and an entire exhibition of Wes Anderson inspired photography. I was quite amused because it was apparent that no one there (I was pretty much the only foreigner) had watched a single Wes Anderson movie. Bizarre.

Following the lead of one of my new friends, we took a day trip to Atami, a small city on the coast about 2 hours from Tokyo by train. We were blessed with blue skies and sunshine that day, and had a lovely time exploring the town, admiring the glittering sea, taking the cable car and relaxing in a flower garden. The highlight was probably the onsen we visited in the evening, which was on the 11th floor of a waterfront hotel. Ever had a hot bath while watching the sunset over a Japanese castle and the sea? I certainly hadn’t.

Speaking of onsen, I actually visited a few, inside and outside of Tokyo. As a Brit, the idea of sharing a bath with a bunch of naked strangers was initially very unappealing. But after an hour or two you just get over it – we’ve all got the same parts after all – and it becomes quite a pleasant and relaxing experience, going from sauna to hot bath and back as you please. Understandably, I don’t have any photos to share from my onsen experiences 😛

Another day trip we achieved was a road trip to the east coast, to a prefecture named Ibaraki. It’s not particularly famous but we managed to find several attractions worth visiting, like another flower park (Japan really loves those), a fish market and a beautiful beach. Taking a road trip with new friends was so fun and wholesome – singalongs in the car, stopping at Starbucks for snacks, and lots of adorable group photos. I won’t soon forget it.

In addition to all this traveling about, I managed another night out in Tokyo, I visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building for sweeping views across the city, and I checked out TeamLabs, an immersive art exhibition that has gone viral on social media. This resulted in me taking about a thousand photos, so choosing a few highlights for this post is proving super difficult!

Tokyo continues to amaze and inspire me; I’ve been having so much fun there that it’s got me wondering – how can I spend more time there? I’d planned to stay for one more week, but perhaps in the long run, I’d like to stay even longer. Maybe, a few months? On my sabbatical I’ve got total freedom to do whatever I want, so there’s little stopping me from changing my plan entirely. Perhaps I might just do that…