Week 2 in Tokyo
Monday, August 4th
We rose early-ish to catch our train back to Tokyo from Kanazawa, then Emma and I found a quick lunch across the street from our hotel.
We then rushed over to class for the afternoon. I should also mention that this was Emma’s birthday! We went to a fancy street near Shibuya/Harajuku to window shop all the nice stores, then got some big, juicy burgers for a celebratory dinner. We ended the night walking around the neighborhood before settling in for some rest. Happy 22nd birthday, Emma!
Tuesday, August 5th
This was, according to the news, the hottest day of the year in Japan. It was 99 degrees with a feels-like temp. of 115! It was absolutely insane. This also happened to be the day when we had a class tour set up at the State Guest House.1 We survived, but it was without a doubt the most brutal heat I have ever experienced.
After the tour, I had to go home and sleep off the heat. When I finally rose, it was time for some dinner at the sushi place across the street.
This day way too hot for me to do anything anything else.
Wednesday, August 6th
After class, I went back to Shibuya to the Onitsuka Tiger store! This is a shoe brand that I’ve had my eye on for years, so I decided to finally take the leap and get myself a pair from their Tokyo concept store.
Then, I went home to get ready for Emma’s official birthday dinner.2 Here are photos of just some of the delicious food we got to enjoy:
Then, we wandered about Ginza for a bit before enticing Jack to watch the first episode of Twin Peaks with us. Emma and I hope to get him hooked.
Thursday, August 7th
It’s hard to believe, but this was our last day of culture class. We gave our presentations over what we’ve all taken in during these last two weeks, then went home to rest. We went to a Korean BBQ restaurant all together for dinner, which was so fun! Then I caught up on some of my journaling and prescribed myself an early bedtime.
Friday, August 8th
Today we rose early to start our work at McCann! We spent the day in a conference room in the Tokyo office getting to know each other, receiving various presentations about the program and company and getting our client brief. Here is the view from the office:
After our day of work, Emma and Lauren and I grabbed some katsu for dinner.3 We have a long weekend this weekend, so I am expecting to do lots of exploring and shopping. Stay tuned :)
The tour was fully in Japanese, by the way. Booking times for the English tours didn’t exactly line up with our class hours, so our professor just translated for us during moments of silence.
Adam wanted to send me to his favorite restaurant in the city which was so nice and generous and fun! It was the perfect way to celebrate Emma’s day in style. Shoutout and thank you Adam.
We had tried to go to this place a few days ago, but had chosen the unfortunate window of time during which it was closed. Second time’s the charm!
Did you know you are why I am planning a trip to Japan