Tokyo, Japan: Part 1.1

kon- nichi wa, o-genki dess ka?
Tokyo wa hajimete dess.

Finally got my Japan Visa last week - a hassle that one was.
It only hit me then that I'm really flying off in less than 2 weeks!

I've been doing a fair amount of research on Tokyo which included asking friends who have been to Tokyo or Japan, browsing the net, and even checking out photo albums of friends who have been to Tokyo or Japan.

Anyway, last Sunday, before 6 rounds of dart game, I asked a friend (who was recently in Japan and is quite familiar with Tokyo) about the dos and don'ts when in Japan. Please find below his answers:

Don'ts

1. DON'T BE LATE - for anything - especially public transportation
2. Don't haggle - cos them people will insult you.. in Japanese (I don't know how valid this is)

Dos

1. Do look them in the eye when talking 
2. Do SPEAK JAPANESE (crucial in literally everything)

Speaking of, I took the liberty of getting myself a Tokyo Guide Book and Japanese Phrasebook & Dictionary to further familiarise myself with the language, the place, the culture and the people of Japan. I spent a good 45 minutes flipping through different publications of Tokyo Guide Book. And in that 45 minutes, I grew quite fond of the things that my mind was putting together. 

Lonely Planet - TOKYO City Guide (with pull-out map) : RM 78.00

Collins - Japanese Phrasebook and Dictionary : RM 24.90

I bought these because I find them very detailed, quite descriptive and user friendly as compared the the others that I picked up. 

So, back to the dos and don'ts, I am pretty sure there are more than just those 4 items. Its either I have very bad memory or its because we were talking about so many things at a time that we might have derailed from the objective of the "chat about Tokyo" conversation. But one thing's for sure, it was a hell of a good Sunday.

Who knew I could play dart?

hello, how are you?

this is my first trip to Tokyo