“Wait, why aren't people speaking English?” I naively thought to myself when I hopped off the airplane. Then, I saw the colorful mess of a map for Tokyo's subway station, and I thought I was going to cry.

 

Still, Tokyo was so much more quirky than any other country I have yet to visit. Its largest cat cafe sports 30 cats, and its incredible bullet train transformed an otherwise 8-hour trip to an impossibly fast 2-hour one. Other exciting stops included Akihabara's $3 stuffed Kirby, and Shinjuku, the world's largest street crossing.