Monday was tennis, tuesday evening i met Jordana for a 3hr coco's session, wednesday was tennis, thursday i had my eikiwae and friday i went for a run. I wasnt felling tip top again this week, hence the lackage of exercise. I do believe that the sickness is partly induced my the psychological erosion in my head. Last year at uni i dont think i had one bad cold. Here it seems to be a fortnightly occurence.
Luckily i had a great weekend to look forward to. After my run on friday night i packed my bags, rode to the station and caught a bus to Fukui. From here i took the night bus to Tokyo with Meagan. It was an 8hr ride, but it wasnt too painful. The seats reclined quite a long way, the foot rests rose up and there were blankets too. I slept probably for about 3hr-4hr. We arrived in Tokyo at 6am. I was really excited and so the tiredness was pushed aside. This was my first real time in Tokyo. I wanted to make the most out of it and do as much as possible.So as soon as we arrived we met john and Kim and Andy and we headed off to the Tsukiji fish market. We got the subway and then walked over. From the outside, the market looked like a quite dimly lit old building. Quite small too. But the building that one sees from the outside is just an archway to walk under. Once inside it is clear that first impressions are very misleading. There were lots of tourists snapping photos, fisherman carrying polystyrene boxes around and men on weird motorised carts that carried boxes around this large market at high speeds and without a care for the pedestrians! And of course the fish. There were so many different varieties, and some absolutely huge ones! It was interesting looking at the fish and seeing how they are prepared, but I couldn’t help but feel a little in the way. This was after all the way these hardworking men made their living, and here we were along with many other tourists waltzing around these narrow alleys taking photos and cooing over stuff. However I tried to be as respectful as possible and keep out of their way, and I did find it really cool. We watched a man use all his force to cut open a huge ass tuna and a man severing the spines of many fish. It was interesting to see what happens before the sushi I eat gets to the restaurant. And I can definitely say that there is no way on earth I would be one of these people working such ridiculous hours and handling dead fish all day. After looking at the market we headed outside to find a restaurant to have breakfast sushi! It was 8am but that wasn’t going to stop us from trying some of japans best sushi.
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Next we headed to Tokyo’s most controversial and talked about shrine, Yasukuni. This the shrine that commemorates Japans war heroes in all the past wars and battles and hence is a contentious issue due to Japan’s actions during recent wars being very controversial. To me , the shrine itself was nothing spectacular. But it was interesting to see the place that is talked about so much. It had security guards in the shrine which was also interesting as I don’t think I have seen this in Japan so far. There was a museum attached to the shrine which we decided to go into. It had exhibitions of Japan’s different battles in the last few hundred years. There was a lot of information and quite a lot in English surprisingly. It was really interesting for someone such as myself who knows a shamefully little amount about the history of the country I am living in. Everything we read about was so interconnected and multi dimensional, it was hard to understand it all- and by this point we were starting to get rather tired, and so the large amount of detailed and complicated information at the museum was starting to make my head spin!
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After the museum we spilt up. Andy went off to do andy things, JandK went to meet some friends, and Meagan and I went to Starbucks for coffee and a snack! I tried the new azuki frappucino and was not disappointed. I somehow need to get them to be brought into England! .JPG)
After this, we headed to the hostel to leave our bags. We then headed out with a small map to explore the Asakusa area. It felt great to be so active after another block at school where I am like a slug sat in the staffroom forever. We found the large Senso ji shrine in the area which had a huge lantern at its entrance and a rather large pagoda too. It was also filled with about a million tourists buying tacky stuff from omiyage shops and snapping lots of photos. Maybe it was the tiredness or the heat, or maybe I have lived in japan for too long now, but the shrine just didn’t excite me too mush. There was nothing much to it. It was cool at first to be in such a busy place, as people watching is always fun, but I really like shrines set in forests, with gardens, seclusion, bodies of water and a sense of zen about them.
Next we walked over to the park. It turned out to be a very long walk, and my limbs were starting to cry a little. But the park was cool and buzzing with life. There are many different museums in the park, and surprisingly enough, a lot of homeless people, which I had not seen in Japan before. But as homeless people go, they still had the obligatory smell of booze and the unwashed appearance, but they seemed pretty smiley and had futons with them to sleep on and just seemed happier than those ive seen elsewhere in the world! Anyway, the lovely Meagan and I went into the National Museum, which as expected was busy yet well organized and had some good exhibitions of paintings, silk screens, tea ceremony kits, ceramics, lacquer ware and many other things. It was nice to see some cultural artefacts but the tiny amount of English description was annoying and we were shattered!
So we headed back to the hostel. I tried to have a little nap but didn’t manage it due to the loud festival occurring outside the residence! But I still rested for an hour or so before meeting JandK to go out for dinner. We eventually met up with Andy and Donna and we searched for a restaurant john really wanted to try. We found it but it was really smokey and I knew it wouldn’t be long until my nose and eyes started to swell with allergification. So everyone was really kind about finding somewhere else. We ended up in this random Mexican restaurant with a funny owner. It was a tiny little place with lots of writing from guests all over the walls. It was cool, but I was tired and the food was not that good. But hey ho I had had a great day.
The next day was another fabulous day and Meagan and I headed out to Harajuku to visit Meiji jingu. This was set in a large park with the nice calming surroundings that I like. Some huge trees, and very large wooden tori gates too..JPG)
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Next we met JandK and Andy and Donna to explore Harajuku park. It is famous for its rather vibrant visitors. Lots of teenagers locate themselves on the bridge near the park dressed in rather alternative costumes. It was odd. They just stood around in their gangs looking like celebrities and having their photos snapped by the amused onlookers. Next we went into the park. Which turned out to be just as odd. It was a really well kept large park with a lot of activity. At the entrance there were leather clad Elvis wanabees. They were giving their all in their snake skin boot dance performances to old rock and roll classics. Then we saw a guy by himself dressed in full baseball gear, simply swinging the bat. No ball. No friend. Just swinging, and he was there when we left the park too, so god knows how long he does it for, and why he does it either! There were groupd of different people dancing some funky dances from different parts of the world, and others playing music. We saw individuals simply sitting by themselves playing guitars or saxophones, a guy juggling, another playing with a glass ball like that which David Bowie has in the classic film ‘the labyrinth’, a fortune teller and my personal favorite was a guy walking his white rabbit. It was great! There were heaps of fully decked bands performing with people sitting and watching, and a dog area where the owners simply let their beloved dogs loose in this big area and go off to relax alone. One of these owners went to collect heir dog and then put the little darling into a baby type carrier on the front of her chest, and rode off on a bike. It was unbelievable! Dogs in Japan are treated better than kids in my opinion. The dogs don’t have to be put through harsh schooling for 8 years or moulded by older generations. Yet they get clothing, hairstyles and a lot of affection. It was cool just sitting and taking it all in.
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Then donna, kim, Meagan and I headed to Shibuya on foot- my idea which turned out to take quite a while :s. but we eventually got to this bustling shopping district full of Japan’s cool youth- needless to feel I didn’t fit in! we observed the busiest pedestrian crossing outside the station which is often filmed in movies. We had lunch in a coffee shop and that was enough of neon lights and hundreds of people fighting for the same space for me.
We then got the train to a very old Kabuki theatre. I really wanted to see a Japanese art before I left japan. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was especially great because kabuki actually lasts for hours, and some Japanese people actually end up making it a whole day affair, with numerous bentos and snacks to keep them going. However we were able to pay a small amount to go in for just one act. Seeing as the whole performace was in Japanese, one act was agood taster for me and enough to satisfy my need to see a performance. Luckily the theatre had English programmes with a good description of what was going on on the stage, and Meagan hired and translator headset too. I really enjoyed it although we were standing right at the top of the theatre for over an hour. The set on stage was really realistic and rotated round to change scenes. The actors were all men which made watching the female characters quite amusing. The voices used by the actors were so odd. They changed tone frequently and the pace was generally very slow. It must take the actors a long time to master the art of speaking in such a way.
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Next we met Andy and John in Ginza who had been off exploring a different area of the city and after asking a policeman for recommendations, we ended up eating at a dericious restaurant. We had heaps of good food and drink. It was a perfect way to end my brief tour of Tokyo before heading back on the night bus..jpg)
Next we headed to Tokyo’s most controversial and talked about shrine, Yasukuni. This the shrine that commemorates Japans war heroes in all the past wars and battles and hence is a contentious issue due to Japan’s actions during recent wars being very controversial. To me , the shrine itself was nothing spectacular. But it was interesting to see the place that is talked about so much. It had security guards in the shrine which was also interesting as I don’t think I have seen this in Japan so far. There was a museum attached to the shrine which we decided to go into. It had exhibitions of Japan’s different battles in the last few hundred years. There was a lot of information and quite a lot in English surprisingly. It was really interesting for someone such as myself who knows a shamefully little amount about the history of the country I am living in. Everything we read about was so interconnected and multi dimensional, it was hard to understand it all- and by this point we were starting to get rather tired, and so the large amount of detailed and complicated information at the museum was starting to make my head spin!After the museum we spilt up. Andy went off to do andy things, JandK went to meet some friends, and Meagan and I went to Starbucks for coffee and a snack! I tried the new azuki frappucino and was not disappointed. I somehow need to get them to be brought into England! After this, we headed to the hostel to leave our bags. We then headed out with a small map to explore the Asakusa area. It felt great to be so active after another block at school where I am like a slug sat in the staffroom forever. We found the large Senso ji shrine in the area which had a huge lantern at its entrance and a rather large pagoda too. It was also filled with about a million tourists buying tacky stuff from omiyage shops and snapping lots of photos. Maybe it was the tiredness or the heat, or maybe I have lived in japan for too long now, but the shrine just didn’t excite me too mush. There was nothing much to it. It was cool at first to be in such a busy place, as people watching is always fun, but I really like shrines set in forests, with gardens, seclusion, bodies of water and a sense of zen about them.Next we walked over to the park. It turned out to be a very long walk, and my limbs were starting to cry a little. But the park was cool and buzzing with life. There are many different museums in the park, and surprisingly enough, a lot of homeless people, which I had not seen in Japan before. But as homeless people go, they still had the obligatory smell of booze and the unwashed appearance, but they seemed pretty smiley and had futons with them to sleep on and just seemed happier than those ive seen elsewhere in the world! Anyway, the lovely Meagan and I went into the National Museum, which as expected was busy yet well organized and had some good exhibitions of paintings, silk screens, tea ceremony kits, ceramics, lacquer ware and many other things. It was nice to see some cultural artefacts but the tiny amount of English description was annoying and we were shattered!So we headed back to the hostel. I tried to have a little nap but didn’t manage it due to the loud festival occurring outside the residence! But I still rested for an hour or so before meeting JandK to go out for dinner. We eventually met up with Andy and Donna and we searched for a restaurant john really wanted to try. We found it but it was really smokey and I knew it wouldn’t be long until my nose and eyes started to swell with allergification. So everyone was really kind about finding somewhere else. We ended up in this random Mexican restaurant with a funny owner. It was a tiny little place with lots of writing from guests all over the walls. It was cool, but I was tired and the food was not that good. But hey ho I had had a great day.
The next day was another fabulous day and Meagan and I headed out to Harajuku to visit Meiji jingu. This was set in a large park with the nice calming surroundings that I like. Some huge trees, and very large wooden tori gates too.
Next we met JandK and Andy and Donna to explore Harajuku park. It is famous for its rather vibrant visitors. Lots of teenagers locate themselves on the bridge near the park dressed in rather alternative costumes. It was odd. They just stood around in their gangs looking like celebrities and having their photos snapped by the amused onlookers. Next we went into the park. Which turned out to be just as odd. It was a really well kept large park with a lot of activity. At the entrance there were leather clad Elvis wanabees. They were giving their all in their snake skin boot dance performances to old rock and roll classics. Then we saw a guy by himself dressed in full baseball gear, simply swinging the bat. No ball. No friend. Just swinging, and he was there when we left the park too, so god knows how long he does it for, and why he does it either! There were groupd of different people dancing some funky dances from different parts of the world, and others playing music. We saw individuals simply sitting by themselves playing guitars or saxophones, a guy juggling, another playing with a glass ball like that which David Bowie has in the classic film ‘the labyrinth’, a fortune teller and my personal favorite was a guy walking his white rabbit. It was great! There were heaps of fully decked bands performing with people sitting and watching, and a dog area where the owners simply let their beloved dogs loose in this big area and go off to relax alone. One of these owners went to collect heir dog and then put the little darling into a baby type carrier on the front of her chest, and rode off on a bike. It was unbelievable! Dogs in Japan are treated better than kids in my opinion. The dogs don’t have to be put through harsh schooling for 8 years or moulded by older generations. Yet they get clothing, hairstyles and a lot of affection. It was cool just sitting and taking it all in.Then donna, kim, Meagan and I headed to Shibuya on foot- my idea which turned out to take quite a while :s. but we eventually got to this bustling shopping district full of Japan’s cool youth- needless to feel I didn’t fit in! we observed the busiest pedestrian crossing outside the station which is often filmed in movies. We had lunch in a coffee shop and that was enough of neon lights and hundreds of people fighting for the same space for me.We then got the train to a very old Kabuki theatre. I really wanted to see a Japanese art before I left japan. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was especially great because kabuki actually lasts for hours, and some Japanese people actually end up making it a whole day affair, with numerous bentos and snacks to keep them going. However we were able to pay a small amount to go in for just one act. Seeing as the whole performace was in Japanese, one act was agood taster for me and enough to satisfy my need to see a performance. Luckily the theatre had English programmes with a good description of what was going on on the stage, and Meagan hired and translator headset too. I really enjoyed it although we were standing right at the top of the theatre for over an hour. The set on stage was really realistic and rotated round to change scenes. The actors were all men which made watching the female characters quite amusing. The voices used by the actors were so odd. They changed tone frequently and the pace was generally very slow. It must take the actors a long time to master the art of speaking in such a way.
Next we met Andy and John in Ginza who had been off exploring a different area of the city and after asking a policeman for recommendations, we ended up eating at a dericious restaurant. We had heaps of good food and drink. It was a perfect way to end my brief tour of Tokyo before heading back on the night bus.
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