HEALTH WARNING: This blog is longer than usual. I tried to be succinct but.. well.. I'm a talker.
I went to Tokyo. AWESOME.
I had a great time. It was definitely different to how I thought it might be but I really liked it. It feels very different to Seoul – more fashionable and glitzy. Tokyo definitely has more tourists too! It was a strange phenomenon wandering around and suddenly hearing some English – still not loads, but enough to put a little smile on my face each time.
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| Morning Calm --> Rising Sun |
I flew the short 2 hour flight on Asiana Air. The service was excellent and even on a short flight there was a full meal
and drinks service included – I’m not sure who I could compare them to of the
European airlines really…certainly not Ryanair!! We landed right on time and I
headed through to passport control and immigration – I did get quite a few more
questions on the Japan side – The immigration guy seemed thoroughly confused
when I said all I had with me was my little backpack and I was here for 4
nights.
“Huh?.. And then you go
home?”
“Yes,
I’ll leave Japan on Sunday”
“So you’re
UK and you come only for 4 days”
“Yes,
then I’ll go back to Seoul. Where I work as a teacher”
“But you won’t teach in
Japan?”
“No.
Promise. I just want to see some sumo”
“HAHAHA OK, OK, off you
go, have a nice time”
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| WHAT IS THIS PLACE?! |
I eventually got to my hostel where I was
able to get in touch with my friend Sam who had arrived a day earlier. We went
for a walk around the area and got dinner. We found a strange arcade where
people seemed to be sat in a trance fixated on these small games machines. But
they didn’t use money – everyone seemed to be putting ball bearings into the
machines. I would have loved a go but the noise in there was incredible. I
think it must be to stop people falling asleep… weird place.
Day 1
On Thursday we were up and out of the
hostel by 7.30 am – early starts, a running theme during the trip.
Unfortunately, one of the train lines was closed due to a “passenger incident”
and I know from my time at TfL that could be any number of things with no definite
time for the trains to be up and running again. This meant Sam and I had to
contend with the hoards of Thursday morning commuters – or ‘Salarymen’ – on their
way into downtown Tokyo. We arrived at Shinjuku station some time later, a little more
familiar with the smells of Japanese commuters’ armpits. I wish I could have
taken a picture of the train guards physically pushing people into the carriage
in order for the train door to close, alas, I could barely breathe never mind
take my camera out of my pocket!
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| Funicular Fun |
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| Cable car crossing |
From Shinjuku we boarded a train bound for
Hakone, a small town to the south of Tokyo. It was a glorious day, the sun was
hot and the crowds thinned somewhat as we left Tokyo central. In Hakone we were able to ride the funicular to the top of a mountain where we change to ride a cable car. From the cable car we were able to spot Mt. Fuji for the first time.
It was an incredible sight but sadly the photos don’t really do it justice. We
stopped for lunch at Owakudani which is famous for smelling of egg. No, really!
They cook eggs in the natural sulphur that comes from the mountain. It reeked,
but it was worth it to get a proper chance to look at Fuji in the distance.
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| Whiskey soda and Sake - ARIGATO! |
Day 2
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| Just delicious |
We were out the door by 7.30 to get to Tsukiji Fish Market as early as possible. We weren't interested in seeing the tuna
auction but did want to eat sushi and see the market in full swing before it quietened
down for the day. OH THE SUSHI. It was delicious. So many people had warned me
not to eat the fish because of the risk of radiation poisoning since the
nuclear plant radiation leak recently [SURPRISE
mum and dad, didn't tell you that bit did I!!] but it was so worth the
risk. We were able to wander around the fish market (being careful to avoid the
carts whizzing past at break neck speeds) and we got to see some very unusual
sea food.
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| 350m hiiiiigh |
We left the market and walked towards the
centre of the Gumi area. We stopped for a coffee and to plan out the rest of
the day. From there we got on the subway and headed north to the Tokyo Skytree.
At one point this tower held the Guinness World Record for being the world’s ‘Tallest
Free Standing Tower’, but I think this record has now been broken. Most likely
by something in Dubai. The tower stands at 634m and has two viewing platforms.
We went up to the first viewing deck which is at 350m…. that was quite far
enough for me!! Even before I stepped into the elevator I could feel my palms
sweating. Safe to say I did not walk over the glass floor… I carefully shuffled
around the edges!
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| Big guys. HUGE. |
Once safely back at sea level, we continued
our day at the Edo-Tokyo museum where we were able to learn more about the
history of Tokyo and how it has developed into the modern business and
technology hub that it is today. Next door to the museum was the Ryogoku sumo arena,
something I had been looking forward to seeing for a long time. As we went in
we were handed a booklet that explained the rules and traditions of sumo and
how the sumo fighters are ranked. I was surprised to see two white guys competing
at the very highest level – whilst I still can’t understand how being that huge
can be good for anyone it was clear to see that all of these guys are supremely
strong. It was quite impressive.
The night wasn't yet finished. After sumo,
we got back on the subway and journeyed south to see the Rainbow Bridge. Sadly
the bridge wasn't rainbow coloured onFriday evening but it was still a great
view from the window seat of the restaurant we ate at. We wandered outside and
sat at the small beach for a while.
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| Click to enlarge |
Sam and I stayed in separate hostels on
Friday night but it turned out they were a 3 minute walk from each other! We walkedback to the Skytree to get some night shots – It looks incredible lit up at
night.
Day 3
With Sam heading back to Seoul I was on my
own on Saturday. I had a rough outline of some of the things I wanted to see so
it was another early start to get across town to the Meiji Shrine in time for
the 8 am ceremony.
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| Click to enlarge |
No photographs were allowed but I’m glad I went along. It was
so peaceful at that time in the morning with only a handful of people there. I
followed that with a sit down and a large cup of strong coffee!! I wandered
around Harajuku main streets and past a small farmers’. It seems don’t really
get going until 11am in Tokyo, even on a Saturday. Eventually I made my way to
Takeshita Street (yes, that really is it's name..) and wandered in and out of dozens of weird little shops. Everywhere
was packed full of young guys and girls buying bows and ribbons and pins and things to customize
their clothes. I left that area and walked for ages until I was thoroughly
lost. It was quite nice really – I had nowhere in particular to be and it was a
sunny day so I took my time looking in shop windows and stopping for a beer
whenever and wherever I wanted to. I jumped on the train and went south of
Harajuku to Ebisu and the Tokyo Photography Museum. The exhibitions were
excellent and one photographer was there giving a talk (in Japanese sadly)
about his photos.
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| Harajuku FASHION for men. |
One tricky moment in my day came in the convenience
store where I was trying to buy a bottle of water. I knew I had loads of money but
for some reason the check-out girl was telling me “no money, no money”. I had
the money right there in my hand in front of here – what was going on?! I
hurriedly left the shop without said bottle of water and carried on down the
road where I put a few coins into the vending machine to try once again to get
the bottle of water that I really needed by this point.
An old man who looked like he’d been
working on the building site next door approached me just as I was about to
punch the machine for spitting my coins out and refusing to let me buy this
bloody bottle of water!...
“Hahaha…”
“Ha… ummm… water?”
“No”
“Why”
“No. No money”
“Yes, this is money. Right here,
this is my money”
*old man’s even older builder friend approaches*
“Hahaha”
*pointing
and Japanese words I don’t understand*
And then, all of a sudden they both pointed at the coins in my hand and said one word I understood.
“HANGUK”
And then, all of a sudden they both pointed at the coins in my hand and said one word I understood.
“HANGUK”
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
– I had mixed up my KOREAN coins with the rest of my Japanese money and so I
had been trying to buy water with 10p rather than ￡1 – Idiot. I thanked the two old duffers the best I could and
scampered away, fully embarrassed and still thirsty. I found the next
convenience store and enjoyed not one, but two bottles of water in quick succession,
feeling like a pro at the till too!
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| Eiffel? |
Now, fully hydrated I grabbed some lunch and
headed to Roppongi Hills. Here, I saw Tokyo Tower (like the Eiffel Tower only
red and white and a little bit taller) and some more art work. I stumbled upon
an Indonesian Cultural Festival too and stopped to listen (and obviously sing along) to the band singing Sweet Child of Mine and enjoyed a free Indonesian beer too - I think this is going to be my 노래방 song of choice!!. After that I went
to see the Imperial Palace in the centre of town - it looked really great in front of the setting sun.
The last thing on the agenda for the trip was to head back across to Shibuya to watch people flood the famous intersection as the little man turns green. I've seen this crossing on films and TV clips about Tokyo so many times. I exited the station and waited with hundreds of other people... most of the foreigners (including myself) had cameras at the ready to document the short walk. The best bit was nipping into Starbucks and getting a second floor window seat to watch the action.
I know, watching people cross a road doesn't sound the coolest thing I could have done on my last night in Tokyo but... well... I never said I was cool.
The last thing on the agenda for the trip was to head back across to Shibuya to watch people flood the famous intersection as the little man turns green. I've seen this crossing on films and TV clips about Tokyo so many times. I exited the station and waited with hundreds of other people... most of the foreigners (including myself) had cameras at the ready to document the short walk. The best bit was nipping into Starbucks and getting a second floor window seat to watch the action.
I know, watching people cross a road doesn't sound the coolest thing I could have done on my last night in Tokyo but... well... I never said I was cool.
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| Click to enlarge |
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| Beaut! |
Back at school on Monday this week and it
was clear the kids still wanted to be on holiday – as did I!
Thursdays seem to be a good day to try to
update this blog. I have a free period first thing so, as long as everything is
ready for class, I’m free to do whatever I want. I've been using this time to
catch up with Korean homework and plan stuff that I might do at weekends but
mostly… watching silly YouTube videos. I’m in school from 8.30 until 4.30 and I
have quite a lot of free time:
This weekend I’m heading to a Varsity rugby
match – Yonsei U vs Korea U. 20,000 screaming students and a few foreigners
thrown in for the LOLs. Should be good! I’ll tell you more next time.
Until then,
Bren x
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