Tokyo has been fun. My first night here, my buddy and host, Travis, took me to hang out with a Japanese family. They first treated us to a ramen dinner, then we played with their two young sons in English to help reinforce what their mother, Shinobu, has been teaching them at home, and finally spent some time chatting with Shinobu while the boys got ready for bed. It was great to see how a typical Japanese family interacts - a good introduction to the culture and society.
The next day Travis and I ate sushi for breakfast at the fish market, then walked to Mori Art Museum to check out the local art scene, the jet-lag was really setting in at this point though, so I can hardly remember anything except for an exhibition by the Japanese sculptor, Kaodama. It was one of those exhibitions that draws out your inner child and amazes you with its sheer imagination and humor.
That night my college roommate, Corrie, arrived in Tokyo. It was awesome to finally see her again (she’s been teaching english here in a small town in the country for a year and a half). We met up with another college friend, a Tokyo native, and spent the night on the town - which actually lasted until about 5:30am. He took us around to several pubs and clubs that we otherwise wouldn’t have known about, we were all absolutely exhausted the entire night, but it was good times.
The next day we slept the entire day, went out for a Korean dinner and an hour of karaoke - which is ridiculously fun, i had no idea - then it was back to bed because we had to catch an early train up to Nikko the next morning.
We spent a day and a half in Nikko, which was beautiful. The shrines were so intricate and colorful in their decoration. It was too bad that I couldn’t read the information posted about them though, there was something lacking in the experience in not knowing the history and meaning behind them. They were beautiful nonetheless, and I enjoyed being ‘artistic’ with my camera (check out some pics in my photo gallery). The hostel we stayed in was very comfortable, and the staff was equally as friendly. They served us a vegan dinner that night that was to die for, especially the main course: a marinated slab of tofu. I was so full I crawled into bed and passed out soon after we finished the meal.
The next morning we did a little more sight-seeing before Travis and I parted ways with Corrie to head back to Tokyo. It’s been pretty laid back since. That night we joined three of his friends for a meal of unagi goodness, then perused the nearby mall before taking our time walking back to the apartments. It was a beautiful night, and the company was light-hearted and compassionate. The people you meet ultimately leave the strongest impression - according to me - and I’ve really been in some good hands for the entirety of this trip.
Okay, enough with the boring itineraries, here are a few top fives:
Top 5 ‘this is awesome!’ moments:
1)Heated toilet seats. Wow, I want one in my house.
2)Heated train seats (do I detect a reoccurring theme here?)
3)Private karaoke rooms = all fun and no stage-fright.
4)Food. Food. Food. Chopsticks. Food. Rice. And more rice.
5)Kaodama - best ceramic heads EVAR.
Top 5 ‘what the....?’ moments:
1)Girls in short short skirts and high heels in 30 degree weather (Fahrenheit). Maybe over time they’ve killed off all of the feeling in their legs and feet. Either that or ‘beauty’ trumps common-sense in this town.
2)The lack of waste receptacles in public places. Everyone must hold onto all of their trash, because it’s not on the streets, which is quite nice. Still, who likes carrying around their apple core for two hours?
3)Everyone wearing those paper particle masks in public to prevent the spread of yucky germs - is this good practice or a lil’ case of paranoia?
4)Guys who spend at least an hour purposefully placing every hair on their head in it’s place - I don’t think I use that much hair product in a month....that and it looks kind of silly.
5)Toilets that do everything. They’re more complicated than my iPod, I could spend a half hour in there just pushing buttons, no joke.
Top (and only) 5 Japanese words I know:
1)Arigato-gozaimas (thank you)
2)Konnichi wa (hello)
3)Sumimasen (excuse me)
4)Hai *repeat two or five or ten or more times (yes)
5)Su *repeat until you have to listen again (oh I see)
Ok. Tomorrow I’m off to Macau, but not before one more night out...
Yours,
P
