Trains, Biplanes and Cat Buses
Trip Start
Unknown
1
6
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Tokyo,
Japan
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The schedule for today is the Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. The incredibly useful program on my palm, Metro indicated that it should take about 40 minutes to get there on one train. However, that did not account for Gaijin-Time (TM).
Foreigners and non-resident nationals can by a Japan Rail (JR) Pass voucher before they arrive and exchange this for a ticket when in Japan. The guide book said that this exchange could happen at most JR stations.
Unfortunately for us, it turns out this doesn't include the nearest station to us, which had a direct line to Mitaka. We took two underground trains to Ueno station, spent 3 minutes in a queue in the ticket office before we could see the sign about having to exchange JR Passes someplace else in the station.
Most of the signs in most of the stations include romanised translations from the Kanji or Kana representations. However, there are several critical locations where there is a complete lack of Kana (which I can read slowly) or Romanised. Like looking at the signs behind the ticket barriers in Ueno searching for the Yamanote line but all of the signs are kanji only! I know about 18 kanji with their various pronounciations. Happily I just about recognised a kanji for Yama and followed that direction: through the barrier, around the corner and up the escalator there was indeed a sign that said Yamanote! We're going to quickly exhaust my kanji reportoire if we meet many more situations like that.
The train we finally got on bound for Mitaka, reversed at a station halfway there, forcing a back-track of one station before we could catch a train in the right direction again. In the end the journey took nearly three hours instead of 40 minutes. That's Gaijin Time.- M
Now I am no Siberian White. So when its snowing I am cold and shivering. This uses up calories quickly so I rapidly become hungry... and everyone knows a hungry tiger is one hell of a grumpy customer. There's more snow forecast so I am breaking out the down jacket before M files for divorce.
The Ghibli Mueseum was welcome shelter from the zero temperatures outside. We exchanged our voucher for tickets made from stills of "Howl's Moving Castle" and ventured into another world. Myazaki put a great deal of thought in to the construction of the museum. It is a child's heaven and encourages adults to re discover their inner Mei (cf. My Neighbour Totoro). Unexpected details in cut glass doorknobs sparkle in the sunlight streaming from the stained glass windows depicting scenes from Studio Ghibli's anime movies. There were nooks, crannies, balconies and bridges to explore, each giving a different perspective. Our tickets also gained us entry to a new animated short entitled "Mei and the kitten bus". It's only shown at the museum and not available on DVD =(. A Cat Bus dominated one room. It enticed children big and small but only the little could cuddle up to its fuzzy fabulousness. Little Dust Balls littered the play area. I wanted to take one home. The first of two permanent exhibits displayed story boards and developement processes for assorted movies. There were some one off backgrounds bright with colour as perhaps a child would see the world before the cynicism of adulthood leeches it into shades of grey.
The Straw Hat cafe was packed so we shared a hotdog and baked goodies huddled in front of a gas heater in a gazebo. The tea was strangely dark and smoky.. heck it was no tea.. it was very bad coffee.
The return journey was no easier than the outward bound. By some magic the rail train we were on turned into a tube train and we were stiffed for fares. This was irritating as we were directed onto that train by a member of Japan Rail! Just goes to show that the warnings about locals and directions should be heeded. Many don't know their arse from their elbows.
Toilet Tales-An ongoing journey of surprises
Bidets... I have never knowingly used one. M remarked that the bidet function must have some very clever anus locating algorithms. I was more concerned about the water thermoregulation. Last I looked proctologists were not recommending cryotherapy as a treatment for piles.
Comments
Thanks
Hi,
Thank you very much for your mentioning Metro for Palm. We are planning independent travel to Japan and hope that your suggestion will help us.
I would also like to ask you if you recommend Tokyo hostel you stayed in and if you continue in your travels in Japan if you can give more info about your accommodation. We are looking for rooms for a couple not dormitory.
Also thank you for easing up my worries about food in Japan. I can see now that we can afford it. It is always great to read some deails.
I appreciate time you take writing your journal.
Re: Thanks
You are welcome. The Welcome Inn can help with accommodation. All the places we have stayed in are listed with them. Please see the entry entitled Welcome Inn for further details. We are having a wonderful time here and I hope you have very happy travels too.