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Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese...
Entry 26 of 26 | show all | print this entry |
Well guys this is it. The last entry!! I know it's weird writing it now I'm home (and have been for a few weeks now) but I had to get it all sorted just to do justice to all the time it's taken whilst I was out there. To leave it unfinished would just be wrong.
So Tokyo!!
Day 1
For starters the temperature when we landed was -1 which really made us happy - not! But it was 6am I suppose. After an average temp of 24-6 deg the last few weeks it was a massive shock to the system. The flight was uneventful although I did get one of those lots of leg room seats which was nice. When we landed I was nervous and excited all rolled into one. We stepped off the plane into the ice cold tunnel connected to the plane, so wearing shorts had not been my best idea! We went through immigration and got our passports stamped plus we had to have our photo and finger prints taken which was strange! We picked up our bags very quickly as they were already going around the luggage carousel when we got there. Very efficient.
We had heard that the Tokyo subway and train system was very complicated and we were planning on getting a taxi - that is until we found out it would cost us over £100 (25,000 yen)!! We ended up waiting at the airport for the tourist info place to open at 8am. We spent the wait putting on more clothes and phoning home before going over to the desk when it opened to find out our route to Asakusa, where our hostel was. It was so funny, the 2 girls behind the desk obviously didn't want to serve us so they had what they thought was a discreet game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would deal with us! The girl who lost told us we should get the train to Aoto on the Keisei line then switch to the Asakusa train there. Simple enough we thought but when faced with japanese signs and names on ticket machines a little trickier than first imagined. However we sorted it and managed to find the right platform and got on the train, switching at Aoto without a hitch much to all our surprise.
Then we had to find our hostel. I had the address written down and the subway exit we had to use which was supposedly a minutes walk from the station. Easier said than done when you walk out the exit and have about 5 different directions to choose from. After a bit of wandering down the wrong streets, we asked in the post office and he pointed out the back window of the building lol! Great stuff. We couldn't check in till 3pm but we left our bags and, armed with a map and a basic plan on what we were gonna do, we set off to explore Asakusa. The area is described as traditional Tokyo and is centered around a Buddhist temple called Senso-ji temple. After a quick look around the shopping centre and a japanese mcdonalds (teriyaki mcburger lol), we headed down a pedestrianised street lined with shops that all looked a little like market stalls. The street begins at the Kaminarimon (Thunder) gate, the 1st gate leading to the temple, and is called Nakamise. This street leads straight to the temple where you pass through the 2nd gate or Hozoman gate which is the gate to the temple grounds. Legend states that the temple was built as a shrine to Kannon, goddess of mercy, when 2 local fishermen pulled a statue of her from the Sumida river that runs through Asakusa in 628. Even though they put the statue back it always kept returning to them. It was completed in 645 making it Tokyo's oldest temple. Beyond the hozoman gate is the main temple building and a 5 story pagoda. The Asakusa Shrine, found close to the temple, was completed in 1649.
We entered the temple grounds to see people standing around a well with incense burning in it. They were wafting the incense towards themselves. People were also queueing up to rub a big golden buddha statue and then rub the corresponding part of themselves. The people doing this were mainly elderly japanese women with walking sticks who were only able to shuffle along slowly. The idea behind the wafting and rubbbing is that it can cure any ailment you may have. It was funny to watch the little old women rub the buddha's bum and then their own! We looked in the main temple building and saw monks praying inside. Where we stood watching was a massive money box and the idea was you would throw a coin in and say a quiet prayer to yourself, which me and jenna did. I even had a go at wafting the incense towards my ankle - anything that might help after going over on it as we checked out of the hostel just before we left New Zealand! The temple and it's surroundings were very beautiful with lots of red, black and gold decoration and some amazing wooden carvings.
After looking round for a while we started to feel cold so we headed back in the direction of our hostel with a short detour across the Sumida River to the Asahi brewery. The building consists of the brewery headquarters and the Asahi beer super dry hall, complete with the 'Flamme D'or' on top. The golden structure is affectionately known to the japanese as 'the golden poo' which is fair enough because that is what it looks like!
We got back to the hostel and relaxed. I did some Tokyo research and the girls slept. At about half 6 we ventured out in search of food - planning on japanese - but the extreme cold forced us into an early retreat into KFC unfortunately. We did find that you get a little pasta dish with your KFC in Japan. It was very nice too. We went back and changed into our pj's and crashed out in front of a lord of the rings dvd which we didn't get to the end of because we were so tired!
Day 2
We woke up to grey skies which meant it was even colder than yesterday's sunny coldness - hooray! We wrapped up in loads of layers and ventured out and had a starbucks breakfast (yep we really embraced japanese food as u can tell lol) then the plan was to catch the metro to Ginza district. Ginza is one of the most upmarket shopping areas in Tokyo so god knows why we chose there lol! We couldn't afford anything. Ginza means 'mint' as in money/coins. The area was the original site of Japan's first mint hence the name of the district. After deciding nearly everything was out of our budget, we stopped for food - again planning on japanese - but ended up in a chinese restuarant by mistake! It's easily done! But the food was yummy anyway.
After lunch we went in search of the Sony building and had a little play with some digital and video cameras and other techno stuff. When I think of Tokyo, I think of technology, so it was quite nice to see that side of things. After a while it got a bit same old, same old so we moved on in search of the right subway train that would take us to Odaiba. This area is nicknamed 'Futuristic Tokyo, due to it's weird architecture and technological developments. The weird looking Fuji building is here as is the Telecoms centre and a big Sega playground. As well as this they also have more shops - come to tokyo if you have loads of money - so we had a browse and went in this weird pet store that we think was just for cats. Everything you could ever need for your pet cat was in there, even fancy dress outfits. One of the ladies working there brought out this black cat with a frog hat on. It looked so pissed off and we absolutely wet ourselves laughing. I can't do it justice in words but the picture says it all!
We crossed the river and went towards Palette Town which consists of a big ferris wheel that would rival the london eye, Venus Fort Shopping Mall and Sun Mall. It's also right next door to the Toyota Megaweb showroom. This place was pretty cool with lots of cars on display that you could sit in and a big display on F1! Loved that! We even went in this simulator cinema ride thing that was supposed to make you feel like you were taking part in a fuji speedway race, but in reality feels like your sat in a vibrating juddery seat. Very strange!
We wandered into Venus Fort - this mall is based on an 18th century style European mall, very Venetian - for some food. It was very confusing because the skies were lit ambiently and we walked through into this place through a shop from the outside. So I got a little confused when I walked out of said shop and I could see sky. In my defence it was only a split second doubt and it was very realistic. We attempted to eat japanese food again but they don't make it very easy for you. The problem is most of the menus are in japanese, they just have plastic food displays that your not always entirely sure what the ingredients are, so it could be anything. I did end up with some japanese rice (hooray) but got this weird beef stew thing which I think might have been russian lol! We were out all day so after our food we caught the subway straight back to Asakusa and our warm beds.
Day 3
We woke up bright and early again for our last day in Tokyo and our last day travelling. The plan was to go to Shibuya, Imperial Palace, Harajuku and then back to Shibuya to see it at night. A very busy day yet again!
We started out by another coffee shop breakfast (not starbucks though) and then caught the Ginza line to Shibuya. We were really proud of ourselves as we had started getting used to the subway system by that point. We found our way out of the very confusing station which had lots of exits, to be faced with a mass of skyrise buildings, neon signs and advertisements. Plus possibly the busiest road crossing I've ever seen! This was the Hachiko Square Intersection which is basically the Tokyo you know from TV. The zebra crossings went in every direction. Crazy!
We decided to follow the masses across the road which was a little scary as so many people are going in so many directions. We found the Hachiko dog statue outside the station which is a big meeting point in Shibuya. The dog is there as legend states it used to wait for it's owner outside the station all day every day and even carried on doing so when his owner died. So that's why the statue is there. We followed the little streets around and had a look in some of the crazy shops before going back to the station to catch the train to Central Station so we could walk and see the Imperial Palace. We found somewhere for lunch near the station which, surprisingly, was really quiet. I expected it to be really busy as it's central Tokyo. After filling our tummies, we followed the map and founf the Imperial Palace, home of Japan's Imperial family. The place was really heavily guarded and you couldn't actually see much at all, only a little corner of it, but I'm glad we went.
We walked back to the subway and got on the train that would take us to Harajuku. You probably know the word from association with Gwen Stefani as much as Japan now, as this is the area where all the cool kids hang out - it's the site of Tokyo's Topshop. People tend to hang around wearing crazy costumes and dressing up like their favourite anime character. It was amazingly busy and every shop like Snoopy Town (o yes a whole shop dedicated to snoopy and peanuts) and Kiddyland (every child's dream) were absolutely packed. We were feeling very tired and cold by this point so after a quick look around a ridiculously small (very disappointing) Topshop we went to a cafe and warmed up with a hot chocolate.
We left Harajuku and went back to Shibuya to check out what it looked like in the dark. Well all I can say is pretty cool, just how I imagined Tokyo to be! All bright lights and neon signs. Very awesome. That night we FINALLY ended up eating in a japanese restaurant back in Asakusa where we sampled a few delights like tuna sushi and boiled pork pancake rolls, plus the bowl of chips for melly. Was nice stuff even if we did make one faux pas. We ordered what we thought was meat and veg in soup but it came and it was like tripe or boiled chicken fat. Euw!! Had a nice last travelling evening with my girls and after our meal we headed back to the hostel to finalise our packing and shower ready for the early trip to the airport the next day.
Hometime
We got up stupdily early to be at the airport in time to check in for our flight and had a last look round the shops buying those last few gifts. By this point I was so excited about going home I just couldn't wait. In fact I didn't sleep at all on the plane, I just watched films and tv programmes and to be honest the time went quite quickly. We piled off the plane at Heathrow and prepared to see our families again. I was so happy and called Jack to let him know I had landed. He wasn't there as he was working but I would be seeing him in a few days. We waited ages for our baggage - at least an hour. British airports aren't a patch on the ones we've been to whilst away. The plus side was that as we were waiting, the England rugby team came through to the baggage hall so I was able to get a good look at Matt Stevens, Paul Sackey and Ben Kay to name a few. At last our bags came through and then we passed through the doors (with 2 rugby players lol) to massive cheering from our families and a sign saying 'Smiffy'! My mum and sister just ran at me and nearly knocked my glasses off lol! Then I went and hugged my dad! Was so great to see them. We all hung around a bit not wanting to say goodbye but then we had to and we all went our separate ways. Apparently I talked non stop for about an hour and then crashed out till we got home (or, actually, the pub lol)! Was very good to be home.
So I suppose this is the part now where I'm supposed to sum up all that I've learnt about myself and be all profound isn't it?!?! Well to be quite honest there's only one word that springs to mind when I think of my time away and that is AWESOME!!!! I've had a great time with the girls, I've made some friends from around England and around the world too that I hope I will stay in touch with and I've seen and done some bloody amazing things. Highlights have to be my skydive, bungy, maori experience and the glacier walk but that's just New Zealand. In Oz we had a great time too and I really enjoyed my new year in Sydney, seeign Pete in Melbourne was lovely plus the trips to Fraser Island and Whitsunday Islands were special too. Tokyo was a great place to see once in a lifetime but don't think I have much inclination to go back. It was a bit frenetic after the chilled out kiwi life. Overall I think my favourite place has to be the whole of New Zealand - yes I know that's cheating but I seriously couldn't choose. It was all a mental, fantastic, social experience and I've laughed, cried and damn near shit myself with fear a few times!! It all mixes together to make a three month portion of my life I will never forget!
Thanks to everyone who has read this blog and I'm sorry I made you wait a month for the last bit! Thanks espeically goes to those people that supported me throughout the experience, particularly my family and boyfriend! I love all of you and I'm so glad to be home with you now.
Ok so the next chapter in the life of Smiffy.....BE A GROWN UP!!!!!
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Where I stayed:
Khaosan Tokyo Guesthouse
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| 26. | Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese... - Tokyo, Japan Mar 11, 2008 |
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