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Follow the monstrous trek through Japan May 28th - June 9th.
Friday, June 1, 2007
We left the hotel around 8:00 and headed to Asakusa. It was rush hour and we let about 4 trains pass us by before squeezing ourselves into a car. It was kind of creepy, as Toby noted, that all the riders are so impassive and blank-faced, squished together like sardines; they remind you of the images of holocaust victims being sent to the camps. In the morning the trains are very quiet; cell phone use is banned on the subway and frowned upon in general in public places. Still, most riders spend their time texting or playing games on their various & sundry electronic devices.
We ate breakfast at Denny’s before heading into Asakusa. It was on the 2nd floor of a building right across from the entrance to the Senso-ji temple, and we watched busload after busload of school kids arrive. Our waitress was of a certain age but very cute (most Japanese women are). As we pointed at the pictures on the menu she entered our choices into a type of palm pilot. Everything was good and cost about 1600 yen total (just under 16.00) I tried to leave a tip but the cashier retrieved it and told me I couldn’t. That’s one thing that’s hard for us to get used to: not tipping. It’s apparently just not done here.
The road leading up to the Senso-Ji temple is lined with stalls of every imaginable knickknack (sorry Tyler!), handicraft, and food imaginable. The night before at Ueno I had been impressed by the market, but this was another animal entirely. There were lots of things for 300 yen, and some booths with lots of things for 30000 yen! Toby was assailed by many groups of school kids whose assignment was to ask an English speaker a series of questions. As soon as he had finished with one group, another would have spotted him and he found himself answering the same 5 questions again. The kids all took a turn asking a question; some were very shy and some were pushed forward by the others. They called him “Toby-san” and asked him to autograph their notebooks at the end of the interview.
We had lunch at what looked to be a chain of udon noodle joints which serves good food for 500 yen each. Afterwards, we walked through another series of market-lined streets to the next subway station. After charging up Toby-san’s camera battery at the hotel, we caught the train to Ueno station and went to the park. We didn’t get to any museums or to the zoo, but we did leave our wishes on wooden plaques at the Tosho-gu shrine. It’s fascinating and sometimes touching to flip through the hundreds of plaques (that are not in Japanese, obviously.) “I wish for a husband”, ”I wish strength for Jim in his recovery”, “ I hope my family will be healed”, “Good wishes to everyone that reads this, peace out.”
Next stop: Shibuya. Although the subway was not half as crowded as the morning rush hour, coming out of the station we found ourselves engulfed in a sea of humanity, surrounded by huge TV screens and neon signs that made it seem like daytime even though night was beginning to fall. Times Square, Tokyo style. The people-watching was unbelievable. We wandered the streets, slack-jawed and dazed, for a good hour or so, trying to figure out where to get a drink and some food. A lot of places have some English on them, but just a little. For instance, it says “Soup of the day” and then nothing but kanji after it. We considered going to Shakey’s Pizza just for the surreal value of it. “Freshness Burger” was also a contender in that category. Finally, Toby spotted a tapas bar and thanks to a little Spanish speaking on my part, we secured a place at the bar sans reservations and enjoyed a couple of sangrias along with excellent tapas and atmosphere. My ears were doing double-takes, if that makes sense, the whole time because the waiters would be speaking Spanish one minute and then segue seamlessly into Japanese the next. We talked with a couple of the waiters and got answers to some questions we’d been wondering about. One, how much does the average waiter make if they don’t get tips? At that restaurant anyway, about $12/hour: Pepito, our waiter friend, makes about $3000 a month because he’s a head waiter. Two, what do rents run in the city? Hiis rent is $1200/month, which seemed reasonable compared to New York City. He said that it’s definitely expensive to live there, though.
We then took a short walk up to Harajuku hoping to get a glimpse of some of the Lolita girls (school girls who dress up in outlandish and bizarre outfits.) It was a little too late however, and most places were closed. We took a different train back to the hotel, which was surprisingly busy for 11:30 at night. Lots of businessmen, we assumed just getting off work. Our last night in the box was bittersweet; although it wasn’t much to write home about, it had a certain charm and we had grown fond of it. We didn’t see much of the other lodgers while we were there, in fact, on our floor we didn’t see any other foreigners at all. There was a Japanese man who I would see using the toaster oven on occasion and a Japanese woman who would do her laundry in one of the sinks. The bathroom was unisex but I never ran into any other people when I used it. It was funky but very clean and the perfect price ($42/night)for our limited needs.
Thursday, June 1st,
2007
Made the most of our jet lag by getting up around 5:00 a.m and heading down to the Tsujiki fish market. Not a lot of riders on the subway at that hour, and those who were there were mostly sleeping, reading the newspaper, or just staring at the wall. No eye contact. The subway system is extremely efficient and easy to navigate due to numbering and color-coding of lines and stations.
The market entrance is the same for pedestrians as for vehicles, and I wonder how many accidents occur in a given week. Trucks, bicycles, rickshaw dollies, scooters, and other “special vehicles”( as stated on the sign) crisscross. It also cautioned us to “Be careful not to injure yourself all the time.” Indeed!
What/Where have Sonia and Toby eaten? Amtrak train -- Sonia's homemade breakfast burrito Gran Sabor, Seattle, Wa -- Sopitas and Tortilla Soup Wild Ginger, Seattle, Wa -- Peppered Scallops, Papaya Salad, Pot Stickers, Seasoned Green Beans, Monk's Curry, and a slice of B-day Chocolate Cake. Northwest Airlines -- Vegetarian meal, trail mix, ice cream sandwich, more airline food Fish Market, Tokyo, Japan -- Some dough thing on a stick Caffe Veloce, Tokyo, Japan -- Tuna sandwich and tea Ameyayokocho Market, Tokyo, Japan -- Bubble tea and pineapple on a stick What transportation have we taken? Amtrak train from Portland to Seattle Bus 73 from Seattle train station to College Inn, Seattle Bus 71 from College Inn to Downtown Seattle Bus 71 from Downtown Seattle back to College Inn NWA Flight 7 to Tokyo, Japan Keisei Skyliner to Ueno Station Hibiya Line to Minowa Station Hibiaya Line to Tsukiji Station Ginza Line to Nihombashi Station
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