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Published: December 14th 2007
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Straight from getting off my 11 hour flight, I was on the express train to tokyo station. After a completely relaxing flight, and a nice convo with the people who rented me a phone, I sprinted with my luggage onto the train. Huffing and puffing and sweating for a train is something I was used to 5 years ago, but somehow, it was still a familiar feeling. On the train, I set up my phone for my friends in tokyo and my family back home (reception to either of them is equally great).
The closer I got, as I remembered, the more lights I saw on the signs in the districts I passed. Until I reached tokyo station. Then, with all my luggage, I lugged everything to the next train bound for shiodome.
I was so tired, but at the same time, my mind was shooting memories at me every other step I took. And the familiarity of changing trains was intuitive since I knew the system for so long before. But, to my liking, it really did come back to me. And everything has been coming back to me as ive walked the streets for almost two days now. Its
at the point where I can feel my brain functioning on three levels.
One, as memory lane, reminding me of all the details I liked so much about japan, but was afraid to remember while i was here and beginning to focus on that which i did not like too much. Two, as a tour guide, telling the rest of my body where to walk, since I know the WHOLE place so well, part of my brain doesnt need to think about it. Three, as a stranger, someone who is unsure of where I am going. I know this sounds bizarre. one part of my brain is an expert, the other is a stranger. But its actually a nice feeling. I have never been able to enjoy tokyo as as tourist. Meaning i dont feel the need to walk quickly and pass every person who is walking while texting on their cell phone. I dont feel like i need to bumrush the train to get a seat (i rarely even sit down even when a seat opens up). Strangely, I have not even been able to scrape the plate on some of my meals, although i admit everything tastes
as delicious as i remember.
Foodwise, the only disappointment was when i returned to my old university, waseda, to eat some ramen at Ganko Ramen...world renowned for the best ramen ever made. As i rounded the corner and passed the koban, i followed the familiar guard rail to a door that did not fit my memory. As it turns out, this was because Ganko closed down last year. The policeman at the koban explained to me that this delicious place was one of the most famous ramen shops in tokyo, and closed down last year...the owner having moved out of the waseda area.
So, I made my way to Malabar, the allyoucaneat nan shop, owned by a nepalese family (i think, since everyone who works there is nepalese, and there are pics of kathmandu on the walls). Then, after stuffing my belly with the delicious nan and curry, I walked back to waseda to partake in the Waseda 125 season.
In fact, I remembered when i lived there, that since the school made such a big deal about 125 year anniversary (125 years being significant because wasedas founder, Ota, thought that a person who lives 125 years has outlived everyone around them and to get that far they must have been doing something right), I told myself i would come back one the 125th year. Coincidentally i concede, I made it back.
Waseda is largely the same, except everything that was under construction when i was there, is now completed. So, things are a bit more open, with the construction barriers nolonger protectings the unsightly construction work.
A few hours after walking around, and recristening the CIE building, I jumped into the Fat Cat Udon Shop. Mmmmm. Ninja Udon. Just to say the name brings back memories. The Fat Cat was actually the first place i ate in Waseda, closer to 6 or 7 years ago. When i first came with my school to japan, to teach english for only a semester, we managed to stumble into this place. There i had my first bite of katsudon. Unbenown to me at that time, this place was famous for its katsudon. So, putting the two together, my love of katsudon has grown to the point where i will suffer through an american made katsu just to remember what Fat Cat tasted like. But as I walked by the pure white fat cat guarding the entrance to the shop, I had a change of mind, and ordered a Ninja Udon! still delicious.
At this point, i was fully gorged, and almost literally rolled onto the train to get back to shiodome, where i have been staying with the falcon of the yamanote, the tiger of the tozai, and my good friend max.
Let me also brag about what i did yesterday, although some of it overlaps with what i wrote about above (and placing the story here will probably give my journal a pulp ficiton feeling).
Yesterday, due to jet lag, i was up at 630 sharp! I jumped out of bed, and didnt want to wait any longer to see my hometown (number 2 of 3). Starting from shiodome was a bit awkward, but familiar towards the beginning of my yearlong stay in japan at the same time. The shiodome area is totally new. I remember from before, the entire area was under construction (miamiesque), and there was no reason to be here. But now, the ground is stomped with incredible skyscrapers...each one reminds me of a different architecturally significant building from somewhere else. The architectural details are stunning. The interior of the building where I met max, also holding the villa fontaine, is completely covered in marble. The lobby area is gigantic, and everything is perfectly placed... walking feels like dreaming, and glancing feels like staring. The marble is so precise, and the angles are so interesting, I was immediately proud of tokyo for being so cool.
The pristine streets continued the motif. In the morning, I walked ginza before the shops opened. The streets were filled with salary men and women rushing to work. And the shops were covered with cleaners, frantically working to polish every last centimeter of the store, before moving on to their next task, whatever that might be...(dusting the clothes hangers, or refolding a pair of socks no customer had bothered to look at for weeks.
At the end of on block, near the ginza subway station, I caught a large glimpse of the new nissan skyline. Later that day, i went back to the nissan store to have a closer drool, and actually got to sit inside and play with the touchscreen display. As I saw the new audi rs8 a few weeks ago at the miami car show, this nissan put the audi to shame. i must say, it had a great presence. On the way out, i saw i could sign up for a test drive..WHHAAAAA! Awesome! but, of course, it would be going on when im in nepal. So, I will gladly pass up the opportunity for now. Until then, i will just stare at the brochure and dvd that the nice ladies at nissan handed to me as a consolation prize.
OOPPPS! Max just called, gotta go meet him downstairs. Its time for the soccer match!
Happy birthday papa! Cerecita, have an awesome time in lima! Love you all!
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Shiruba
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This cannot be
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe Gankou Ramen no longer exists! This must be one the saddest piece of news I've heard in a long time... It really is a loss to humanity. RIP.