3 days in Kanto ( 2/17-2/19/08)

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This past Sunday I left cold blustery blizzardy Sapporo for Tokyo. Got up at 5 a.m. (not an easy feat!) to get my stuff together and head to the bus stop. My first ever friend Laura had been visiting and we decided to see yet another angle of Japan together.

Since I used to live in Saitama I have been to Tokyo countless times. So I'm pretty comfortable navigating. I had our basic itinerary: stop at Yokohama and dump our luggage...but not so easy. Laura's suitcase was a tad too big for the medium size lockers and the large lockers (of which there were like 2) were all full.... So we bumbled around the train station trying to find alternative lockers. finally a lovely lady on the JR staff told us where we could dump our junk!

Then we were off to Kamakura. We got off at kamakura st and took the long scenic route. A route I was unfamiliar with. We got some coffee which woke us up a bit and we walked along with other folks out to see the sites. Now as you may (or not) know, Kamakura is a HUGE tourist attraction. We didn't see any foreigners walking cause we took the long route, which was really quite nice, because it was through neighborhoods, show-casing traditional Japanese houses. Laura kept commenting how much her husband would love the architecture.

When we got to the Daibutsu (great Buddha) we took pictures by the gate guardians, bought our tickets, chugged our starbucks (yeah, we're yuppies!) and went in. We washed our hands to purify them and proceeded around the corner for the first look. Laura's first ever, mine first of the day!

The Buddha was looking splendid against a moody backlit cloudy sky. We took some photos and some nice gent offered to take one of the two of us together. I explained to Laura about the incense; incense smoke is supposed to purify you and make you smart. So we fanned the smoke all over ourselves! A monk was saying his prayers holding out a thin woven pan to collect coins.

We paid our 20 yen to go inside the Buddha's belly...although we were probably in his legs...in his momo!(thighs)The inside isn't all that fascinating and you can't tell what your in, but the concept of being in the Buddha was cool.

We took a few more pictures, copied the Buddhas' chakra and headed out. We passed a small pathway surrounded by a small jagged bamboo fence. Within the fenced area were some gnarly trees and bright green moss. Laura was really excited about the moss. While leaving this area she said her mother-in-law would just love Japan. I think most people would fall in love with Japan if they came.

Next stop was a souvenior shop. Laura was looking for a sake set, a thimble, salt & pepper shakers. However she was taken in by the handkerchiefs with kimono clad women on them. In the store we located thimbles and an adorable cat warming itself by a kerosene heater. A few clerks were helping us out and were really nice. I asked to take their picture with Laura and the older lady (maybe 80's?) was just tickled we wanted a picture of her. She had a lovely laugh and I wished I could have recorded it.

We wandered in and out of shops until we came up a pottery shop. They had salt n pepper shakers handmade with the shops name on them. Laura was really pleased and bought a pair.
We continued on our way and I bought some curry senbei at a senbei shop (senbe=rice cracker)
We finally arrived at Hasedera (temple). Ume trees were blossoming and everyone had their cameras out. I'd never been to Hasedera and was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was. I decided to be funny and pretend to talk like Emi a friend who always says ne. I think I said "Ne, ne (tap, tap) sugoi kirei ne, ki wa meccha takai ne, takusan no hito mo kitemasu ne!" and some guy overheard me...looked at me and laughed at said "wakarimasu yo."

We wandered the garden and headed to the temple up the hill, occaisionally stopping to take pictures of cute statues etc. At the top, there was a platform with concrete Kanon on it. Some people were lighting candles and were saying prayers. We just inhaled some smoke.

Up the stairs past the plastic Kanon was the temple. We took some funny pictures on the stairs, looked at the giant golden Buddha standing on the inside. The buddha has 11 (?) smaller heads on top of the regular head. Each head is symbolic of the many people the buddha cares for. Different faces and different expressions to serve different people. I didn't realize any of that at the time because I didn't realize our brochure had english, but I did wonder...

Back outside there were some really beautiful ume trees. In one small building there was a contraption to push around. So I cheated. I just looked up what it is...It's a sutra store house and if you push it around once you are supposed to get the same amount of merit as reading the entire tripitaka. Personally I think it's an easy way out. Not that I pushed it, but it certainly did not look that hard! Of course we had to get a picture of Laura pushing the tripikata and this one couple stepped in front of the camera like 6 times! grrrrr.

Hasedera was great. I loved it. Man I miss old Japan. Being in Hokkaido where everything is much more mellow, especially ancient/traditional religious customs and Temples and shrines are few and far between really makes me appreciate the scattered dera's/tera's and jinja's throughout the rest of Japan.

Anyway, we left Hasedera and stopped in a few shops. I bought some paper blowfish. Ok, I admit I'm chicken to eat Fugu, but I love that it is such a cool fish...I'll just pretend I don't eat it because I admire it...like sharks, turtles and whales!

While I was looking at the colorful paper blowfish a shadow passed. I looked up and a hawk (yellow-tailed?) was flying overhead. I pointed it out to Laura, but I think she missed it.

So we walked to Kamakura eki. Which was a long walk! Like 2 km...On the way, we passed the sword maker. In 2004, when I was living in Wakayama I came to Kamakura with Nozomi, Ryota and Monte (my friend who was visiting me) we saw the sword maker then. At that time he had a sparrow in his shop. It was flying around and chirping. I just thought it was so beautiful. And poetic.

I wanted Laura to see the shop and luckily we stumbled upon it. We looked for the sparrow and finally found it. It wasn't flying freely that day, but was tucked away in a cage under a bookshelf.

Onward marching to the eki....we being hungry (or maybe mostly me!) pulled out our previously purchased senbei and started munching. I heard a whooooooosh and the next thing I knew my senbei is on the ground and a bird is flying away from my head! I can hear Laura howling with laughter and the people walking towards me have lost control of their jaws, as they've dropped to the sidewalk. They recover their jaws and ask if I'm ok.

Laura is still laughing and I'm trying to but my heart won't stop pounding because it scared the (insert your choice words) out of me! Finally, I can talk and Laura can spit out a few words before laughing again. We finally sort out that a hawk (perhaps the same one??) attempted to steal my senbei, but my quick eating action ruined it's timing.. after that we got some food and I found myself sub-consciously protecting it!

We took the train back to Yokohama, picked up our luggage stopped in Harajuku for a minute and buggered off to Yushima Tenjin to see more plum blossoms at the festival there. Unfortuantly, we got there after all the attractions had finished, but the few blossoms that had opened were lovely. The scent was amazing...

Then off to Crossroads bar in Iwatsuki, Saitama. Why? I used to live there. Crossroads kinda became my home away from home.

We approached Crossroads and saw Naoto coming out. He was wearing a salmon colored sweatshirt jacket and running to get some stuff for the bar. He's the owner, but Sunday is his day off. We meet, greet, and separate~he going to Saty, us to the bar.

Inside are a few faces I recognize. Jeff, Christina, Yuko (behind the counter) and Hiro. Hiro gives Laura and I little gifts. Jeff and Christina are with a few friends and Laura and I sit at a table near them in the back of the bar. We go through introductions and chat a bit. Naoto comes back. A guy intoduces himself to me. I was his pre-predecessor. His name is Aaron. and ODDLY enough he really resembles my ex-f Aaron. Of course their are differences, but man, they could definitely be brothers. Weird, and kinda creepy. Anyway he's really nice if not a bit dopey (still trying to figure out if the dopiness is intentional or not...)

I had a whole slew of drinks. Mostly I don't remember what...but everything was tasty and it ended up being on the house. Yuichiro showed up for a bit. I swear he looks like a japanese Dustin Hoffman!

We had plans to do karaoke with Naoto, but he couldn't so we just stayed at the bar until 2 or 3? Aaron kept trying to talk us into going, but we were just exhausted since we'd been up since 5. Matt was waiting for us at his apt, and felt we should at least make an appearance since we were crashing at his place. Matt was up waiting for us. He explained things and we chatted a bit before lights out and us passing out!

2/18 Monday
Woke up late. Got ourselves together, showered and the sort. Walked to Off House to get Laura a new bag cause her suitcase wheel kicked the bucket. I sort of took us the LONG way, but we got there! We found what we needed went back to the apt, dropped the stuff off and went back in to Tokyo. We visited Harajuku, but the freaks, geeks and weirdo's were not out in their usual numbers. Don't get me wrong! We definitely saw some interesting people! My camera battery finally succumbed to death, so I only got one picture. grrrrr. I took Laura to the Puri-kula corner and we did puri-kula (sticker pictures) and saw a bunch of high school girls in their school uniforms and a few typical crazy fashion types. I was so mad about my battery!! Why? Why!

Then we went to Shibuya. I like Shibuya better than Shinjuku and Laura wanted to see the area that Scarlett Johaneson visits in 'Lost in Translation'. Before anything we went to Bic Camera so I could get a new battery for my camera! I hate being camera less! We went to HMV and we encountered (oh yes! encountered!) a crazy lady dancing.She was a riot! Made my day! No joke...oh, man....

So then we were off to find food. I really wanted buffalo chicken and we went to Friday's. I know it's horrible to eat western food in Japan, but dude, I wanted buffalo chicken! and let me just say...it was delicious! we ordered a ton of stuff and spent our time waiting for it ogling and eyeballing the people in the restaurant. Friday's caters to an interesting crowd for sure! Behind the bar there was a cutie with a Stitch hat on. Of course I got his picture.

Next we went to Tower Records. I wanted a Metropolis and thought Laura might want to see the books on the 7th floor(?). We spent far too long there and had to return to Iwatsuki for our make-up karaoke session. We got there around 10 had a few drinks and around 12:30 Tsugumi showed up. Finally got the show on the road! We did karaoke for like 4? 5? hours. I sang a few J-songs with Tsugumi. He knew all my favorites. But couldn't think of the name to one particular song I like...Me being onchi (tonedeaf/stupid) can't recall music unless I've heard it a million times. So I could only describe the video and that was no help!

Naoto sang Keane with me, which was surprising, because I don't think he even likes Keane...during the song he made a funny fish-like face. The rest of us were like*eh???, what's he doing???
All in all, it was fun. Laura was cracking me up. I think she drank TWO bottles of sake by herself. Needless to say she was enjoying herself. And rightly, she should have, as it WAS her last nite.

When we finally finished we had the bill to sort out, but it wasn't happening....ah, the joys of late nights and alcohol! Karaoke cost a little more than I expected and I was dangerously low...so low I worried if I had enough to even get us both to the airport....I had taken on the roll of Sugar Mama for Laura so she could take money home for me.

Naoto being the gentleman he is, gave me money for the taxi. Before I let those 2 handsome gents disappear, I made sure to get a good hug from them both. It's always hard to say goodbye to people, because you never know when you'll see them again.

Totally crashed at Matt's.....

2/19 Tuesday
Woke up showered while Laura re-packed. I headed out to locate the garbage for her old suitcase and see about getting some cash from the ATM at good ol' 7-11. By the way, did you know there are about 11,747 7-11's in Japan and only about 6, 100 in the U.S.? Crazy eh? Anyway, I got cash. Phew!!!!

We caught a cab to the station. And wandered a bit trying to find a sake set. Didn't happen. Then we tried to find takoyaki. That too, didn't happen. So we instead opted for Ookonomiyaki and Laura took to mixing and cooking.

It was that time and we got on the train. We lucked out and got a rapid so we stopped at Ueno and had some coffee and cake. 3:30 was approaching and we went the one stop to Nippori and parted. Parting is always the hardest part....again, you never know when you'll see them again.

I looked for Laura when I went to my tracks, but I couldn't see her. I just barely and I mean BARELY made my flight, because I again went to the wrong terminal. You'd think as many times that I've flown with AI-do I could get the terminal right....I slept the entire flight. I was sandwiched between a very stern man and a poor kid who was stuck with a terrible case of acne. When we landed the stern man got down his stuff, the boys stuff, but not mine. I got my backpack down, but couldn't reach my purse, and some nice guy got it for me while I waited for the aisles to clear out. Yay! for nice people!

I think in order to appreciate where you go, you have to appreciate where you are. I love Hokkaido and am definitely glad I'm here. But, Tokyo is nice too and this trip was so much fun!

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Photos

Neko-chan
by the heater

U,me blossoms
at Hasedera Temple

at crossroads
Jeff and Christina

Su-San
playing slider guitar

singing Keane
Somewhere only we know Me and Naoto

Ookonomiyaki
Last meal