Second Time Around

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Aahhhh... just had a cup of tea followed by a shower and a lovely hot Japanese bath. Just a few minutes in the bath, but it has invigorated, not enervated, me, and I am ready to write this tonight after all, not put it off till the morning.

It wasn't too long a day today really - maybe 5km walking? Maybe 6. We had a long easy morning, catching up with ourselves, doing laundry, resting, and then left a bit after 11. Forty minutes (slow train) into Tokyo this morning, but I finally figured out how to find the rapid train line across the city, so only 14 minutes to Shinjuku instead of half an hour around the perimeter. Yes, we tackled Shinjuku again, since the last time was so abysmal. At 12.15 we were at our first port of call, the Toto showroom.

Have you seen this company name? It would probably have been on a toilet. You know those complicated electronic toilets that Japan is famous for? This is the leading company for that technology. We had seen a lot of recommendations for the Toto Showroom, but last time we went, in our second week here, it was closed for a holiday. This time we got the correct station exit, found the showroom easily, and it was open. This day is starting well. The showroom is really for local customers - people building or renovating their homes and looking for ideas. We had expected some kind of portal to the future of sewer technology, but this wasn't it. Reasonably interesting, though, and we were approached by a sales rep who engaged with us even though we were clearly tourists only there to gawp. He answered some questions - the kind that are quite embarrassing to ask other people, and then when you do get the courage to ask someone, they don't know either because they've always been too scared to ask too. (However I still don't know if the 'bidet' setting on a Japanese toilet is the same as how a bidet works, because I've always been too scared to try a bidet when I've had the chance. At least now I know what it means in Japan. ) Anyway, we were hoping to see where the technology has gone since we saw a video some years ago about a toilet that measures the sugar in your urine and emails your doctor if there's a problem. After all, where would you go from there? But although they do produce that toilet, it wasn't even there (too specialised) and there was nothing more advanced. Ah well. Let's go get some lunch.

My study of the map this morning suggested that if we followed roads up parallel to the station, we might get somewhere worthwhile, and in no time we did. A maze - no, more a grid, really - of interesting back streets with electronics shops and little restaurants cheek by jowl. One thing we hadn't had so far on this trip even though we can't get a decent example of it in VN is tempura, so we looked for that in the windows and menus, and soon found a contender. The restaurant had an odd-looking interior, perhaps better experienced in the dark, but it was a good meal. They advertised it as a 10-piece set meal, and we prepared ourselves for the rice, miso soup and salad to be part of the 10, but no, 10 pieces of tempura were on the plate. This was 1000 yen ($10) each, including tax, so a good deal for Shinjuku.

We continued on the same path, and soon found ourselves near Piss Alley, or Memory Street if you prefer, which pleased Stephen, because he wanted to add a long shot to the video he already had of it. And now from this angle, I felt we were getting closer to the Shinjuku I was looking for. But I am sure there have been fundamental changes to the area. It seems that the camera and electronics shops have grouped themselves together at one end of the station, and left the clothing and brand name shops and department stores to get on with things on the other. They used to be all jumbled in together, but now it's a bit tidier than it used to be. But at least I found the bright exciting atmosphere that I wanted to see in Shinjuku.

We walked along the streets for a while, but in a general direction that was planned to take us out of it all. I have wanted to visit Shinjuku Gyoen (a park) since the first time I came to Shinjuku, but I could never find it. I always got too tired before getting that far, but this time was going to be different. We were going in the right direction, and after a sit down and a cuppa we would see if it was worth getting a taxi there. But no! Around a corner we could see some trees; checking the map we saw we only had one block to go before the street touched the corner of the park, and yes, there it was. It's a big park, and I wasn't sure how much of it we'd have the energy to see, but we set forth, and my goodness it was lovely. Lots of lawn, that people were actually allowed to be on, different areas of English, French and Japanese styles, and a big greenhouse. (Because it really hasn't been hot or humid enough for the last week, and we need to spend half an hour walking through a hothouse.) Lots of photos, hope you like them.

We stayed until the park was closing at 5.30, and decided to have dinner somewhere in a back street here, then head home. Just one more thing, though, and that was to buy a watch. In my youth, I made a point of buying watches on my trips overseas. I came home from my first trip here with 5 watches, I think, and I wanted a special, only-in-Japan souvenir this time too. But they're not around like they used to be. You used to be able to buy cute, funny, quirky, niche-interest watches from lots of places, including huge electronics retailers and little boutique shops, but now, it's mainly just the brand names for sale. I have seen a few slightly off-the-wall watches, but they haven't really appealed to me. It was really disappointing, because I had some money set aside specifically for this, but there was nothing for me. I did see a line of watches in one of the electronics shops a couple of weeks ago, and I thought then that if nothing else comes to my notice, then I'll settle for that, and that's what I did this evening. We went to another branch of that shop, and I bought a Snoopy watch with a screen that changes picture each minute. Wow, huh? It doesn't even have a stopwatch. Yet I think the man said it tells the temperature. Whether that's your temperature or the weather, though, I don't know. Maybe it sends an email to your doctor if you have a fever.

And now it was dark, and the streets were alive and thriving, and the lights were bright and enticing, and we found a place for dinner: a beer hall with some delicious-looking wax sausages at the door. We had a good meal with some good beer (we ordered a medium and a large that should have been labelled 'too big' and 'no, really, no') and when we left the restaurant the station was just at the end of the block, and we only had one more mistake to make (only went one station the wrong way before realising and changing back to the right direction, but that made us just in time to catch the rapid train home rather than the local train, so, yay) and we were home before 9. After that, see above.

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Photos

Toto Showroom
The future of toilets is here

Shinjuku Gyoen
A broad sward

Shinjuku Gyoen
Greenhouse orchids

Shinjuku Gyoen
Lovely contrast of park and city

Shinjuku Gyoen
Reflecting on the park in the city