Advertisement
Published: September 3rd 2006
OUR SAVIOUR!!!
I have no clue what we would have done without this woman...someone is looking out for us...maybe it was the nurse in the background flashing the peace sign...hehe.Dizzy and Milky was a phrase we spotted on a childrens’s shirt in a department store. I’m not even going to try and decipher what it is supposed to mean.
Well. Our first full day in Tokyo. We have a LOT to type.
I guess the jet lag was affecting us a bit last night, because we were up until 3am and we finally had to force ourselves to go to sleep. 7am came though and I was up ready to hit this amazing city.
We started out by walking towards the Senso-ji Temple which is about 15 minutes from our Guesthouse. The street leading to the temple is a shopping street filled with vendors selling everything from cellphone charms to dog clothes, chopsticks with your name on them (unfortunately it’s all in Japanese so I have no idea if they had Erin or Devlin), kimonos and fans. We spent a long time just wandering around giggling at all the randomness. We’ve taken video of something that had us quite bewildered, unfortunately we don't have time to post the videos yet. Once we get them set up on a hosting website we'll send instructions on how to view
Tokyo Skyline
Taken from the bridge by our hotel. them.
The temple was pretty neat, for 100 Yen I purchased a bundle of incense which you light the end of and put in this big urn and then you sort of rub the smoke over you, it’s supposed to bring good health. Also there were big filing cabinet like things, with symbols on all the little drawers, and you put 100 Yen in the slot, shake a big metal container, and open a drawer. Inside is a slip of paper, one side Japanese characters and the other side English. Both the ones me and Dev picked (from different cabinets) said Bad Fortune. I have no idea if they are all Bad Fortune, but they were numbered too. Mine was Bad Fortune #44 and Dev’s was Bad Fortune #64. Then you fold up the paper into a long strip and tie it onto these cords. We decided they are all Bad Fortunes and that is the reason you tie it there, for the Gods to take it away. (Judging by the Hospital visit, our Bad Fortune must not have been tied on correctly for the God’s to remove…).
After the temple we strolled through the rest of the
Sesno-ji Temple
Here to gather all the good fortune we can handle...no seriously we need it all. area and ate lunch at Mos Burger, which is Japan’s very own fast food hamburger place. This is where I tasted my newest love, Melon Soda. Omg. Melon Soda is so delicious. It’s green and fizzy and sooooo good. MMmm. The food was alright, I had a chicken sandwich and Dev had a spicy burger. Of course, as soon as we leave not 5 minutes later we walk past this great looking Ramen place. Why are they never around when we are starving?!
The afternoon was spent in Shinjuku, which is like an explosion of everything that represents modern Japan. Flashing billboards, neon signs, people *everywhere*, HUGE stores selling about 300 different models of cell phones and digital cameras, loud smoky arcades blasting Japanese dance music, and trendy boutiques carrying the latest fashions. Our first stop was a giant department store, Isetan, which had 7 floors plus a basement FULL of things!! The basement was all food, which is typical for most department stores here, and we caught some wiffs of amazing smelling stuff. The next 5 levels were completely devoted to Ladies Wear. I’m not kidding. 5 levels of Ladies Wear. On Level 4 we were looking at
Is that what I think it is??
No its a backwards swastika..I think it is supposed to symbolize peace. Notice the beautiful flowers and art...amazing. all the fancy stuff like Donna Karen and Prada and then we go up to level 5 which contains “Exclusive Ladies Wear”. Um. Is Prada and Donna Karen not Exclusive enough? This floor had scarves for $800. Needless to say we didn’t stay long there! Next was a housewares department with the coolest couches we have ever seen. Ever. And fridges. They have really neat fridges here. After that was another food court level, although this one was called “Promotional Area” and a lot of the stands had free samples. This was also the most packed place in the whole store, people shoving and pushing and smells flying at you from every direction, fresh fish right there, fish eggs, fruit, ice cream, everything. We tried some kind of soup (I think it was soup? It might have been a sauce? The sample was in a cup, so it might have been a drink even…??) which was sooooo good. Almost spicy and very flavorful and brown colored. Dev tried a sample of cheesecake (#1 Cheesecake in the World! Or so says the cute little Japanese girl who gave it to us) and tomato juice (which he also loved) and then we
Japanese Tourist...or Erin?
The Peace sign and the big camera around the neck almost fooled me!! both got little toothpicks of bacon. They were selling these THICK slabs of bacon, and it was really tasty! Then the “Promotional Area” was over, and we were into Kids Wear. This was where we saw the strange shirt. Wow, I guess parents in Japan must like dressing their kids up as nice as them, because there was Chanel, BabyGap, Hyteric Mini, Ralph Lauren, Burberry…really posh stuff for kids. And a cool toy store too! Lots of neat looking video games. There was one more floor above this one, but that was another floor of restaurants, and these ones looked fancier and much more expensive. That must be for after you buy your Gucci purse.
The rest of Shinjuku was very flashy, all the girls were dressed in cool outfits. We went into an arcade where I placed first in Mario Kart. The game takes your picture and puts it on the body of whoever character you picked. Very cool.
Oh yeah and while wandering around, a bunch of buses were driving by, and we noticed one person waving so we waved back and the ENTIRE bus started waving to us and pointing and smiling, then the bus
You dont scare me
I'll take on any wall painting!! behind it started waving too. It was so hilarious, us standing on the corner, laughing at the bus waving and them laughing at us waving. I love it here.
Okay. So now that you are ALL dying to know WHAT ON EARTH WE INJURED…here’s the story.
This afternoon my right contact lens was very cloudy and felt dirty. So did Dev’s so we figured it was just time to put in a new pair. After Shinjuku we were beat so we headed back to the Guesthouse to relax and upload some pics…after I took out my contact my vision was still blurred in my right eye, and by now it was also hurting and felt irritated. I decided to try flushing it with water in case there were dust particles or something in it. Well, bad idea. As soon as I flushed it it started burning even more and watering like crazy and I couldn’t even open my eye. Uh-oh. Ok. Maybe my eyes are tired. Dev’s vision was slightly blurred too in they eye with the dirty lens so we took a nap hoping our eyes would rest and we’d wake up ok. Not the case. We
Another temple...
The outside looked amazing but it was closed to the public...boo. woke up 2 hours later, and my eye was even worse. Vision still cloudy, VERY bloodshot and red and VERY painful. Now, us being nearly blind we know the importance of eye health and know it’s not something to mess around with. So we started the search for a doctor. Unfortunately we couldn’t get through to insurance without a calling card (Mom, Dad, do you want to purchase a calling card and email us the info?) but the reception gave us instructions to the nearest Hospital which also happened to be right behind Senso-ji Temple, an easy 15 minute walk. Off we go. We reach the square where the shopping street begins and I can’t even open my eyes I’m in so much pain. Dev is having to lead me around and I’m gripping my head trying to hold the pain in. We try to flag a taxi to take us right to the Hospital but the taxi driver didn’t even seem to know what English was, and even when we pointed in our phrasebook he got quite upset. So we quickly abandoned him and found another taxi. He better understood us and pointed us to the "Police Box" (Police
Mmmm...melon soda!!!
Can you guess which one is melon? Station, but he called it a box, it took us a few minutes to even understand what he was saying). Of course the Police don’t speak English, but this NICE woman was standing in front and she asked us what we needed. We asked if she spoke English, and YAY she said yes a little. So she helped us communicate with the Police officer, who pointed us in the direction of the Hospital and she decided to come help us along. This woman must have been our angel or something. The Hospital was closed, but she was able to tell the Security what our problem was, and a nurse came out from somewhere and they spoke for a long time. Turns out we can go to Tokyo University Hospital and they have an eye doctor there (there are no general practitioners in Japan, only specialized doctors. So that was another reason we couldn’t go to the first hospital, no eye doctor). The nurse phoned Tokyo University and arranged for us to go there. There was even a taxi waiting when we got back outside. The ride was short, only $17, and the hospital seemed deserted. We went right in to
the Emergency where they had forms waiting for us. When we walked into the little room and saw an eye examination machine like they have back at home I thought we were both going to do a happy dance. The doc examined my eyes, put some dye in them, examined some more, and came to the conclusion that it was an allergic reaction and nothing serious. Interestingly, a lot of Japanese can read and write English near perfectly, but can not speak it at all. The doc had to write down on a note pad what he was trying to say to us. Also he told me not to wear my contacts anymore, because perhaps it was a reaction to them, or them and something in the air, who knows. Now here is the best part. We leave the office, with a prescription for eye drops, and (only in Japan) Miyuki (our angel) suggests we take a picture. So the nurse comes out and Miyuki flags the doctor over and we pose for a picture (we didn't notice the nurse flashing the peace sign until we uploaded it to the computer. How hilarious!!). 2 pictures actually, because Miyuki wanted one
iPhone??
Puppy Not Included!!! too, so the nurse took one with Miyuki's cell phone. Down the hall to where we pick up the meds, we got 2 kinds of eye drops, put one drop in 4 times per day waiting 5 minutes between meds. Ok. Easy enough. Down the hall a little more to the paystation, which was automated. It was just like a Subway ticket machine, the screen tells you how much you pay, you insert bills, it processes it, spits out change and prints a receipt. Machines in Japan are amazing. Since we couldn’t get a hold of the insurance company beforehand we had to pay the bill upfront but it was only 7250 Yen, approx $70. The three of us head back out, where another taxi is waiting, and back to the Guesthouse. Miyuki was really our saviour. I have no idea how we would have communicated without her. She spoke to the taxi drivers, the nurses, the doctor, the security, the police. And she was so friendly and happy to help! She said she had gone traveling for 5 months in Canada and US. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Miami. She said she really loved Vancouver because you can eat very
Caution!!
Tails can be caught in door, please watch closing doors. good meals for $10. Haha. She was so surprised when we told her we were traveling for 12 months. We exchanged emails, and phone numbers and she said to call her if we need to go back to the doctor for anything. Such a sweet sweet lady, she even gave us her box of cookies when we parted ways. (This was one of the kinds of cookies we saw being made on the shopping street. They are filled with a brown sticky jam like thing, which tastes really good, and guess what it is. Bean jam!!)
So now here we are, back at the Guesthouse. My eye is still in quite a bit of pain but the blurriness seems to have cleared up. Everytime I blink it’s searing pain though and it waters like crazy. I put one set of drops in at the hospital, which didn’t seem to do much, and I’ll put another set in before bed. Hopefully a full 8 hours sleep will also help my eyes to rest. My right one is half closed and tomato red.
Miyuki was telling us that Tokyo University Hospital is the best hospital in all of Japan. It
Shinjuko-mania
I just dont think there are enough cell phones to choose from hehe. There are more different types of cell phones in this store than there are in all of Calgary...if not Canada. is the same level of education as Oxford in the UK and Harvard in the US. Many doctors who study there also go and study at one of these other schools. She said tell anyone you went there and they will tell us that is the best care you can get.
Gee. So another fricken injury. I guess it’s just not a trip with seeing the hospital first. This makes three international hospitals I’ve been to now. Florence Italy, New York USA, and Tokyo Japan. I think Tokyo was the best so far, I don’t think I would have asked any of the other doctors to take a picture with me. Heck in NY the doctor probably would have thrown me out, or taken my camera, or something. Or I would have been mugged by another patient for my camera. Oh well, things happen in threes right? So I should be finished now with my international hospitals. Dev on the other hand only had his first injury in Mexico…hehehe…(JUST KIDDING…WE DON’T WANT ANYMORE INJURIES, TO ME OR HIM). For the record Dev's eye was fine when he woke up, and hasn't been bothering him at all. He's going to
No Elephants Allowed!
This is what I'm talking about when I say you always feel lost. What is this sign trying to accomplish? layoff the contacts for awhile though.
On the whole Japan is a very cool place. Often you do feel completely lost though. Like you have absolutely no idea what is going on around you, because it is all so foreign and there are hardly any English signs anywhere. I think I might have gotten an allergy from the incense I burned at the temple, that is the only thing I can think of, unless there are weird things in the air I’m not used to. Damn incense, so much for bringing health. Maybe since I did a Bad Fortune thing it cancelled out the health, and Dev’s Bad Fortune amplified it. Hmm.
Anyways, we are safe now, and back in our room. We are going to take some showers before heading to bed. Please send healthy vibes our way, my eye needs it. And lets hope I wake up tomorrow in much better condition. We plan to go to Harajuku to see all the Cos-play girls tomorrow. That is when all the girls go to Harajuku on Sunday and hang around all dressed up in wild costumes. And they pose for you too apparently. Tomorrow you will see
Shinjuku District
This is a random street in Shinjuku, all the streets look similar to this. Some stores are multi level and some are only one level, so you have to look up when shopping or you may miss something worthwhile! the pics of that.
We miss you, and I know I am feeling quite homesick after this incident. I definitely won’t be wearing my contacts for a little while. Good thing I brought like 50 million pairs *rolls eyes*.
Love you, take care!! Until next time,
Erin and Devlin, Accident Professionals.
Ps-I just realized that I also broke my leg on a trip/vacation when I was much younger. Which resulted in a 3 month hospital stay. My bad luck MUST have started all the way back then. Damn Girl Guide Camp…
Advertisement
Tot: 0.1s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 62; dbt: 0.0645s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Lins
non-member comment
Well at least it's out of the way at the beginning of the trip, in a city with excellent medical care. Hope you feel better.