Fragment 2.

Wednesday 17th August 2011:

Wednesday was also an amazing day.

On Tuesday night in Akihabara, Saito-san asked me what I would spend my last day doing, and when he heard I was going to spend it on my own, offered (along with Kaki) to come with me!

So on Wednesday morning, I woke up really early with the intention of going to Tsukiji market (finally) with the guys. However, I then found out that it was closed for Obon. We decided to still go to Tsukiji for some fish for breakfast, but just not to the market proper. So I spent the early morning packing and cleaning ready for my check-out inspection, and met up with Kaki at Suitengumae station at about 10am.

He told me Saito was running late and would meet us there. So we took the train to Tsukiji together.

When we arrived, we had a look around the shops and restaurants, but a lot of them were also closed for the festival. We found one place that was offering free samples of Korean food, and because that was his favourite he asked me to try some. It was really good actually – not as spicey as I’d been led to believe, but good!

Saito met us about half an hour later, and we tried to decide on a place to eat. His favourite place was one of the ones that wasn’t open, so instead we aggreed on going to a carousel sushi place because that way I could pick what I wanted rather than having to struggle with a Japanese menu.

The fish was beautiful. So so so good! Possibly the best sushi I’ve had since I arrived in Japan (and I know that I say that a lot! But it’s true!) I had maybe 6 plates, and I tried a lot of different types that Saito recommended. Kaki kept trying to get me to take more plates, but it was really filling so I couldn’t do it! I drank a hell of a lot of green tea too. Mmmm.

Afterwards, Saito said that we should go get some Japanese sweets. He was adamant that we go to a specific place for it in Ginza, so we started walking there. When we arrived though, it was also closed. We finally found somewhere else to go in a shopping mall, but he told me that it wasn’t as good. I had matcha kakigori with a sweet bean sauce. It was pretty damn good, but I was still full from the fish. Saito treated me to both the sushi and the kakigori, which was kind.

We strolled around Ginza for a bit, looking in some shops and stalls. We went to a bookshop and Kaki pointed out his favourite book to me. He found a copy that had been translated into English, and then bought me a copy as a gift. It was really sweet, and usually I suck at accepting gifts and free meals etc, but it’s impossible not to in Japan because it’s really culturally offensive to turn down an offer. So I accepted it, and really appreciated it. 😀

Then, Saito went back to work as he was really busy with an experiment. Kaki decided to spend the day with me instead of going back to the lab. I was a bit worried about him getting told off because he was also late on Tuesday from oversleeping, but he told me it’d be fine.

We then took the train to Shibuya. I really like Shibuya because it’s so vibrant and interesting. Instead of going to the big shops this time, he took me to some of the quieter areas and we looked at the little boutiques and stuff. On the way back into the main town, we stopped for a Frappuccino and chatted. He’s pretty shy, so I think it was the most I’d heard him speak since I arrived! We then went to the Disney store (because I’m a massive kid) and Tower records. He showed me some of his favourite Japanese bands and I showed him some Western ones. I was really shocked to hear he’d never heard a Nirvana record. That’s just crazy by English standards! Haha.

We were going to go to Asakusa for a while to look for souvenirs, but it was getting late and I had to be back at the apartment for my check out inspection. It started at 5.45 and I hadn’t hoovered or anything. Woops. So instead we went back on the train.

I mentioned that I’d got no plans for dinner, so we agreed to meet for Korean food in the evening. I was really looking forward to it because the Korean in the morning was so good!

So I got home, cleaned, packed, yadayadayada, and then had the inspection. It went well, and they said everything was fine. So afterwards I had a quick shower and headed back onto campus to meet for dinner. I got to the lab about 5 minutes late. Not that that detail is important, but just weirdly it bothered me. I hate being late. haha.

It was a pretty good turn out. 7 of us went for the meal: Me, Kaki, Watanabe, Akimoto, Yugi, Toyoshima, and Uda. (-san. etc.) Unfortunately, the Korean restaurant was closed (Grrr) so we went for Japanese food instead. I had a rice dish cooked with soy sauce, with eel on top. It was really delicious – It’s just a shame we couldn’t have the Korean. Everyone was really chatty which was nice. Even Akimoto who I’ve sat next to for the past 6 weeks but have barely said 2 words to. I was really glad to get to know them better, even if it was so close to the end! I’m really going to miss everyone!

We went back to the lab briefly after the meal and I said goodbye to a few more people. Then, Kaki and I went down to the  main campus to meet up with Kyle for a drink. We walked into the area around Hongo-sanchome, and went to a bar Kaki recommended. We all had beer. I like Japanese beer.

We left at about 11 and went to the station. Kaki walked us there and we said goodbye by the ticket gates. I know I keep saying it, but I’m really really going to miss my labmates. Urgh.

When I got in, I packed my final bits and bobs, had a bit of a cry about leaving (I was exhausted, emotional, a little tipsy, and didn’t want to go home).

Then I slept.

Thursday 18th August 2011:

Thursday. Hometime. Depressing.

I woke up at 4.30am after nowhere near enough sleep. I set both phones’ alarms because I was paranoid about oversleeping, and was so glad I did when I realised my iPhone is buggared and didn’t ring at all.

I got to TCAT really early (and thankfully had some help with my massive suitcases) and took the 6.15 bus to Narita. I was thinking too much on the way. Always dangerous. It got me all upset again.

I was at the airport much to0 early, and check-in didn’t even open for another hour. On the bright side, that meant that when it did open, I was nearly the first to check-in and so didn’t have to stand in a queue. I also got offered a seat upgrade because they hadn’t sold out the World Traveller Plus seats. I didn’t want to pay 3000 yen though (perhaps a stupid decision) considering I needed to pay for an extra suitcase in check-in, so I turned it down.

I spent the next few hours regretting that decision while walking around the airport. 12 hour flight. Insanely cheap considering. Stupid Sophie.

I had some waffles in a cafe in the airport, and had a brief moment where I felt like I’d never seen a knife and fork before in my life. How awkward. I definitely prefer chopsticks.

When I got on the plane, I had a really shitty seat. I was next to an elderly Japanese couple who smelled like mold and greasy hair. The man also spent 3/4 of his time farting. Definitely regretting not accepting the seat upgrade.

I then found my telly didn’t work. It was a long flight, and so I was a bit miffed, so I asked one of the air hostesses if there were any free seats I could change to.

I got moved. To an exit seat. To EPIC LEGROOM!

Best.Thing.Ever! (And much more legroom than I would have had if I’d taken the upgrade.) SUCH A GOOD MOVE.

The flight was boring, so I won’t write more other than that I watched 4 movies (“Thor” – Epic; “Terminator” – AMAZINGLY EPIC; “Red Riding Hood” – shit; and “Sucker Punch” – Epic.) and spent a lot of the flight thinking back on my time in Japan and reminiscing.

I am so sad to now be home.

I miss Japan already. A lot.

And that concludes my Japanese adventure!* 😦

* Excluding randomness which I will blog about over the next few days. Afterthoughts etc.

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Getting Naked

Saturday 6th August:

Saturday was weird. So very weird.

Only 4 hours after getting back in from Shibuya, I left the apartment for Odaiba.

Maria had already provided me with the best train route to get there, so I set off pretty promptly. I arrived early afternoon.

The weather was boiling. My legs were destroyed even further by some nasty ass mosquitoes. I was hungover. This is not a good combination.

Regardless, I had a great time. First I went to the Seaside mall. After a brief look-see, and nothing bought, I moved on and started walking along the decking overlooking the sea. It was really nice, and the view was awesome.

I managed to find the Statue of Liberty replica along the seafront, which was cool! It looks much smaller in the pictures for some reason.

I then went to Aquacity mall, which was deceptively massive on the inside! Everything seemed to be kind of surfer themed, and I had trouble finding something I wanted to buy because it really wasn’t my kind of fashion, and there was nothing that  could get as a souvenir for others. Eventually I came across a shoe shop though (Shoeezzzzzzz!!!! :-o) and found a really nice pair of flip flops for only 2000 yen on sale! They are Giselle Bundchen ones, and really nice, and fit me perfectly! So I treated myself. I’ve needed flip flops since I arrived because of the godawful heat, so it was justifiable.

I then went for an iced coffee and a sit down. Heat is exhausting. Massively.

I texted Maria to see what time she was due to arrive but because of an accident with the tracks, she was running late.

I made my way towards Palette town to look at the massive Ferris wheel and shops, and met her there shortly after. As usual, she looked absolutely beautiful!

We did a bit of shopping, and Maria bought a new skirt for work. She told me she can make the equivalent of £90 a day at her part time job – I’m so jealous! Money doesn’t go quite so far here though, with everything being so damn expensive.

After that, we went to Starbucks for a Frappuccino and some cakes (I am aware how much time I seem to be spending in Western chain food places. It’s just so convenient and the only place I can buy something without having to read a Japanese menu – I swear it’s impossible!).  We chatted about life and love and everything inbetween, and then started walking towards the Onsen to meet up with my friends.

[A quick aside – an Onsen is a Japanese hot spring resort. The water is pumped in from naturally occurring hot springs, and you then sit in them to relax. Apparantly it’s very beneficial to your health, and a big part of Japanese culture. Unfortunately, it is an enforced requirement by tradition that swimming costumes are not allowed. You are provided with a small towel that you can hold infront of yourself for modesty, but it won’t cover your back too, and isn’t allowed in the water. The Japanese people typically don’t use the towels.]

Maria was nervous about meeting my friends. I was nervous about being naked in public. Overall, it was a day filled with anxiety.

It took a while to walk there – maybe 25 minutes from Palette town, but the exercise was good after binging on cakes again.

When we arrived, we were joined by Till, Kyle, Anet and Kyle’s friend Yoshi. We took some group photos outside,  and then went inside.

It was so surreal. The whole place was decked out like an Edo street, and was nothing like anything I’ve ever seen back at home. We went to pay (Maria had a voucher for us, so it cost only 1,200 yen each instead of like 3,000!) and then went to the changing rooms to get into our Yukata.

We met the guys in the main communal area, and had a quick walk around while they bought icecream. Then, we we went to the baths. Obviously, it’s single-sex, so we arranged a time to meet up with the guys outside.

It was incredibly awkward: I am modest and shy even by English standards, and my towel was effectively clamped to my body. First we had to wash, and then we went outside to the open air pool. We all got into a little wooden hot-tub-type thing, and hung out there for a little while, before moving on to the main outdoor bath.

Once we relaxed a bit, it was a lot of fun, and it was nice to just chat and enjoy the hot water. It was a little too hot though actually, so I had to keep getting out so I wouldn’t faint, and went to buy some water.

We hopped around the baths, using ones of different temperatures and mineral contents, and then sat in the sauna for a little while. I was by far the most awkward looking person in the Onsen, and I think a big part of that was, 1) going with Maria who is essentially my sister, and 2) the fact that most of my body is covered in big, red, swollen mosquito bites so I look like I have some sort of skin disease. Attractive.

After about an hour and a half I came out, washed my hair (you’re not supposed to wash your body after because the salts from the hot spring are good for your skin) and got back into my yukata. We went back to the communal area and waited for everyone to arrive. By this point we were pretty starving, and so we started looking around the stalls and restaurants for something good to eat.

Maria, Anet, Yoshi and I had sushi. It was amazing. I’m going to miss proper sushi so much when I come back home. Till and Kyle both had udon instead. I then had an icecream too, being the porker that I am.

After dinner, we made our way to the footbath area. This is an outdoor unisex area where you can walk through a small river with rocks and stones at the bottom. It’s supposed to stimulate certain areas in your feet and be relaxing, but I just found it incredibly painful. It seemed that Yoshi did too, but the others were all okay.

We then found a fish-pedicure area in a little hut to the side of the foot bath. Till, Anet, Maria and myself went in for a 15 minute session.

OH MY GOD IT TICKLED. So incredibly badly. I’ve never felt anything like it in my life, and as soon as you think what about why it tickles, it’s even worse! I’m not sure if I enjoyed having my feet nibbled by fish. I spent most of the session squeeling like a child (as did Maria) and came out in a great mood.

We hung around by the foot baths for about 20 minutes, and then Maria, Yoshi and myself headed back to the changing rooms so we could get the train. Unlike the others, I wasn’t willing to risk missing the last train and getting stuck in Odaiba after staying up all of the night before. I needed my sleep!

After a short issue regarding the shoe locker key, we left the Onsen and walked to the train station. I was exhausted.

I got back home at maybe 11.30pm, and stayed up a short while talking to friends on Facebook and Skype. At about midnight, I got a message from Till saying that he’d got the wrong day for his flight, and was actually leaving tomorrow morning (Sunday) rather than on Monday! It was really lucky that he checked or he would have been stuck in Tokyo. So he came up to my room to say goodbye. I’m really sad about it actually, because I realise that all the people I get on best with on the program are leaving in the next few days and I might never see them again. It’s really depressing. I hope people keep in contact!

Overall, I had an amazing day. One of the best since I’ve been in Tokyo I think. There was something very liberating about being the flabbiest, whitest, most awkward naked woman in the Onsen, haha. I’m so glad I went.

I am writing this on Sunday the 7th August and it is around 3pm now. It is my penultimate weekend in Tokyo and so I really should be out sightseeing but I’m glad of the rest. I think I’ll take a shower now and head to Akihabara for a little while.

Sayonara!

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Two in One…

Well, I didn’t write up yesterday because I was exhausted. I am exhausted today too but if I don’t write now, I will just keep putting it off and getting further behind. So, right… here goes!

Saturday 09/07/2011:

Maria came to visit me! I was so excited to see her, but unfortunately I did something very stupid… I managed to set my alarm wrong and so I didn’t wake up at the right time to meet her at the station! Fortunately I had given her the address of my hotel and so she had found it using the map app on her phone. I was so embarrassed though when she arrived and I couldn’t believe that I had slept in! I felt awful!

It was so lovely to see her, and I’d missed her a lot. She came up to my room for a little while, and I gave her the presents that mum had bought for her, and the doll that I had crocheted.

After I got ready (because, at this point, I still looked like I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards from not getting up in time), we headed to the train station and visited Asakusa. It was absolutely amazing: We visited the Kaminarimon (the outer-gate of the Sensō-ji, and I took lots of photographs. We headed down the busy shopping street and looked at a lot of the stalls. There was loads of touristy stuff to buy, as well as some more traditional crafts, and a lot of food stalls. Maria was very generous and bought me a Japanese fan and a case as a gift. I bought Matt a postcard – but will probably give it to him when I get home because my Japanese is nowhere near good enough to manage a post office conversation! (I know that he will read this too anyway 😛 So yeah… I hope you like it!) We bought some snow cones and ate those in a little stall, before heading towards the Sensō-ji temple. It was really beautiful. Outside, Maria showed me how to read my fortune. Unfortunately, it was very bad, and I was told that nothing good would come to me in the next few weeks. Eeep!

We ate some fried rice balls flavoured with a bean paste as a snack, and then went back to the train station. We caught a train to Shinjuku, and went shopping!

It was so busy! And there was so much to do and so little time! We looked in quite a few clothes shops, and there were a lot of sales on which was good. I tried on around 10 dresses, but found that most of them were too small, even in the Large size… which is a little depressing considering that I am a size 10 in the UK. I have gone from being a normal weight girl in England to a seemingly obese giant in Tokyo! Japanese women are definitely petite! But yes… I eventually found a really nice (but quite expensive) green dress, and treated myself. We then found a Forever 21 store, and had a look in there. It was massive, with about 4 stories! The clothes were a lot cheaper than in the Japanese brand stores, but also less unique. Maria tried on some clothes, but didn’t buy anything, and I bought a necklace.

We then went to a shopping mall and looked at more clothes. We found this store, with the best name ever… I explained what it meant to Maria because she didn’t know.

We then went for lunch. Maria took me to a really lovely Japanese restaurant that she sometimes goes to with Hiroaki, her boyfriend. The food was amazing, and I think that it was the nicest food I have had in Tokyo so far! I had Sashimi (yes… I know I said that I would probably never try it again after the last time, but I was convinced to try again), over rice, with udon noodles. It was so good! The Sashimi this time was sliced much thinner and had a dressing on it, which softened the flavour a bit. I am now a convert!

After lunch, we went back to the mall, and did more shopping! Maria wanted us to buy something that was the same, and we eventually found a dress that we both liked, that fitted us both! Maria very kindly treated me to mine again, because she is wayyyyy too generous and sweet and just-plain-lovely! I had a pink-cream one, and she had a dark blue, but both had the same design and pattern. Maria then took me to a 300 円 shop, which is, I suppose, the Japanese equivalant to the £1 shop. There was a lot of cool stuff there, and once again, she treated me to a necklace! I am not used to people buying me gifts and so I got very embarrassed, but I really appreciated it!

Before leaving, we went back towards the Shinjuku station. There were a lot of people handing out free tissues with advertisements, which I’ve never seen before. So now I have about 10 packs of tissues!

We went back to my room just as it was beginning to get dark, and freshened up before heading out for dinner. Maria took me to a restaurant that served Okonomiyaki. They cooked it at the table and it was kind of like a performance or show. It was very impressive, and tasted really good. I’d like to have it again before I go back home.

Maria left at around 9.30pm, and I walked her back to the train station. It was so lovely to see her, and I will definitely be seeing her again before I go home. Next time, it would be nice to go visit her and her friends at University. I’d like to meet her boyfriend too!

 

Sunday 11/07/2011:

Today I went to Kamakura with the UTRIP group. We had to be at the university for 7.20am so it was a really early start. I met up with Anna at the train station and we walked there together.

Because it was so early, I ended up falling asleep on the bus which was a bit of a shame because the tour guide was telling us a lot of interesting stuff about Japanese history and I ended up missing some of it. I also missed a lot of photo opportunities out of the window to see the Japanese countryside. On the bright side, it meant that the 1 and a half hour journey flew by so quickly! We arrived at Kamakura just before 9am and were given instructions for the day. I was in “Team Dolphine [sic]” and we were accompanied by three students at TODAI.

First, we went to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, which was pretty amazing. I did a prayer at the shrine and made a donation to the gods. We then had our fortunes told again. Unlike yesterday’s, today’s was completely positive, and so my faith has been restored in life! Haha.

We then visited a Buddha museum, and looked at a lot of statues of Buddha and gods from various eras. While we were there, we saw a massive earthquake outside the window. We didn’t feel anything, because the building is designed to absorb the shock so as to not cause damage to the statues inside. There was a lot of noise though, and we were asked to go back to the waiting area for a while to make sure that it was safe. We didn’t think too much of it at the time, but later found out that it was magnitude 7.1, just outside Tokyo – The biggest earthquake since I have arrived! That is rather scary!

After this, we walked into the town to get some snacks and cool down in the shade. We bought snow cones again (I had green tea flavour), and then headed towards the train station. On the way, I saw a shop selling a lot of Ghibli merchandise, and was considering buying something for Lily but it was so overpriced!

We caught the train to another area, and then went to another temple (I can’t remember the name at the moment, but if I remember I will edit it into the post). This was also very impressive, and contained a very large Buddha in one of the temples, though not as large as the Great Buddha we saw later.

We then had lunch at a local restaurant. I had a vegetarian alternative because the soup contained Chicken stock, and although I am now eating fish, I still don’t eath conventional ‘meat’. The food was really good, and it was nice to be somewhere air conditioned! Afterwards, I tried green tea flavoured icecream.

After lunch, we headed to the Daibutsu, or “Great Buddha”. This was magnificent, and is, understandably, a National Treasure. Here is a photograph of me with the Buddha. It is the largest original open-air Buddha in the world, apparantly.

The inside was open to the public for a very small fee, and so I went inside. It was like a kiln in there, considering the weather and the fact that it is made from metal, but it was worthwhile as you were able to see how it had been constructed, hundreds of years ago. I did not spend long inside because of the heat, but I was glad that I went.

We then went back to the bus and were driven to the Misaki Marine Biology Station, owned by the University of Tokyo. It was much cooler there as it was by the sea front, and so I think that most people enjoyed this part of the trip a lot. We were shown around the facilities, and told about it’s history during the war. We were then taken down to the sea front for a group photo (in which I am sure I blinked, because we were facing the sun!). We then walked down to the beach itself, and were allowed to soak our feet for a little while.

We then went to a restaurant for a drink, and a cool down, before taking the bus back to Tokyo.

Once again, I slept the whole way through the journey. I was so exhausted from the heat and the walking! I wish that I hadn’t slept though because now it is 00.37 as I am writing this, and I am not at all tired. Not good news when you need to be up for work in the morning!

When we arrived back in Tokyo, we went for a big group meal. Most of the UTRIP participants went, as well as the volunteer students helping Soeda-san to run the trip. It was really nice, if a little expensive. I had my first sushi of the trip. I then returned to my room, had a shower, and started writing this!

So… that was my weekend.

Tomorrow, the work at the university starts again. I realise that I haven’t actually written much science in this blog, which was the original purpose, but I haven’t done a lot to write about. So I will start writing more about that tomorrow.

Now it’s time for bed. I just hope I can sleep!

 

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