Waking Up in Tokyo...
January 22, 2006
Even though I had heard it everywhere, I thought it was a myth. My friends told me about it. Guide books told me about it.
Even Bill Murray experienced it in Lost in Translation. What I’m referring to is the American’s internal alarm clock that causes
a person to be up at 5am…
Anybody who has ever traveled with me knows that I’m a morning person and I wake up relatively early. That’s one thing.
But considering the following factors: not sleeping on the plane, staying up until 1am, having a couple drinks while at dinner, and
being so ready for my face to hit the pillow---I knew that I would not fall a victim to this thing known as ‘jet lag’. So the fact
that I was wide awake at 4am and just laid there until 5am in hopes of my body figuring out it needed a bit more rest was a bit
ridiculous.
It is now 5:27am on a Sunday morning. Options of things to do at this time are a bit limited.
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Okay. So I ended up getting a bit more sleep and started my day around 8am. I started by going to Northern Tokyo which is
the older part of Tokyo. This is where the Senso-ji Temple is. There are many components to this place. Almost like the
Disneyland of temples. You start by walking through the main gate that is seen in every picture of this temple. The path that
you walk down to get to the temple is filled with small shops selling a variety of rice crackers (delicious!), junky souvenirs,
different kinds of foods (I have absolutely no idea what some of these things were), etc. At the end of this area is a huge incense
burner where the smoke is said to cure any ailments (you blow the smoke towards you and rub it on the part of your body that
is bothering you). To the left is a pagoda and a little garden. Straight ahead is the shrine. Either at the shrine or to your right,
you can pay 100 yen (about $ .85) to get a fortune. Basically the fortune process is this:
1. Pay.
2. Shake the container that holds the sticks.
3. Pull out a stick.
4. Match the symbols on the stick with the symbols on one of the many cubbyholes/drawers.
5. *This only pertains to people like me. Search all over for the symbols until somebody who works there comes over and
finds it for you.
6. Read it. It will most likely make you down on your life. (e.g. Mine said if I got on a boat, it would sink and I needed to go
home right away.)
7. If you want to reject your fortune, you tie it onto one of the wires that is located a few feet away.
After Asakusa, I went to Ginza and walked around for a bit. I was there when one of the major department stores opened.
People are gathered waiting for it to open and there is one employee at each door. Music plays, they all say something (which I
couldn’t understand), they all bow and then people can enter. The food hall on the bottom floor was great. There is at least one
employee at each station and as you walk by, each one greets you and bows. A bit overwhelming considering there were at least
30 different food areas on the floor!
Considering it was a Sunday, Harajuku is the place to go to do some people watching. The people that you go to watch are the
teenagers (I’m guessing they’re about that age) who dress so far out there…even the Japanese go to catch a glimpse. They all
congregate in an area in between the train station and the entrance to a beautiful park. It’s hard to say what their attire would
actually be called…it’s a cross of punk/modern/alternative to the nth degree. In a word, it’s outrageous. Just a few feet away
lies the entrance to what leads to the Meiji Shrine. As luck would have it, there was snowfall right before we got to Tokyo so this
looked like a winter wonderland if ever I had seen one! They even have peaceful Japanese music playing and it makes you
forget that you were just in the bustling city a couple minutes prior. After passing through beautiful landscape, hundreds of
sake barrels and, in my case, a couple snowmen, you then walk through a gate that leads you to a courtyard. This is a popular
place to see weddings. I didn’t get to see an actual wedding but I did get to see the family portrait being taken of a couple that
had just gotten married. As I said, this tends to be a common sight here.
After much more walking through other areas of Tokyo and a successful shopping experience at one of the stores, I went back
to the hotel to drop off my loot. I then got in touch with Dave and I met him and Masayo for dinner. She took us to dinner at a
great, traditional restaurant. We took our shoes off and put them in lockers and then proceeded to our table. Everything was in
Japanese so she just went ahead and ordered and surprised us. We dined on excellent sashimi and fish and vegetables that
were cooked in a hot pot with broth.
When I got back to the hotel, it was time for me to pack up my stuff. Turns out the Roppongi Prince wasn’t quite the 'prince'
that Dave thought it would be. I’ll admit, it leaves a little something to be desired...but I’m not complaining since I’m just along
for the ride. Dave’s the boss. If he says we have to upgrade our standard of living while we’re here, who am I to stop him???
Tomorrow our new home is going to be the Westin Tokyo in the Ebisu district.
Asakusa in Northern Tokyo
In the Shibuya district