We left Takayama amongst snow flake and had
one last morning of snow covered hills as the bus wound its way to Shinjuku.
Touching down in Tokyo felt like tumbling
into autumn, at a toasty 8 degrees about zero, I was ecstatic to be waltzing
around Ueno park showing my pasty white legs to the world for the first time in
months.
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| Ueno Park |
The shopping streets of Ueno offered a
glimpse of a different side of Tokyo and also presented Henry with a chance to try his first Taiyaki (a fish shaped waffle-esque sweet filled with red bean
paste).
That night we met again with Hayden, as
well as Callian and Hugh (both Japanese classmates from uni and JETs in Tokyo)
and Hugh’s girlfriend Yukari. We graced an Izakaya
(Torinokizoku) with our presence and
there were many beers to be downed.
On our wanderings home, Henry got himself
separated from Hayden and I after they closed off part of the underground
walkway for construction. Fortunately he happened upon a patch of wifi as I was
trying to call him and we agreed to meet back at the hotel. I get the feeling
he is somewhat proud that he can now say that he was lost, drunk and with no
cellphone in the middle of Tokyo.
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| Senso-Ji |
Thursday 12th January
It should not come as a surprise to learn that
Thursday was a slow one.
When we were finally ready to face being
vertical, Henry and I sat in Ueno park, tentatively picking away at a breakfast
of cup noodles, feeling sorry for ourselves.
We then ventured into Asakusa to visit
Senso-ji the oldest temle in Tokyo. The shopping street leading up to the
temple was alive with movement – a stark contrast to the half-dead pair being
buffeted between the less hungover beings…
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| Sky Tree |
We indulged in some green tea ice cream
which did much to lift the spirits, before making our way towards Tokyo Sky
Tree.
We meandered through the park and streets,
the sky tree growing taller and taller with each step we took. With a top speed
of 600m per minute, the lift took no time to reach the observation deck at
350m.
The city goes for miles…In the distance we
could see Mt. Fuji and below, the shadow of the Sky Tree stretched for blocks
and blocks as the sun began its decent behind us. We secured a window side
table in the café and indulged in coffee and cake as we watched the sun set
over the city.
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| Sunset over Tokyo |
Friday 13th January
Feeling substantially more motivated than
we had done the previous day Henry and I braved the transport, crowds and couples donning matching outfits on our way to Tokyo Disney Sea.
The thrill seeking rides were definitely the
favourites – despite the queues, and if you get a chance in between shrieks, the
Tower of Terror is worth riding just for the view of Tokyo from the top. We did lapse into a state of despair when we finally made it to the front of one of the hour+ queues, only to be informed that there had been an earthquake near Tokyo so we would have to bear with while they performed a safety check on the ride..
That night we headed into Shibuya to see the
crossing, Hachiko statue and chow
down on the most enormous bowl of Ramen I’ve ever seen (topped with a mountain
of bean sprouts).
Saturday 14th January
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| Meiji Shrine |
We began the day with a stroll through
Yoyogi park. We visited the Meiji Shrine, which was the first shrine or temple that
I have ever seen that has copper coloured tiles on the roof. On the majority of
the buildings the tiles have oxidised and turned the dusty green colour that
many are familiar with. The entire complex appeared was undergoing reroofing
and near the entrance gate, a table had been set up where passersby could
donate \3000 to buy a new copper plate for the shrine, on the back of which
they could write a message.
A wedding procession passed through the
courtyard and bystanders crept as close as the guards would allow to get a
glimpse of the Couple and the many friends and family that followed.
The rest of the afternoon consisted mainly
of hopping around the various camera shops in Tokyo that Henry had on his wish
list. A quick break at Starbucks for a Macha Late and then to the grounds of
the Imperial Palace.
We spent some time back in Ueno taking long
exposures of traffic from the over bridge before heading to the Ueno branch of Torinokizoku for our last dinner in
Tokyo.
Sunday 15th January.
I’m not going to lie; there was a sense of
dread hanging over Sunday as it was the day that we had both been dreading for
weeks.
Leaving our Suitcases at the hotel we had a
long and leisurely breakfast in Tully’s and strolled through Ueno Park for want
of something to do.
On the bright side, saying goodbye this
time round wasn’t so bad as it had been when I left Wellington. The
inconvenience of having an emotional breakdown in the middle of Tokyo was
motivation enough to keep it together while I rode the train to Haneda airport,
knowing that Henry was on his way to Narita International.
Tokyo left us with a spectacular sunset and
a stunning view of an illuminated Disneyland as the plane flew over.
Only a couple of months till Hong Kong.
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