Day 87-89: Tokyo, Just Tokyo (oh, and a mountain)
It started about four days ago. Each day, after hours of
carrying a backpack that is perpetually heavier than it looks, by the time I
return to my hostel, my back is paining. And this isn’t like a slight pain, but
a splitting pain right on my shoulderblades. OK, ‘splitting pain’ might be a
bit of an overstatement, but still, the pain has eventually forced me to not
take my computer with me when I’m out for an extended period of time. If there
is one thing I miss from the first part of my trip it is that little Netbook
that froze all the time. It was a challenge to work with, and when I was using
it I could not wait to meet my Mom and have her bring me my actual laptop, but
now that it’s gone, and I have this huge screened Toshiba with me, I kind of
miss that slow, archaic device. Nostalgia is a strange thing.
Anyway…
What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t have my computer
with me during meals, and that’s kind of put my daily diaries on hold a little
bit. There’s a lot to write about, since I did quite a bit in the last three
days, and since my opportunities to write are a little limited, I can’t really
do the last three days justice. Instead, I’ll just do some rambling comments on
my three days in Tokyo.
The Sights
= Tokyo has a lot to see, and while their temples and
shrines aren’t as well-placed as other smaller cities they still serve as nice
oases in the middle of the desert of Tokyo. The best place for me in Tokyo was
in Ueno Park, the sprawling Park in North Tokyo. It houses a few Japanese-style
buildings and pagodas, as well as a great little promenade that leads to the
Tokyo National Museum. I didn’t have time to go to the museum as of yet, but it’s
imposing façade serves as a nice bookend to the main promenade (fit with an
outdoor Starbucks on one side, and a long fountain in the middle).
= The Tokyo Sky-Tree is like many CN Tower/Menara KL/Sydney
Tower type buildings, but it is the first one that really felt like a tourist
attraction. Why’s that? Because there was a ridiculous line that took about 45
minutes to buy a ticket to go up. That’s not an exaggeration, by the way. If we
reserved in advance, we could have bypassed most of the line, but it seems that
reserving in advance is at best a really well-kept secret. The line was filled
with what seemed to be Japanese people, which makes sense since the tower is
only a year old. Still, it was worth it. As I’ve said in almost every tower I’ve
been to on this trip, Tokyo seems much bigger from the top. The building is
also taller than it looks, with the main observation deck being about 1,000
feet up (an another observation deck is 300 fee higher). Tokyo is a giant city.
The main financial district looks to be in another state.
= The Shen-So Ji Temple is the only one in Tokyo that I
think compares to those in the oldes, smaller cities in Japan that are more
known for their temples and shrines. The Shenso-Ji is located in a large
complex right behind a really busy street in Asakusa, a northern district of
Tokyo. Unlike many of the other temples, it isn’t really secluded, with its
entrance gate on the main road. We walked by rows and rows of shops selling
handicrafts and trinkets (but Moto – my friend in Tokyo – assured me that they
would be better in Kyoto), and finally reached the main temple building. The Shenso-Ji
is just larger than the other temples, and better preserved. It is visited by
mobs of people each day, so that should make sense.
= Tokyo isn’t the best city for people watching, but there
are some nice areas to go around. Ginza is probably the most famous, and most
centrally located. The first time I went was during the day, and it reminded me
of Times Square during the day. The second time I went was at night, and it
reminded me of Times Square at night. It wasn’t as crowded as Times Square at
night (the allow cars back onto the roads), but just as lit up. They have a
series of expensive brand-name stores and restaurants. The only thing I went in
for was the Sony store, where you got to try out some of their new technology.
Nothing was too fascinating. The best was probably a TV that responded to your
voice (of course, their version only worked in Japanese).
The Food
= Sushi is everywhere. Sushi comes in all shapes and sizes,
and all price ranges, from really cheap to $300 for a chef’s menu. The $300
place, by the way, is the sushi joint detailed in the excellent documentary ‘Jiro
Dreams of Sushi’. It is a little cheaper if you are Japanese, but alas, I’m
not. Anyway, I still had my share of sushi. Some places have all-you-can-eat
options, or set options, but I gorged out at the Kaiten Zushi joints, where
they go around on conveyor belts.
= There are a ton of those around as well, all with
different rules and different prices. Some are a little more advanced, with the
prices around 200 for basic sushi, going up to 500-700 yen for specialty sushi
(like the fattest tuna, or the rarest fish). Some places have set prices where
almost everything is about 150 yen. I mainly went to those. To someone who
doesn’t eat sushi all the time (apart from the last week, that is), I really
couldn’t taste the difference. For me, the only advantage of the more expensive
places is their larger selection of sushi. So, I kind of alternated between the
better places and the simple ‘all plates are 136 yen’ places, using the former
to try different ones out and the latter to gorge for lunch after skipping
breakfast.
= Most of the sushi places have charts showing what sushi is
available, which is heavily used by locals to get the sushi they went made at
the moment. I stuck to picking ones off of the conveyor because most of these
places didn’t have English versions of these charts. Some did, and had the
Anglicized pronunciation of the Japanese word, which gave me a nice opportunity
to try out my Japanese. My favorites were probably Whelk (which is a rarer one
that few places had), Cuttlefish (a basic one that any place will have), and
Unagi (eel). Although almost all were good at every place I went to. I’m
assuming the New York effect is in effect in Tokyo, where all sushi places that
can stay open must be good.
= The other place I went to more than once for food were the
department stores. I already talked about the first one that I went to, but I
finally found the Daimaru, which I was looking for that first day. I’m not sure
how I didn’t find it the first day since it is connected to Tokyo Station, but
for whatever reason I didn’t. It wasn’t as good as the other, because the
selection was less. Daimaru focused more on desserts and more stylish food.
The Mountain
= On the middle day I did my first real day trip from Tokyo
(to me, Yokohama and Kamakura are too close to consider day-trips), going
towards Mt. Fuji. I’m no mountain climber, and since the view of a mountain is
always better from afar than on the mountain itself, I was told not to go to
Mt. Fuji, but to one of the lakes or little towns on its perimeter. I chose Onsen, a lake town on the perimeter of Mt. Fuji, which was one of the 10 best
viewing spots for the mountain. I was lucky that it was a gorgeous day, as the
mountain was in perfect view from the lake.
= The ride over to Mt. Fuji takes a long time. This isn’t to
say it isn’t worth it, because the path towards Mt. Fuji is a very interesting
stretch of Japan, but still it takes a while to get there. In one sense, going
all that way just to take some pictures seemed a little silly. Those feelings
disappeared when I saw Mt. Fuji. The lake really was one of the best viewing
spots that I can imagine. The snow-capped peak just towered in the distance
over the hills at first (we had to drive further to the lake – an extra tour,
but quite affordable). The view just gets better when you get to the lake, with
the reflection of the mountain on the lake below. There aren’t many better
sights that I’ve seen anywhere in the world, and as someone who went to Cape
Town rather recently, that is saying something.
