06/30/2019
This week Emily and Nora Jones arrived to visit me in Japan! I met with them on Thursday evening in Kyoto Station. From Kyoto Station, we took the Shinkansen for the first time! It was very nice, taking us about 2 hours to get to Tokyo. I couldn't really tell how fast we were going, as it was dark when we left. We arrived in Tokyo around 9:00 pm and had a 30 minute train ride and a 15 minute walk to our hotel. It was sprinkling when we got there, and very humid. It's rainy season still, so it has been raining almost every day in Japan. The summer brings a TON of humidity as well, which makes the climate feel extremely tropical. When we finally arrived at our hotel, we went up to our room and tried to plan out the next day's activities. I also talked to Alex for an hour or so.
In the morning, we ate breakfast. I was really excited because they had fruits such as kiwi, oranges, honeydew, and peach cocktail. I haven't had fruit here often because it is SOOO EXPENSIVE. On average, watermelons are $29, cantaloupes are $15, stawberries are $10, grapes are $8, and all of the sizes of the fruits are smaller than the sizes that are found in America. I also ate some french toast, pancakes, and potato salad because Japanese potato salad is much better than American potato salad in my opinion. It has less of a prominent mayonnaise taste. Once we finished breakfast, we took the train to Shibuya crossing. It's the busiest cross walk in the world. The sidewalks are filled with people and they all cross at the same time. We watched for several minutes from the Starbucks to get a good view of it. It wasn't as busy on Saturday as it is during the week. We went shopping around the area, as the Jones' wanted to buy souvenirs for their family and friends. I was mainly looking for a Godzilla shirt for Dad because I couldn't think of anything else he would like. It is kinda difficult to buy things for people from Japan unless they want chopsticks, a fan, figurines, or manga (Japanese comic book). I have honestly been really stressed about bringing things back because I feel that people expect me to bring enough things back for everyone, but it is honestly so expensive. It is also difficult to find things that I think that people would actually use or like. We went through many cute shops and I showed them Don Quixote, which is a 7 story building for Japanese snacks or other things. This is where I will probably go to buy Kit-Kat flavors for some of my friends to try. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel and relaxed for a little bit as I searched for something that we could try for dinner. Emily and her mom agreed upon trying udon and tempura. They really enjoyed it! I was glad because it is all so different from American food, that I think it is much more difficult for them to find something to eat that they are comfortable with. I have become quite used to it, as I have been living here for five months now. It was kinda funny watching Nora try to use chopsticks. I guess she had never used them before! I was impressed because she was able to eat all of her noodles, even if it took her a little longer. Once we finished dinner, we headed back to the hotel and showered. Emily and her mom read for a little bit before falling asleep, and I talked on the phone to Libby for a while. It was nice because I miss her so much!Â
On Saturday, Emily, Nora, and I went on a one day tour of Tokyo, where they showed us different places around the city starting at 8 am. We all got on the bus, with about 50 people on our tour. We actually met several high school students from South Africa. They were so nice! One of them gave me a 5 rand piece. He said it was pretty much worthless and that you can only maybe buy a bag of chips with it. It was a rainy morning again. We first drove by the Imperial Palace, where the emperor, his wife, and their daughter live. We couldn't see the actual palace, as the walls were too high. There was still a moat surrounding the outer walls of the palace from Samurai period. We also drove by the European style building, where many of the leaders of other countries stay when they visit Japan. Our tour guide showed us the National Diet Building (the name is taken from a German word), where the Japanese Parliament takes place. Our first destination was Tsukiji Market, which is the biggest fish market in Tokyo. They had a ton of sea creatures and huge tuna heads. We weren't interested in most of the food there because 90% of it was fish. I did eat some strawberry daifuku because it is literally one of the best sweets in Japan. I am trying to bring it back to the USA, but it's not the same when it's not fresh. Our next stop was Tokyo Tower, where we shopped around. It is the second tallest structure in the world, just behind the tower in Dubai. We couldn't really go up to the top to see the city because the weather was so bad. Everything was foggy near the top of the tower, so you couldn't see anything if you went to the lookout, other than the clouds. I tried some strawberry milk with tapioca beads because Terry always talks about how delicious milk tea is. I loved it. Right before we left, I bought some rose shaped coasters for my apartment next year! I was really excited because they are so pretty and will remind me of my time in Japan. Once we left Tokyo Tower, we drove to an old Buddhist temple and shopping area. The temple was really beautiful and huge, much different than many of those I have seen in Kyoto. It smelled strongly of incense. We also walked to a Shinto shrine. It had a large circle weaved of grasses. When you step through the circle you are supposed to make a wish and then bow and clap (worship) the Japanese god in the shrine. Needless to say, I didn't make a wish or worship the Japanese god there. We then walked into the Nakamise shopping area. It was a lot of traditional Japanese shops that sold items that tourist may like to buy or good luck charms for the Japanese people. We were only allotted about 20 minutes in the shopping market before we had to meet up for lunch, so we agreed to revisit tomorrow.Â
We ate lunch at Asakusa View Hotel. It was very delicious! Most people had teriyaki chicken, fish, rice, salad, grilled vegetables, miso soup, and a jello like dessert. I had the vegetarian meal, which consisted of grilled onion (with something on top that I ate at our welcome party but have no idea what it is called), noodles, fried tofu, seaweed based soup, and the same jello dessert. We also had roasted green tea and water to drink. It was so much food, but very delicious! Once lunch was finished, we went to Odaiba. We stopped there for about 20 minutes to take pictures with Japan's statue of liberty. Mika-san told us that Japan rented the replica of the Statue of Liberty for 1 year, while France had a statue of Buddha. After one year, they had to return the statue to France, but they loved it so much that they asked to have another replica of it. France agreed, and now Japan has a replica of Lady Liberty as well! Emily and her mom both said that Japan's replica was at least 5 times smaller than the one in New York, as I haven't seen the original one in New York yet. Once we left Odaiba, we went to the Tokyo Bay Cruise. It was a 40 minute boat ride around the Bay on a beautiful traditional Japanese ship. I loved the cruise! It stopped raining during this portion of the tour, which was really nice. Once the boat tour was over, we went to another old temple. It was another temple that was beautiful on the inside, air thick with incense, but was rebuilt and relocated after WWII. Many of the old temples were moved out of the main part of Tokyo to make room for the business buildings. I asked Mika-san why the temples were so different than the ones in Kyoto because I hadn't seen any temples in Japan like the ones we saw in Tokyo. She said that the sect of religion in Tokyo was more free and open, with anyone being able to come into the temple (with shoes!). In Kyoto, the sect is much more strict, and many foreigners aren't even allowed in the actual temple (you have to take your shoes off in Kyoto temples). I think I also see many more shrines than actual temples. At this temple, we saw a memorial for children that unexpectedly died or were miscarried. It was pretty sad, as there were hundreds of statues, each representing a child lost. It was now around 4:30 pm, so our driver drove us back to the hotel, passing through Shibuya crossing so that we could see it one more time. Overall, it was a very nice tour and I enjoyed it a lot! It was nice to have someone explain about Japanese history and culture, along with us being able to see so many places in one day! We were pretty exhausted by the time we returned to the hotel, but decided to go out and get dinner before turning in for the night. I took the Jones' to Saizerieya, which is the Japanese Italian family restaurant that Terry, Denny, and I typically go to after English Cafe. They both really liked the pizza there, which I was surprised because I always just think it's kinda okay. I think I just miss the thick, garlicky crust that the USA has. I even ordered in Japanese all by myself, I was so proud! Once we got back, Emily and Nora fell asleep fairly early, so I read and reviewed Japanese.Â
On Sunday morning, we all went down for breakfast around 8:30 am. We then headed to Nakamise Shopping Market again, which was about 30 minutes away. Emily and Nora shopped around to buy things for Emily's dad and other family members. I bought a few postcards and a t-shirt for my sister. I also found the cutest Japanese umbrella (closer to a parasol), it was so cheap, only $5. The Japanese always carry around the cutest umbrellas, with like cut outs along the edges, or lace, with a beautiful design throughout the umbrella. America has patterned umbrellas, but they aren't as common and are always less intricate than those of the Japanese. Once we were all shopped out, I suggested we visit Electric City in Akihabara. Akihabara is like the anime capital of the world. I am not very into anime, but it was really neat to see all of the lights on the streets. It would have been much cooler to see at night, but I had to get back to Kyoto in the evening to prepare for work the next day. I was able to find some great cat hats there for Kim and Dana, one is shaped like a crab and the other a lady bug. They are so adorable, even though I am sure the cats will hate them. For lunch, we mapped out a soba shop but couldn't find it. We actually stumbled upon the udon shop I have been to several times in Kizugawa, so I was able to order for all three of us with only minimal confusion. I was a little stressed out because the server had trouble understanding me, but it worked out alright! After lunch, we went back to the hotel so that I could start going back to Kyoto, which would be about a 3 hour journey. I arrived at Tokyo station at around 4:00 pm and was on the shinkansen by 4:20. I had a middle seat, but I moved around a little bit in hopes of seeing Mount Fuji. I definitely saw Fuji-san, but I couldn't see the top of it because there was too much fog. It was a pretty smooth ride! I couldn't really tell how fast we were going, but we did shake when we were in tunnels from the speed! I got back to Kyoto around 6:30 and took the kintetsu line and the local bus, arriving home around 7:30. I immediately went to the supermarket to get a few breakfast items, as Apita closed at 9 pm. I unpacked, showered, and washed my clothes before heading to bed. It was a very busy weekend, but I definitely enjoyed it!
Tokyo has a very big city feel, with tall skyscrapers (even though none were built until after 1900). There is a TON of people there, one of the biggest cities on earth. It takes a lot of time to get around there because you are constantly pushing through large crowds of people. Overall, I think it is a very cool city to visit, but I do think I like Kyoto better (maybe that is just bias because I live there). Emily and Nora are touring Mt. Fuji today, and I will go to Hiroshima and Osaka aquarium with them next weekend!
