I had feared that this would be the longest part of my Japan blog, so I decided to give you all the first part and enjoy that while I wrote the rest of this. It’s all because a lot happened in Tokyo that I don’t want to leave out. Also, for those who heard about another recent trip that happened last weekend, I hope to post it the following week (12/19-12/24). That way, you should all be getting a post each week until the new year. I was thinking about doing a post for Christmas, and maybe another for the new year. I hope this makes up for my horrible hospitality to those reading my blogs! Anyway, here goes…
After buying those, Christopher and Adrian found a playground that would work for parkour, so they got the camera out to film some stuff, especially now that Chris had some cool new shoes. Adrian caught the attention of some high school Japanese boys
who asked him to do some tricks. He entertained them as they were very impressed and cheered him. Glenda still wanted to walk through some small shops and we boys wanted to check out some other sites in Ueno, the city right next to Asakusa. So we split up and walked to Ueno 上野, planning to meet up later that night.
Since 
Tokyo is such a large place to discover, and all of us had our own interests on what we wanted to explore—Glenda and Ken wanted to go to the zoo in Ueno and then head to Tokyo. We all grabbed
breakfast and some items at the store before going to the station to purchase all-day Tokyo metro passes. We said our goodbyes, promising to meet back in Shimbashi 新橋 to catch the train back to Kamakura together at 8pm.
Then we went to the restaurant that Minako had planned on taking us to. I’m not sure if she made reservations, but with how fancy it was, I wouldn’t doubt that she had to. She ordered a little bit of everything she thought we might like, and we sure did enjoy dinner. Near the end of our meal, we heard a loud bang. Apparently, this was something they did every night at a certain time. The ceiling had lights in it that made it look like a firework show. That went on for about ten minutes. It was quite the experience.
Our flight was at 11:30pm, so we took the train to the airport and flew back home. We arrived back in Malaysia at 5:30am. Talk about having to be exhausted that day, because I didn’t sleep on the plane! But that was the total of our trip to Japan, although I could have told it in much greater detail. You might not have gotten sick of reading about that, but I would have gotten sick of writing that much information down! I will be writing again soon. Later!
Part II
Day Seven…
This was going to be our best time to go to Tokyo. There was so much planning about what we wanted to do. We knew this would be best to stay there this night since both Minako and Fujiko would be out of town as well. We had found out there was a fairly nice hostel in Asakusa 浅草 that was not too expensive. Besides all that, Asakusa was the place Minako suggested that we go. It is considered to be a little more historical than downtown Tokyo.
We took the trains to get there and popped out of the underground subway into a lively cityscape.
We immediately tried to find some place with tourist information and maps, which took a lot longer than expected. Maps in Japan are not always entirely reliable for directions. At least it’s not as bad as Malaysia. But we decided to head for a temple again, especially since this one is considered to be the heart of the city. It’s called Sensō-ji 金龍山浅草寺. It reminded me of a movie scene from a Chinatown. From the link, you can see the walkway lined with shops. For being so close to Tokyo, I still did not feel so much in a city. Japan is just built in a way that is so friendly and inviting that it does not seem scary and unsafe. I’m not sure if I mentioned this in the previous section of my blog, but what seems to be very large distances on their maps are quite small. And for those who think it is easy to just hop on a train and arrive at the right destination, I posted a picture of what the signs look like when trying to buy a ticket for the trains to get to where you need to go. The lime-green circle on the the right is all of Tokyo city. The offshoot on the upper-right of the screen is where Asakusa and Ueno are.
We walked around for some time before seeing a set of shops that looked interesting. Outside, men were pulling rickshaws around, giving tours. From the pictures we took, you can see they wear these awesome shoes called jika-tabi.
After buying those, Christopher and Adrian found a playground that would work for parkour, so they got the camera out to film some stuff, especially now that Chris had some cool new shoes. Adrian caught the attention of some high school Japanese boys who asked him to do some tricks. He entertained them as they were very impressed and cheered him. Glenda still wanted to walk through some small shops and we boys wanted to check out some other sites in Ueno, the city right next to Asakusa. So we split up and walked to Ueno 上野, planning to meet up later that night.
Ueno has a very famous place to visit, known for the cherry blossom walk. Unfortunately, the sakura blossoms were not in season, but the walk was beautiful nonetheless. We visited several temples and other sites. I even got to see where the Tokyo University of the Arts was. They don’t let any visitors on the campus though! I threw in some pictures that Glenda took so you all could
see a little more of the city. Around 6pm, we decided we had seen enough and were tired of walking and minimal rest. So we called Ken and found out they had booked us a night at the youth hostel in Asakusa. The three of us bought tickets on the Tokyo metro to get back to Asakusa. We all met up near the hostel and dropped off our stuff in the room before heading out for dinner. I’m sure you can guess what we ate by the picture.
see a little more of the city. Around 6pm, we decided we had seen enough and were tired of walking and minimal rest. So we called Ken and found out they had booked us a night at the youth hostel in Asakusa. The three of us bought tickets on the Tokyo metro to get back to Asakusa. We all met up near the hostel and dropped off our stuff in the room before heading out for dinner. I’m sure you can guess what we ate by the picture.
Our bodies were so exhausted now that we had had our fill of food and no major plans for the night. So we went back to the hostel, Sakura Hotel, and prepared for sleep. Around 10pm, we let ourselves drift off to sleep.
Day Eight…
We wake up in Asakusa after a wonderful, greatly needed rest! You can’t beat ten hours for someone who has been running high on adrenaline and low on real body energy! We got pictures of the hostel for people who have no idea what one is (like me before we went there!). The hostels typically just give you a bunk with a whole bunch of other people, but since we were only staying one night, and there enough of us, they let us have our own room. Hostels are usually what European backpackers prefer to stay in when traveling countries. They are made with just the very basics and do not spend extra money to make things nice. As you can see, the chain link fence gave us a great view of the city, and the concrete walls and floors kept the place cool. A curtain was the “door” for the men’s bathroom. There are two bathrooms on each floor. Today was our day for Tokyo 東京!!
Since 
Tokyo is such a large place to discover, and all of us had our own interests on what we wanted to explore—Glenda and Ken wanted to go to the zoo in Ueno and then head to Tokyo. We all grabbed
breakfast and some items at the store before going to the station to purchase all-day Tokyo metro passes. We said our goodbyes, promising to meet back in Shimbashi 新橋 to catch the train back to Kamakura together at 8pm.
There weren’t many pictures that I took. The reason was that there was so much we ran around looking at, but not much that would be cool on the camera; although, I will add Glenda’s pictures from Tokyo tower, which they made it to. Our first stop was Akihabara 秋葉原, the place that Minako suggested we boys visit. (Granted, she suggested we visit Shinjuku too, supposedly the hot spot for young adults. I’m sure you can guess why we didn’t want to go to some place like that, as we were told it’s the place for Cosplay.) This part of the city had it’s places to avoid, but we went for the electronic stores. It’s considered the electronic center of Japan. We spent a few hours there, looking at really cool gadgets and computers—at outrageous prices!—and also looked around the Tokyo Anime Center, though there wasn’t much to see there.
After Akihabara, we went to see the Imperial Palace 皇居. I’m not sure which part of Tokyo that was in again… The grounds there were stunning. The grass was so well kept that it reminded me of a Dr. Seuss book with the strange trees sprouting up every few feet. The moat surrounded the entire place. I loved looking at all the architecture that you could see about the walls. All I know about the Imperial Palace is that it is the White House of Japan. The guards dutifully protected each entrance to the inner grounds, so access there was extremely prohibited. There were even signs on the grass that strictly warned not to touch. As the sun was setting, I took a picture of the gorgeous scene that I saw.
We still had some time to use up before meeting up at Shimbashi, so Adrian mentioned that he saw a store that looked interesting back in Akihabara that he didn’t mention while we were there. So we took advantage of the all-day Tokyo metro pass and went back to Akihabara. We came out of a different entrance and didn’t know exactly where we were. The map was of no help. So I wound up getting us somewhat lost. A man saw that we were confused Americans and stopped to help us. He knew a little bit of English and not only offered to help us know where we were, but was kind enough to walk with us all the way there to make sure we didn’t get lost again. The really cool thing was I tried striking up a conversation with him since he looked to be in his early twenties, and he lived in Tokyo. He had just got off work. So I asked where he worked. Interestingly enough, he is a voice actor for several anime. One of the anime he mentioned that we recognized was Gurren Lagaan. He played smaller roles in the series. Now he is just continuing his voice acting career. But talk about a neat experience! The place Adrian saw ended up being a manga and anime center. An entire 8-story building dedicated to manga and anime. Now for my friends back home who ever want to check out a place like that, I will warn you: go in with an objective to find something specific, or don’t go at all. The place was filled with a lot of manga and anime typical themes that I would rather my eyes avoid.
After finishing up in Akihabara, we went back to Shimbashi to eat dinner, a wonderful ramen meal, and then waited for the parents to show up. The train ride back and everything else that night was a blur. I just remember being very tired. I’m pretty sure of one thing though: we stopped for ice cream again before getting back to the house.
Here are Glenda’s pictures from their part of the Tokyo trip:
Day Nine…
A day of rest! Ken and Glenda went to the bamboo temple, but the three of us boys were content to sleep in late and do virtually nothing all day. Praise God for the relaxation… I’m adding pictures from Glenda’s camera again for those who want to see what they did.
However, when Minako returned from work, she brought along a friend. We all went out to dinner at this small Italian food place. It was so delicious!
Day Ten…
This was our last day… A very saddening fact. Minako had wanted to take us to Yokohama, but we took our time in packing up and getting the house cleaned up for Fujiko. There was no way we could leave the house in mediocre condition after the amazing hospitality that was given to us. So we cleaned it up quite a bit until it seemed spotless. We never got the chance to go to Yokohama, but we walked around a little bit at Shimbashi while Minako had to pick up some things at the store.
Then we went to the restaurant that Minako had planned on taking us to. I’m not sure if she made reservations, but with how fancy it was, I wouldn’t doubt that she had to. She ordered a little bit of everything she thought we might like, and we sure did enjoy dinner. Near the end of our meal, we heard a loud bang. Apparently, this was something they did every night at a certain time. The ceiling had lights in it that made it look like a firework show. That went on for about ten minutes. It was quite the experience.
Our flight was at 11:30pm, so we took the train to the airport and flew back home. We arrived back in Malaysia at 5:30am. Talk about having to be exhausted that day, because I didn’t sleep on the plane! But that was the total of our trip to Japan, although I could have told it in much greater detail. You might not have gotten sick of reading about that, but I would have gotten sick of writing that much information down! I will be writing again soon. Later!
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