Day Seven

Today marked my last full day and night in Tokyo. I arose from my air mattress behind a limp curtain to a grey sky covered by ominous clouds. I made my way down to my favorite café and  was able to delight myself with a final delicious chocolate pastry with a café mocha. I walked the streets towards the station, not even my shadow was there to walk beside me today. I took the train to harajuku (my favorite district in Tokyo), I decided today I would begin searching for gifts to bring back to my family. I wandered up and down the crowded Friday streets in the pouring rain, but I did not feel lonely, as one would being totally and utterly alone in a country thousands of miles away from his or her home. The fast paced movement of the people in the streets and the vibrant lights of the shops had the ability to comfort my sensitive soul that had been with out true english communication for over a week. In all, it gave enjoyment for my weary eyes that had been worn out by the brilliance of this nation of lights. I walked through the fashion district of Tokyo, as Harajuku was known, it was a place bursting with energy and the newest styles and vintage thrift shops. Before beginning my "shopping spree" I stopped to get coverage from the rain at a shop that served octopus balls in a nice little basket. The little spheres looked like ebelskeevers, round hot and filled with different parts of octopus, I chowed down on these small delights. After this I began exploring the stores and found out that, despite popular belief  that Tokyo is expensive, the prices were fare and due to the strength of the current American dollar things were cheaper than expected. I spent hours trying on kimonos, jackets and pants of all the different shops. I ended up making only one purchase, but the whole process was a blast and the people at the shops doted on me hand an foot, it was a large change from American shops where employees are less hands on. Crepe stands were scattered throughout the streets of harajuku, and most shoppers were seen with the French delight in hand so I decided I would try out eating a crepe on the go while I walked towards the train station. The delectable food of French origins rested comfortably in my hand as I munched on its crispy edges and fluffy whipped cream towards harajuku station. When I got home I once again indulged myself in even more food, I decided tonight I would try the food of the basketball café, where I was staying. I ordered a filly cheese steak that fused Asian flavored with a Classic American sandwich. I regretted not eating there earlier, for not only was lunch amazing but the whole menu looked diverse and mouth watering. Once I finished my meal I rested and waited for Ken, my japanese acquaintance, who promised to take me out to okonomiyaki. Ken picked me up around 10 o'clock and we zoomed over to the bustling center of Kiba, the streets were filled with laughter and drunk businessmen stumbling about. We went up to the okonomiyaki restraint but to our disappointment the seats were filled. After being rejected we went to the local shrine to bide time until more spots opened up. At the shrine we made our prayers and shot some more photos. While we were at the classic shinto shrine a huge group of buisnessmen showed up laughing and crowing and making their bows and asked Ken to take a picture of them together in front of the shrine, they even asked me to join in their photo! As a posed next them I could smell the alcohol on their breathe, the whole scene was a hilarious sight as I towered over these men, but it was fascinating to see this side of the culture. After the shrine we went back to a smaller less famous okonomiyaki joint and enjoyed having our meals cooked right in front of us as we sat crisscross around the flaming table. The dish ended up looking like a pancake but tasted like a savory omelette with crunchy pork, we ate it hot off the griddle. After dinner Ken and his friend Kahn from Korea and I parted ways for the last time embracing each other. I slept like a baby all through the night.

Breakfast

Octopus balls

At the shrine

Okonomiyaki 

Day Six 六 Hidden Gems of the City

I woke up this morning with the sun shining through the windows into my eyes. This was the first time the sun touched my face in days, I was prepared to explore the beautiful parks of japan. It just so happened that to day was the day I planned to meet up with Ken (my Japanese friend I met the first day). It was as if the sun knew today was the perfect day to break through the clouds that had been covering the restless city for days. I got myself ready and headed to the nearby plaza to enjoy a small meal and a Starbucks (which is totally more refined here). As I waited for Ken I used the time to update my blog about the night before. When Ken was ready to go we hit the road and headed for Kinshicho (Kinshi city) via bus. It was my first time riding in the bus, I was able to enjoy the view of all the shops and restaurants that passed by. Kinshicho is a quaint city in eastern tokyo, when we got off the bus we toured the local park. While walking through the park I was astonished to see all the cherry blossom trees were holding on to the last of there pedals. Today marked the end of hanami, cherry blossom season. The trees began to turn green and brown, camouflaging themselves among the other greenery in the are. After the park we headed to the nearby my mall, Ken and Hamaza (his friend from Hokkaido) were hungry. Ken let me try some of his delicious Nagasaki champon, a dish that combined many different types of seafood with a peculiar but delicious sauce and crunchy fried noodle. When they were finished the three of us made our way down to the bustling arcade at the base of the mall. We went into a Japanese photo booth, the camera took our picture and then edited it so that our eyes were bigger are faces trimmer and our bodies thinner, it made us into the perfect men. It was a very interesting part of japan that we rarely ever see in America, but it was so much fun drawing all over our photos, an amazing mini adventure. After we finished up in the photo booth we took a short walk over to Kameido Temple. The small little temple was buried in between buildings and restraunts with a beautiful red arch peeping its head out into the back alley of an empty city street. As we entered the temple they tried to explain to me what Kame meant in English but I was struggling to understand, as soon as I set foot in the shrine I immediately understood what they were trying to say. Kameido comes from the word Kame meaning turtle, the temple foregrounds was essentially a giant pond with elegant red pathways arching over the water from island to island. The water was as still as a mirror, on the rocks  scattered through out the shrine sat real living breathing turtles basking in sunlight, and underneath the shimmering swam giant karp and koi of all colors. Once we crossed the glowing red arches we arrived in front of the fairly sized temple. In front of the green roofed shrine, which added more to the imagery of turtles, was a small booth with water squirting out of a turtle statue into a chest high, small, table of water with giant green ladels weaved like baskets resting over it. Kengo taught me how to properly use the spoons to wash myself before approaching the shrine. First I doused my left hand with water, then my right, followed by pouring a little into my left hand and rinsing my mouth, after that I washed the shaft of the spoon itself, for each action I scooped a cup of water out of the chest high fountain. After cleansing myself I climbed the steps to the alter and made a proper prayer, first I bowed my head twice, through a coin into the alter, clapped twice, and bowed once again. It was a meticulous spiritual experience, but a powerful one none the less. Next we hopped on the train towards another shrine near Ueno. Once again Ken and Hamaza tried to explain what this shrines speciality was however when we got there it explained itself. The shrine was hidden among giant trees, when we passed underneath the towering red arch in the from it revealed a gigantic area surrounded by a small creek and in the center a humongous temple. On the left was a hillside covered in a line of head high red arches, the created a beautiful long pathway along the hill. We wandered underneath these reverent arches filming videos and shooting photos to our hearts content. Following our photo shoot we walked to Ueno park. In the center resided a gorgeous lake covered with boats shaped like swan bumbling about. This scenic park elegantly depicted the the beauty of tokyo, a fast past city holding hidden gems of peace within its towering buildings. While exiting the park we past through a corridor of stands selling all sorts of authentic Japanese treats, even fresh fish! After that we wandered through Ueno square, a crowded market place tightly packed between tight alleys lot by lanterns. I stopped and bought a delicious skewer of fresh red strawberries to enjoy while observed the iridescent life with in the walls of Ueno. Catching yet another bus, we road to sky tree, the tallest building in all of tokyo. The purple lighted building burst through the clouds, slender an elegant it reminded me of a giant redwood tree misplaced among these smaller buildings. Ken showed us all the best places to view the tower for free, he himself used to be a tour guide at the tower. Finishing up our day we went to a soba restaurant and chewed down on the most delectable noodles, a traditional Japanese. We finished our day by taking the bus for a final stretch back to Kiba and parted ways with giant embraces. I am truly greatful for the amazing day he showed me in this beautiful city, covered in parks and driven forward at a break neck pace by technology. 

Entrance to Kameido Shrine

One of the two bridges in the shrine

Shrine if many arches

Hamaza on the left Ken on the right

Last cherry blossom in Ueno park

Kameido temple, kind of looks like a turtle ^_^

Photo booth

Ueno square

Tokyo tower

Day 5 五 A Lesson in Generosity

Today i woke up around 2 pm even though I went to asleep at 11 the night before, I figured my body must still be in relaxation mode from the bath house yesterday. It was another rainy day here in Tokyo, this day was raining especially harder than the last, I got up and walked across the street, sat down at the café and enjoyed a nice Japanese pastry. Once again I had know prior arrangements for the day, but while enjoying my café au lait I decided I would go see akihabara. Akihabara is known as geek central. I took out my umbrella and made my way there on the heibia line. Upon arrival I was a little uneasy, I didn't know where to begin so once again I wandered the streets. The first place I ended up in was a gigantic electronics store packed with the most up to date technology from brands such as sony, Mac, windows, and more. Then from there I dropped into an arcade, it was 6 levels tall, each level filled with a different type of gaming. First and second level consisted of prize games, one that involved a claw. I walked around these floors for 30 minutes and not a single person won a prize, I saw someone try over 15 times and still not get a prize, the hooks here were very different than in America and definitely did not grab even half as hard as ours do (which is still very little by the way). I was happy to be an observer in this situation rather than prey for the machines. I walked up to the third floor, it consisted of shooting games. The fifth floor held more button pressing oriented games, ones I simply can not properly describe to you because I did not try the games and I had never seen anything like it. All I can say is they were stand up machines with control pads made up of 5 rows of 5 squares each and the were pressed rapidly to light up the screen in a plethora of bright colors. The sixth floor was just your average gambling machines with a dash of Japanese media intertwined in them. After that I walked into a store selling anime, for those of you who don't know it's a stylistic Japanese cartoon. I perused the first floor for 15 minutes, the images were a range of cute and bold all cover art was intricately designed in its own original way it was like walking through an art gallery. I hiked up the ad covered staircase to the second floor where people were playing intense card games at table similar to Pokemon and yugioh. Giant showcases of cards stood on the right side of the room, displaying hundreds of cards with an assortment of anime characters and monsters. The third floor was empty the walls were just covered in posters, but I when I got to the third floor I was shocked and a bit embarrassed to see porn everywhere. I quickly turned around and went back down stairs. I began to walk the streets in search of a restaurant. The delicious smell of Japanese food flooded the streets of akihabara, the choices were endless. I almost walked into a maid café, a place where the waitresses dressed up in somewhat comical French maid outfits and served the customers with cute smiles and tried to be as animated as possible. I felt bad for all the maids standing on the freezing cold streets in such small outfits just to try and draw in clients, but I decided I wanted a real sturdy meal so I kept walking. As I crossed the street a women next to me asked are you English, I replied American. She explained to me that this was her first day in japan and she didn't know anyone here, she came alone, similar story to mine. I offered to show her around but first I needed dinner so we began walking together. Turned out she was 26 and from England, we got along really well and it turned out that she too read Haruki Murakami, my favorite author from japan. As we passed by a yakitori, grilled chicken on skewers, we were called in by a group of old Japanese men that were drinking. The place had a very friendly atmosphere so I decided I would try it out. Another customer who spoke a tiny bit of English helped us order, we started of with chicken and leak skewers, a beer for me and a wine for Mary (my British friend). As we were eating an Australian man with a broad build walked in and was happy to see fellow foreigners there, so he began ordering for us, he explained that this was his favorite restaurant in all of tokyo. The skewers kept piling up on the table as two old Japanese men from the table next door migrated over to the table we were standing at. They began to order us sake and we all yelled Kumpai as we swallowed down our drinks. The food here was delicious, like none that I've ever had before, it all had its own unique Japanese flavoring to it, there was chicken wing on a skewer and then minced chicken on a skewer and then even little Japanese sausages on a skewer that had crispy skin with an inside that melted in your mouth. The Japanese men kept trying to teach us Japanese and I was doing my best to follow along while enjoying this amazing meal and moment. The Australian man told us stories of his country and the giant animals that inhabit it. Two Japanese men and three foreigners that had never met before enjoying spectacular food and drink, the entire scene felt as if it were taken right out of an anime. The mood never slowed down, it felt as if the world were moving at a break neck pace with us standing at the center in a still moment watching the rapid action of the Japanese streets fly by outside. The Australian man offered to take us out for another drink at a near by pub, we obliged. As I asked for my bill the waiter told me it had already been paid by Wata-chan, the small 60 year old Japanese man who spoke only a little English, he even had two kids of his own around my age, he was the first to start eating with us, my jaw dropped. I had never been treated with such kindness from a random stranger, it was so unexpected, I am eternally grateful for the generosity of Wata-chan. The group made its way over to the pub in the freezing cold, Wata-chan, Ben (the Australian), Mary, and I. I enjoyed a pint of beer and Mary ordered another wine, we filled the place with laughter and conversation once again. The food here was a Japanese take on British food, Ben ordered us thick cut bacon and pizza. The pizza consisted of thick, light fluffy crust with cheese and basil, it was also my first time trying thick cut bacon, the flavor blew my mind. I checked the time, it was 12:20, I left in a hurry to reach my train, but I was unsuccessful. I came back to the pub with my held hanging low, but I was met by the warm comfort of my new friends who cheered me up and promised to get me home safe. We enjoyed ourselves until the pub closed. After the pub shut it's doors Wata-chan, once again, treated us to a 24 hour Japanese seafood shop. In the front we picked out the shellfish that we wanted to eat and the water brought the plump shells to our table and laid them out on the miniature grill in front of us. Wata-chan ordered a full plate of a diverse spread of different sashimi on a beautiful plate, and Ben ordered us some more beer. Wata-chan and I delicately ate the sashimi together as our shells cooked, Ben and Mary didn't really take a liking to seafood so it was just the two of us eating while the others drank to their hearts content. I found out that Wata-chan lived a simple life as an engineer for mistsubishi, this only made me more impressed with his generosity. We finished our meal with full bellies, I embraced Wata-chan as we said good bye, I had never met such an amazing man in all my life. Ben took Mary and I home in a taxi. When I got to my place it was 2:30 am and then bottom floor door was locked but the cafés lights were on up stairs. I climbed up the side of the building to the balcony of The Basketball Café, I was met by Restin's smiling but surprised face. I made pleasant conversation with Restin and then passed out in my bed. 

If you ever meet a small old Japanese man in Tokyo please show him my gratitude. I learned so much about generosity from this man, and I will use it to guide my life. The people in this city are the most helpful and caring people you will ever meet in your life and we should all take after there example. 

I'm sorry for not posting a day late but as you can see, I've been caught up in the fast pace life style of Tokyo, the city of that never sleeps.

A small glimpse of akihabara

Anime shop staircase

I thought this wall of cards was Kawaii!!! (Cute in Japanese)

The men that joined our table and brought us endless laughs. Wata-chan is on the far left. Mori-chan is on the far right, he treated us to a plentiful amount of sake and acted as out translator

The amazing Australian man who treated us to a great time at the yakitori shop and got me home safely.

grilling our dinner

Me Wata-chan and Mary

Day Four 四 Plunging into Japanese Culture

On my fourth day I made a journey of epic proportions. Restin, my host, had an amazing cup of coffee ready for me when I woke up. I enjoyed my cup of coffee again while sitting out on the balcony gazing at drizzle that was coming down on the streets. After that, I had a nice breakfast at the bakery and cafe across the street. They have a large assortment of baked goods for the lowest prices and I got a delicious chicken sandwich unlike any I've ever had before from the café next to the bakery. After that I went back home to make plans for the day. I used tokyocheapo.com to give me some help on finding a good Sentō (Japanese bath house). I ended up deciding on nu land, a large bath house with an onsen, Japanese hot spring. At the time I didn't realize how far away the place was from where I was stayin, it was on the farthest opposite side of Tokyo. I bought a ¥600 open train pass and went on my. I got off at the Nihonbashi station and transferred to the asakusa line, but I ended up getting stopped going through gates. I was very confused, but I found out the asakusa line wasn't part of tokyo metro, it was under toei transportation, and my pass that I had just spent ¥600 on was invalid here. So I had them upgrade the pass for ¥400, this allowed me to take as many trains I wanted on either line. I ended up getting on the wrong platform though, my mistake cost me 45 minutes, not that I was in a rush or anything, but my mistakes this day just kept adding up. I finally got on the right train, it flew over the town of Ota-ku the sight was absolutely beautiful, I saw plenty of cherry blossoms and houses, the coolest part were the number of graveyards in this city. Around 10 tiny graveyards rested at the side of this train line, each with its own beautifully unique design. When I got off the train I once again my pass wasn't valid here, even after the ¥400 upgrade, another blunder. I had to pay ¥200 more to pass through the gates. I wandered the streets to Nu Land, the sento, for about 2 km in the rain. The city was on the far outskirts of tokyo, once again there were no tourists, businessman and college students were walking at break neck speeds al through out the tight streets of Ota-ku. There weren't many big stores, just small restraunts, the streets smelled of freshly cooked ramen and steaming hot pork. I arrived at the bath house, I had studied up on the rules and removed my shoes put them in the locker and bought my ticket for ¥600, turns out I could have saved ¥140 if I brought my own towel which tokyocheapo failed to mention. In the locker room I dropped every last article of clothing on me and entered the giant room of baths bare naked in front of 20 other random naked Japanese men. This took boldness and bravery, but I was focused on following on all the rules of the sentō. Before you can enter the baths you must completely wash yourself, I pulled up a stool in the line of sitting showers and filled up a basket with hot water an poured it over my head, this was the first time hot water touched my body for days, the sensation was exhilarating. I completely scrubbed myself down and shampooed my hair. I cleansed my entire body and then proceeded to entering the first bath. The water was bubbling and sizzling hot but no jacuzzi could ever relax you as this giant bath did. After that bath, I headed over to the black bath, the water was pitch black, you couldn't see the bottom, and there was a fountain on the side with dark colored water pouring out of it into this steaming hot bath. My next bath was the onsen, the outdoor hot spring bath. This was by far my favorite, I laid my body down in the boiling water and enjoyed the beautiful setting surrounded by bonsai trees and bamboo walls. While out there I had a pleasant conversation with a middle aged Japanese man, he told me it's rare to see foreigners in these baths. After I finished exploring all 8 baths I squatted myself down again at the group of showers with mirrors and scrubbed myself for thirty minutes. I left the baths cleaner than I had ever been before, my soul cleansed as well. On the train home I had to pay another ¥200 making my total journey ¥1400, the cost easily could have been cut down but I learned from mistakes and overall had an amazing day, an experience I will never forget. I once again fell asleep on the train, but luckily this time it wasn't the last line, I made it home at 11:30. I would be lying if I said I didn't have the longest... Hair there ;). Thank you to all my followers for showing support. I'm out for now.

Outside onsen

Inside

Tokyo Midnight: a cautionary tale

Last night I went to roppongi, a part of tokyo known for its night clubs. I roamed all over and kept getting hassled by people asking me to come up to their club. Well, the first time it happened I didn't really realize what was going on. A large man who spoke English came up to me and told me I could enter his club for ¥3000 I told him no way would I pay that much, then he said ¥2000, and then ¥1000. When he realized I wouldn't budge he invited me up to view his club for free, I curiously obliged. I began to get nervous once we were in the elevator going up to the club, but I knew worst case scenario I could defend myself, plus japan has a lot of security cameras and policemen everywhere, however they're notorious for not showing a lot of compassion towards foreigners. The doors of the elevator opened to a small desk at the entrance with a host. I walked past the curtains to look at the dark little lounge inside, empty of people except for two couples, I immediately walked out. When I asked for the elevator they kept offering more deals, I kept denying, my heart started beating faster and harder, It was all I could hear. I still don't know if it was fear or embarrassment, regardless, I didn't like the attention. Finally, they offered me a free beer and I considered it and took then up on the offer just to get them off my back. The manager of the club had a female host sit down with me at my table, I kept quiet and did not indulge in conversation, only thing I said was I have girlfriend, the rest were all one word answers, more like grunts than actual words. As I drank my free beer, partly out of fear but mostly because I knew how they use people to get you to buy more drinks, I don't like that kind of bs. I finished my beer in a hurry and rushed out the door saying I was on my way to meet my friend. I got out safely and free of charge, another blessing that I am grateful for. I wandered around some more and people kept coming up to me trying to get me in their clubs, but this time I was ready. I would just use their time and play games with them, I already knew I wasn't going to oblige to any of their terms, I just wanted to see how low I could get them to go. I kept looking for a place with a nice vibe, but no matter where I looked all the clubs were empty because it was a Monday night. I ended up at green land club, I heard it was popular and it offered unlimited drinks for an hour and a half for only ¥1000. I went down into the club, there was only a few people, I started off with a Long Island iced tea and sat down at a table with some guys from France , they were very nice and very interesting it was actually enjoyable, but my goal in that club was to get my money's worth of drinks. After my tea I had the waiter bring me a margarita, it was a semi-decent drink that they usually charge ¥600 for. Proceeding my margarita I got a nice Guinness, possibly my most enjoyable drink that night. I kept a cool head the entire time and was enjoying myself and all the drinks this club has to offer, some drinks I wouldn't even finish because honestly these were very cheaply made drinks. By 11:30 I had drank about ¥5000 worth of drinks, yes that's $50 worth of mediocre alcohol, but I only paid $10. I don't think this club realized I had been raised to get the most out of "unlimited" as I can, honestly a part of me was surprised they didn't cut me off after my fifth drink. I still remained level headed but I was a little groggy and tired, but not nearly drunk. I made my way to the subway as quickly as possible, I ended up getting mixed up with the lines and I missed the last train on the heido line, but luckily the oedo line could bring me to where I wanted to go as well. I got on the last train just in time and took a seat, I suddenly woke up and was at the end of the line, I missed my stop. I used my last bit of battery to get an idea of which direction to go, but it didn't last long, all I knew was that my place was 3.2 km away. After the first 30 minutes of walking rain began to pour from the sky and the winds began to blow the chill straight into my bones, I was only wearing a shirt, a flannel, and ripped blue jeans. I wandered the freezing wet streets for over 2 and a half hours in the dark constantly getting my directions mixed up, which was a first for me and honestly I am embarrassed to even admit it, I usually never get lost. The only thing I had to keep me warm and moving was piping hot vending machine coffee, the best part of tokyo is the hot vending machines （≧∇≦）. I finally arrived into my somewhat warm bed at 3 a.m soaked and drained of all energy. Once a again I hope you guys use this story as a warning, it was a pleasant blunder on my part but it involved risks I would not want to take again.

A bloody marry and a Mai Tai from the night, both weren't that great.

My delicious $6 dinner I enjoeyd before I went to Roppongi. This meal was the highlight of my night. You cooked it while you ate it.

Day Three 三 A Day of Relaxation

Today is my third full day, Monday April 6. I'm writing this entry at 5 pm because I've already had such a wholesome day. I got out of bed at about 11:30, Restin, my host, had a delicious cup of coffee ready for me. I enjoyed it while sitting on the deck above the street looking over the life below. It was a beautiful sunny day here in Tokyo and people rushing back and forth between the station and who knows where. It was there I decided I would take today slow and cut back on the spending of the yen, not that I've spent much at all, but I figured its good to save as much money as possible. After my coffee I went to the amazing bakery across the street and got a beautiful designed chocolate pastry for only ¥200. Once I finished my meal I skated over to the nearby Kiba park. Words nor pictures can encompass the entire beauty of Kiba park. I was absolutely stunned at how majestic it was. The land was covered in Sakura, cherry blossom trees, greenery, and families enjoying time together. Everything at the park was spotless, and a smile was resting on all of the faces. Sakura pedals blew in the wind, descending to the ground like snow, and creating a beautiful pink cover over the ground, the sight was absolutely spectacular. I fell asleep underneath the Sakura trees listening to the group of old people enjoying this charming Monday by singing in the park in a little circle. I woke up and decided to go the market to grab an iced green tea. In the market I noticed the astonishing price differences between meat and fruit. Watermelon was ¥1080 where as four chicken cutlets was only ¥400 and a full plate of sushi was as little as little as ¥350. With green tea in hand i paced myself on my skateboard back to the park. I crossed over the canal the on the beautiful bridge in the center of the park, and took another rest on a bench. I was confronted by an old man that began to make conversation with me entirely Japanese, he spoke no English at all, I just listened and nodded my head to what he was saying. He talked about America, and the Sakura trees, as well as calling me handsome. I told him we was great, in Japanese of course, he laughed and blushed and a little while later we parted ways. While we were conversing we kept getting the funnies stares, I don't think this was a common occurrence. I headed back to the café, my home, and that is where I am writing this from now. I've decided that the greatest part about Kiba park is the lack of tourists, like I said in one of my other posts Kiba is not in the center of Tokyo and hence is less well known and has a different social environment all together. The park wasn't crowded up by tourists it was made to be enjoyed by the people living there, not to mention that I had never even heard of Kiba park from any of my guide books. I'm going to take a nap now and after I'm going to have dinner and then go to a pub in roppongi, I've only spent ¥300 so far today and was very satisfied. Kiba is awesome!

The center of the south side of the park where I fell asleep.

Pictures really don't do it justice, but here is the pedal covered floor of the park

Super fresh strawberries in the market

One of my favorite canals in Kiba

My attempt at capturing the beautiful bridge in the center of Kiba park, as you can see it started to rain later on in the day 

Day Two 二 Easter at the Rabbit Café

I woke up this morning in hopes of going back to the skatepark. It took me about an hour to get ready and when I walked out the door it was raining a fair amount, I went back inside immediately to change for the rain. I realized I probably couldn't go to the skatepark so I left the house with only my back pack a hoodie and a wind breaker, double duty for the chill weather. I decided I wanted to go to a rabbit café in harujuku, so this time I left Kiba on a with a sure fire plan. When I got to harujuku finding the rabbit café turned out to be a mission well above even my level, I rarely get lost and I'm usually able to find what I'm looking for pretty quickly, but it took me an hour of wandering around harujuku and shibuya to stumble upon R.A.A.G.F (the rabbit café). It was in some random alley next to no other shops, and in between a clutch of houses. I walked up the tight staircase to the cafe. Upon entrance I was amazed, it was all so cute. Nicely made cages with cute little rabbits cover one of the walls, about twenty in total, and there were three little tables in the center and people on there knees sipping coffee while a big rabbit scampered about from table to table. Entry was ¥600 which included a drink of your choice, I went with the cafe au lait which was delicious, and ¥150 for a bowl of mixed greens and carrots to feed the bunnies.  It was an awesome way to celebrate my Easter Sunday in Japan. After the rabbit café I wandered around harujuku in the rain, the setting was beautiful, millions of multicolored umbrellas all flowing through the dark background of the clouds, even the building adopted the cozy grey tones of the sky. After meandering through harujuku I ended up at yoyogi park. I walked underneath the giant Shinto style arch into the abundantly green park, with trees towering over head and small creeks trickling below the bridges. The center of the park was a gigantic Shinto shrine. The dark green roofs of the shrine were not only captivating but conformed with the lovely color of the surrounding trees. After yoyogi park I too the train back to Kiba, my hometown. While resting at the Starbucks in Kiba I received a message from Kengo, he was to be the master of ceremonies at a free jazz concert in tokyo midtown, roppongi. I hopped back on the subway and ended up in roppongi in no time at all. Tokyo midtown was a gigantic building complex, much like a mall, filled with stores, restraunts, and even a museum. The outside garden was lined with cherry blossoms, the entire place was beautiful. In the center they were setting up for the Jazz band. I was absolutely astonished when they played, a guitarist and a bassist walked on stage followed by a small middle aged Japanese women. She had a very quite voice when she spoke and seemed a little timid, then all of a sudden she belted out "Dream a little Dream of Me" like Ella Fitzgerald herself. During the performance I want to grab some goyozas (pot stickers) from the market, only ¥365 for 10 and a giant water bottle for ¥90. After the band finished up their set I talked to Ken, he introduced me to some more of his friends, and then took us through a photo exhibition being held in the building. After that Ken was back onstage to introduce the next band so we said are good byes and parted ways once again. Once I got back I wandered the streets of Kiba for another hour until I was dead tired. I dropped like a rock into my bed and passed out. It was another great day.

The cherry blossoms at Tokyo midtown.

The entrance to the shrine at Yoyogi park

Entance to the Rabbit cafe

My friend at the rabbit cafe ^_^

Day One 一 Making Friends

After skating all around kiba, where I'm staying, the first night I was very discouraged I began to worry this trip might have been to rash, I felt lonely and I felt as if I was the only tourist in the whole city. As it turns out, I am, at least in Kiba that is. Kiba, still part of Tokyo, lies on the outer edge, it is absolutely beautiful and crawling with beautiful canals, vintage children's parks, and locals. It is where most the working class live in tokyo, and very few tourists ever venture out here. So, I awoke the first day with very little hopes for my future here, so far it wasn't what I expected. I went down to the nearby subway station, luckily it was perfectly placed right by where I was staying, and bought an open pass for the subway ¥600 and took the light blue tozai line to harajuku station with skateboard in hand. I honestly didn't have a clue what my plans were, but I heard about harujuku station from one of my books that I read. When I arrived in harajuku I was completely astonished, the streets were covered with people moving at high speeds on their feet, bustling about between shops. Huge lines waiting in front of each shop, specifically the octopus ball stand, nike, and a handful of cafés. I got help from some locals and was pointed in the direction of the nearest skatepark. I flew down the streets passed the hoards of people, I got a little mixed up as far as directions go, but I ended up at the skate park pretty quickly. When I got there it was locked, the signs on it all in Japanese, I had no idea what to do. I asked two kids walking by, they appeared around my age, if they could translate the signs. They translated the signs and called the management and found out the park opens at 1 and it was ¥200 for entry. After that was settled, they asked to take pictures with me, I obliged, I could tell they were trustworthy people. The boy, ken, was an amazing photographer, and his friend was helping him. Turns out they were just waking around the city shooting photos. I asked if I could come along and hang with them until the park opened, they were happy to take me along. We walked back through harujuku, passing through the beautiful corridors of buildings, and the well manicured gardens filled with green and pink and blue, all perfectly layed put. We stopped to take pictures here and there. We ended up near yoyougi park famous for its shrine for the emperor. The park was covered in towering green trees, we followed underneath this lush canopy on a wide path covered with other people touring the are. We crossed underneath beautiful shinto arches and took pictures on unique Japanese bridges throughout the park. Unortunately we did not make it all the way to the shrine before Ken had to depart for cooking lessons, but I figured I was here long enough and could go back later. I hauled it back over to the skatepark but sadly it was still closed, I had 45 more minutes to wait. I decided to drift towards the center of shibuya, once again with no goal in mind. Shibuya was covered in cafés and eateries and shops, my favorite part was the giant square where hundreds of people crossed the street at once from all directions. As soon as the sign turned green people flooded the streets like the first downpour after a great drought, it was very easy to get lost among the crowd. I crossed the swarm of humans and ended up at the Starbucks to catch some wifi, in there I saw the other friend I made with ken, noman. We shared words and he told me he wasn't busy and asked to come along with me to the skatepark. Together, we once again went towards the skate park, this time crossing underneath the bullet trains and through a beautiful grove of cherry blossoms, the pedals falling to the grown and blowing in the wind really brightened my day, it was almost like a dream. The ground was covered in the pink pedals. I made it into the skatepark and rolled around for a bit. The setting was absolutely brilliant, a park risen up above the streets on its own little island surrounded by Sakura trees and holding its own greenery inside. After about an hour I went outside and talked to Noman who had been waiting there, he said he was hungry so he planned on going to McDonald's, I told him I would meet him there after I was done at the skate park, after another half hour of skating I rolled towards Mickey D's in the center of shibuya. It was totally packed and I climbed all three stories looking for him to no avail, I probably took to long at the skatepark. I gave up and decided to try what mcdonalds was like in japan, it seemed so popular. I ordered a Big Mac, I had never enjoyed mcdonalds before until that. Sitting up on the third story and chowing down on a burger with a side of those amazing mcdonalds fries while looking out over the hundreds of people scurrying before was a very pleasant experience. After that I headed back home and took a nap. After I woke up I got a message from Kobayashi (ken) he actually lived right by where I was saying, we met up and went sight seeing with his friend from Hokkaido. I got to see the beautiful tokyo bridge, and the building site for the Olympics in 2020 the views were spectacular. After that we went to tokyo tower, it was absolutely magical, a burning red tower modeled after the Eiffel Tower in France and surrounded by cherry blossoms. I captured some great photos, and then we went off to get dinner. Ken took us to a great place that wasn't expensive at all, my chicken katsu was only ¥400 and it was absolutely delicious. After that I went home and passed out. It was an amazing day.

Arrival

Arriving in Japan was an exhilarating, as well as confusing, experience. Since my flight had been switched I had no prior plan as to what to do when I land to get to the place where I was to be staying, basket ball café in Kiba, Tokyo. To make matters more perplexing everybody I asked for help spoke very little English and had no idea where Kiba was. I luckily ended up meeting a polish girl who spoke a fair amount of English and was a resident of Tokyo, she was able to use google to find a route to where I was staying. I took the bus from the airport to Tokyo City Air Terminal, on the way I passed through Narita, an absolutely gorgeous city covered in green and pink Sakura tree, the trees were in full bloom, I had never seen so many in my life. The bus was 2000¥, approximately $20, I figured I needed to conserve what little money I had left so I ended up not taking a taxi from TCAT to the Basketball Café, this was a 5 km walk and a daring idea. Once again I was unable to get directions on my phone and was completely lost on foot. I ran into a young woman in business attire who spoke very good English and went out of her way to help me get on the right path towards my destination. I began my final trek towards the café with a 30 pound bag in one hand and a 15 pound  bag on my back, each stuffed to the maximum capacity. After a while of bumbling a long with very little clue of the street names and the way in which I was going, I grew weary and took out my skateboard from my bag, this was Herculean task of its own. While sitting on the streets of Tokyo I ripped out all of my clothes from my bag and wrestled to heave out my skateboard from the ever so tight grasp of my bag. I began to try to skate my way through Koto, Tokyo. The streets were extremely difficult to skate on, only made more difficult by the gargantuan bag in my left hand. I got lost multiple times, however I enjoyed making my way through the greets of tokyo. I road over beautiful green bridges, crossing the majestic fingers of tokyo bay, and under the falling rose colored pedals of the Sakura trees. I finally made it to kiba station and from there asked once again how to get  to the cafe, I was immediately helped by a middle aged man, who spoke only in Japanese. I crossed the bridge over the street to my final destination and arrived to the warm welcoming walls of the Basketball café. I hiked up the tight staircase and entered the café to a pleasant introduction, the place was cozy and had a very good vibe, I am so pleased to be staying here.

Connecting Flight

My connecting flight to San Fransisco was a total success. The plane landed in San Fransisco around 10:30. During the landing I made friends with a couple on the same flight to Japan as myself. They took me under their wing and we met up with tw more of their friends on our way over to our terminal. As we arrived at the terminal I heard on the loud speaker "Hardenber Hunter, come to the front desk immediately" my heart skipped a beat. I was so nervous something went wrong with my luggage or my passport or I don't even know... I was a little bit emberassed to say the least. It all turned out to be in my favor, the flight attendants asked me kindly if I would be willing to volunteer to switch my flight to a direct flight to Tokyo leaving in 20 minutes. I was somewhat scared to make te decision since I've never done something like this before but I chose to go for it. I quickly said good by to my new friends and rushed to terminal 99. Checking in took a while but it was well worth it, they ended up moving me to economy plus. The ladies of United Airlines were so nice and accommodating, and found me a window seat in this much more comfortable flying arrangement. As I was walking on the plane I didn't not know what this new seat would look like, so I was somewhat worried of being disappointed, turned out all my nerves were for nothing. As I boarded the flight attendants guided me to the top deck, much to my surprise, and the seats were everything I could have dreamt for, large, spacious, completely reclining, and only two to a row, but as I walked to my seat I was shocked to find someone already in it. My heart sank, I felt as if something got mixed up, but it turned out they bumped him up to the class above mine, which I don't even know how you could get better than this. I got in my chair, turned on the massage mode and the attendant brought me a Japanese coca cola. I was ready for lift off, and for my adventure to begin.

The Road to the Airport

As I write this post I am currently sitting in somewhat thick traffic on the 405 towards LAX at 6 am. As I was just sitting in the car the original idea was that my plane was departing at 9:02 but I looked down at my itenerary and realized my flight is supposed to depart at 8:20!!! I stayed up till 2 in the morning packing, the entire process was absolutely wild. I had to enginire a way to pack all the essentials for ten days, including my skate board, into two tiny carry on bags. Lucky for me my loving mother helped in the process and used her motherly ways to fit 10 days worth of clothes as well as a skateboard into a 3 foot long sailing bag. The thing on my mind now is how am I going to get everything back in there for my return flight. To add onto stressful matters, I put it on my myself to take my favorite blazer for the voyage there with out regard to other peoples' advice not to take it. It just so happened that the blazer had taken some damage over the years and lost all of it's 2 buttons, but I was determined to wear this jacket. I used my sewing skills, courtesy of Ms. Speth (the most patient and helpful sewing teacher ever). I cut the buttons from the sleeves and then sewed them to their according positions on my blazer. So after all of that excitement I finally fell asleep at 2:30 a.m, as restless as I was my eyes refused to stay open any longer. I then had rough awakening at 5:15, my parents voices blaring in my ear to get showered, however I mus stop to apreciate them for doing this because they moved me allowing faster then any cowboy could ever herd cattle. We were out the door by 5:45 and now, as I finish this post, we are arriving at LAX at 6:30 pm. Much appreciation to my two radical parents!

First Feeling

          Well this will be my first attempt at a blog post so bear with me here, but basically today is the day I leave for Japan. When I was in the fifth grade I came across the book DK Eyewitness Travel: Japan, I was mesmerized by the images and stories of the culture inside, I began to research more in depth into this magnificent country of the rising sun. After reading numerous books about Japan it became my dream to travel there, now, 25 books and a $900 plane ticket I am about to reach my goal. Honestly I have no emotions going through me right now, I don't feel excited or anxious, the whole situation is all too surreal, it's as if tomorrow I'm just going to wake up and go right back to school as I always do.