Traveling In Japan On A Hundred Dollars: 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.