Monday & Tuesday Feb 10 & 11, 2003 ...
Finally and unfortunately my last full day in Japan.
I awoke and I went downstairs to the Spa and I used the Onsen, Jacuzzi, and Pool before
getting ready to leave the hotel to walk down to Mejiro Station to meet Bob and his
girlfriend Akiko, who was visiting him from southern Japan at 10:30 AM. Inside the train
station was a man selling mechanical toys made out of wood. I bought a centipede thats
legs move in motion as it goes forward. After I bought it and when I showed Bob and
Akiko this stall, he unveiled tome other contraptions that were even more mechanically
interesting -- In hindsight it would have been nice to get these also. Then we took the
Train together to Asakusa - the older section of Tokyo. I gave Bob his 3 mountain Dews
and 2 Dr. Peppers that I acquired for him in my travels but then I felt guilty that I was
burdening him with extra weight. We found a locker and we did the smart thing of
placing all of our unneeded things in there and locking it down.
We saw some kind o f soap opera being filmed there in front of the entrance. And then we
entered a street lined with tourist shops, this sure worked for me! Yes maybe some of the
souvenirs were over priced but after all was a tourist and It was my last day in Japan. I
picked up a couple of items that I had my eyes on from earlier in the trip but was unsure
how my money or space in my luggage would hold out. I was doing quite well my
budget actually. I figured I would dump out my socks and underwear if that is what it
took to bring home an unusual souvenir. Fortunately things did not turn out to be that
drastic ha ha ha. We visited 40 stalls or so and we were getting weary so it was time
for a jump start. We found a vending machine which gave us both hot coffees and cold
sodas out of the same machine.
We continued our browsing and we came upon a stall selling Yukatas (light bathrobes for
men). Bob took the plunge first and fitted and bought one. Then the shopkeeper used his
upselling techniques and said how about you? I thought about it and since I had not
gotten any clothing souvenirs, I said why not. It was about $30 and I rationalized that I
couldn’t even buy a light bathrobe like this at Macy’s or JC Penney for this price. If
anything it would be great for a Halloween costume in the future. And who hasn’t
fantasized about being the Ginsu samurai warrior like John Belushi from the famous
Saturday Night Live Skit ha ha ha. Though Bob is a 6 footer also I needed to upgrade
and pay a little extra to a 3 LLL to fit me. We must have been a sight and Akiko was
probably amused seeing 2 Grande Gringos getting fitted for Yukatas in the middle of the
street ha ha ha.
We investigated a few more shops and then we came to the Giant Temple at the other
end of the street. It was definitely time to rest and reflect. on the inside gate to the temple
complex were a couple of the worlds largest shoes. They were 2 20 foot thatched
sandals. Since I am a size 13 and Bob is around an 11 Akiko took a picture of us
clowning around lifting our shoes in front of 1 of the giant sandals. The caption should
read -- Look we finally found shoes that fit here in Japan ha ha ha. We took in the
atmosphere and ornate decor of the Temple and Akiko answered a couple questions about
Buddhist practices.
We were getting hungry and as we left the temple grounds we came upon some food
stands. Bob sampled some rice balls and I noticed a stand selling sausages (Vienna style).
Then a little further I saw a stand selling what looked like Corn Dogs. Akiko and Bob read
the Japanese sign that said “American Dog”. So I bought one. I bit it from the top and it
was funny tasting I looked inside and thought this is a weird looking hot dog it was
pinkish but closer to white. Fortunately I got mostly breading but it turned out to be a
fish sausage --- WHAT !!!! Whale in a stick possibly but doubtful. Bob came to the rescue
and finished it. Fortunately, though my tongue tickled a little bit it seemed nothing else
happened to me. We all wanted some real food though and eventually we were able to
find a Raemen restaurant and I was able to try a safe Raemen dish with beef.
We wandered around for a while longer but eventually we found the locker and we left the
Asakusa area. I mentioned that we could go back to the Shinjuku area and go in the
Tokyo Metropolitan Government tower observation for free (where I was with Ai
previously). We took the network of subways to criss cross Tokyo and we got to the
Tower at dusk. The three of us took in the sights of the city and we sat down to talk
for a while. I used the restroom before we left and I was puzzled to see that though this
tower was maybe only 20 years old they had both the traditional Japanese squatter pots
right next to the Western toilets.
It was drizzling out when we exited the building so we weaved out way through the city
labyrinth and took the subway a stop or 2 until we came to a style of restaurant that Bob
was familiar with though the restaurant type escapes me. We waited a few minutes but then
they sat us at a booth and brought us a bucket of hot coals that fit into the table with a
screen / grill on top. It was kind of like do it yourself Mongolian BBQ. We ordered
different types of meat and grilled them on top of the coals and dunked them into a
sweet soy sauce. We also ordered a couple of tomato salads and introduced Akiko to
cooking the tomatoes and eating them this way shish kabob style sort of. For dessert we
got a new bucket of coals and they gave us some cooked sweet potatoes and
marshmallows to grill along with a scoop of ice cream.. I liked this eating experience
and I enjoyed that it was very communal and participatory like my experience with
Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu.
Then it was getting late and time to head ‘em out buckaroos. I had a very nice day
seeing Bob again and it was nice to meet Akiko too she is a nice girl. They seem to
make a good couple together and I wish them luck. I left them at Mejiro station and I
walked 20 minutes back to the hotel. Did a final deep reorganization of things and I
crashed. I woke up early so could treat myself one more time to using the Spa Faculties.
I even scarfed some of the free pastries and fruit this time ha ha ha. I checked out and I
succeed in keeping my bill at $0 .00 or yen. I took the Taxi to Mejiro station one last time.
unfortunately the guy selling the wooden mechanical contraptions was gone this day , oh
well... I took the train to Tokyo station and I experienced the mad zoo one more time.
fortunately this was not rush hour or it would have been worse.
I had made reservations with the concierges help at the hotel to take the Narita Express to
the airport. I sat across from a cute maybe 30 year old woman and her mother who was
dodling over the granddaughter that was with them. So not only was the exterior scenery
fairly nice but I didn’t mind it inside the train either. On the other side of the aisle was
loud but happy group of 4 business men drinking from real small mini bar sized bottles
of booze. they were laughing and joking and having a good ole time.
Arrived at Narita checked through customs and security. It was thorough but more relaxed
than in America. Apparently my pastry equipment (textured pipes with other tools inside)
didn’t look like a pipe bomb so that was no problem. but I did have to take off my shoes
and run them through the x ray machine again. I bought a few last items at he gift shops
and I exchanged my remaining yen for greenbacks. The flight back was a little more
comfortable and shorter but uneventful. Every one had to disembark from the 747.
foreigners in 1 line citizens in another. We had to go through customs and the agriculture
check point too.
I got out of the air port at 8:10 AM ish and I was happy to see that the driver for the
Santa Barbara Air Bus and the 2 other returning passengers waited a few minutes for me.
This way I did not have to hang around until the next bus at 10 30 AM. I slept on the
bus and tipped the driver $5 for waiting. The driver called ahead to have a taxi waiting
for me. The carribean driver came 10 minutes after I arrived at the drop off location. The
difference was that he didn’t even get out of the car to help put my luggage in the trunk
unlike all of the Japanese taxi drivers and I had to give this guy a tip.
I arrived home called my mother to let her know that I arrived in 1 piece and that I had an
excellent trip and yes I was still single. I slept for 5 hours, dropped off my remaining
rolls of film off for development, and I had Chinese food for dinner. I sorted and
organized the presents for my coworkers went through the mountain of mail and pulled
out the important stuff. I was able to sleep in the next morning before going to work so I
would have to say that my jet lag was minimal. Now it is back to the bump and grind of
American living
