Lost In Japan

Today was a very slow start. It’s also freezing. I tried to get moving early but Ricky was a bit sleepy and slow so we didn’t end up leaving Jo’s place until 10:45. We headed down to Jo’s local train station and ate at the recommended French (but still Japanese) bakery Vie De France. The most notable item purchased was my ‘melon roll’ which just ended up being a bread roll completely covered in sugar like a lolly with choc chips all over it. Ricky had a long bun filled with tuna and cheese with bacon on top. We’ll be going back tomorrow, probably not too good on our health but certainly yummy food and decent western coffee which has been hard to come by.

I don’t think the Japanese eat fruit! I have had one apple since I have been here because it’s all I can find!! I’m going NUTS!

Anyway, Jo has created us a step by step daily plan so off we go to Ueno. Ueno has a park, shrine and zoo, all of which we don’t end up going to because our brains seem to be in our feet. We arrive and it’s raining. Somehow we end up in a Yodabashi again and then when we come out we don’t know what to do. Ricky purchases an umbrella which I ask if I can share because I have my eye out for a nice Japanese parasol umbrella.. “no! get your own. Umbrellas are personal things.” I felt crushed. My own boyfriend will not share his umbrella with me. (Can I just add, EVERYONE had their OWN umbrella Tara, when you see the pics of Shibuya square you’ll understand why!) Anyone would think it was his tooth brush. I begrudgedｌｙ stomp back into the shop and pay $5 for my own and soon we are heading back to the train station. In hind sight we should have just dealt with the rain but it felt like the whole day we were wondering aimlessly around.

Next we head to Akuhabara, Ricky’s wonderland. This place is crazy with little stores of every single thing you could possibly name to be electrical. Imagine Tandy but 1000 times over and broken up into little stalls, like a market. Well, they have everything except my laptop battery.

“lap top bat ter rie doko des ka?”
“Hai”
“Acer?”
“iee iee iee iee iee” (shakes head)

Soon we are over it and finding ourselves yet again in a Yodobashi. These places are everywhere but Jo has an awesome pin hole camera she got for $45 and I want one badly too as well as some nice Japanese photo albums I saw in Osaka for $10 and should have bought while we were there. No pin hole camera and we’re off back to the station.

We arrive back at the train station and Ricky has lost Jo’s instructions. How annoying. We decide to head back to Shibuya to eat, go on the internet and look around the place. When I think of Tokyo, I think Shibuya. It’s the busiest place and reminds me of time square. We come up out of Shibuya station and there are brollys everywhere in every colour but mainly pastels. I’m excited like big Kev and want to take photos of the square with hundreds of Umbrella crossing at the same time. We go and eat at a Japanese Pasta restaurant with really good food before looking for an ‘intaa netto cafe’. We finally find a crazy place with booths for watching movies, books everywhere, a coffee shop and god knows what else. Ricky can’t stand it for long as it smells of cigarette smoke and soon we are off to Starbucks to take my beloved photos.

By now Ricky has stepped in about 20 puddles. His cons are soaked and his feet are swimming so we decide to head home. We head back to Shibuya station and go to a platform. I should know by now not to trust Ricky’s train instincts! He changes his mind and runs to another platform and soon we are heading in the wrong direction. It’s OK though, Ricky finds a machine that once you put in your destination tells you the quickest route and what platform. Awesome! We are soon on an express train that will take us 30 minutes to Jo’s station.

We stop at Yokohama to try and find a pin hole at Yodabashi. Not the one I want but I find a really cute $10 cardboard flatpack one that will be fun to try out. We head back to Yokohama station and then onto Hodogaya station where Ricky and I raid the convenience store and Ricky finally gets his beloved cider or three (I’ll correct Tara here and say that one was a cider, which more like apple juice. One was something Jo was going to get us to try, but we didnt know it, and the other one was grapefruit!). I try ice cream and an awesome rice covered icecream and molasses filled sweet. I also try a alcoholic popper and it tastes absolutely vile. Ricky also has found Two Dogs grape fruit brew from Australia and is excited.

This and a tube of pizza pringels is dinner tonight.

It’s not long before Jo arrives home. She has been out to an all you can drink and eat birthday dinner and then out to Karaoke. She walks through the door and both Ricky and I get a “I love you” and a hug… stumble stumble before we are both blessed by her rendition of her Karaoke “They’re trying to make me go to rehab and I said ah no no no”.

Ah I love Jo.
And she has to get up at 8am to go to work.  

Tara’s highlights for the day:
1. Yummy Japanese food from the convenience store.
2. Buying a pinhole camera
3. Umbrella land.
4. Trying on $1000 headphones (they did sounds pretty fab).
5. Jo drunk.

Ricky’s highlights of the day:
1. Seeing the same homeless person at Shibuya station, this time with about 4 umbrellas, looks like someone felt sorry for him.
2. Electronic city, I’m shitty I didn’t take photos or video.
3. Breakfast & lunch, very tasty.
4. Finally getting a cider.
5. Watching the crowd cross the street, this time with umbrella.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11th, 2008 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Japan.