Hey all,
When we left off the Caped Crusader and friends had just arrived in Tokyo early on Wednesday morning and were about to start off on the 2nd half of their Japanese vacation. Let's catch up with them!
Wednesday, February 17th:
I'm not sure if bus-lagged is a technical term or not, but for the blog's sake, I'm coining it because the three of us (well maybe not Dave, he can fall asleep on any moving vehicle for any amount of time) could only be best described as such. While grabbing a quick fix at Starbucks, we contemplated our next move. An intern that worked at Alex's high school, Tony, recently moved to Japan and we wanted to meet up with him while we were in Tokyo, but we had had a hard time reaching him and we also wanted to book a hostel for the night so with all this going on we decided that booking the hostel first would be smart and might allow us to get a little settled before roaming through the megalopolis that is Tokyo. So, we headed to Asakusa in search of a hostel. Eventually we found our place and Tony and grabbed some udon for lunch. I'm not sure how many of you reading this have been to Japan before but a very popular way of ordering, especially in noodle shops, is via vending machine. You punch in what you want and then it prints a ticket which you give to the workers behind the counter. Anyways, that's how ordering went, which was cool to experience. Back to our sightseeing...When I met up with Mom, Dad, and Robyn in December I didn't see Asakusa at all so I was glad that we got to explore it this time around. We went to the Sensoji Temple and surrounding area, which was great and explored the large marketplace nearby where you could buy Barack Obama and Michael Jackson masks as well as samurai swords. At night we headed in to Ginza and then Shinjuku, one of the main nightlife areas in Tokyo, but only for a little bit so we could catch the last subway back to Asakusa. When we got back we mingled for a little bit with the other hostelers before calling it a night, for there was much to do on Thursday.
Thursday, February 18th:
We woke up earlier than usual so we could get a head start on our day, with plenty to see and not a lot of time to see everything. To start off our day we headed out to Akihabara Electric Town to check out all the ridiculous electronics that Japan has to offer and there were plenty. Next we went to the Imperial Palace and the East Garden, which were both as beautiful as they were in December. Following the palace tour we made our way to Harajuku for lunch at a gyoza joint, which had excellent gyoza, as well as other sides like cucumber with miso paste and bean sprouts with meat sauce. The aroma in the place was great as well. After lunch, we visited the Meiji Jingu shrine across the famous bridge in Harajuku. Alas, there were no Harajuku girls out because it was a school day. From Harajuku we made our way back towards Asakusa, where we said goodbye to Tony and stopped off in Ueno to visit the Edo Museum, which had some very cool exhibits on life in Edo (before it was Tokyo) and the rapid modernization of Tokyo. We finally got back to our hostel in time to grab our bags, a quick udon dinner, and make our way back towards Tokyo station in order to arrive with enough time to spare before our overnight bus to Osaka. While at Tokyo Station the three of us decided that it was time to make the impulse decision we'd all been waiting to make: it was time to try some sushi. I mean, how could you take a trip to Japan, regardless of your budget, and not have at least a few pieces of sushi. Luckily, we found a sushi bar (one of many in the station) and it was delicious! We made our bus and left Tokyo in a blur headed for Osaka.
Friday, February 19th:
We woke up in Osaka as tired as could be expected and in search of warmth and some rocket fuel. Eventually we found a cafe that was open and sat back and enjoyed some java and Chinese hearts since we had plenty of time to kill before we needed to be at the ferry. For our last meal in Japan we all agreed on some more sushi, which was a very good decision, quite tasty! We arrived at the ferry where we met some Korean teachers who also decided to vacation in Japan. We also met up with Chang and his buddies, also on our return trip. Once we boarded, we were glad to see it was the same crew, including Tony, who we hung out with later in the evening. Alex and I were exhausted from the trip so we both decided a nap would be a good idea and both of us immediately passed out once we got into the room. When I woke up a few hours later, I found out that we still hadn't left Osaka (not sure why the delay), so we were pushed back a few hours. Later in the evening, Tony came by and was as kind and friendly as he was on the way to Japan, offering us ice for our beverages and anything else that we needed. In exchange we shared some of our stock with him and he regaled us with stories of his families and engaged us in a conversation on his homeland of Lebanon, which was both intellectually stimulating and fascinating. We also met another Korean school group from just north of Busan who were in Japan on a 6th grade trip and the students instantly fell in love with the three of us (I mean, obviously they did, who wouldn't?).
Saturday, February 20th:
After a long, much-needed slumber, we awoke to free breakfast and beautiful sunshine, which was great. We also met a group of Japanese high school girls whose parents sent them to Busan on a shopping trip (much like those trips over the border to Buffalo for the outlet malls) and took some pictures with them, as well as Tony, Chang, and the Korean elementary school group. All in all, I'd advocate the ferry ride between Korea and Japan if you have the time to spare; it's a very relaxing way to travel. We arrived back in Busan around noon and we took the KTX train back to Seoul to end the trip.
In other news, this week has been pretty relaxing. I've been desk warming and making final preparations for the new semester, which starts on Tuesday. I was able to watch the USA-Canada game and the unfortuante outcome as well as the Canada-Germany game yesterday. Ii also went to my 1st concert in Korea last Sunday night. A Canadian band, Do Make Say Think, made up of members from Broken Social Scene, and it was great! Also the largest gathering of foreigners I've seen in one place since orientation. More along the concert wires, Jeff Beck is coming to Seoul in a few weeks and Robert Zimmerman will be here at the end of the month. I'm having a hard time deciding who to pick, so feel free to chime in with your opinions. The weather this week has been great as well. Today the high was 62F, which meant outdoor tennis and shorts for me, absolutely incredible! That's all from my end, hope everyone has their hamantaschen and gregors ready to go.
iPod A-Z song update: "Tweezer" by Phish. Also, I've passed over the 10k plateau!
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