Day 4: Toyko Solo

Tuesday, December 21, 2007

With the parents back in Yokosuka, I took to the Tokyo streets alone. Having decided to hit the parks in dt Tokyo, the zoo and the electronics district, I had my plan of action. The subway ride was a quick ten-minute trip uptown and the parks/zoo area was right next to the subway station.

Before I went into the park, I decided to check out the streets. It was very much like I had expected, high rise buildings covered with colorful ads and animations and nothing I could read. Navigating through the densest part of downtown was not as challenging as I had imagined because well, you take four lefts and you are right back where you started. What logic!



Anyway in the backstreets and side alleys of the city there were a number of bars and shops just like you would expect. Never did I imagine seeing the massive amounts of, what I guess we would call “strip clubs,” even though I am sure they were hardly just stripping inside. Being the devout Christian that I am, I didn’t go inside any of them (cough no money cough) haha kidding. It was shocking to see how many there were on just one block, usually multiple stories high. I should have come to expect it cause of how perverted this part of the world tends to be in general. So I departed the backstreets for the zoo and the various temples that were nearby.

A long, paved walkway wound its way through the park. It had a few temples and shrines along the way. Eventually it led me to the main park and zoo area. There were bell towers that were over half a century old surrounding the areas of worship. Of course the large lantern statues littered the adjacent gardens as well.

Once I passed through the main gate to the zoo, front and center was the panda house. Ever since I saw the Red Panda on an episode of Planet Earth I was determined to see one on my trip out here, but didn’t think I was going to be able to since I wasn’t in the northern mountain region where they typically reside. To my surprise, there were a number of them lounging next to the world famous Giant Panda Ling-Ling. The zoo had a ton of other exotic animals on display including Lions, Tigers and Bears… Oh My!

After what was probably entirely too long a time at the zoo for a 22 year old, I got a little too artistic with the camera and ended up taking like a zillion pictures of the animals, I crossed the street to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Tokyo.

A short time later, I left… I don’t always get art. So I proceeded to some more shrines and temples. Walking through the park I noticed a massive congregation of homeless people. I thought it might be some sort of conference or reunion before I realized that they were unloading a bunch of food from a truck. The people were actually waiting in line to receive their donation.

What a country, back in the states we consider them a bunch of freeloading bums but here in Japan no one goes hungry, or maybe it was a one time deal. I dunno it was a lot of drunk bums chillin... Speaking of hungry…

Before I hopped on the subway to hit the electronic district I stopped in at the Hard Rock Café Tokyo (so cliché I know) for a drink and maybe a bite to eat. The notion of food escaped me after a round of Cuervo. Eventually it turned into a few bruschi’s, as I would strike up a conversation with a 31-year old, divorced electrical engineer from Finland! We covered a number of topics including global politics (which was the bulk of the three hour long convo), his upcoming trip to the US for the first time, his past fourteen experiences in Japan, love, life and just about everything else under the sun. I know, I know… I would. A few hours later we parted ways, each with a newfound perspective. I would also have you know that I quickly made friends with the bartender, Tomo. He was furiously tossing around liquor bottles and juggling shakers a la Tom Cruise in Cocktail. Keeping in line with the cultural norm I couldn’t tip and sadly left empty handed due to the fact that each beer was about $6!

Deciding to see what this country had to offer in terms of technology, I checked out the widely popular area known as the Electronics district or Akihibrah. I didn’t realize it was starting to get dark because as I came up the stairs the neon lights brilliantly illuminated the streets, resembling an arcade. To be honest it freggin looked and felt like one too. There were video game characters on billboards, video game stations on the streets and flashing neon lights everywhere. It was a video gamers wet dream. Looked more like a Playstation 3 vommitted up a city to me, but hey at least I didn’t see anyone dressed up in costume and looking for a convention. And knowing I could still whoop anyone of these geeks asses in Madden was comforting.

I only went into a few stores to check out the technology they had for sale but I didn’t see anything that was too far out of Best Buy’s stock. I did spend a good half hour inside the Mac store drooling and setting my standards for the upcoming laptop purchase I will be making. Tomorrow we’re going to take the bullet train to Kyoto for most of the day so I don’t know how much I will have to write but we will see. For now, I am off to the bar in the hotel to see if I can make some friends.

-Arigatoo & Kombanwa (Thanks & good evening)
GB

Japan- December 19th, 2007

Well, not too much to report on the first full day following a 14 hour plane ride. We took the subway up to Tokyo and grabbed our room in the beautiful New Sanno Hotel. Taking the subway was interesting because of the way Japanese people go about their daily activities. The unique thing about this country is the fact that they are a very polite people and are also extremely trustworthy. My parents told me that if i were to leave my wallet on the seat of the on the train, that I would be able to go back to that very spot hours later and it would still be there. It was very strange seeing very young children traveling on the subway all by themselves, but that is just the nature of the Japanese. The mix of people on the subway ranged from the elderly to business professionals all the down to the youth. The younger demographic on the train was glued to their individual cell phones. It was crazy to see that almost no one was talking to each other when they boarded the train in groups. They stuck to texting on their cell phones, no conversations literally.

Although I was one of the few faces that stood out, for the obvious reasons that I was white and taller than most of the crowd, not once did I catch anyone staring at me. Not even eye contact usually, which was weird cause you would think just the opposite. I saw a few other people that were of European descent and every time we locked eyes and gave the classic "head nod." It's weird being able to identify with a minority in a country but kind of cool nonetheless. Another characteristic that is integrated in the Japanese culture is efficiency. From the leaders of the country all the way down to the maids that clean my dad's apartment, the Japanese pride themselves on being efficient. This is evident even in the architectural landscape of the country. Riding along the tracks for about an hour and a half altogether, I could not help but notice that there was not a clearing as far as the eye could see. Large apartment complexes were stacked next to one another and even conquered the mountainous terrain that normally limit the development of urban areas. Streets wound their way through the various cities we passed through with only a few feet separating the towering buildings and the traffic. Making use of every bit of space the country has to offer is a priority throughout the nation as they have run out of room to expand horizontally and are reduced to expanding towards the heavens.

We traveled to the US embassy (Benger had to renew the passport) where we passed through a security checkpoint, in order to enter. While I was waiting I got to check email and facebook of course, thanks for the love people! After that was taken care of, we strolled around a little bit. There was a sweet store that was called "Japanese Sword" and it had all kinds of Samurai armor, weapons and art on display. Red and black of course were the most popular colors for the armor but they also had some that were accented by gold which were beautiful. I should have taken some pictures but we were on the move so I will see if I can make it back there, or go somewhere that has cooler shit.

Ma B was getting tired because it was almost four... just kidding she hadn't slept well the night before and neither had Benger Sr. so we headed back to the room to chill and unwind. I hit the gym which was amazing. It was all glass windows and was above the pool and looked out to the streets so the view was fantastic. It had a greaet stereo system, which was nice cause I forgot the ipod but of course only played the corniest American music possible.After zoning out there for almost two hours, I desperately needed the break from the ol rents, we indulged in some vino and cheese before dinner and caught up on some Sportscenter. We then headed down to the restaurant next to the lobby called the "Emporium." Flashes of Mac desktops computers and neon lights immediately flooded my brain as I almost rain away in panic before I remembered "Oh yeah, I graduated and never have to be there again!" So I stayed to grab some dinner. Of course my parents would bring me to a place that servers burgers and had an Italian buffet special, come on... I had the duck, which was pretty good and washed it down with a Sapparo (an authentic Japanese beer that tasted like a stale Coors).

Done with dinner we headed back up to the room and it is now eight o'clock. I am typing with both of my tavelmates passed out in their bed. They promised tomorrow to be more eventful as we will travel to a number of different locations. So with the night just beginning, I guess I am reduced to my sofabed, a movie and thoughts of home, not the States, but you guys...

Love from the far east,
GB-son