５月１４日 Day 50: Meet the Beatles

On Friday after my religion quiz, I went to Sweets Paradise in Harajuku for well deserved ke-ki-houdai (all you can eat cake). Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds... for people who like cake. I could only eat about a plate and a half whereas my other friends engorged themselves on 3, 4, and 5 plates of cake, creme brulee, and other various sweets and ice cream.

The thing I loved about this place was the fact that they anticipated having customers who had to eat something savory with their sweets. They served pasta, sandwiches and curry rice to combat that craving. I had 2 savory plates, which was probably the reason why I didn't go hog wild on the cake.

After that adventure in obesity, a few friends and I went to go see The Beatles at the Cavern Club in Roppongi.

Please forgive the shoddy picture, it was taken on my cell phone.

The Cavern Club was something I read about before coming to Japan, and I knew I had to see it to believe it. It's a club devoted to the Beatles, and Beatles cover bands. Friday featured the best of the cover bands... I think they were called the Beatles (or the Beatres). You can't tell from the photo, but the place was PACKED with Japanese Beatles fans who were singing, dancing and drunkily crapping, err-- CLAPPING throughout the set.

The "Beatles'" outfits represented the early 60's Ed Sullivan Show time period, but they played music from all stages of their career. The guy playing John was by FAR the best one of them all. He had the voice down, the least 'L' and 'R' confusion and was even sporting some high quality Beatle Boots! Talk about authentic! Paul hit the notes, but I'm pretty sure there are no Beatles songs by the name of "Ret it Be" or "She Rubs You." George's guitar skills were spot-on but Japanese Ringo sucked probably as much as regular Ringo during "Yellow Submarine."

Entrance fare was one $10 cocktail so I chose one called "Here Comes the Sun," which was basically crappy sangria. It's ok though because I also snatched this cool coaster from the place. That's what they get for making me pay that entrance fee!

We ended up leaving the Cavern Club at around 11:30, which was a close call to catch the last train. Too close in fact. The boys in our group had a dispute over which trains to take home while we girls were forced to tag along. We followed the stupid boys down to the Oedo line, but we ended up getting separated down at the tracks. We got off at a different stop, taking an alternate route that only got us as far as Ikebukuro, 5 stops before Heiwadai, where we live.

It was scary knowing that there were literally NO trains running and that we were stuck. We had 3 options, 1.) Walk 2.) Taxi or 3.) Wait in a 24-hour restaurant until 5am when the trains start running again. In an effort to save money, my two girl friends tried option 1 first. Big mistake.

I'd like to think that Japan is pretty resourceful and convenient in most aspects. However, their city planning has something to be desired. It would have been easy to walk home in theory-- it was only about 15 miles or so...(-___-) Unfortunately, Tokyo isn't built on a grid, it's structured like a maze to get people lost trying to find the Imperial Palace, so there's so such thing as right, left, up down, etc. As I said in a previous post where I got lost, unless you know THE WAY to a place-- YOU WILL NOT FIND IT. It also doesn't help that all the street maps (that are supposed to be helpful) are oriented in different directions and don't always point north, so it's even easier to get lost.

After 20 minutes walking in the completely opposite direction of our dorm, I told the girls we should just give up and pay for a taxi. Walking around the streets, we saw nothing but drunk salary men stumbling around trying to find their way home or to a McDonald's. It wasn't dangerous, but it was gross. I saw one guy peeing against a building, one guy puking against a building, and one guy just collapse on the ground in a drunken stupor... no thanks.

It ended up being about 円1000 each for the ride home, so I felt like it was completely worth it. I'm never missing the last train out again... or following stupid boys down a longer train route.

５月１３日Day 49: Nonchalant

Hi all, sorry for the long wait for updates again, there hasn't been much to report as of late so I'll condense most of the week into this post. It's the week of a regular Tokyo-ite.

On Monday, I accidentally took the wrong line to school. It was ok though, because I still knew how to get there. With a shortcut.

On Tuesday, I renewed my train commuter pass for 3 months. Yeah, no big deal. I live here.

On Wednesday, I wandered around Ebisu with my friends Kana and Jordan. No, we didn't go to the infamous Beer Garden. Kana told me it's more like a beer hall, so we're not really missing out on every man's version of heaven. Instead, we went to the Tokyo Museum of Photography and saw the work of Jeanloup Sieff.

My favorite photo:

Afterwards, we enjoyed some acai smoothies, shopping in Harajuku and then GYOZA for dinner at this famous hole in the wall. The place is so famous, it doesn't even have a name! You have to just know where it is and be there before the line starts building. It's only open for dinner, and the line builds like a Disneyland ride on the weekends so only locals and jetlagged tourists are there for the perfect time to eat: Wednesday at 6:30.

My pictures don't really do it justice, but the gyoza was to die for. I had 2 and a half plates, or 15 pieces of sheer gyoza goodness. They only serve 2 different types of gyoza: boiled or pan fried. Personally, I liked the pan-fried because no one can ever make boiled gyoza better than my grandparents'. You can also get rice, moyashi (bean sprouts), cabbage and cucumbers for side dishes, but who wants that when you can have GYOZA for 280円?!

Anyway, Thursday rolled around and my friend Joelle and I went to Starbucks in Shinjuku to study for our religion test.

Seriously, who wants to study in quiet little Heiwadai when you can study in bustling Shinjuku with a perfect view of Isetan?! I made myself quite comfy and only missed 2 questions on the quiz. YAY FOR ACADEMIA!

５月９日 Day 47: Sendagaya Flee Market

I WENT TO THE SENDAGAYA FLEE MARKET AND IT WAS AWESOME!

A group of us went and raided the place! My friend Mehron bought fur boots, a sacrificial monkey skull, a grandma earring and a wooden prawn.

Lovely rings!

Kick ass shoes.

My friend Kana didn't find anything but she was lovely company to my purchases!

Afterwards, Kana took me to a bomb INDIAN restaurant in Shinjuku. I MISS INDIAN FOOD SO MUCH! (and Mexican food, please don't get me started)

Purchases:

Tiger shirt: 900円
Leather purse: 500円
Lucky strike lighter: 300円
Uniqlo cardigan: 1900円 (Yeah I know I bought it new, we went there afterwards... whatevs!)

Today was relatively productive, I utilized my kitchen for the first time in a while!

Mmm stir-fried cabbage, bean sprouts and pork.

AND GYOZA!

Then I did my homework! HOORAY FOR PRODUCTIVITY!

５月３日〜５日 Day 40-42: GOLDEN WEEK IN KYOTO!

Hey everyone, sorry for the horrendously long wait for an update-- I've been busy enjoying the beautiful weather! FINALLY! (The last 2 weeks have been doom and gloom)

So Golden Week was kicked off with some excessive partying (see last post) and finished off with doing lots and lots of touristy things around Kyoto. I swear, I must have seen about a BILLION temples and shrines!

Golden Week is Japan's only national week of holidays. It starts with Showa no Hi on April 29th, and then has Constitution Day on the 3rd, Midori no Hi (Green Day) on the 4th, followed by Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day) on the 5th. Yes, we had to go to school on the 5th and 6th... what kind of retardedly placed holiday is that?! Anyway, my friends and I decided to spend our one and only holiday outside of Tokyo-- to get a glimpse of the other side of Japan: KANSAI!

We took a 7 hour bus ride from Tokyo to Kyoto for about ¥12,600 round trip, which is less than half the price of a shinkansen ticket. Talk about student travel. IT SUCKED. It was so cramped and I barely slept, but at least it was cheap.

We stayed with Yuko-sensei, my mom's kick ass Japanese tutor. She was the absolute sweetest because she literally showed us everything Kyoto has to offer. Unsurprisingly, we saw everything in 3 days! (That's why I'm glad I'm studying abroad in Tokyo... hehehe.)

One thing we saw in Kyoto that we didn't see in Tokyo was STEVEN SPIELBERG. YEAH. We saw him getting off the train in Kyoto Station with Cate Capshaw, totally nonchalant. CRRRRAAAAAZZZZZZY! We were so completely tripped out that we had seen Steven Spielberg that we didn't even ask for a picture. It was also really clear that no one else recognized him, and he was enjoying that.

Anyway, here are the less exciting (jk) highlights of the trip:

Photo © Jordan

The first thing Yuko-sensei did was take us out to lunch at this place called ODEN. I've never been a huge fan of udon, but this place made me change my mind... fast. It also had the greatest gobo I've ever tasted. (Sorry, Grandma)

Kyoto Tower! It's shaped like a Japanese candle! Did you know that? NEITHER DID I!

Yasaka Shrine. What an awesome view of greater Kyoto!

Walking through Gion to get to Yasaka Shrine-- holy balls it was crowded! I think everyone pilgrimages to go to Kyoto during Golden Week to feel more Japanese.

Hence, why touristy girls pay tons of money put on geisha make up and strut around Gion. (Notice how they're being directed) Lots of tourists take pictures with these posers thinking they're real geisha, but REAL geisha don't waste time on petty tourists, as they have real (refined) work to do.

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion. It was gorgeous! I bought 3 omamori (good luck charms) from here for some very special people who will receive them in the mail in time for their birthdays ;)

The only thing I didn't like about Kinkakuji was the fact that everyone was just there to take pictures of it. The whole experience can be summed up as, *CLICK CLICK CLICK* leave. The guy directing the masses of people around Kinkakuji even said, "Please take your pictures quickly so others can have a chance." Hm, I guess the history of the place isn't as interesting as the fact that you've been to it.

Trying to get coins in the dish for good luck.

I'm sure these buddhas had faces at one point, but the constant misses in that bowl have cost them their identities.

I think this long market street was called Nishiki, but I could be wrong. It was full of every type of Japanese food, spice, ingredient, herb, etc. that you could think of. Somewhere my mom could have easily spent 5 hours in.

Here are my friends, Jordan and Joelle, looking at some nuts. Nuts in Japan are VERY hard to find!

Heian Jingu: The Biggest Torii Gate in Kyoto!

On Wednesday, our last day, we went to Yuko-sensei's parents' house. They told us there was going to be a big parade/festival that came right in front of their house so we made sure to go.

They carried a mikoshi (portable Shinto shrine). There was one carried by all women (for some kind of female kami) and one carried by all men-- which was probably the more important one.

The one the men carried had no support whereas the female one was on a cart. The men carried their mikoshi all the way to Inari Jinja! We ran into them later! I couldn't believe they had carried it for so far-- it was SO hot! They also had to bounce it up and down on their shoulders which looked REALLY painful!

Anyway, Inari Jinja was our last touristy stop. Inari Jinja is the shrine you see on all the postcards, with the endless path of torii going up the mountain. I CLIMBED IT!

Outside the shrine, we saw lots and lots of foxes. Foxes are some kind of guardian for Shinto Shrines. I would tell you why, but my stupid religion class isn't really teaching me anything.

Hand drawn foxes outside the shrine.

Me and the gates. I always thought they were red, but guess what? They're orange!

After we got back from that hot hike through the Senbon Torii (Thousand Torii), we came back to Yuko-sensei's parents' house and had snacks and lunch. They insisted on getting something delivered!! X_X

Photo © Jordan

Photo © Jordan

MOUTHWATERING KAWASHI MOCHI! It's seasonal! It's wrapped in oak leaves! BE JEALOUS!

Photo © Jordan

BENTO FROM HEAVEN. GAHH I don't even know how I can thank Yuko-sensei's parents! They sent us home with cake and green tea too! (X_X)

The saddest part of the trip was saying good bye to Hal, their dog.

Right before we left, Yuko-sensei took us to a local shrine where they had tons of carnival-type games, FOOD, and horse riding demonstrations.

All the games involved scooping something out of water and winning goldfish.

The horseback riding was interesting because all the guys were trying to do tricks down this long track. Not too many successes though...

RILAKKUMA PRIZES

ZOMG TAKOYAKI *droooooooool*

Then we had to leave for our 7 hour bus ride back. NOT WITHOUT SOME OKONOMIYAKI THOUGH!

Photo © Jordan

*DROOOOOOOOOOL*

Kansai people get really pissed at the way Tokyo people eat okonomiyaki. Yuko-sensei said she didn't mind, but I'm glad she told us the proper way to eat it. Tokyo people eat okonomiyaki like a pizza, cutting triangle slices from the middle. Kansai people cut it into vertical strips, starting from one side, moving to the other. I guess eating it the Kansai way is better considering okonomiyaki was invented there. Eating it the Tokyo way would be the equivalent of eating a taco with a fork or something...

Photo © Jordan

We finally left Yuko-sensei's apartment at about 10pm. I had to admit that I sort of enjoyed sleeping on the floor with my 2 friends. It was like a slumber party! A tatami slumber party! ^_^ Don't worry-- I made sure we cleaned up~!

The trip was so much fun, and it was a great escape from Tokyo. Tokyo can make you feel so claustrophobic with all of its buildings, neon signs and lack of greenery. Going to Kyoto was a nice change of pace and perspective, but it also made me realize that I can never be too far from bright lights and a big city... I'll always have a piece of my heart in Tokyo.