Then I had few friends who actually lived there for a few years for higher level education and employment. Their stories about how spectacular the place is did make me itch a little but it was far and I was only a student. Rather than flying across all the way to Japan, I'd rather go home. And I heard it was expensive. So, I put that aside a little too long, 5 years passed and luckily my kindergarten playmate is still there, highly likely not planning to go home (if I were her, I'd stay in Japan forever), I got my first pay, quickly checked the flight price and told her I am coming. She said okay, I said okay!
I am not good with words when it comes to describing things. I don't know how to describe Tokyo without understating it. When I arrived in Haneda, I started to fall in love. I love the airport. I turned to my left as I walked to the immigration and I saw the road was clean, trees along the road but the cloud was lying low. Not a good weather to start with. I went through the immigration after submitting two declaration forms, met my friend Atiqah, got myself a sim card, exchanged my JR pass and we went home.
Along the way I saw how the city developed. Tall buildings next to each others, train line crosses with roads, layers of flyovers, a big river flows in between - clean. Bridges after bridges crossing the same river. And there was one huge bridge, I'm sure it's important, I saw it on one of the postcards around, it crossed over the two sides of the city. It felt to me, like living in the future, the whole metropolitan looked brand new, polished. I was in 2040? Only cars don't float on air like how it is pictured in the movies.
As we got home, we talked about my plans. Showed her my notes and she said "We have lunch and then we go to Ginza, maybe stop for dinner anywhere." The metro was not included in JR pass, I bought a day pass for 710Y. Had donburi for lunch near Ueno. We went to Ginza because Atiqah had a makeup session booked for her.
I wasn't included sadly, but that was okay. I sat on the stool next to her and just watch how the Japanese carried themselves. They were soft spoken to the customers, polite and they showed so much respect to each other. I did not get a thing they say, but I was sure they were complimenting one another and the recipient of the the compliment was being shy and thanking the other for the service.The staffs handed over the customers' packaging and bow out of respect. As the customers walk away, the staff stood by the counter and bow as the customer disappeared. I was sure the customers didn't even notice the last bow but they did it anyway. First evident of how polite and respectful this breed of human being is. I am utterly in love with their attitude. And it is well known that Japanese is the special human breed that actually queue for trains, buses, elevators etc. Name it.
Ginza is like a Regent's Street or Oxford Street to London. It is a long row of expensive designer stores, with high street brands in between. Since it was the weekend, the street was closed from vehicles, so we wandered in the middle of the street absorbing the energy. Even with that much amount of clean air and excitement, I still couldn't beat the jetlag-ness.
A foodie friend of mine suggested that I go to Alice's Fantasy Restaurant. If you're a bit of a daydreamer like me who adore Alice and her wonderland, I recommend that you go. It's on the second floor, so you wouldn't notice it instantly. It's a Japanese thing to fully utilise every floor of a building. A doorman dressed in costume and a girl waiter dressed like Alice greeted us, presented us a menu that popped from a box. She explained that each customer must order a drink AND a meal, plus pay 600Y entree fee. The decor was great, slightly under lit, I guess fit the name of the cafe.
Day 2. Woke up to bright ray of sunshine. Today is shrine day, Atiqah said. First stop, Sensoji Shrine. Just a few minutes bus ride away from her place. We got there by 10, it was packed with tourists. There were food stalls selling chocolate bananas, takoyaki, pancakes, all sort of Japanese hawker food, and there was a long row of souvenir shops. It is one of the oldest shrine in the city but not as big as the other one that we're going to go next, the Meiji Shrine. Close to the Sensoji shrine is the Tokyo's Skytree. May be worth the visit if you want the panoramic view of the city.
Second stop, hop off at Yoyogi Park. I was trying my luck really to find any good things to snap. I was told that Yoyogi Park is where most people would come to practise all sorts of things, like dance, band practise etc. The only thing I saw on that day was people running and fast walking, but the autumn leaves were a beauty. Atiqah said, in the spring, the whole park will turn pink from the cherry blossom. But only for a week tho. I walked through the park, reached the Meiji Shrine.It is amazing, in the middle of a busy city, there is a temple hidden beneath the trees. They must have preserved a large green area to also preserved the sacred feelings that surround the place. Like many other shrines around Japan, you'll be greeted with a big tori (gate). Usually, before the main temple, there will be a hut for hand washing, almost similar to Islamic practice, ablution prior entering a holy place. I was lucky to observe a few rituals being carried out as it was public holiday the next day (Meiji Jingu Enshrinement Anniversary), so the family took the chance to bring their kids to the temple, dressed in their traditional clothes, there were married couples taking wedding photos (nope, not in white dress, they were in the Japanese traditional clothes). That was a sight to see. There were offerings by big companies along the way to the main temple. There were also this wooden plates you could write your wishes on.
The shrine was very close to Harajuku, so just walked there, walked along Takeshita Street. I think, that's where the funky dressing phenomenon usual occur. I was very unlucky, I didn't bump into anyone dressed in fancy costumes. There were lots of shops selling costumes and accessories. It was packed with people, but according to Atiqah, that was not bad at all. We walked down the street, stopped at Tendon, a chain restaurant to have tempura and udon lunch. It is situated opposite Forever21. They have a few other things on their menu. You could mix and match soba or udon with tempura dishes, or only have tempura rice dishes. In this branch, there was English menu. So I got excited. I opted for the scrumptious seafood tempura on rice dish and also udon (tamak haloba).Magnolia bakery was just around the corner, so we had cupcakes as dessert. Harajuku is also another shopping district, packed with people just like in Ginza. There were lots of cafes and odd brands that I have never heard of. I think it would be nice to have a stroll down and have a browse around if you have that spare time.
That night, we had dinner at a high school friend of mine near Yokohama. Homemade dinner of nasi lemak and rendang. We went to bed early that night because we had to rise early to go for koyō (old Japanese tradition of observing the autumn leaves) on the next day! (post coming up, gosh I am so slow).
I had a total of 2 days and half in Tokyo (following returning from Kyoto). Not bad but I wished I had more (don't we always say that at the end of the trip) xx
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