Winter in Japan (again)
Backpacking around Japan in winter is no walk in the Yoyogi park. Sis and I were there for 11 days over the Christmas and New Year seasons. I shall endeavor to bring you the highlights and adventures of our grueling trip over the next few posts and hope you come to see why we love Japan.Tokyo (25 - 28 Dec): Part 1
After 4 hours of trying to get to Yoyogi Youth Hostel, Sis and I dumped our bags outside the rooms of the NUS floorballers (or so we thought), and set off to shop. Little did we know that I had gotten the room numbers completely wrong, and that we had left our bags outside some stranger's room!
While trying to get to Harajuku to meet Bin, Sis and I walked through the grounds of Meiji Jingu and got to enjoy the scenery without the mad jostle of a New Year crowd, as I did the previous time I was there. After an extremely long while, the shrine finally released us into the gothic streets of Harajuku, where we witnessed cosplayers in action.
We also went into the Snoopy shop from across the Harajuku station, and then went in search of the crepes that Harajuku is famous for. We bumped into a few of the floorball people occasionally. When evening fell, Bin brought us back to the hostel so that we could shower and be off to our next stop - Fuda station, on the Keio line, to meet Tomoyuki.
Our hosts for the first 4 days in Japan were Tomoyuki and his wife Maki. Tomoyuki's my friend from floorball since 2004, and I had previously met his then-girlfriend when I went to Japan in 2005. Now, we were to live with them in their new house (they got married in Feb). I nicknamed Maki "the Perfect Japanese woman"; she seemed to be the virtuous lady that ancient China used to exalt, who can cook and juggle work while still being ultra-feminine. 2 years on, she was still perfect! She got home from work, then miraculously produced a 2-course meal, complete with sprigs of mistletoe on the fried chicken wings.
Tomoyuki had presents for us all, causing Sis and I to be embarrassed to have overlooked their gifts due to the hectic rush at work before flying over. When he passed Maki her gifts, she twinkled at him so sweetly that Sis and I concentrated on finishing our food and tried to dim the light from our lamp posts.
Tickets into Studio Ghibli didn't come by easy. Sis got ours in Aussie, while I managed to get Nick's in Hong Kong. Ghibli: "Home" of Hayao Miyazaki, the animator who produced classics like My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, The Cat Returns, and most recently, Howl's Moving Castle. Cameras were not allowed in the museum unfortunately, so we could only take photos in the open areas like the roof-top garden. The museum itself was a treasure trove of secrets. Personally, I went crazy in the museum shop. Nick had to physically restrain me from returning for more goodies after I blew S$200 on various knick-knacks. I recommend anyone going to Tokyo to try to purchase entrance tickets. You will fall for the place even if you are not a kid. However, you have to buy the tickets 3 months in advance so do plan well!
There was a special guest who came home with Tomoyuki that night. For a few minutes, I forgot his name as he pointed to me and stated coolly “忘れた！(You forgot!)” Luckily for me, I recalled his name just before we sat down to dinner - Kikuchi! He was still as cheeky as before, spouting hip-hoppish slang in his Super Mario overalls.
Halfway through dinner, Sis air-boxed me with a "Bish!" Immediately Maki picked it up and repeated it with a smile, "Bish!" They all seemed to find the onomatopeia rather funny, and repeated it several times. Tomoyuki and Kikuchi then taught us that the way to react to jokes in the Japanese fashion was to hit the other person's shoulder with the back of your hand and go “なんであね！(Nandeane!)” or “あほか！(Ahoka!)”, meaning something like "you idiot!"
Dinner was delicious udon, cooked by an ill Maki down with a cold. Tomoyuki challenged me to pare an apple and a pear for dessert, and they were amused by the way I held the knife. Kikuchi and Tomoyuki had to show me several times how to do it. Apparently Japanese people don't eat the skin of their fruits. Tomoyuki was puzzled as to why I could not even pare a fruit and offered the nugget of information that "All Japanese women MUST cook", to which I retorted, "In Singapore, men cook for their wives", thinking of newly-wedded Dale.
After dinner, Kikuchi and Tomoyuki brought us to a nearby sento for our first bath this trip. Having hopped into the car hurriedly, we forgot to bring along any cameras and hence, couldn't take any shots of the beautiful onsen. Sis was ecstatic at the outdoor bath, but this being her first public bath, we were rather shy with each other. ^_*
posted by Addy @ 11:11 PM
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