And now your patience will be rewarded...
So yeah, back from Tokyo the other day, and finally found myself a spare breath with which to scratch out an account of what happened over those fateful four nights in Nishikawaguchi. The trip, for those of you who didn't know, was Team Korea's latest outing into the world of domestic travel, and saw us spending our Golden Weeks in Japan's capital, visiting touristy spots and fellow Edinburghers.
As you may have guessed, I didn't die.
So anyway, one of the big milestones the trip signified was my first outing on a Night Bus, that dreaded chariot of the devil, and I can tell you now that it's almost as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Almost, but not quite. I have never been a good sleeper on moving vehicles, the train ride between Maizuru (right?) and Otaru being the one exception. So no sleep for the wicked this time. It was fun, though, in a weird sort of way, and I enjoyed my hell as best I could.
You see the state we were in when we arrived? Nah, I'm kidding.
So we arrived at Shinjuku Station at around 5.45am, and set off in search of something to do before Tokyo opened. Breakfast (carton coffee is niiice) and subways lead us to the Imperial Gardens in the centre of town, where Steph and I slept on the grass and Mark did... something majime, can't remember what. Lunch at Freshness Burger, and then it was off to the Pokemon Center for a bit of giddy, gleeful nostalgia. That was where we picked up tickets for the movie (just a couple of months now) before setting sail for the hostel.
JGH Tokyo is a nice little hostel in a place called Nishikawaguchi, which we later found was a Red Light District. No kidding. It's small, and the rooms reflect this smallness, but cosy, and the beds are comfortable. One problem we faced was that there are often only limited walls between rooms, so noise travelled very easily. Why that Danish fellow was screaming "Gluttony! Gluttony!" at 8am the next morning is beyond all of us. It also seems that Australians do not appreciate deep, late-night discussions. Which is a joke, really considering how flipping loud they saw fit to flipping snore!!
Tch...
Next day was, you guessed it, Saturday, and a trip to Kamakura. Present members were Team Korea, Caroline and Jan, Laura and Claire, as well as Laura's parents. Nice place, if you didn't know already, and the weather was spectacular.
And now, Live on the scene as it was on Saturday, here's a special news report from inside Buddha:
And it's back to the studio.
Following that was a trip to the beach, something I haven't done in years. Big sights included some little hawks grabbing food, Anpanman in the sand and a dead husk of a pufferfish. After that was some awesome tuna mayo crepes before heading back to Caroline's for a nabe party, which went exceptionally. Those on the receiving end of Claire's drunken messages to my friends via my phone, I am deeply sorry.
Getting tired...
Sunday was Yokohama with Claire and Laura, and let me tell you that is one superb place. More mayo crepes, Yellow Submarine, and quite possibly the greatest arcade game ever conceived.
Other things of note in Yokohama, excluding stellar stress relief games, were another Pokemon Center, a ferris wheel and moonlit waters. The weather, if you're interested, was simply spectacular, and only saw to invigorate the city with a further burst of life and energy. The place was packed to the rafters with kids out in the amusement park, or fellow tourists, or any of a huge number of people, all enjoying the sun. Yokohama was a spectacular place, and one I would love to return to some day.
Pity they weren't serving Fish and Chips that day, though...
Monday, our grand finale, saw Steph and I set off for Odaiba with Tokyoite Natasha. Best way to get to Odaiba is via a monorail, which is WAY cooler than any measly subway, and was the first of a plethora of things that, when all put together, make Odaiba a truly science fiction city.
Looking out at the cityscape from the flat pathways on the riverside it is difficult to see yourself in the present day at all, a thought that is further enhanced by the presence of Tokyo's Teleport Station.
I kid you not! That's exactly what it says! I hear, though, that rather than being a fantastical place of instant transportation it is just a train from Odaiba to Shinjuku and back again. And this was not the only disappointment Odaiba had in store for us...
I WISH it was the real Pallet Town! I WISH! Instead, this shopping complex held yet another ferris wheel (pretty much a must have for such a picturesque area) as well as an Italian buffet, a car exhibit and some hula dancers. After taking in the seven colours of Fake Pallet Town the three of us met up with Odaiba resident Haruka (whose parents, wouldn't you know it, live in Edinburgh) and off we went again. This time we stopped by a place called... uh... D- something. It was some kind of amusement complex, with Sega's theme park Joypolis (would have KILLED to go there about seven years ago), a fitness complex, a retro Showa village and a replica street of Hong Kong. It was quite something, each floor holding something a little bit weirder than the last. From there Steph and I bid our farewells and set off for where the rest of Team Tokyo awaited in Harajuku. Dinner was quirky DIY okonomiyaki in a little backstreet, gallery-esque restaurant, and was superb fun.
The bus back was more tolerable, we all being a little bit dead from the week's endeavours, and I think I may even have been able to sleep a little bit. Wasn't deep sleep, I should be so lucky, but it helped pass the time. Arrived home on Tuesday morning at around 6 o'clock, at which point we went our separate ways and slept.
And that's it. All done. Tokyo complete once again. And, until the return trip via Narita it'll be the last time I'm there. It's a stupendous place, Tokyo, though honestly exhausting. How Team Tokyo puts up with it week-in-week-out is beyond me.
Now I commence being annoyed at Blogger for not handling my videos with due care.
Thanks for reading.
***
ボルテッカーだ！！ピカチュウの最強の技！神戸のコナーめ、負けるの準備をしろ！！
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