A Very Nostalgic Day

On Sunday I had such an emotional rollercoaster of a day. It was amazing! I decided to go and visit my old house from last year in central Tokyo.

I left my guesthouse around mid-afternoon and took the Chuo-line all the way to Tokyo station, which takes about forty minutes, and then walked to Otemachi subway station (大手町駅), which is basically right next door. Unfortunately, the Hanzomon line (半蔵門線) is the furthest one from Tokyo station, so I had to walk for about fifteen minutes underground before I actually got to my platform, but it was lovely because I remembered every passageway. Every turn brought about a new bubbling feelings of nostalgia.

I was really really excited to see my old housemates and the area. As I took the subway the two stops to Suitengumae (水天宮前駅) I was trying really hard not to smile.

I took the exact route out of the station I always used to and as I walked out into the sun and walked past the police box on the corner and past the busy intersection, it felt so strange, but so lovely!

I rounded the corner and there it was! My old building.

I took the lift up to the second floor and knocked on the door. I heard a shout of "Hello" from my Chinese housemate and I opened the door. I can't write down how nice it was to see the place again, but take it from me that it was nice!

It felt exactly like last year sitting on the sofa and chatting about random things and looking around the living room. What struck me most was how everything looked the same! Almost nothing had changed, except for maybe the shower head!

All the post-it notes with English vocabulary and phrases I'd written were still up, and some notes my Thai housemate had written were still up too. I looked in my old cupboard and there were even packs of tea I hadn't used! The decaff pack that my family had brought out to me in the Spring was still there, and you can't find that easily in Japan, so I put them all in a bag and took them with me! My umbrella was also still in the rack, but I have a new fold-away one so I didn't steal that back.

I wanted to see inside my old room but there's a Vietnamese guy living there now, and although he seemed really nice, I felt it would be really rude to ask if I could have a look at it, so I let that pass.

We had a bit of time, because we were waiting for a French guy I lived with to arrive, and then we were going to a Monica Wu concert together.

We went for dinner in a restaurant I remembered was good from last time. The name is Don Don, which is very similar to my Chinese housemate's name, so I thought it would be fitting to go there. On the way, I asked if we could have a quick wander round the local area, for old times' sake.

We went to the river (the Sumida River, 隅田川), which is just one minutes' walk round the back of the guesthouse.

Then we walked past the Tokyo City Air Terminal, where I used to take the Airport Limousine Bus to Narita Airport. We went inside to see some of the shops, and I saw the restaurant where I had my 19th birthday breakfast with my family last year. That was such a nice time!

I had ramen with tempura (my favourite) for dinner, and we chatted more about what had happened since I left last August.

I rang my French housemate from the restaurant, and he said he'd be about thirty minutes, so we went for another walk.

We passed the local veg shop.

There's the Daimaru Peacock (the supermarket) tower, which you can see from all around.

Random statue in between Peacock and Hamacho Park.

I didn't see this last time I was here! It's a decibel counter; we tried clapping by it and the numbers went up immediately!

We went into Hamacho Park, which is right by the hotel my family stayed in, and the leisure centre where I used to swim sometimes.

You really can see Peacock tower from all around!

And here's the hotel...

Ahh, Peacock. You and your deals were so good to me.

On the way back to the guesthouse, we passed a group of women in traditional dress. It's the first time I've seen them this time round.

We met my French housemate and got back on the train, me waving goodbye to the building again, and went to Futako Tamagawa (二子玉川) on the Tokyu Denen Toshi line, which the Hanzomon line becomes after Shibuya.

I was worried we might be a bit late for the start of the concert, but we made it with a few minutes to spare.

It was easily the best performance I've seen Monica do. I can't remember how many concerts I've been to, but it's quite a few, and this one stood out above the rest. It might have been because I was in a really good, slightly dazed, mood, but she sang and danced really well, and I really enjoyed hearing her songs, including some new ones. Looking forward to the new album!

I was a bit worried I'd miss the last train, as I had to change at Shibuya and then at Shinjuku before getting on the Chuo-line back home, but it was fine and I made it in time.

I looked back over the day on the train, and I couldn't really believe it. The thing that struck me most was how everything was the same, not just with the guesthouse, but with my housemates. I'm really glad I'm living in Tokyo again and I can see them often. It's going to be a really good year!

Sumida River Boat Trip

Today is the last Saturday when my two Thai housemates are still staying in my guesthouse. One goes home on Thursday, and the other next Saturday. We wanted to do something together as a farewell celebration (not celebrating the fact that they are leaving!).

So we went to Odaiba (お台場) to catch a boat up the Sumida River (隅田川) to Asakusa (浅草). I suggested that we took the Himiko (ヒミコ) boat. This type of boat runs 3-4 times a day, is more expensive than others, and looks very cool. It was manga-inspired, and looks great. Because my guesthouse is right next to the river halfway up towards Asakusa, I'd seen them pass by, and knew I wanted to try it. I'd even seen it on a TV programme in Britain last year.

As we waited (we didn't need to reserve and, even though it was a beautiful Saturday, the boat wasn't crowded at all), we watched some street perfomers do a European-style mime to music. It was very amusing.



The boat pulled in after a short wait. The ticket from this station (Toyosu, 豊洲) cost Y1,060, but Asakusa to Odaiba on the Himiko costs Y1,520. The Himiko is the most expensive type of boat, the cheapest is around Y300, for a short trip. You can see the types of boat here, and the different routes here.

The boat was designed with children in mind, and this was clear from the colourful characters, and lively announcements.

The whole trip took 40-50 minutes and was very pleasant. The views ranged from old Edo-period Tokyo, to a futuristic cityscape.

This is the area close to my guesthouse. It was interesting to see it from the water.

This is the hotel where my family stayed when they visited me in March and April.

I saw this building when I visited Asakusa in February.

Then we met up with another housemate in Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. We were all really hungry, and we ate in the same line of stalls that I had lunch with my family at one day.

This is okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), a pancake filled with meat and vegetables. It was so filling I couldn't finish mine, even though I'd only eaten an ice cream in the morning.

Yes, that's right. I'm as tall as the pagoda.

I have no idea why one of my housemates took this photo!

Washing my hands in the sacred water. It actually felt really smooth and nice.

On our way out of the Temple, my mum rang me and I was able to describe exactly where we were because she bought a pot for my grandparents from the shop I was standing next to!

Then our plan went slightly awry. One housemate needed to go back home to study for his TOEFL exam, and the two Thai girls decided to wander round Asakusa for a while. But we had arranged to meet someone in Shibuya, so my French housemate and I trekked across Tokyo to meet her.

It was lots of fun, window shopping, and trying on stupid sunglasses. We had a curry buffet for dinner, for only Y1,050! Very cheap and tasty. But we were all stuffed by the end of the evening.

Then we took the new Fukutoshin subway line, which opened today! You can read all about that on my next post.

On a different topic, this morning I slept through a magnitude 7.2 earthquake which killed 6 people in the northern prefecture of Iwate. I woke up a few minutes later, not sure why I'd been disturbed, but someone told me about it the next day. Apparently it had been very strong in Tokyo too. At this time, hundreds of people are injured, and rescuers are searching for people buried in a landslide. There have been over 200 aftershocks too. You can read about it on BBC News.

Snow in Asakusa

I woke up this morning to the sound of cars on a wet road. Oh no! Rain!, I thought. But no, snow again! Tokyo's second day of snow this winter. It probably won't get another because it has relatively dry winter months, it does get cold enough.

This is the view from my window.

I wanted to go somewhere that would look nice in the snow, as it settled, and come on - I'm in Japan! Things look pretty in the snow! I studied my list of places to see and asked a couple of housemates where they thought would be nice, and I finally thought of Asakusa.

On the way, I stopped at my local shrine, Suitengu Shrine.

It was only four stops up the Toei Asakusa Line to Asakusa, and the main temple I wanted to see, Sensoji Temple (popularly called Asakusa Kannon).

The temple complex starts on a main road with the impressive Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate).



Then the road leads up through stalls that have been selling things to pilgrims here for centuries.

You could find everything from traditional foods...

... to expensive jewelery...

... to commercialised rubbish.

This street was particularly atmospheric. There were pipes and drums being played nearby somewhere. While I was taking shelter under a roof to read my travel guide, a middle-aged woman approached me with a camera on a tripod and spent several minutes trying to ask me something. She kept saying: "You. Moderu." "Me? Model?" "Hai, hai, hai". "What? Now? By this building?" "No no. Iie Iie." Eventually she gave up. At first it seemed like she wanted to take a picture of me in front of one of the buildings, but she said that wasn't it. I was very confused, but maybe I'm better off not modelling for this woman.

Asakusa is part of the shitamachi (low-city) area of Tokyo, and still retains a lot of the charm of the Edo period.
Very impressive! A sight I've seen in guidebooks several hundred times, and today I was there.
A five-storied pagoda.

By this time, the snow was beginning to melt and the ground was turning to slush. As I was taking a photo of the pagoda, several people were hammered down by a cascade of snow and ice sliding off the roof of the temple. I'm surprised no one was hurt.

This gate lead into the courtyard in front of the main temple.

The main temple wasn't actually as impressive as the gates before it. But it was still very nice.

I was dwarfed by the pagoda. Not often I'm dwarfed by something here.
People wafted the incense over themselves using their hats and hands as they prayed.
People throw money into here and then pray for good fortune.

There are gardens adjacent to the temple, which were very nice to stroll through.

More fish!

Sensoji Temple is a Buddhist temple but there is a Shinto shrine, Asakusa-jingu, next door.

The water in the pond didn't freeze and I wondered why, until I saw the hot bubbles bursting on the surface in the corners. Hot spring!

Thankfully, not a Nazi symbol, but a Buddhist sign of peace.
This stone has three haiku poems carved into it.
This sign accompanied the rock.

There were several tombs in the temple grounds. Here is one of them.

A snow cat! I couldn't resist...
This is to the left of the main entrance.

Here's one for all the geeks out there! Although I think it's probably only me and one other individual who gets the reference.
Then I wandered through some of the backstreets of Asakusa, getting a taste of old-Tokyo.

What a building! I'd seen photos of it before, but I didn't know where it was. Inside, there are cafes and an art gallery.
They do river trips up and down the Sumida River from here too.

By then, my fingers and nose were feeling more than a little numb, so I headed back to the subway station and did my weekly shop at Daimaru Peacock.

On the way I passed a Y105 shop! I've been looking for one of those! I must go back there and see what kind of stuff they have. Y105 is about 50p.

On the walk back from shopping, I accidentally dropped one of my bags and immediately the closest person picked everything up for me and put it carefully back in the bag. How nice!!

Asakusa was lovely, I'm glad I saw a nice sight in the snow. Tomorrow is a big day - my demo lesson with a private student and going to my Gaba school to see what it's like, and maybe do a lesson there too! I'm gonna be tired!