Time to See a New Side of Tokyo
Last night was the last night at Mr. Miwa's home. This morning I packed up all my stuff and headed for the Ryokan Kangetsu. This is a small hotel in Tokyo. Jesse was able to book me a room in it for three nights, so that we would be able to explore Tokyo together this weekend. The Miwa's drove to the company where Jesse works and then we picked him up. Then they drove us to Ichikawa station. From the station this is how we got to my hotel:
1. From Ichikawa station to Tokyo station on the Sobu line.
2. From Tokyo station to Gotanda station on the Yamanote line.
3. From Gotando station to Chidoriocho station on the Ikegami line.
My hotel is about half a block from the station. When I exit the station I just walk to the other end of the station and turn right. After I walk half a block the hotel is on the left hand side. It is a nice and small little place. There are a lot of trees between buildings, so it is nice. Jesse was able to help me check in and everything. My room is very simple. When I open the door and step inside there is a sink to my left and a shelf above the air conditioner to my right. On the opposite wall is a cabinet for clothes. There is also a low shelf with a small tv. The floor is covered in mats except for the small portion in front of the door and under the sink. The futon that I sleep covers about half the floor. I think the room is about 7 ft x 10 ft. Since I am only going to be sleeping while I am in the room it seems suitable.
After I got settled Jesse and I hopped back on the train to meet one of his friends that he met from the UW. Her name is Kumi. She is really nice and friendly. Before she came to Tokyo she was in Osaka. Osaka is her home town, so she spent time visiting her family.
The first stop of the tour of Tokyo was the Hamarikyu Gardens. This garden was originally owned by many different shoguns starting from the mid 1600's. After earthquakes and wars the garden was still in the same spot. In 1946 the imperial family, who owned the garden at the time, gave it to the city of Tokyo. The city then opened it to the public and in 1952 it was designated as a site with historical significance. The park is very close to Tokyo bay and the lake within the park is the only saltwater lake within Tokyo, it is named Shioiri-no-ike. There are gates in the park which regulate the water level according to the tide. Within the lake there are many different types of saltwater fish including sea bass and eels.
There is a small island on the lake which has a small tea house. This tea house was built in 1704 and is called Nakajima-no-ochaya. All three of us went to the tea house and had a traditional tea ceremony. The atmosphere was very peaceful and the view of the lake was nice as well. There is a special process that everything must be done when participating in the tea ceremony. First you are given a small piece of 'cake'. It is made of rice, so that is the best way I can describe it even though it is the wrong way to describe it. In any case, it is a sweet piece of food which is suppsed to compliment the slight bitterness of the tea. After you eat the cake then you can drink the tea. If there are multiple people doing this at the same then the person furthest to the right starts. The person to their left cannot begin eating until the person to the right has started. This is true for each part of the process. After the cake has been finished then you may start drinking tea. You have to grab the bowl of tea with both hands. Then you rotate the bowl two or three times. Man, I already forgot. Anyways, each time you rotate it a little bit in the clockwise direction. Then you can drink the tea. The tea is suppsed to be dranken in three sips. On the third sip you are supposed to finish the tea and make a sipping sound while doing it. Then you are suppsed to wipe the lip of the bowl and inspect the beauty of the bowl. Then you can place the bowl down and you are done. The tea ceremony was a really peaceful and fun experience and I would recommend that anyone going to Tokyo should do it.
After we finished the ceremony we walked around the lake and then left the park. On the way back to the train station we went to the top of a skyscraper which overlooked Hamarikyu Gardens. We took a few photos and looked around, but since the weather was overcast we did not spend too much time there. Afterwards Jesse took us to Starbucks to get matcha cream frappucinos (greeb tea frappucino) and curry doughnuts (like jelly filled doughnut, but there is curry not jelly). I am going to see if I can find these when I get back to Seattle.
After the small snack at starbucks we headed to Akihabara, or Electric Town. This place was definitely interesting. Imagine a bunch of shops right next to each other with lots of bright lights and flashing signs. Then think of almost anything you would want to buy related to cameras, computers and other electical things. Then multiply that times ten and then you have Akihabara. In Akihabara we went to a used cd store where you could buy all sorts of music. Jesse found one cd he wanted for fifty cents. We left the cd store and then headed to a computer store that also sold books. Jesse asked a clerk where the 3D Animation books were and he guided us to them. Within seconds I was able to find 'Softimage 3D Fundamentals', a book written by Anthony Rossano, my boss at Mesmer! We sneakily took a picture, so I could send it to him.
We planned to head to Odaiba after Akihabara and ride the ferris wheel. We still went to Odaiba, but we could not ride the ferris wheel because it was pourind down rain. We still took the monorail over the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba to have fun. Odaiba has what is called Tokyo Disney Land. There are a lot of amusements rides and shopping centers for tourists. We went to one of the large shopping centers to eat dinner. We found a Soba restaurant and we ate some soba for dinner. I was kind of disappointed when Jesse told me that he did not know where any soba restaurants in Seattle were.
After we ate it was still raining and the ferris wheel was closed, so we went to Joypolis. This is sega's version of gameworks because apparently sega is still really big in Japan. The inside was very similar to gameworks in Seattle, but the games were different and they had attractions for movies. We spent some time walking around and looking at things, but we did not ride anything big because it was expensive to ride anything and we were all pretty tired. However, we did play a fun arcade game. It was a game where you played the Taiko drum. It was like DDR for the Taiko drum. We had a blast doing this.
Once we were done having fun it was time to head home. After we got off the monorail we went different directions and I took the train home by myself. Even though it was my first time riding the train by myself it was not too bad since I had travelled the route before and had been riding the trains for a couple days.
Now I am about ready to head to bed because I am exhausted. Jet lag has caused me to wake up at about 5:30 in the morning each day since i have arrived.
1. From Ichikawa station to Tokyo station on the Sobu line.
2. From Tokyo station to Gotanda station on the Yamanote line.
3. From Gotando station to Chidoriocho station on the Ikegami line.
My hotel is about half a block from the station. When I exit the station I just walk to the other end of the station and turn right. After I walk half a block the hotel is on the left hand side. It is a nice and small little place. There are a lot of trees between buildings, so it is nice. Jesse was able to help me check in and everything. My room is very simple. When I open the door and step inside there is a sink to my left and a shelf above the air conditioner to my right. On the opposite wall is a cabinet for clothes. There is also a low shelf with a small tv. The floor is covered in mats except for the small portion in front of the door and under the sink. The futon that I sleep covers about half the floor. I think the room is about 7 ft x 10 ft. Since I am only going to be sleeping while I am in the room it seems suitable.
After I got settled Jesse and I hopped back on the train to meet one of his friends that he met from the UW. Her name is Kumi. She is really nice and friendly. Before she came to Tokyo she was in Osaka. Osaka is her home town, so she spent time visiting her family.
The first stop of the tour of Tokyo was the Hamarikyu Gardens. This garden was originally owned by many different shoguns starting from the mid 1600's. After earthquakes and wars the garden was still in the same spot. In 1946 the imperial family, who owned the garden at the time, gave it to the city of Tokyo. The city then opened it to the public and in 1952 it was designated as a site with historical significance. The park is very close to Tokyo bay and the lake within the park is the only saltwater lake within Tokyo, it is named Shioiri-no-ike. There are gates in the park which regulate the water level according to the tide. Within the lake there are many different types of saltwater fish including sea bass and eels.
There is a small island on the lake which has a small tea house. This tea house was built in 1704 and is called Nakajima-no-ochaya. All three of us went to the tea house and had a traditional tea ceremony. The atmosphere was very peaceful and the view of the lake was nice as well. There is a special process that everything must be done when participating in the tea ceremony. First you are given a small piece of 'cake'. It is made of rice, so that is the best way I can describe it even though it is the wrong way to describe it. In any case, it is a sweet piece of food which is suppsed to compliment the slight bitterness of the tea. After you eat the cake then you can drink the tea. If there are multiple people doing this at the same then the person furthest to the right starts. The person to their left cannot begin eating until the person to the right has started. This is true for each part of the process. After the cake has been finished then you may start drinking tea. You have to grab the bowl of tea with both hands. Then you rotate the bowl two or three times. Man, I already forgot. Anyways, each time you rotate it a little bit in the clockwise direction. Then you can drink the tea. The tea is suppsed to be dranken in three sips. On the third sip you are supposed to finish the tea and make a sipping sound while doing it. Then you are suppsed to wipe the lip of the bowl and inspect the beauty of the bowl. Then you can place the bowl down and you are done. The tea ceremony was a really peaceful and fun experience and I would recommend that anyone going to Tokyo should do it.
After we finished the ceremony we walked around the lake and then left the park. On the way back to the train station we went to the top of a skyscraper which overlooked Hamarikyu Gardens. We took a few photos and looked around, but since the weather was overcast we did not spend too much time there. Afterwards Jesse took us to Starbucks to get matcha cream frappucinos (greeb tea frappucino) and curry doughnuts (like jelly filled doughnut, but there is curry not jelly). I am going to see if I can find these when I get back to Seattle.
After the small snack at starbucks we headed to Akihabara, or Electric Town. This place was definitely interesting. Imagine a bunch of shops right next to each other with lots of bright lights and flashing signs. Then think of almost anything you would want to buy related to cameras, computers and other electical things. Then multiply that times ten and then you have Akihabara. In Akihabara we went to a used cd store where you could buy all sorts of music. Jesse found one cd he wanted for fifty cents. We left the cd store and then headed to a computer store that also sold books. Jesse asked a clerk where the 3D Animation books were and he guided us to them. Within seconds I was able to find 'Softimage 3D Fundamentals', a book written by Anthony Rossano, my boss at Mesmer! We sneakily took a picture, so I could send it to him.
We planned to head to Odaiba after Akihabara and ride the ferris wheel. We still went to Odaiba, but we could not ride the ferris wheel because it was pourind down rain. We still took the monorail over the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba to have fun. Odaiba has what is called Tokyo Disney Land. There are a lot of amusements rides and shopping centers for tourists. We went to one of the large shopping centers to eat dinner. We found a Soba restaurant and we ate some soba for dinner. I was kind of disappointed when Jesse told me that he did not know where any soba restaurants in Seattle were.
After we ate it was still raining and the ferris wheel was closed, so we went to Joypolis. This is sega's version of gameworks because apparently sega is still really big in Japan. The inside was very similar to gameworks in Seattle, but the games were different and they had attractions for movies. We spent some time walking around and looking at things, but we did not ride anything big because it was expensive to ride anything and we were all pretty tired. However, we did play a fun arcade game. It was a game where you played the Taiko drum. It was like DDR for the Taiko drum. We had a blast doing this.
Once we were done having fun it was time to head home. After we got off the monorail we went different directions and I took the train home by myself. Even though it was my first time riding the train by myself it was not too bad since I had travelled the route before and had been riding the trains for a couple days.
Now I am about ready to head to bed because I am exhausted. Jet lag has caused me to wake up at about 5:30 in the morning each day since i have arrived.
posted by Jon Keto at
10:37 AM
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