SORE ALREADY:
Sekiguchi, Tokyo, Japan.
October 11th, 2013, 5:02pm.
We made it through our first day! Now, onto our second! We intended on waking up early to get to the fish market today, but that didn't happen. So we'll try to do that tomorrow. Instead, we woke up and walked around the Imperial Palace. Which happens to be right across the street from our first hotel. I felt like a slob before- but now imagine what it must feel like knowing that Royalty lives right across the street! Michiko told me yesterday where the Prince and the Princess lives. Cool huh? Anyways, we walked around the Palace a little bit. You aren't allowed to go in, but there are Shrines and Temples around the area. We came across the Toyokawa-inari Shrine. It is full of fox statues. Knowing it meant something important, I later did some research on it. Apparently the fox is a very worshiped animal in Japan. Inari is a Shinto God, and is protector of the rice harvest. Inari's messanger is the fox (Kitsune.) I read that it also has a second importance- The fox is seen as something to steer away evil. Kimon literally means "Demon Gate" and in the Northeast quater, demons are said to "gather and enter." This is why there are foxes placed on either sides of the gates. To guard good from evil.
We took tons of pictures, and eventually ended up inside the actual temple. There was a monk inside, who looked like uncle Real! He was bald just like him! We quietly walked around the temple. We had to take our shoes off. I watched as people came and went, coming only to the entrance to pay. It seemed like the normal routine was to remove your shoes, bang the drum once, and enter. Then it looked like you were supposed to kneel on both knees, hand a coin into this large container on the floor, and pray. Many people walked around the outside of the temple and prayed to the other small Shrines there were around the area. There was also a building where you could buy pieces of wood, write something on it (I'm assuming a prayer) and hang it on a wall. It was so interesting to see- I wish I knew how to read Kanji.
With each day, I've been observing the way people are doing things. It seems to be the best way to learn. Like I said before, every time a question comes up, someone demonstrates the answer. I forgot to write this in yesterday's blog, but during our walk, I found a beautiful little shelter built around a fountain. It had a sculpture on the top with water coming out of it. There were two cups with handles placed facing down in it, too. I asked Real, "What are you supposed to do? Drink from it?" He said, "I wouldn't." And we were on our way. I wished I had known what to do with it. Moments later we ran into a second shelter with a fountain. This one was probably 3 times as big as the first one I saw. Real and I sat beside it, as there was some sort of ceremony near by that we wanted to watch. Suddenly a man came walking up to the fountain, grabbed the cup, held it under the dripping water and waited for it to fill up. He then poured some onto hi hand, switched hands, poured it onto his other, and then switched hands again. Next, he poured some into a cupped hand and sipped from it. He poured he rest of the water out, placed the cup back onto the fountain, bowed politely, and walked away. I didn't know what it meant, but I went up and did the exact same thing. It felt peaceful. Maybe I'll search the meaning of it all once I'm done writing this blog...
Once we were done at the Toyokawa-Inari Shrine, we decided to walk back. We got some awesome pictures. I went into the hotel first while Real waited on the sidewalk. We took pictures of each other from the distance- they turned out really well, actually!
Anyways, still a little tired, we decided to transfer to our second hotel- the Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo. We had to ask for help how to get there. She explained to us how to use the train map a little better. There's a special way to tell if there is more than one station in one building, which there was in the one that we needed. That must have been why we've been having so much trouble with the Metro system! Anyways, we went to the same station that we arrived from, the Akasaka-Mitsuke Station, and got our tickets. This time, we felt a little less like beginners. It's hard to read all the maps, because everything on them are in Kanji, expect for numbers and Subway Line names. Which is just enough to get us by. We had to transfer once this time, but it was successful! Onc we got out of the second station, we needed to get reoriented as to where we were. Thinking the Garmin still wasn't working, I decided to pull out my phone to try and see where we were on the map. It worked! My phone directed us straight to the hotel! It was about a 10 minute walk from the station to the hotel, which was all uphill, by the way. It's not a pretty sight when you've got a 25 pound suitcase and a 15 pound backpack... For some reason, my luggage seems to be getting bigger and heavier by the day- and I haven't even bought anything yet! Oh well. We sucked it up and made it to the top. It was pretty embarrassing, actually. I was already huffing and puffing and sweating buckets.
Feeling exhausted and out of breath, I wondered how much further we had to walk. I pulled my phone out once more and realized that we were already here. I looked up and saw this beautiful driveway leading up to a massive building. Everything was surrounded by colossal trees. It looked like something from a movie. As if only famous people were allowed to stay here. I quickly wiped the sweat off my forehead and quit gasping for air. I didn't want to look like more of a slob than I already felt like. We walked up to the building and opened the doors. An air conditioned gust of wind blew over us. It was so nice.
As we walked through the lobby trying to find the check-in desk, I realized that everyone was dressed in fancy business clothes or dress clothes. Again, I felt like I was being disrespectful. I tried to walk all prim and proper to make up for what I was wearing. I bowed my head to anyone that I made eye contact with. (That was another action I learned through observation.) We had to sit and wait for our room to be ready. It took them a little less than 15 minutes to prepare it. In that time, I was able to take in all the beautiful decor and architecture, and to become even more uncomfortable. I reeeeally need to go out and buy something nice to wear!!!
Finally, my discomfort ended when we got called to our room. Someone tried to take our bags for us. I'm not sure if it was because it is their job to offer, or if it was just another example of how kind hearted the Japanese are. We got to the 10th floor, where our room was, and opened the door. Uncle Real's jaw dropped as he walked in. The room is huge! It has a huge window, a huge bed, a huge bathroom... That wasn't the best part, though. Upon entering, the window curtains were closed. The first thing we did was rush towards them and pull them open. Once again, we were speechless. We could see the entire horizon of Tokyo, filled with every type of building you could think of. A little closer, more in the foreground, you could see the garden. The Chinzan-so Garden. One of the most famous gardens in Tokyo. The whole reason my mom booked us this hotel. There are so many trees, it looks like a jungle. There is a waterfall which feeds the small pond in the middle of the garden. You can even see the Koi fish swimming around from our room! We probably spent 10 minutes just looking out the window. I'm sitting on the bed right now, watching the sunset fall behind the buildings and the clouds. I can tell that I'm going to enjoy the stay. Mom told me to stay away from the spa, because if I even lay eyes on it, I'll probably NEED to go in. I think I'll stick to that plan, Mom. Even thinking about it is sketchy.
Once we took in the view, we checked out the rest of our room. There's a hall leading towards the bathroom, which has a bath and a separate shower! Everything is so beautiful! The toilet is the same as the one in our last hotel, though. Which isn't really a bad thing! All the toilets in Japan seem to be the same. In fact, I don't think I've written about the toilets in my blogs yet. They are sort of like the ones in hospitals. They have heated seats, (I don't know why) and the option to get... well... power washed upon pooping or peeing. Real says it does wonders, I say it just causes problems. We'll leave it at that.
By this time it was already noon. We were both so tired! I was starving, though. I wanted to eat at the Miyuki Restaurant, (Miyuki is Real's first name, and my Grandma's name, too.) but Real said it was way too expensive. We have breakfast coupons, so maybe we'll eat there tomorrow. Instead, we decided to walk around the area a bit. As we left the hotel, I pulled out the Garmin. To my surprise, it worked! I punched in a setting that would take us to the nearest restaurant. Of course, we got distracted by all the beautiful scenery on the way. We crossed a bridge that had a trench/river thing running underneath it! It was so pretty, because there were leaves in it and even Koi fish swimming around in it! The fish were SO BIG! Probably the length of my leg, and twice as fat! (That's pretty big!) Anyways, we made it to our restaurant... Which was full on Japanese. I hope it doesn't get more Japanese than that! I ordered some sort of Soya Sauce beef with rice, Miso soup, mashed potato that looked like vanilla ice cream, and cabbage. Thinking back on those maches potatoes... I was so disappointed when I found out it wasn't ice cream. Seriously, I was so excited. :( But anyways, my mom would be so darn proud of me! Uncle Real decided to take a video of me eating- even he was impressed! If you know me, you know what I'm talking about. You're reading the blog of the world's most picky eater. I put the beef in the rice, and even added some cabbage! I ate the potatoes, and tried the Miso soup! It was so scary! But I did it! I think I'm getting a hang of this whole "try new things" thing. Don't get me wrong- I still hate it, but at least I'm making my uncle and my mom proud by putting it past my lips without grimacing.
We walked all the way back, this time taking an alternative route just to see more scenery. Uncle Real seemed to be in heaven since he's a landscape architect...
Once we got back, we took an hour long walk in the garden. It's so beautiful! I won't elaborate much on it in this blog since I've got so many pictures and things to explain. Basically, around every turn there was some sire of sculpture, shrine, bridge, tree, building, all with signs explaining their meanings. Some of which are VERY interesting! The coolest one was probably the 500 year old, 20 meter-high tree. "The Oldest Tree in the Garden." There was also a "Firefly River," which I want to go back to once the sun finally sets.
Anyways, I better go! Uncle Real is waking from a nap and I wanna go to the Hot Springs!!!
I'll update you all later!
Love always,
Lindsay Lehr