December 9, 2008
In Numa(numa) bukuro
Hello everyone!
Sorry about the lack of dream chapters, but I have recently forgotten how certain parts of it connect. When I do remember, I will post right away.
I have now managed to escape from the Australian summer by flying to Japan. But this means I am away from Cordell ;-;. I am currently in Tokyo, a vast grey city that probably doesn’t mind being mispronounced as often as it is.
Flying here was uneventful. It was an overnight flight though, which meant I had to get some semblance of rest; this resulted in me resting my head on the seat in front of me (face smooshed into the tv screen no less), possibly scaring the person I was sitting next to.
I will try and make the rest more like a travel guide, instead of a travel diary.
TOKYO; a 外人 guide
Interesting facts:
- Trains always (ALWAYS) run on time. The 7:44 Narita (Tokyo airport) express will be at the airport, ready to board, at 7:44 precisely.
- Once you walk into the basement level of big department stores, you will never want to leave. EVER. Food glorious food, all perfectly presented, and overflowing with sweet and savoury, cute and austere. I bought Pasta Sombreros.
- The Japanese, as is well known, are obsessed with the cute and sometimes creepy. This can clearly be seen in the Tokyo district of Akihabara
AKIHABARA – the place for those obsessed with technology/computers, and want to have a look at Japan’s, erm, ‘quirky’ side
Things to do
- Walk along the streets and side streets. Here, everything from inexpensive plug adaptors to cameras to USB drives to bright flashing lights and laptops can be found. It’s nice to look around and peer over the electrical goods. As I walk past one of the shops, I watched a small man disappear under the counter, in a gap that was a bit taller than my knee (so, a bit less than a metre) and could only have been 50cms wide. and then he didn’t reappear on the other side, which was also somewhat surprising.
- Go into the large, aesthetically pleasing buildings that line the streets. These are full of MP3 players, headphones, computers, laptops, TVs, mobile phones, and many other brightly coloured things.
^^ great design and several floors of electronics. This is where I got my sparkly in-ear headphones
- If you are feeling brave, you may be interested in going into Cosplay shops and Maid Cafes. I found one that housed both, but did not investigate the Maid Cafe any further than the entrance, where my camera was glared at. My camera then felt embarrassed and couldn’t be coaxed out of its hiding place. The Maid Cafe was in the middle of a large cosplay shop, which was full of Maid Outfits and other related paraphernalia. I also saw a number of other Maid cafes, where the entrances were clogged with intrigued foreigners who were waiting for a seat. PLACES: For *cough* a possibly more authentic and less obvious Maid cafe, try the Don Kihoote (Don Quixote) building, which is marked by a large sign with the name in katakana （ドン・キホーテ） and there is also a large penguin wearing a hat on the signs. It is on the fifth floor. Another one is found just off the main street of Akihabara; look for the lines of bemused foreigners.
No cameras? Whoops, me no speeeku Engrishu
- Buy Novelty Sweets: Now, for those with a sweet tooth, I can recommend a few ‘Only in Akihabara’ sweets/cakes. Previously, the Japanese public learnt that a certain politician, Taro Aso, was a fan of anime and manga. This meant that the Akihabara folk immediately took a liking to him, which led to (of course) Taro-chan Manju (the -chan on the end is, generally, an honorific used for small children and young women on the end of their names and is a term of endearment. In this case, chan is used for Taro Aso because he is dear to everyone, being a politician. To a lesser extent it is also taking the piss, in the sense that he is not really small and cute, and should possibly be treated with more respect). These are small cakes with his face printed on the wrapper. Then Taro Aso became Prime Minister, which meant that the Akihabara folk had to extend the range to include rice biscuits, small cakes with sesame (black and white) and casutera,a type of cake that is popular in Japan. Also, why not try the ‘Sayonara Jun-Chan Manju’? That literally translates to ‘Goodbye Junichiro Koizumi (shortened to Jun-chan, see above) Cake’. There is a picture of Jun-chan as a ninja on the back of the box, which I must take a good photo of and use as an avatar.
Our dear, sweetened (sorry) Prime Minister
Goodbye, competence
Stealth Competence!
- If you are into electronics in any way, Go to the Yodabashi Camera building. Just go, and stare in wonder at the many many floors of electronics and electronic accessories. It has its own travel agency, cafe and bookstore. It is Heaven for computer people. I bought myself a USB drive shaped like a hot dog
My new USB. Cute, ne?
And what does ‘Dissidia Final Fantasy Potion’ (sold in stores in Akihabara in attractive cans for 200yen) taste like? Grape, apparently. Not very exciting, or potion-like. I have a can for whoever comments the nicest on this post whom I happen to know, of course) who wants it.
Helpful Hints:
- Carry a supermarket green bag or some other carry bag with you if you intend to shop for a long time; otherwise the handles of the shopping bags will cut into your hand and be quite painful. Also, this can be used for any layers of clothing you remove in shops (see below)
- SUICA passes are the way to go. These are the Ultimate Metro Card, and can be purchased from any ticket counter and specialised SUICA booths. It works on a credit system; you pass it over a sensor as you enter a station, and pass it over again as you exit the station of your destination. All the cool kids use it, and it saves having to search through the rail map to find your station and the price of the ticket every time you use the railways.
- Each train line may have a number of possible routes. Be sure to suss out which train is best for you.
- If you look foreign, no matter how hard you try to speak Japanese, people will always try to answer your question in Japanese AND English. This is sometimes helpful, and sometimes comical. If you want English instructions, you may want to find store-people who are yelling things out in English, or people walking down the street who look like tourists who know what they’re doing.
- Wear a number of layers, whatever suits the day’s weather, but remember to have a t shirt underneath, and make sure you can carry your outer layers. This is because the heating in large buldings is on at full blast and even wearing a thin jumper in these buildings can be uncomfortable
- People may come up to you, trying to speak English. My tip, if you don’t want to talk to them, is say ‘Espanol? Espanol?’ and try and get away.
- Using a mobile phone on a train may get you glared at.
- Don’t mind the staring; you will get used to it eventually. Tokyo isn’t too bad on the foreigner front.
I also went to Shinjuku, but I did not stay there for long. The Station is huge; be sure to exit in the right place or you may end up 30minutes away from your destination. The department stores are pretty, and the shops in the station itself are worth looking at.
That’s all for now ^^, tomorrow I’ll be going to Ueno, to the PANDAS and the National Museum.
Good night.
Oh and the title refers to the area I am currently staying in, Numabukuro
