Japan and Bali

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

The temple was undergoing renovations and covered with scaffolding.

















<span style="font-size: 14pt">Yumm Moment # 5</span>


<span style="font-size: 14pt">. . .Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.</span>

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

(This is a repost, after my computer went rogue on me. So this time, I will be briefer, and let the pics speak for themselves )

Day 5 was the never-ending day. I started out at the Imperial palace and the palace east gardens, then went on a walking tour of an old Tokyo neighbourhood called Kagurazaka. Then I explored the posh streets of Ginza, before heading off to Shibuya and a little hole in the wall yakitori place for a dinner with some friends. Finally I took in the nightime views of Tokyo from the 38th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices' north tower.

A small note about the Imperial palace: the imperial family is in residence, therefore visitors are not allowed within the actual grounds to see the palace. Rather, you walk across a large graveled plaza (the gravel gives advance warning of a person's approach, thereby helping to prevent clandestine attacks against the emperor) to the internal moat (babasaki) and niju-bashi bridge. There across the moat you can then spot the palace roof peering out over the walls of the inner bailey. So really a visit to the Imperial palace is just a photo opportunity. The East Gardens on the other hand, are well worth the visit. Entrance is free, the gardens are large, with varied plant life and a wonderful inner pond with small cascade. If I weren't on a tight schedule, I would have spent an hour or three relaxing on a park bench and taking in the peaceful scene.

<span style="font-size: 14pt">Outer Moat</span>


<span style="font-size: 14pt">Babasaki Moat</span>








<span style="font-size: 14pt">The Palace in the background, the bridge in the foreground</span>

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

The Imperial Palace East Garden

Guardtower looking out toward Mt Fuji








<span style="font-size: 14pt">Ninomaru garden</span>




<span style="font-size: 14pt">Wisteria!</span>

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

Following an LP suggestion, I decided to do a self-guided tour of Kagurazaka. According to the guide book, this neighbourhood still retained the feel of old Tokyo (back when it was called Edo. Apparently its main attractions are maze-lie &quot;hide-and-seek&quot; alleys (where you can quickly find yourself pleasantly lost tiny traditional restaurant,along with tiny traditional restaurants and the (very seldom realized) possiblity of seeing a geisha or two rushing off to the evening's entertainment. I liked the neighbourhood on sight. The alleyways reminded me of Roman side streets. I just kept walking and making right turns at each successive intersection. At one point I stood in the middle of an alley eating mini-donuts and looking around at the surrounding homes. I could recognize prime real estate. I stopped at a park to eat my convenience store lunch and spent a good while watching an old man amuse himself with some pigeons. They are usually as like flying rats to me, but on this day I felt inexplicably benevolent toward them. I donated the remains of my sandwich. I wanted to take tons more pictures than I ended up taking, but I tried to be respectful of people's privacy.

Tskudo Hachimon Shrine






<span style="font-size: 14pt">Lost in an alley somewhere</span>


<span style="font-size: 14pt">I think this was Zenkoku-ji shrine</span>

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

Oh God I was already tired. I really really wanted to stretch out on that park bench and SLEEP. But the day was only half done. There was still Ginza!


Ginza is very high end. Apparently Omote-Sando (another high end street) was gentrified, because it used to be an area with quite a bit of government subsidized housing; but Ginza is the original: blueblood from inception. Within minutes I realized it was probably best to just stick to window-shopping in Ginza, because I couldn't even AFFORD to breathe the air inside those stores. I pretty much just walked the streets around Ginza station. All the internationally renowned designers were represented, of course, along with a few designers who are perhaps less famous but far more exclusive. I discovered a specialty shop dedicated to tea and all its varieties from around the tea-growing world. Just the aroma in the store was yummy. And then there were the accessories, you know, the delicate teapots, and full teatime sets etc. I could only buy with my eyes, but I did enjoy the browsing.

I topped up lunch with incredibly freshly made green tea waffles from Manneken. Then I bought quarter-dozen more to share with my hosts. Peeked in a couple of showrooms and ended up brazenly entering an artdealer's showroom to look for some ukiyo-e (japanese prints). The female associates there thought I was so &quot;brave&quot; to just randomly come in off the street and up five floors. Well did I need an appointment? No, no, they assured me, with nervous giggles. But still. Anyway, for my chutzpah, I acquire a gorgeous mid 19th c. prints of samurai (a little damaged by wormholes, but whatever) and a few more recent reprints of kimono-ed ladies. So it is that I too finally did get to participate in the conspicuous consumption culture of Ginza.











<span style="font-size: 14pt">Yumm moment # 5. Green tea, coconut, chocolate</span>






<span style="font-size: 14pt">The historic Kabuki theater (Kabuki-za) that was closed in April and scheduled for demolition and reconstruction. </span>

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

Wow. Even just posting about this day makes me tired. And I lived it! I don't know what extra-pharmaceutical aid they slipped into my coffee that morning but I just kept going.

The last item for the evening was to meet up with M-chan and her friend D-chan for dinner. Due to a mix-up that was primarily my fault, we ended up waiting for each other for over an hour, and we were at the same station, less than 50 metres apart. But that's Shibuya for you. MADNESS!!! I was waiting by the famous (infamous?) Hachiko statue where it seemed ALL of the Tokyo young peeps were waiting for <span style="font-style: italic">their </span>dates. Every five minutes, another wave of humanity would come rolling out of the station and crash up against an incoming wave of people from Shibuya crossing. This created a sort of area of human turbulence right around Hachiko statue. I came dangerously close to disliking Tokyo in that hour's wait.

All's well that ends well, we finally did meet up, apologies were accepted and we left to find a little hole in the wall yakitori place to satisfy the foreigner's taste for the exotic.
M-chan and D-chan were seriously humoring me here. They wouldn't usually be caught dead in the place we ended up in; it was small, and poorly lit, and there were (again) smoking salary-men, and an all Japanese menu...the food was excellent though. Yes, I eat cow and chicken guts, so when it's grilled and dipped in a salty-sweet-spicy sauce, that does it for me. Yumm moment # 6. Of course there was also you know chicken and beef skewers, but really, where's the fun in that? Sadly, sake is not to my taste.

An hour and half of girl-talk later and we pushed off to a coffee-joint that M-chan knew close to the station. D-chan and I got along like a house on fire. It was such a lovely evening. I had to rush my espresso float because I wanted to catch the night-time views of Tokyo from the Metropolitan government offices, so I said my goodbyes, and we made promises to meet up again soon.

I made it to the tower an hour before closing and took the elevator up to the observation floor. The view was lovely, but it would have been much better if it weren't being back-lit from the room behind. Why is it so BRIGHT up there? I had to literally press my camera lens up against the window to eliminate the glare. It definitely wasn't worth the trip. That night I left the city for Asaka at around 10:30 pm. To my shock the train was packed--full of business men JUST returning home. Japanese corporate culture is nuts. These guys leave home early, work late, entertain clients into the night, and commute back to the suburbs for what? a six hour rest before doing it all again the next day? When do they see their kids? Yikes. Well I joined the tired herd that night, and almost cried with relief when I got into bed at midnight and vowed that I would NEVER. Do That. Again.

<span style="font-size: 14pt">Shibuya</span>




<span style="font-size: 14pt">Sake: I ordered it, so I had to drink it.</span>



Peep the food!










<span style="font-size: 14pt">Shinjuku</span>

[Laurel]

Re: Japan and Bali

LaPashie ... OMG!!!

first - I just started to skim your written word and scan the first couple photos ...

~~

I just picked up Eat Love Pray .... still 'eating' - so I have not gotten too far into it .... must have to go back and start over when I really have time to read and savor this thread.

just wanted to say - you look lovely ~ ever so pretty!!

[MsExced]

Re: Japan and Bali

no badda be too brief love your writing style feels like I'm there

[Yuriatin]

Re: Japan and Bali

<span style="font-style: italic">Mi baxcide! </span>

What a place clean sah!

All no mi nuh si nuh dirt ar trash no weh 'bout.

[seemiyah]

Re: Japan and Bali

Great report I admire that you went everywhere alone (most of the time) my sense of direction is soooo non existent that I feel apprehensive reading all the places you went, worrying if you will make it back ok

[Jazz]

Re: Japan and Bali

FAntastic report Lapassionata and I love your writing style.

I truly am enjoying the report

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Laurel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">LaPashie ... OMG!!!

first - I just started to skim your written word and scan the first couple photos ...

~~

I just picked up Eat Love Pray .... still 'eating' - so I have not gotten too far into it .... must have to go back and start over when I really have time to read and savor this thread.

just wanted to say - you look lovely ~ ever so pretty!!

</div></div>

Thank you Laurel I couldn't stop smiling on this trip, it was such a wonderful experience. My favorite section of EPL was the eating too, but that was before Bali lol.

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Ms Exced</div><div class="ubbcode-body">no badda be too brief love your writing style feels like I'm there </div></div>

Be careful what you wish for, I can get long-winded . Thanks for reading and following along, it's a pleasure to relive it, but I like it even better when other people enjoy it too.

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Yuri_</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-style: italic">Mi baxcide! </span>

What a place clean sah!

All no mi nuh si nuh dirt ar trash no weh 'bout.

</div></div>

SAME thing I noticed my first day there. You could eat off the sidewalks, they were so clean. And here's the amazing thing: downtown Tokyo doesn't have any public trashcans because of the Sarin gas attacks back in 93. So, <span style="font-weight: bold">people take their garbage home with them</span>! What a society.

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: seemiyah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Great report I admire that you went everywhere alone (most of the time) my sense of direction is soooo non existent that I feel apprehensive reading all the places you went, worrying if you will make it back ok </div></div>

Hi Seemiyah, I'm glad you are enjoying the report . You know, my friend M-chan got worried a time or two as well, when I was coming back in late. She kept telling me that even though the place is generally safe, it is still possible to get kidnapped . But I figured I was just a bit too...conspicuous ...to make a good target.