lundi, novembre 15, 2004 I did something stupid - I didn't double check the opening hours and days of the places which I wanted to visit. As a result, today I travelled almost 30 minutes to Akihabara (two stations before Ryogoku, my destination), and realised that the Edo Tokyo Museum and the Tokyo National Museum were both closed. Idiot, me. The strange thing is that I had changed my schedule around to accommodate another park which I knew was closed on Mondays - I didn't realise that all museums were closed, like Dark Nights in London theatre.After walking around a little in Ryogoku (since I had paid for the train fare there already anyway), I decided to just continue on my planned itinery for the day and head for Harajuku's Meiji shrine, since shichi-go-san was on. I got there and walked to the shrine (encountered a Singaporean couple along the way and steered clear), and the kids are as cute as can be! Not many, because it was an absolutely gloomy, rainy day today, but the kids who were out were gorgeous! Many moms also dressed the occasions, in their kimonos, and that was so great too. Another interesting sight today was a Japanese couple taking their wedding photographs at the Meiji shrine - in full traditional regalia. So I got a couple of photographs of a bride and groom in wedding clothes. Then it was down to Harajuku following the walking tours in one of the guide books that Mei Yen has here (Frommers, not Lonely Planet). Although it was a Monday, there were huge crowds everywhere, and it was quite a tight squeeze on the trains. I walked around quite a lot in Harajuku - I think it's nicer than Shinjuku because it's got smaller shops and the nice little alleyways where you can explore at your own pace. Shinjuku is more Takashimaya, Kinokuniya etc - stuff that we can get back in Singapore. It's autumn-winter fashion now, so there's not much clothing stuff to buy - everything's hopelessly expensive anyway. They have international brands like Zara and GAP here, but again, the brand price plus the exchange rate just kills. I think I spent the most time and the most money getting a kimono at Chicago - it's a used clothing store, and I just wanted to get a pretty kimono - and I managed to get one for about Y3000/SGD$45 - and that means one kimono (NOT a yukata - that's a summer, cotton kimono), one inner layer, one yukata obi, and one regular obi. In case you don't know this, that is a totally unbelievable bargain. Mei Yen said that a firsthand yukata would cost about Y7000/SGD$75 - and that's without the inner layer and kimono obi! On food: I normally buy breakfast in the night before, lunch out, and cook dinner at home. All of my friend's roommates are great - they've really made me feel at home even though the quarters are very tight. Everyone buys an assortment of food and dumps it in the fridge, and every night we have rice, and dishes. The type of dish depends on who's cooking. So far, I've cooked taugeh with mushrooms in oyster sauce, I bought wantan to cook as a soup, and tomorrow I'll do ramen, with some help. It's all very laissez-faire, so long that someone cooks. :) Tomorrow I'm getting up at 4am to go to Tsukiji Fish Market to watch the fish auctions - it's apparently a must-see event - and it happens everyday! HUGE tuna fish are auctioned off, and you can buy the freshest sushi and eat it there and then at the market. I'm looking quite forward to it - the train ride will take me half an hour, and I have to change trains to get there, and it's very early, and I hope it'll be worth it! (I hope I actually make it there, today I spent about an hour on two different trains which refused to take me to where I was going! Instead I got shuttled back and forth between Shinjuku and a station 4 stops away from where I stay. Frustrating? You bet.) [Tokyo, Japan: Day 4] |
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