I'm feeling kind of lazy, so this post will be a bit different. Like a choose your own adventure. Will that be more fun?
So, you've just met up with a friend at Kagurazaka. You've both decided to meet up for lunch, but you haven't yet decided what you want to eat. So the two of you walk down the street towards Iidabashi station. There are many shops on either side of you. You see a shop selling
geta (Japanese wooden sandals),
zori, and umbrellas. You poke your head in, awed by all the colourful fabric decorating the sandal straps. Then you see the prices. And decide with your friend to go back to the main street.
As you walk further along you see what appears to be a temple of sorts. Do you want to look closer? If so, go to "Entering the shrine". If not, skip to "Let's eat!"
~*~*~*~*~*~ \(^___^)/ ~*~*~*~*~*~
Entering the shrine:
Gingerly, you walk closer to what appears to be a giant stone animal. It appears to be sneering at you, and you feel uneasy for a moment. What type of animal is it?? Your friend has continues to the shrine ahead of you.
Suddenly you catch a glimpse of paper and wooden boards hanging nearby. You look closer at the writings. A tiger glares ferociously at you. At least now you know what animal it was. But what could these strange writings be?! But before you are allowed to ponder for too long, a shrill cry splits oyour musings.
However, upon trying to enter the shrine your friend encountered a forcefield with incredible power!! This forcefield is called "No photographs are allowed in the shrine". Your friend soars 15 ft backwards and lands squarely on his butt. Both of you stare in amazement at the shrine, as it crackles with power. Sparks leap across the entrance of the building, daring you to try to enter once again.
But this is one challenge you are not going to take up on. Instead, both of you agree that the shrine is better left to its own devices. Continue on to "Let's eat!"
~*~*~*~*~*~ (の＿＿の) ~*~*~*~*~*~
Let's eat!
Travelling further down the street, the two of you see a ramen shop. "Let's have ramen!" says your friend and you agree. After all, you really like ramen. So why not?
Outside the shop you see a man and what appears to be a ticket machine. You are already somewhat familiar with the ticket machines from the oil soba shop (thank goodness). A line is already starting to form in front of the vending machine, so you and your friend rush to join. The group of salary men and women decide quickly and head into the shop. Your friend quickly buys a ticket. Now the machine is right in front of you. You nervously scan the buttons. What do these things mean?! Quickly you choose the same thing your friend got. Now the man at the door is holding his hand out for your ticket.
You give it to him and he says something in Japanese.
You're at a loss. You look over at your friend. "He said normal and.. something else... I don't really know what the second part was."
You gape at your friend and the man. "Ummmm."
The man notices your confusion and decides for you. He says the string of Japanese that your friend said was "normal". Then he ushers the two of you into the restaurant.
You find two glasses of water waiting for you and your friend. You drink the water slowly.
While waiting for your ramen you look at the signs posted around the ramen shop. You try to read them, but the kanji aren't familiar to you. So, you ask your friend about them.
"That kanji means 'ore', you know, the way of saying I used by males?"
Yes, you had heard of ore before. But you didn't realize it had a kanji!
"See? Apparently there's a meal set for guys (ore) and one for girls (watashi)."
Oh.
But why didn't they use atashi for the girl's set? Isn't atashi a girlier way of saying watashi?
Your musings are cut short by... RAMEN!
You stare at the bowl. You eat it. Oishii~!!!
You feel a bit sad as the last remnant of noodles disappear into your mouth. As you slurp the last bits of soup you feel a bit mournful. Ah, but it's sad when a delicious meal is over. :(
However, now you feel quite full and happy. :D
You and your friend stumble outside, the insides of your stomachs warm with ramen broth, and continue walking down the street. When you've walked half a block your friend suddenly exclaims, "Oh, did you want to get Taiyaki? I forgot" Do you want to go back and get Taiyaki?
If so, go to "Taiyaki... I want it!" If not, go to "Walking walking walking".
~*~*~*~*~*~ (^ 3 ^)/ ~*~*~*~*~*~
Taiyaki... I want it!
The two of you turn around and head back to the
Taiyaki shop. While standing in line you watch the employees making taiyaki. YUUMM.
It seems that to make taiyaki the employee squirts dough into a mould. Then a block of red bean paste is placed on top of the dough. Lastly, more dough is added and the mould is closed.
Soon it is time for you to order. Hesitantly you say the name of the type of taiyaki and ask for one (ひとつ). She hands you a fish shaped bread still hot from the grill. You can feel the warmth through the small paper bag. You and your friend leave the shop and walk down the street. As the two of you walk you pull out the taiyaki. A paper loop is around it. You hold the paper and carefully eat. It's a bit difficult to eat while walking, but the toasty bread and warm red bean paste are too inviting. You savour the different textures in your mouth, as the heat soaks into you. It's especially comforting on a cool day like today, when the clouds are grey and rain is not far away.
Congratulations you just earned yourself +10 happiness points! Yum yum!
Continue to "Walking walking walking".
~*~*~*~*~*~ (.___.) ~*~*~*~*~*~
Walking walking walking
Now you and your friend have been walking for awhile. You're starting to think that you're a bit lost. But you're not really that concerned. After all, you've only been walking down one street. It wouldn't be that difficult to fond your way back to the station. But your friend pulls out the map to consult it.
So while he's looking you decide to take a photo:
Your friend point out a direction and you obligingly follow. He probably knows where he's going.
After a while you find yourself at Iidabashi Station. Now where? The two of you consult the map, to see if there are any nearby places of interest. Tokyo Dome is in the corner of the map, and a bit further you see Tokyo University. Where do you want to go?
If you want to finish the journey, go to "Well, I'm home"
If you want to go to Tokyo Dome, go to "Let's go to Tokyo Dome!"
If you want to go to Tokyo University, go to "Let's go to Tokyo University!"
~*~*~*~*~*~ ((O__O)) ~*~*~*~*~*~
Let's go to Tokyo University!
You start heading towards Tokyo University. But then you realize that Tokyo Dome is on the way... don't you want to stop in on the way?
Okay, fine: "Let's go to Tokyo Dome"
No, I really don't care about Tokyo Dome: "I'm pretty sure we're lost..."
~*~*~*~*~*~ ( ; ^ ; ) ~*~*~*~*~*~
Let's go to Tokyo Dome!
You look at the chart listing the acts that are scheduled for Tokyo Dome. It seems that it's mostly baseball and some music groups. A few of the names are familiar, but there're no groups that you'd put n your calendar. Also it seems that Wednesday is ladies day. Interesting.
Nearby there's a giant ferris wheel, and what appears to be an ancient "drop of terror" ride. You and your friend walk closer, intrigued.
You find yourself in what appears to be a plaza. The words "
Tokyo Dome City"are written on the walls of a huge building. In the middle of the plaza there are fountains and a merry-go-round.
You see what appears to be a water ride track, but no one is riding on it. So you wait...
And you manage to get a photo of some strangers on a water ride. Cool!
Yay, give yourself +10 points for adventure. You're pretty curious about everything, aren't you?
Continue to "I'm pretty sure we're lost..."
~*~*~*~*~*~ ( >///< ) ~*~*~*~*~*~
I'm pretty sure we're lost....
Yep, you're lost. You wander around streets that looks like this...
You stop in parks like this...
You see buildings like this... (It really doesn't look Japanese.)
You take sneaky stalker like photos of the train...
You see another shrine, this one with a gate.
You see a bridge with a train...
And the train passes.
When you see an older looking Japanese building, you marvel at it and wonder what it's used for now.
You stumble across a "Cat Cafe." Is it a cafe where you can play with cats? You wonder how popular it is.
You go down street...
...after street.
You find yet another shrine...
...and when you poke your head through the gate to take a photo you see vending machines.
Do all shrines have vending machines?
You see a gate and you wonder why it's there. Does it lead somewhere?
You go down a few more streets and... you're there!
Finally, after wandering around for hours among Tokyo's confusing streets, you have found yourself at Tokyo University!! Tokyo University is considered the best university in Japan, and it is often referred to by it's nickname, Toudai (short for Tokyo Daigaku... daigaku means university in Japanese). First you head through the red gate...
Then you stand in awe at the cool looking stone buildings!
After walking for a bit longer you find the main gate...
The Tokyo University Auditorium reminds you a bit of Waseda's Okuma Auditorium. Though maybe it's just because of the massive clock tower!
With a bit of searching you and your friend find the statue of the school's founder (and a wayward umbrella, which you urge your friend to take because he doesn't have an umbrella).
Finally you decide to head back home. After all, you're pretty tired from walking around! Your friend seems pretty tired as well. Both of you are too exhausted to have an engaging conversation. But on the way back you see this weird looking building...
It turns out that the building is one of the engineering buildings. Wow! (The 8th engineering building to be precise.) You wonder just how many engineering buildings Tokyo University has! You try to remember all the engineering buildings at your own campus, but you can only think of about 6. You aren't even sure of some of the buildings can even be considered "engineering buildings" because they house several departments.
After leaving Tokyo University you head to the nearest metro station. Your friend is going to take the metro to a stop nearby his home, while you have to take the metro to
Shinjuku-Nishiguchi and then transfer to the JR to get back home. You and your friend look over the metro maps while sitting in the train. Your friend's stop comes quickly and as he leaves you wave goodbye.
You're feeling pretty sleepy. And now that your friend is gone you can take a short nap...
Take a nap: go to "Zzzz"
Don't take a nap: go to "Yatta!"
~*~*~*~*~*~ (-- . --) zzzz ~*~*~*~*~*~
Zzzz
You wake up to find that you missed your stop! Crap!
You get off the train at the next stop and then get on the train going back the way you came. Two stops later and... You're at Shinjuku! Now you just need to find where the JR connects...
Go to "Yatta!"
~*~*~*~*~*~ (> _ >) @#$%! ~*~*~*~*~*~
Well, I'm home
Yeah, you're home. But all you did was eat.
The title you earned is: Food Critic!!
~*~*~*~*~*~ d(>w<)b ~*~*~*~*~*~
Yatta!
Yay, you persevered and made it through all the sight seeing! Your feet are sore and you're a bit wet with rain, but now you have some interesting photos to show all of your friends and relatives waiting for news about Japan. You feel pretty good about yourself. You think about organizing a blog post about it and shudder. How are you ever going to sort out all those photos. Well, that can be left for latter...
The title you earned is: Weary Adventurer!!
How was that? Did you feel like you were in Japan? I hope you enjoyed it because it actually took forever to write. >__< Although I said I was being lazy I think this took longer to write than my normal posts. ( ; _ ; )
