Excitement sometimes comes in weird fits. I admit I was not excited about going to Japan last week. I just did not have the time to think about it, plan and anticipate. I was excited when I heard I could go and booked the trip, but then it was still far off - looming somewhere in my calendar as a surreal future event - but with the flight coming closer, it became an inconvenience. After all, I was missing a concert I wanted to go to, a trip to the wine country and so much more in this always busy city of San Francisco.
And then I boarded the plane. I had bought a Lonely Planet and I read about all the things to do in Tokyo and my excitement suddenly kicked in. By Sunday night, Tokyo would have won a spot in my "Favorite cities in Asia"-list.
But first, the day had to start with a jet lag. Of course flying over the date line and "loosing" a full day had messed up my sleep cycle, so I got out of bed just a bit too late to go to the famous fish market with it's tuna auction and just a bit too early for anything else. For being a bustling, densely-populated Asian capital, Tokyo is a ghost town at 7 A.M. on a Sunday. It was cold and even Starbucks was still closed, so I wandered around in search of my caffeine fix and got the first pleasant surprise of the day: The canned coffee from the colorful vending machines was actually hot and surprisingly good.
I wanted to see the East Garden of the Palace, which wouldn't open until 9, so I killed time by watching the kids play baseball in the park. The garden was definitely worth the wait. On a chill winter morning, not many people made their way there, so it was an oasis of tranquility, the only reminders of the metropolis around it being the skyscrapers looming behind every treetop. Upon crossing the moat out of the park, Tokyo seemed to have woken up and was bustling as a marathon swept past me.
By taking the metro to Shibuya, the fashionista heart of Tokyo, I was going from my morning isolation to claustrophobic masses in just a few minutes. The train spit me out into a crowded station from which you could already see the famous crossing you might know from "Lost in Translation". Every hour on average 100,000 people are said to wait for the green man here just to leap onto the street like a well-trained ant colony in an only seemingly unorganized zigzag.
I then went to observe some obscure shopping habits, like leaving your shoes in front of the changing rooms or a Paris Hilton-endorsed baby pet store with little cats and dogs. I wonder if you get a discount if they age in store. This would be antithetic to wine for example and the German term "Ladenhüter" (shelf warmer, but literally an article that "guards" the shop) has never been more appropriate.
My favorite shop though would be Tokyu Hands, a department store that reminded me of the part of IKEA that sells all the small accessories, but gone weird and less functional. I observed a stitch-your-own-wallet-workshop in the crafts department and they had a whole train-themed floor selling everything from models, pins and toys to uniforms and even full blown signal lamps from the train track. My grandpa, who used to work as a train conductor, would be impressed.
The day concluded with my first culinary highlight of the trip, namely dinner at a place called
Yakiniku-Ten Gamushara. I had 20 varieties of beef that I barbecued myself on the little grill in the middle of the table plus all the sides. Any gastronomy pro would have been impressed with the to-the-point communication of the staff. The cook gave very brief and quick comandos and the food was picked up within seconds by the swift waitresses. It almost like a code language and it added to the atmosphere. I couldn't get reservations at all the Michelin-star Sushi places (they often have only a few seats), but was really happy with the recommendation to go to
Sushi Zanmai - a chain, but still great quality.
The workdays were worthwhile as well. I got everything I wanted to do on the trip done and on top of that was able to enjoy the amazing view from our office. Ever since trading my ocean view in Dublin against a desk overlooking cubicles and a yellow wall, I am easily excited by a nice panorama, but the view from Mori Tower on Roppongi Hills would have impressed me at any time.
Having one more Saturday in Tokyo gave me the opportunity to enjoy a great night out with my colleagues as well. We went to a really nice Izakaya and afterwards to what can only be described as a karaoke apartment-block - meaning a whole building full of little karaoke rooms you can rent. Yes, we might have some Japanese restaurants that do the same, but the sheer scale of this operation is amazing. And we obviously had a blast there and with everything the night had to offer. So much so that - which is a first for me - I missed the train I had booked at 6 a.m. the next morning to Kyoto. Well, I was looking forward to riding the Shinkansen and seeing Kyoto, but sometimes, you get a sign that you simply have to visit again.
