adventures in the south pacific pt. 5
continued from part four.
i arrived in the Narito Airport on Friday and went through the usual motions through immigration and security before meeting up with my Aunt, who lives there. i was already in such awe. japanese writing all around me, it was just amazing to be in yet another place. my aunt really likes taking pictures too, so she took a bunch of me just at the airport, and again in the train station. i was so excited to be taking the subway, that i took pictures too, one especially of an oncoming train, my flash going off. i was later scolded by the driver as he got off the train and switched shifts.
the rest of the afternoon was spent with my cousin Yugi, desperately trying to find an ATM that worked. i didn’t get a chance to pull out any cash from the airport in Manila, so i was running low on funds. i had plenty of money in my bank account, just no ATM that would accept my american debit card, one especially that doesn’t have a visa or mastercard logo. it was also an interesting experience because Yugi is just barely learning english. so we tried our best to communicate, all the while teaching each other english and japanese respectively.
thankfully, my aunt had internet access at her house, that was always easy for me to access and get online. i went on to my bank’s website to try and find my international options. i also hit up Bryan on IM to see if he had any suggestions, knowing that he travels often and most likely would have been to tokyo. which he had and offered up some helpful suggestions. but i found online that the post office would have an ATM i could use that would accept my card.
Saturday, we went to the post office and it turned out that my card didn’t work. since i only have a savings account, the ATM wasn’t able to process my transaction. the machine accepted my card and pin just fine, but the only option i could select was a “visitor’s withdrawal”, whatever that means. i just assumed it was trying to withdraw funds from my non-existent checking account.
i was a little disappointed that i wasn’t able to get money of my own out from my account, but my uncle ended up giving me some cash to get my by through the day. i was reluctant to spend it. i don’t feel comfortable spending other people’s money like that, especially when they pay for everything for me already, most importantly all my meals and transit expenses.
my cousin and i headed off to Asakusa, a pretty famous temple in tokyo. there, amongst the many tourists, we took pictures and waited for my uncle’s sister, Yuriko. when we finally met up, we walked through the markets and checked out the temple and gardens. we then walked around the surrounding area and some great Tempura at this small restaurant. all the while, i’m taking pictures and being the best tourist i can possibly be! i was loving every minute of it! i am so in love with Japan right now. it’s just an amazing place. full of so much culture and technology. it’s modern, yet it’s ancient.
we rode the water bus down the Sumida (sp?) river and headed off to Tokyo tower. we checked out the observation level, went through a wax museum, and promptly headed off to Shibuya: the trendy fashion shopping district.
it’s amazing how many people were there. everywhere we went in tokyo, there were a lot of people, especially since it was the Tanaba festival, the festival of stars. there were many people in Kimonos too, which was really neat and added to the whole “I’m in TOKYO!!” experience. but Shibuya reminded me of Times Square times a hundred. hundreds of people waited at the intersection, and once the lights turned green, chaos and confusion ensues as everyone crosses. i tried to capture that in my photos, but i’m not sure if i can. we finally hit up a Citibank ATM, where i was able to access my account with no problems, then we went through some shops, i found a couple shirts i liked, and we headed off for some food.
Yuriko’s daughter, Noriko, had joined up with us in Shibuya. It was interesting because she knew english well, but french more. she lived in France for three years studying at one point. it’s amazing being in a country where english isn’t required. i grew up believing that english is almost required globally, but that’s not the case. the four of us had a challenge speaking in english, but between the three that i was with, we managed to get by. i found that a lot of misunderstanding comes from the pronounciation, rather than the correct word being used.
Noriko had told me that a bar in america is usually a place where you go to just drink, but a bar in Japan is a place where you get drinks but can order food. we went to this bar in Shibuya, where we ordered drinks and food from this console on the table. it was a great little place, with little private wooden booths you can sit in and eat and drink. i tried lots of sushi and small dishes that we kept ordering. it’s amazing how so little food can go along way. i went from stuffing myself with large portions of food, to trying bits and pieces from many different dishes, and found it to be much more satisfying. i was in heaven! finally, i wasn’t being forced to eat so much! (although, everyone was still offering everything up for me to try!)
the next day was spent in this district known for electronics. i forget the name, but the one big store we went to was Yodobashi-Akiba. it was a huge multilevel department store devoted to electronics! i was in electronic heaven! except it was hell because Wii’s are region locked (and sold out) and the cellphones were so cool, but all of those things only work in Japan! one of these days i’ll get my hands on a Wii or get myself a fancy new cellphone. it just won’t be as cool as what they have overseas.
my aunt took us to a sushi bar restaurant, where they have this conveyor belt that goes around the sushi bar and you can pick up what you want from it. everything’s on different colored or patterned plates, and you stack the plates when you’re finished so that the server can count them and charged based on the types of plates you have. i remember being in a restaurant in chinatown, where it was a sushi boat that floated around the restaurant on a little river inside.
monday, before my flight, my aunt took me around Narita Temple for a little bit. it wasn’t too far from the airport, but we were running out of time so i didn’t get to stay long. still beautiful nonetheless and worth checking out more next time i visit. i’m definitely planning another trip. i want to go in the spring and hopefully make it out to the Cherry Blossom Festival. or i’m sure any other time would be amazing. i would just have to spend at least week, and hop on trains or a nightbus and travel the country. and next time, i definitely want to be prepared with some japanese, or at least a phrase book!
this trip as a whole was amazing. just amazing. i’m sure i’ve left so much more out, but you can only write so much. i’ve taken over 900 photos, which i will have to sort through and post.
until next time.
the end. for now.
