yesterday

Something funky has happened to the image uploader on the blog so it takes ages to upload photos. I've put some here, but if you want to see all (especially non-Facebookers) click HERE!

Yesterday was a big Tokyo day. We decided we wanted to go up the Tokyo Tower (which, despite its miniature look, apparently is 30 m higher than the Eiffel Tower - this is proudly announced in the brochure). It is a broadcasting tower and the landmark of Tokyo and by deduction a must for a newcomer in this city, tourist or not. As with every larger city, it looks nicer by night, and after the non-test of Japanese language skills (at least for me) we had many, many hours to kill. And slaughter them we did. As follows.

Back to the pond!

Policeman saving a turtle.

 We visited several temples and smaller shrines. In this 'well' you can wash your hands for both physical and spiritual cleanliness. The water is almost so clean you could drink it and you find one of these outside every temple/shrine. Very nice in the 30-degree stickiness!

Gonggonged a gonggong

 These dolls are apparently part of Japanese mythology. At night they come alive and visit the owner or decorator and bring rice as a gift. They represent dead people and the hats are for protection in the rain (although I must point out that an umbrella would have been more efficient than a loosely knitted hat...).

 In Japan the custom is to stand on the left side when not climbing an escalator. This rule is followed by literally everyone - it's even worse than in London! Disciplined country if anything.

Pokémon center!

Pokémon Center in Tokyo. I'm not really a fan even if I watched the first series when I was 10-ish, but apparently it's very much still alive. Toys, merchandise, stationary, hats (!), figurines - you name it! - all in funny colours and shapes of various pokémons.

 Then we headed to Asakusa (pronounced as-A-ksa) which is a sort of touristy area in Tokyo with a temple, loads of souvenir shops and sweet shops etc.

It had one main street with little boutiques selling everything from Japanse rice balls, waving cat products to bags and wallets.

 Here's an interesting occurrence which apparently can be found outside most temples. It's a square building and lining the outside are loads and loads of small boxes. It is nothing less but a fortune teller. You put 100 yen in the slot, take the metal container and shake it so a stick carrying a number comes out. This number corresponds to a box and you find your box and open it to get your fortune.

If it's a good fortune, you keep the sheet of paper and take it home. Should it be bad, you simply tie it on to the poles which are placed just next to the building and leave it behind.

Me, I got number 87 - the best fortune!
You will meet good luck by chance just like getting a gem from the rocks while you are digging. Even if you are righteous and have a chance to be successful, nothing can be achieved unless you work hard.

Awesome. I'll take that as a guarantee. Anything goes wrong, I come back and return it.

 Incense for wisdom and healing. Hiragana symbols and ACL rehabilitation both got their fair share. You stand close to the smoke and sort of whisk it on you (or, as some did, more or less 'soap' your entire body in it). Might have gassed my eyesight to zero but the smoke will heal that too so it's all good.

 Shaved ice with lemon syrup. Need I say more? The biggest sweet thing I've seen in my entire life and it is literally just ice. Bloody good but brain freeze is a high risk factor and the sweetness of the syrup may cause temporary nausea from sickliness. Just a warning should you ever find yourself with one in hand and be unsure of what to expect.

Asakusa by night.

 Finally time for Tokyo Tower! We only went up in the main observatory (cheap and tired and not in the mood for 30 mins wait), which is 150 metres up, but there was still a pretty good view of the city. I won't bore you with the details because essentially, all the photos I took were like the above - lots of lights, lights and more lights. They're in the album in the link above anyway.

The only thing that would have completed this day would have been the Cat Café. Sadly it was closed. Once I managed to get to one, I'll tell you more about it, but it sounds like the best place on the planet to me.

Now I must go off and learn Hiragana (at least 14 per day!) and go find the sports hall in Hiyoshi. Apparently they play basketball games there (only looking, not touching - pinky promise)...

Jo x