Rewinding 36 hours: I was about to go to the grocery store...
Actually my trip to the grocery store was fairly un-eventful. The store was pretty much like an American grocery store, but with a bigger meat freezer with more fish and more sushi preparing stuff. Also (cheer!) there's a whole aisle and a half of ramen! I picked up some basics like rice, cooking oil, and some jam for the English muffins I have from my first night. After I got home I had a light dinner, made a phone call*, watched some TV, and went to bed.
*Re phone call: I figured out how to call Sparks (Andy for those of you in the know.) He's doing well it seems. He wishes he could update his blog, but it seems he's been stricken with no internet. However he assures me that this will be resolved soon, or so he hopes.
My sleep schedule is still a little screwy, so I woke up early yesterday (Sunday.) As noted in my last post, I decided to go to Ueno park. After a quick shower and some breakfast I headed for the train. I took the local train to Shinjuku station and, after a few minutes of staring blankly at the train map, figured out which line I needed to take. I used the automated ticket machine (which, like the ATM's in the bank/post office has an "English Menu" button,) got my ticket, and headed for the platform.
The trip from Shinjuku to Ueno stations took about a half an hour, during which time I sort of realized/remembered that I love riding commuter trains... a lot. It's really a lot of fun. You get so see all sorts of people and places, all while sitting down. What could be better? I also realized how well Tokyo's mass transit system functions. I have yet to see a train be late. There are trains that come about every 4 minutes (during "rush hours".) And, pretty much anywhere you want to go, there's a train that'll get you within a couple blocks of there. Really amazing...
Digressing, I got off at Ueno station and figured out which exit to take to get to Ueno park. I my search, I found the main terminal for the Shin-kan-sen (bullet train) which will be important later. After some searching, I found an exit at which I saw green and decided that was probably the one for me.
The first thing you notice about Ueno park is that it's really green. Maybe it's just me coming from a place where I have trees in my front and back... I have a yard! But seeing large green spaces in Tokyo is, well, eye catching. The second thing you notice about Ueno Park is the large number of homeless people. I had heard that Tokyo had a large homeless population, but up to this point I had yet to see any (I had also heard that they congregated in Ueno Park which seems to be true.) It was weird though, due to a city ordinance against it, I wasn't once pan-handled. The ordinance says you need a permit to pan-handle, and the city generally only hands out permits to Buddhist monks (who aren't allowed to work for money due to their religious vows.) I saw a few monks around the park, dressed in traditional attire. I didn't take any pictures though, not wanting to be rude.
After wandering around aimlessly for a while, I came across the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Heading inside I noticed they had an Egyptian exhibit visiting. Upon further inspection it turned out to be artifacts from the Louvre. I decided this was worth seeing and bought a ticket. So, let's check that: I came how many miles around the world in one direction only to see artifacts from the other direction on loan from a totally different part of the world... Right. Anyways, the exhibit was very nice. There were artifacts from the early empires through the late empires. The exhibit tags were in Japanese (of course) and French. I got along with the little knowledge of how to pronounce French and the Ancient Art History class I took to figure out what I was looking at.
Leaving the museum I wandered around the park for a while more. I saw a few things I wand to go back and see (including the Japan Nation Museum) but I decided I was tired and hungry so I headed back to the train station. In the little mall which accompanies most stations I bought lunch. Just some Onigiri (rice balls, these with stuff inside) and some green tea (which is kinda nasty cold, but hey...) After eating I got back on the train and headed the 45 minutes back to Shinjuku.
I got off at Shinjuku and decided to wander around that part of town for a while. I had read that a theater there was playing a new anime movie but I didn't remember the theater's name. Being that there are about 14 movie theaters in Shinjuku alone, I couldn't really ask "hey, where's the theater" even in Japanese. So instead I wandered, ending up back at the big mall where I shopped the day before. Remembering that there was a terrace on the upper floors I headed up to take some pictures. After that I got back on the train towards home.
Back at the home station I stopped in the McD's there, partially because the rice balls weren't very filling, and partially because it was raining hard at that point. After a very delicious burger and the rain stopped I headed out and wandered around town for a while before going home.
Now, it may seem like all I did yesterday was wander, but I find it helps when I want to learn an area, to wander around it and check it out. After all my wandering all day I came home, watched some TV and crashed... Hard. I think I fell asleep about 6:00pm, and I didn't wake up til' 5:00am. Hopefully this will help my internal clock reset to Japan time.
So here I am wide awake at 6:30 in the morning and the sun's up. Guess I'll make breakfast and ready up for school.
Ja Mata Ne.
My, these entries are getting kinda long...
Actually my trip to the grocery store was fairly un-eventful. The store was pretty much like an American grocery store, but with a bigger meat freezer with more fish and more sushi preparing stuff. Also (cheer!) there's a whole aisle and a half of ramen! I picked up some basics like rice, cooking oil, and some jam for the English muffins I have from my first night. After I got home I had a light dinner, made a phone call*, watched some TV, and went to bed.
*Re phone call: I figured out how to call Sparks (Andy for those of you in the know.) He's doing well it seems. He wishes he could update his blog, but it seems he's been stricken with no internet. However he assures me that this will be resolved soon, or so he hopes.
My sleep schedule is still a little screwy, so I woke up early yesterday (Sunday.) As noted in my last post, I decided to go to Ueno park. After a quick shower and some breakfast I headed for the train. I took the local train to Shinjuku station and, after a few minutes of staring blankly at the train map, figured out which line I needed to take. I used the automated ticket machine (which, like the ATM's in the bank/post office has an "English Menu" button,) got my ticket, and headed for the platform.
The trip from Shinjuku to Ueno stations took about a half an hour, during which time I sort of realized/remembered that I love riding commuter trains... a lot. It's really a lot of fun. You get so see all sorts of people and places, all while sitting down. What could be better? I also realized how well Tokyo's mass transit system functions. I have yet to see a train be late. There are trains that come about every 4 minutes (during "rush hours".) And, pretty much anywhere you want to go, there's a train that'll get you within a couple blocks of there. Really amazing...
Digressing, I got off at Ueno station and figured out which exit to take to get to Ueno park. I my search, I found the main terminal for the Shin-kan-sen (bullet train) which will be important later. After some searching, I found an exit at which I saw green and decided that was probably the one for me.
The first thing you notice about Ueno park is that it's really green. Maybe it's just me coming from a place where I have trees in my front and back... I have a yard! But seeing large green spaces in Tokyo is, well, eye catching. The second thing you notice about Ueno Park is the large number of homeless people. I had heard that Tokyo had a large homeless population, but up to this point I had yet to see any (I had also heard that they congregated in Ueno Park which seems to be true.) It was weird though, due to a city ordinance against it, I wasn't once pan-handled. The ordinance says you need a permit to pan-handle, and the city generally only hands out permits to Buddhist monks (who aren't allowed to work for money due to their religious vows.) I saw a few monks around the park, dressed in traditional attire. I didn't take any pictures though, not wanting to be rude.
After wandering around aimlessly for a while, I came across the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Heading inside I noticed they had an Egyptian exhibit visiting. Upon further inspection it turned out to be artifacts from the Louvre. I decided this was worth seeing and bought a ticket. So, let's check that: I came how many miles around the world in one direction only to see artifacts from the other direction on loan from a totally different part of the world... Right. Anyways, the exhibit was very nice. There were artifacts from the early empires through the late empires. The exhibit tags were in Japanese (of course) and French. I got along with the little knowledge of how to pronounce French and the Ancient Art History class I took to figure out what I was looking at.
Leaving the museum I wandered around the park for a while more. I saw a few things I wand to go back and see (including the Japan Nation Museum) but I decided I was tired and hungry so I headed back to the train station. In the little mall which accompanies most stations I bought lunch. Just some Onigiri (rice balls, these with stuff inside) and some green tea (which is kinda nasty cold, but hey...) After eating I got back on the train and headed the 45 minutes back to Shinjuku.
I got off at Shinjuku and decided to wander around that part of town for a while. I had read that a theater there was playing a new anime movie but I didn't remember the theater's name. Being that there are about 14 movie theaters in Shinjuku alone, I couldn't really ask "hey, where's the theater" even in Japanese. So instead I wandered, ending up back at the big mall where I shopped the day before. Remembering that there was a terrace on the upper floors I headed up to take some pictures. After that I got back on the train towards home.
Back at the home station I stopped in the McD's there, partially because the rice balls weren't very filling, and partially because it was raining hard at that point. After a very delicious burger and the rain stopped I headed out and wandered around town for a while before going home.
Now, it may seem like all I did yesterday was wander, but I find it helps when I want to learn an area, to wander around it and check it out. After all my wandering all day I came home, watched some TV and crashed... Hard. I think I fell asleep about 6:00pm, and I didn't wake up til' 5:00am. Hopefully this will help my internal clock reset to Japan time.
So here I am wide awake at 6:30 in the morning and the sun's up. Guess I'll make breakfast and ready up for school.
Ja Mata Ne.
My, these entries are getting kinda long...
posted by Dockett at 5:30 AM
1 Comments:
It sounds like you need to master the art of ninja photographing to take pictures of people and things that might be offended. I just pretend i'm looking at a setting and not even looking at the subject or the LCD and i click the button. I have a 90% success rate. You should give it a shot and show us some pictures of bum monks.
From the sounds of it you are also getting a slight addiction to McDs. I can't blame you for trying to have keep one thing familiar in a foreign world.
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