4 Days in Tokyo. (Part 1)

First impressions of Tokyo; really strange and sticky. When we got off our bus at West Shinjuku we were greeted by a Japanese woman by the name of Yuki and two university students whose names I cannot remember. We we're confused, sleep deprived and apparently I was grumpy. Nevertheless we pressed onward to do some very basic sightseeing which consisted mostly of getting food. I was mildly annoyed that the first thing I was to eat in Japan would be Spaghetti Carbonara. I thought I'd left understanding and Carbonara back in the West, but somehow they followed me across the world. Regardless though, we ate and then headed towards our hotel. Much like the journey, I was far too occupied to really worry or be stressed so I just focused on taking it all in and chatting with the Japanese students. Although slightly shy, they we're very polite and nice.....extremely Japanese. As I walked past all the bright lights and signs that made absolutely no sense I found myself struggling to believe I was on the opposite side of the world. I still find it hard to believe. I've journeyed almost as far as I can get from home and yet I don't feel that far away. I guess that's the problem with planes. In a journey like a hike you expend energy through movement and you traverse rough terrain with nothing more than your own body and effort. Even in a boat or a train at least you can see the landscape roll by. In a plane however, your placed in a metal tube and hurled across the world at incomprehensible speeds. It feels more like a horrendously inefficient teleporter rather than something that moves.

When we got to our hotel we put on yukatas (these really nice Japanese bathrobes) and I began a very intimate relationship with the air conditioning unit in my room. This was not my first encounter of the miracle that is air conditioning. In Bulgaria it served as my iron lung whilst my pasty Irish body was pounded by the relentless humidity. In Tokyo it was similar story; a man and a machine entwined in a forbidden romance that could not be.

We began the next morning with a quick trip on the Japanese underground. Although I had heard stories of the gender segregated carriages, that was only from 7-9 in the morning, so I had missed my first chance to be culturally insensitive. I also felt somewhat jipped. Not once was I felt up by a burly Japanese man in a crowded train. I had heard that blondes we're hot stuff for Japanese perverts so you can only imagine what the lack of groping did to my self esteem. Feeling dejected and undesirable I made my with the group to
Harajuku.

In case you didn't know a lot of Japanese people love posing for photos...I, on the other hand, hate it. This is why I felt the urge to pretend that my crepe was a telescope.

Harjuku appeared to be somewhat of a haunt for tourists as there were many stalls filled with junk (albeit very interesting junk) and we were certainly not the only foreigners there. Apparently it is also a stomping ground for Cosplayers so I was a small bit disappointed when I wasn't met off the train by Yu-Gi-Oh with a deck ready in hand to duke it out with me in duel monsters. I didn't see anyone dressed up initially which was actually a little disappointing but this was soon remedied when I saw what can only be described as a once in a lifetime sight. A man in a hat and cape, with 18th century clothes was walking hurriedly through the crowd. In his left hand he had a leash which the other end of was attached to a piece of corn that he was dragging along. All I could think was "Oh there's Japanese Zorro taking his piece of corn for a walk". Unfortunately I didn't have time to take a picture as I was too busy picking up my jaw, which upon seeing Japanese Zorro walking his corn, had dropped so low it was nestled between my shoes.

Barrels of Sake outside the Meiji Shrine. Legend has it after decades of fermentation, they all still taste like ass.

After this we did some more sight-seeing which included visiting the Meiji Shrine and a Japanese market. Although they we're both really interesting the jet lag and humidity had finally caught up with me and I was too tired to really enjoy myself properly. My fellow Japan volunteers saw I wasn't t feeling 100% and quickly took many photos of me for their new website www.brendanlooksgrumpy.com. I swear to god if it becomes an actual website I will murder all the other Japan volunteers via eggplant enema.

Me taking a quick break from my grumpiness to improve another photo.

More in part 2!