dubyuh

Waseda-Keio Baseball game tomorrow! I hope it doesn't get typhooned off. Incidentally, I'm quite liking what a typhoon does to my hair; the wind and rain combo really gives it some volume. Finally an excuse to stop showering.

Nihongo Frustration

The problem I am finding with learning Japanese is that so much of it has to be learnt by rote. For every lesson we have a vocabulary list we have to drill into our head and then we are tested at the start of every lesson is a short 5 minute test. Sounds easy enough, and in theory it should be. But more and more it's evident to me that my brain just doesn't like being force fed these abstract noises which are, most of the time, completely disconnected from their English meaning.

I'm reminded of bitter memories of Primary School where my parents, siblings and a succession of teachers tried to drill times tables and spellings into my head. I can now vividly remember how I felt then because it's how I feel now; stupid. In our Japanese lessons we started right back at the very beginning, literally having to relearn how to read and write. I knew this would be the case but what I hadn't realised was how frustrating it would be.

For instance the difficulty in learning things such as when counting abstract numbers like one, two, three, four, five it goes ichi, ni, san, yon, go but when counting things it goes hitotsu, futatsu, mittsu, yottsu, itsutsu, and it's different again for counting machines, or flat objects, or small animals, or shoes and socks, or persons ad infinitum.

Even worse is when I dutifully revise the vocabulary and the grammar expected of me, I get up and go to my 9am Saturday lesson and I can just about keep up and understand what is happening. Then sensei turns to me, and the one question she directs at me I don't understand one of the words, my mind empties and I just look and feel stupid. This is after I've consciously stepped up my effort to work before lessons. So it's not my effort or lesson preparation, I'm just bad at languages or, perhaps, just stupid.

Bread

I miss good bread. The shops around me just doesn't seem to offer much beyond packets of white sliced bread. I don't think I've seen any brown, wholegrain or seeded since arriving. Even worse - you can't seem to buy a whole loaf of sliced bread; they come in packets of 6 or 8 slices without the ends.

Why oh why Japan? What are you doing with the ends of loaves? Why can't a girl get a decent seeded batch around here? I can't quite bring myself to fork out 350Y (£2.70) for half length French stick. I miss nutty bread with mustard seeds that pop when you toast it. I weep for Warburton's!

Kawagoe Matsuri

Yesterday we went to Kawagoe, located in Saitama, for the famous large matsuri (festival). It was about 30 minutes on the train from Ikebukuro, we set off after my last lesson on Saturday and arrived when it was starting to get dark - about 5.30pm (so early!). The place was packed full of people and had such a fun, lively atmosphere. On all the side streets and some running parallel there were food stalls and game stalls for children, and on the main road there was the impressive parade itself.

Apparently Kawagoe is famous for this festival and it was easy to see why. There were elaborate and beautifully decorated floats on large wooden wheels being dragged up and down the streets by large teams of men, women and small children. When the floats came to stop in front of either a stage with performers on or another float, they would stop it, spin the platform to face the opponent and have a music battle with drums, wooden flutes and metal percussion type instruments.

It's sort of hard to describe and, frankly, I'm not at all sure what any of the background story about the floats, masks or whole event are. So, instead, I have photos of several of the floats, battles, and lots of the food and game stalls so you can be a bit stumped by it all too.

 A float battles with performers on stage.

 The parade was rather stop-start but the performers on the floats never stopped, they were so energetic all evening.

 Cute kids in traditional costume were everywhere.

 A battle between two floats. During the battle a crowd of people with lanterns would run between them cheering and making noise. At about this point me and Jessi got crushed - I've been in plenty of squashed crowds and stuff at festivals and gigs but never one like this consisting of mainly old people and people with babies.

Apart from the parade to watch, there were loads of food and game stalls, as I mentioned. Most of the games and some of the food was intended for the kids but, being gaijin, we were allowed to play some of the kids games and had some of the rules broken.

 These were Hello Kitty and Doraemon (the blue cat thing pictured) shaped sweets. He had a tub of batter he poured into the moulds, then it would cook (somehow), after which he'd open it up and pop them out. They were really tasty!

 Bananas dipped in chocolate and covered in hundreds and thousands. Not my cup of tea.

 Okonomiyaki being made

 Fish on a stick being cooked. I quite wanted to try this but I wasn't really sure how you'd eat it so I gave it a miss.

 I love the concentration this kid was giving to the bouncy balls swirling around in this game. I don't really know the aim (apart from to collect bouncy balls with the sieve he was holding) and we didn't stick around long enough to find out.

 Face masks.

 There were lots of these goldfish stalls. The kids were given paper spatulas - they had to scoop some or any goldfish they could into their bowl before the paper disintegrated. Any they caught, they kept.

 Bizarrely and, a little shockingly, tortoises were an alternative to catching goldfish.

 Jessi tried out this game, she was given a hook made from paper and had to try and hook out a balloon by a rubber band attached to them. Yep; the guy had to help her and she only managed to get one!

 This stall was selling shells and dried puffer fish. I love the googly eyes.

Although I was absolutely shattered by the end of the day (a combination of an early morning to get to lessons and all the walking we did that day) I'm so glad I went. It was fun to get outside of Tokyo where being gaijin was a bit more of a novelty. At one point Jessi and I sat at the side of the street because my feet were hurting and we'd lost everyone else. Sitting there for 20 minutes was some of the most fun people watching I've done. As we sat there, people walking past were completely unashamedly turning their heads to stare at us; middle aged guys were smiling and waving at us as they stared, guys were being hit by their girlfriends for looking over at us and little kids were gawping. When we decided to leave and were heading to the train station, I felt a tap on my shoulder - it was some drunk old salaryman saying (in Japanese), 'do you wanna drink with us?', which we politely declined.

Finally sorted out my alien registration today. We walked to Shinjuku City Hall ‐ I hadn't realised that Shinjuku was just a 15 minute walk from the dorm. I couldn't have asked for a better location to be placed in！

Does anyone know

What on earth those noises are everyday at 4:30pm and 6:00pm??

Pancake flavoured drink. Nicer than you'd imagine！

Tokyo Tower

So we finally made it up the tower despite the hoards of Japanese school children and coach loads of tourists milling around the entrance. Originally we paid to go to the 'Main Observatory' which is 145m up. Once at this level we were so impressed with the view we paid another 600円 each to go a further 100m up to the 'Special Observatory'. 


The guide book did us proud for this visit - we went up the tower at about 6pm and the sun set whilst we were up there. The change from day to night was dramatic, once it was dark enough for car and office lights to come on the view was absolutely stunning. 


Now lots of photos of the view, none of which do it justice.

 This is looking in the direction of Odaiba, which we visited earlier. The bridge in view is the Rainbow Bridge which we took the Yurikamome line across.

 The sunset was sadly obscured by the clouds.

 There were a surprising amount of football and sports pitches in the centre of Tokyo.

 This is Zojo-ji Temple that we visited earlier. I hadn't seen the large grave yard whilst we were there.

At this point we decided to change floors and go higher. In the time it took us to do this, no more than 20 minutes (a short queue for the elevator) we sun had completely set and Tokyo was transformed.

 Here is Odaiba again with the Rainbow bridge lit up and the ferris wheel we rode earlier. It lights up all flashing colours and is a very impressive light show.

 Back down on the Main Observatory there were these glass floors (which we were now used to since our ferris wheel ride!) but they were somewhat wasted at night.

And finally, Tokyo Tower lit up at night. It was really difficult to get a decent, in focus photo of the tower lit up at night, which was a pity as it's far nicer to look at at night than in the day. 


That's the end of the photos but it wasn't the end of the day. David headed home but I met with Mark in Shibuya where we went to an izakya for some food and cheap drinks. We were adventurous and ordered off the Japanese menu which backfired as friend chicken cartilage turned up. Surprisingly, not as tasty as they sound. 


Then; home to bed. 10 hours of sightseeing followed by a few lime sours is just about my limit.

Sushi and Zojoji Shrine

Having got off the Yurikamome transit train in Shimbashi, David and I decided to have a wander to explore this new area. This is one of the things I really love about Tokyo; there is just so so much to explore. You can get off at any station and around it will be a hub of activity, people and neon lights to challenge Picadilly Circus. I've been asked by a few people how far from the centre of Tokyo my dorm is and, I don't think it's Hyperbole when I say, I don't actually know how to judge where the centre of Tokyo is. Everywhere is so busy; everywhere has a unique and exciting charm to it. Frankly, Tokyo is overwhelming for much of the time.

After wandering about a few streets and David nearly buying an ipod, we decided we were hungry. Disappointed with the lack of sushi I'd eaten since arriving 3 weeks ago (Takadanobaba is known for its ramen, so pretty much every restaurant is just that; ramen). So after a few hours exploring we decided to find some sushi.

The chef stood in the middle of the conveyor belt making lots of dishes before adding them to the belt (just like yo sushi but with a lot less corporate branding). I actually couldn't work out how he got in there; there must be a trap door or something. I also don't know where he kept all the fish we was preparing, it just turned up from below the counter.

 There were lots of different types of fish but I stuck to what I knew. Salmon, Tuna, an omelette one which I didn't like as it was too sweet, and a mug of green tea.

David and I got really excited when we first entered and realised it was a conveyor belt restaurant. The restaurant was full of silent Japanese people, eating their sushi and keeping to themselves whilst David and I were chatting loudly and taking photos of everything. I don't think we really fitted in.

After a lovely and surprisingly cheap meal, we set off to find Tokyo Tower. We wandered a few blocks in the general direction we thought it was in, when from behind a sky scraper it popped up on the horizon.

It was about 4pm at this point and the sun was starting to get low but it doesn't get dark until about 6-6.30pm. We were trying to time our trip to the tower as best we could, as, upon the advice of the guidebook, Tokyo Tower is only really worth the trip in the dark. We had time to kill and we happily stumbled upon a huge temple in the shadow of the tower called Zojo-ji.

 The Temple was huge, and each of the buildings was very impressive and ornate.

 A large bell housed in a wooden structure.

 A view of the bell from the side. See the cat watching me in the corner?

 The entrance way to the temple. It was absolutely massive. Sadly they'd covered some of the carving in netting to keep out birds, I suppose.

 A view from further back so you can see the enormity of it.

 Where you wash your hands before entering the temple.

 Another entrance to the temple.

 What was so striking about the temple was the fabulous juxtaposition of these traditional style buildings against the sky scrapers and, below, with Tokyo Tower looming in the background.

 As we finished wandering around the temple we decided it was time to make our way to Tokyo Tower.

Next post, the views from Tokyo Tower.