Fashion (Japan - Tokyo)

The day began with the usual curious array of breakfast foods that tells you you can only be in Japan.  Aside from the usual assortment of pastries and bread, there was spaghetti, something resembling bacon, cheese slices, ham, fruit and a selection of Japanese food that I was too cowardly to taste.  The tea was good, the coffee not so much.

A punctual 9am departure for the train saw us arrive at Takeshita Street, Harajuku - a teen shopping mecca. We were there as the stores opened.  It was Tokyo fashion at its teen best.  Later in the day it was impossibly crowded.  Not really my style at all.  We checked out a Superman T-shirt for Dan, the logo was actually velvet and they wanted approximately $53 AUD for it.  Seriously!  When we went to walk away he dropped it to $44. Still not interested, his boss asked what we wanted to pay.  No deal.  Some of the T-shirt emporiums in this part of teen-Tokyo have been taken over by Afro-Americans, who tout for business in the main street and then whisk you away to a side street for the hard sell on an over-priced T.

We decided to reconnoitre the entire area of the morning's escapades and headed for Omotesando, an area that is supposedly Tokyo's answer to the Champs Elysee.  Ah, no.  Matches it with crowd numbers only and the over-supply of high end retailers, Gucci, YSL, Dolce et Gabbana and so on.  The fashion tip from Tokyo is, tartan is back.  No really, tartan, and tartan on tartan.  The one thing about fashion in Tokyo is that it is OK in Tokyo and wear it anywhere else and you look like a prat.

We walked the length of the 'Champs Elysee' and back down the other side.  Most stores don't open until 11am so it wasn't too crowded.  Then I espied an Asics store.  The one thing I tried to buy in Paris was a pair of running shoes.  I lost count of the number of stores we visited.  In Tokyo, first store, first pair I tried on and the special socks.  And the shoes were on special- 30% off.  And there was a 10% discount for tax.  Awesome.

Back to Takeshita Street now that the shops were open.  Urghhh.  Over crowded with dawdling teens, drifting across the pavement like mindless drunks.  It was a difficult street to navigate.  Up to the top and back again and out.

We visited Omotesando Hills.  Just for coffee.  Well, it was called coffee.  A tad on the weak side, but we sat and rested our feet for a while and pondered the monstrous queue we saw for a restaurant.  You would need to plan well in advance, as in send someone in the morning to get in line for a lunch engagement.  It was fascinating and the line had grown longer every time we walked past it.

As is usual for these areas the back streets held far more appeal than the main thoroughfare and there were some amazing shops.  For instance, Barbie.  No more needs to be said.  And , no, I didn't go in.

We rendezvoused at 2pm on the main corner.  The crowds were getting larger as were the curious (read dubious) fashions. Sadly, the crowds prevented many photos being taken.

Once assembled we departed for Shibuya on foot, thankfully one street back from the crowds.  At Shibuya we divided ourselves into three groups and went off in search of bargains and food.  And there was spent an aimless 3 hours or so, many purchases were made, many kilometres covered.  We criss-crossed the area, occasionally running into other Gilroy people.

At 6:30pm we met at our agreed spot, post dinner and wandered back down to the statue of the dog in Shibuya square, to meet the other groups.  More people I have never seen.  The population of Tokyo is 13 million - half that of Australia - and most of them were meeting someone near the statue of the dog that night.  Oh, you want the dog story?  Nothing unusual for Australians, its like the dog on the tucker box at Gundagai.  

You want interesting dog stories?  We saw people pushing a pram and there was a dog in it, not a child.  Not once, but on a number of occasions.  For the younger reader, there may be some merit in that.  #all I'm saying.

Once again, to the train station and the crowded trains.  Once again we made it back together as one group.  A considerable achievement given the crowds we have to sift through.  

The large bags have been packed and are being sent via courier to Toyota tomorrow while we visit Hiroshima.  

And so, to bed.

Living on a prayer (Japan -Tokyo)

OK, so I wasn't quite honest about why it took an extra day to get the first post up.  It was due to me spending time on Skype, but I wasn't just catching up on home news.  It was also the reason I missed the trip to Disneyland today.  Again, Jayne and I were staying connected with home.

Unreported in the first post was that the day before we left Sydney Daniel was admitted to hospital.  If his Murdoch-employed brother was writing the headline it would have contained the words "mystery virus".  The preliminary results showed a low platelet count and they decided to keep him in Campbelltown hospital overnight.  By the time we had returned from our first day in Tokyo he had been transferred to the haematology unit at Liverpool and had a private room.  The mystery virus had been superseded by talk of leukaemia and being on the other side of the equator was not a good feeling.  

We were definitely living on a prayer at this point.  I don't want to over-dramatise the situation and I know the tyranny of distance added to stress and tension, but, my greatest fear is to have one of my children die before I do.  Our thoughts and prayers were all winging their way from Tokyo to Liverpool.

After brief search on the net I discovered that one-way flights from Japan were not that easy to secure.  Jetstar no longer fly out of Nagoya, so Tokyo was the only reachable departure point.  After skype conversations with Dave and Cait, I booked Jayne onto a Jetstar flight back to Sydney via the Gold Coast.  She was due to fly out tonight at 8:25pm.

I spoke with Kayo and Brett this morning and told of them of our situation.  They insisted that I stay with Jayne today and that they would conquer Disneyland without me.  Much relieved I returned to our room and continued our Skype conversations.  By this time Daniel had been taken for a bone marrow biopsy.  Patience has never been one of my virtues (if I have any) but waiting in a hotel room in Tokyo while the action was in Sydney was a testing time.  

Around 2pm our time - an hour before Jayne was due to board the bus to the airport the kids skyped from the hospital room.  Still no confirmation of Dan's illness and they are still concerned about the low platelet count, but leukaemia is off the front page and "mystery virus" has returned.  Relief and tears all round.

To celebrate our good news we went downstairs and walked around the tranquil Japanese garden - is that tautology?  The only pics I have today are of the garden (sorry Todd).  After talking things over Jayne has decided to stay with me in Japan and we will continue our journey with the rest of the group tomorrow.  Shopping therapy will be the order of the day.

The Disney adventurers won't be back until 10pm tonight.  Jayne and I will be enjoying a celebratory meal in one of the hotel restaurants this evening.

In an unusual post script to this story, the flight I booked Jayne on was non-refundable.  However, Jetstar lived up to their usual level on non-reliability and cancelled the Gold Coast - Sydney leg of the flight.  David relayed this detail to us via Skype because he received the phone update.  The end result?  None of the offered options to resolve the cancellation were acceptable and we scored a full refund!  This day just keeps getting better.

Cold Fact (Japan - Tokyo)

The moment you've been waiting for gentle reader ... we're back!  This time a school exchange program has brought us to Japan. My apology for not getting this entry completed last night, but it was a long day and we spent the few moments we had before sleep on skype to the family at home. 

Patrick complete with sumo hairstyle

The title? Well it's not a song, but the name of an album by Rodriguez. He only released two albums with marginal success here and none at all in the US.  I stumbled upon a documentary on IQ TV on the plane. It was brilliant, as was Rodriguez.  He is a Leonard Cohen type, better than Dylan. I had a copy of Cold Fact on cassette (that dates me), but have just downloaded a copy from iTunes.  Magic.

Anyway, back to the beginning ... we all assembled at the airport, 18 students and 4 teachers, everyone was on time and there was remarkably little crowd.  Bags checked, goodbyes done, we headed for immigration; another smooth passage.  

The tourists and Brett

Then, the dreaded metal detector, bomb residue check and body scan. To my absolute surprise I made it through without removing my belt or shoes.  For once Jayne was body scanned and not checked for bomb residue - she must look like a terrorist type. The kids were through and were waiting with Kayo, but Brett was nowhere to be seen. We looked back at the security people and there was Brett, at the metal detector, deep in conversation.  What contraband was he carrying?  In his pencil case (well, he is a Math teacher) Brett was carrying a pair of scissors.  Maybe they were concerned he was going to make daisy-chains on the plane and start singing 60s songs.

Ready for sleep on the plane

It was good to be back with Qantas after the China Southern experiment.  The service is significantly better and the general experience was a more comfortable one - even though we flew cattle class, although we did pop into the Qantas lounge for dinner while the kids were sourcing various styles of fast food.  The night flight is the best way to get to Japan and we arrived at 6:30am.  Of course the craze for onsies commenced in Japan, so a couple of our girls didn't look at all out of place wearing theirs on the plane.  While it wasn't a great night's sleep, there was quite a lot of turbulence, we were rested enough to tackle Tokyo.

After breezing through customs Kayo sorted our train passes while the kids explored the airport shops, then it was a bus to our hotel in Shinagawa.  After a quick change of clothes for some, but no showers - it was too early to book in - we caught the train to Asakusa Temple.  Cleverly, before leaving Sydney I loaded our money onto a debit card.  My first failed attempt to use it was to buy train tickets.  Luckily Kayo had cash.  No problem, I'll just find an ATM (and this entry could've been called "a needle in a haystack").  Asakusa is a great tourist spot, a temple, shops rickshaw rides, but no ATM that accepts Mastercard.

The gate to Asakusa 

Shops on the way to the Temple

The Temple gate

Then back on the train to Akihabara: train station and shopping centre.  It's been 6 years since I last visited and the consumer culture seems to be even stronger.  Akihabara is 9 storeys tall and has everything from a dedicated food floor to electronics, clothes, books, stationery ... you name it and you can probably buy it here.  The search for my GoPro was successful but unfulfilled, the price was more expensive than Sydney duty free.  Brett was more successful with a shirt purchase.  Lunch was the highlight of this trip rendering airplane food a memory.  The search for an ATM continued.  I found 3, only 1 accepted MC and that didn't accept cards with micro-chips.

At 3:30pm we all gathered outside the station after our lunch/shopping expeditions.  After the head count it was back into the station, another train and Sumo wrestling at Ryoguko.  Before we left Australia we had been talking to a friend who had lived in Japan.  When we told him we were going to see the wrestling he became most excited. Apparently it is getting close to finals time. The Sumo season lasts only a little over two weeks, so we were really fortunate that Kayo was able to secure tickets.

We had no idea who he was ... but he looked the part

While the stadium wasn't a sell-out, it was quite full and we saw some of the Sumo on the way in.  Photo opportunity.  

This match brought to buy ...

And it begins

Touch, pause, engage

Over and out

It was quite a spectacle and as the afternoon wore on we moved through the skill levels.  Some rounds were sponsored by 1 or 2 companies, some were not sponsored at all and the final bout was sponsored by 14 different companies.  The sponsors have a pennant that is walked around the outside of sumo ring prior to the event.  The final bout of our session proved to be the most skilful.  At it's conclusion, the people in the expensive seats threw their cushions onto the ring. It was quite fascinating to watch, but the couple of hours we spent there was enough for me.

Crowd shot

The journey back to Ryogoku station proved to be a little more challenging than anticipated, 22 of us moving through the crowd and staying together wasn't easy, but we did it.  

Lights from the station

From there it was a side trip to the Pokemon shop.  *sigh*  Well, I can tick that box, and it is not something that ever needs to be repeated.  I won't embarrass the 17 year olds who were excited by this side venture, but it did allow Kayo time to organise the Shinkansen tickets to Hiroshima.  Still no ATM that accepts my card.

No comment needed

It was now after 7pm and we had really been on the go since yesterday with little rest, so fatigue was beginning to set in.  One last train trip back to Shinagawa and then a walk to a sushi shop that proved successful - to a point.  The shop was too crowded for us all to get in, so we opted for take-away, part of the group staying to collect the meal and the other part walking back to the hotel to collect their bags and shower before dinner.  So by 9pm we back safely with sustenance for the evening.

ATM?  No luck, yet, but I am determined.  It is curious that in a country that supplies the world with much of it's technology, we are more technologically advanced.  Most of the ATMs only read the magnetic strip and don't accept the microchip.  The other curiousity is public phones - they are everywhere, although I've yet to see anyone use one.

Tomorrow is Disneyland.  Yay.  Yes, gentle reader, I am being sarcastic.  I don't do rides, or crowds.  Guess I'm in the wrong place, eh?  

Until next time...