9 May 2009

Today I awoke to the sun beaming in through my window, and it felt like my body was on fire. This was the first time the sun has shone through clear skies since we arrived in Tokyo, and boy was it a surprise. This was at 7am, and I didn’t have to wake-up until 9am. I sleepily closed the curtain in my room and went back to sleep. When I finally woke-up at 9am, I could already tell it was going to be a very hot day. I grabbed a blueberry cranberry bagel from the convenience store for 147 yen and met Don and the class as scheduled. Our first destination was Asakusa, and it was a very long train ride to get there. I still cannot grasp the immense size of Tokyo and all of its districts. The completely travel time to get to Asakusa was probably a little over an hour, but it gave me a chance to nap on the train as usual. Napping is probably one of my favorite activities. Haha! Once in Asakusa, we first visited the Asahi Super Dry Hall Headquarters, then one of the most famous temples in Asakusa. Unfortunately, the temple was undergoing some major renovation, so we couldn’t even see the outside at all. What a disappointment after traveling so far to get there! That was all Don had planned for us to see there, so we hopped back on the train to Ueno.
In Ueno, we first grabbed lunch since it was noon. I was seeking something cheap, so a group of us ended up finding a quick noodle and rice bowl place. I ordered hot udon with a potato croquette on top for 390 yen. It was really hot outside, but the udon tasted really good. It was the first standing restaurant I’ve been to in Japan, so that was also interesting. I kind of wished we had been able to sit down, since my feet are always tired after a long day of walking, but it was tolerable nonetheless. After lunch, Don walked us through parts of Ueno Park and ultimately brought us to the entrance the Tokyo National Museum, located within the park. He had to get back to his place in order to finish writing an article for a magazine, so he paid for our admission and left us on our own. I was in a group with Derrick, Seth, Blake, Jeff, and Shae. Within the complex of Tokyo National Museum, there were five separate museums. We didn’t have the desire to visit all of the five museums, but there were two major ones that Don highly suggested we visit. We visited both of them, and they were both pretty cool. Norio emailed me while we were there, and he inquired about what we were up to since he didn’t go with us. He was leaving to go home to Tochigi tonight, and his dad was going to drive and pick him up. He asked if Derrick, Seth, and I would be interested in meeting his dad and joining them for dinner around 6pm. Of course we were interested, so we left Tokyo National Museum around 4pm in order to get back by 5:30pm.
Norio packed up all of his stuff, and we jumped in the car with his dad. His dad just goes by the name Papa, and he was really cute! He didn’t look old at all either, which was surprising since Norio is 30 years old now. Papa drove us to Tokyo Midtown and treated us to tonkatsu at a nice restaurant. It was 1,700 yen for each plate, which was pretty expensive but definitely worth it since the food and portions were amazing. Tokyo Midtown is already a high-end establishment, so it was such a privilege to be able to eat at such a nice restaurant. Afterwards, Norio and Papa went to an expensive chocolate store to by Norio’s mom a Mother’s Day gift. Everything looked so delicious, but it was also fairly expensive; in comparison to other chocolate places in Tokyo Midtown however, it was decently priced. Then Norio and Papa wanted Starbucks, so Papa insisted on treating everyone to Starbucks. We were all super full, so I ended up just splitting a strawberry frapaccino with Seth. It was really good, but Starbucks is also much more expensive in Japan than in the U.S.
Following our visit to Tokyo Midtown, Papa wanted to drive us around Tokyo and show us different areas. It was already dark outside, but we were glad to go along since we almost never have the opportunity to view the city by car. We drove through Roppongi, Central Tokyo, Tokyo Tower, Odaiba, and Ginza. It was really cool being able to drive on the expressways as well since they are all elevated and offer great views of the city. The one surprisingly thing about the expressways is that they all cost money, and it definitely adds up quickly. I now understand why it can be so costly to drive here in Japan! After driving around Tokyo, I assumed Papa would take us home, but he still wanted to show us more of the area. We ended up getting on an expressway and driving all the way to Kawasaki and Yokohama, completely different cities than Tokyo. We drove around on many streets seeing different areas and sites, and we finished our journey by stopping at Osanbashi, the port structure in Yokohama by Foreign Office Architects. This is one of the most famous and iconic buildings in architecture, and it was such a special opportunity to visit it in person at night. Norio’s dad had never been there either, so I was really glad that it was a new place for all of us. We took tons of pictures and walked around to enjoy the space. We will definitely be going back there to take photos in the daytime since the feeling of the building is completely different during day and night.
This was by far the best night I have had in Japan, and my stomach still hurts from laughing so much. It was just a great night all around. Papa dropped us off at the NOMYC, and we thanked him tremendously. He told Norio to tell us that we definitely had to come stay at their house in Tochigi before leaving. Norio left to go back to Tochigi with his dad, and the rest of us were completely exhausted. Tomorrow there is an optional trip to visit Ginza with Don, but Derrick, Seth, and I are considering going on our own and being able to sleep in.