Tokyo business district

Today I arrived in Tokyo. I was half asleep when the bus that drove us from Shonandai was flashing through the roads of outer Tokyo. Tall buildings and salarymen in suits greeted us, not only in boring black color, but also in grey, creme and stripes, combined with light brown leather shoes and matching briefcases.

 

We made 2 stops at Tokyo Grand Hotel and JAL City Hotel. Then off to Roppongi, the up tempo district of Tokyo, where the rich resides and the wanna-be’s stop by for a sip of coffee in one of its fancy cafes. The conference hall where the MOU signing will take place located in the 49th floor, making us climbed up in a seamless elevator which rarely spoke English.

After checking with my boss and the big boss (just arrived with the morning flight, and picked up and brought to the venue – thank God they moved the signing event to after lunch).

I joined the rest of the partners in separate dining hall, where we ate a fancy bento costs 1,600 yen (don’t convert it into rupiah, it will only result in pain). THough I couldn’t tell which are supposed to be eaten with the rice and which one is the desert, still this authentic food is fine.

View from the 49th Floor

The view from the 49th floor itself contributes its breathtaking value to this expensive hall. From the glass windows I can see the busy roads of Tokyo in sizes of tiny rain streams, and the buliding as small as lego blocks.. The weather are cloudy but no rain, maybe the weatherman has been booked for this event ?

The signing was preceded by a press conference, totally in Japanese, except for the part of my big boss. After that we all assembled in the main hall and they have these impressive giant screens to display the names and institutions of the speakers. In this awesomeness, I thought quietly, how do they maintain it without glitches and technical problem.

It was a success, I believe. Afterwards, we disbanded from the bosses, me and a group of partners and friends walked to station, and this is where I learned for the first time, the complicated system of Tokyo subway. Thanks Dikshie for teaching me. The map of Tokyo subway that Yoo get for me and the two interns also was invaluable for megapolite vagabond as myself.

We took separate trains, some are heading back to Shonandai station. And me and my friend went for Shibuya. We switched trains 2 times, Ginza Line to Yamanote Line (this popular gaul line for gals!) and I experienced a quite horror experience. It’s around after working hour, the trains were quite packed. We were shoved inside one car. It was OK, I thought, little did I know that once we reached a certain station where the people deep inside the car would go out, they will push with all they might, regardless of our readiness to move!!

I almost tumble (with the big packpack and all), if I hadn’t grabbed my friend’s back. Wuaa!!! It’s the nightmare of Tokyo subway on the busy hours… If I were to take train during busy time, I’d rather wait than being shoved around like that again!

We reached Shibuya Hachikou exit. Woah, as an avid manga reader, I am discovering the sites and icons that all this time I was only able read in manga. To tell you the truth, my over-all impression was, the manga exaggerated a lot. Hachikou, however, remained as one faithful dog complete with some teary moments depiction inside my head. 

 

Hachikou and me

Hachikou, the Faithful Dog 

There was a professor of Tokyo University, who had a dog, named Hachikou. He used to go to work and go home using train, and Hachikou used to pick him up at the same time at Shibuya station. in 1925, the professor died, but the dog kept showing at Shibuya station at the same time in the evening when his owner used to come home – for 10 years. 

Complete story here

Another tip for you, megapolis traveller is : Do not trust the map you found in hotel website. Take my case as an example. In the ryokan/hotel website, it was described pretty close to Shibuya station. But my friend and I had to walk five blocks (or more), cross one intersection, turn left, and walk several blocks, before reaching the destination.

When we arrived, I felt like a marathon runner after a long rally. Somewhere among those blocks, I even took a moment to change my meeting high heels into my walking crocs  (boy, do I love these crocs more and more each day my feet were swollen) because I can’t stand walking another pace with the high heels!

Felt sorry for my friend who went straight back to the station (yes, several blocks and more), and finding my room having a strange smell. But being very very tired gave me an ability to inactivate several senses. After talking to the manager of the  ryokan, looked like an Indian who spoke good English, and a Japanese elderly lady who spoke no English (“Eigo wa dekinai” she told me persistently when I tried to talk to her in English)

 

The tatami room in the ryoukan

He showed me the strange smelly room in the second floor, and told me there was a wi-fi in the room (thank God for internet), and that if I want to use the shower, it’s on the first floor, and I had to tell them when I want to use it, because it’s shared. Strange, I thought, until I experienced the bathroom. It was an onsen! An onsen is a traditional bath with the big bathtub (this one was made in stainless steel) which constantly heated, and I mean really-really hot.

Good thing that I am a Japan culture fan, I read in some book (Kariage-kun?) that we’re supposed to wash up before entering the onsen. There were two sets of taps with shower up and a water tap for washing down. And after washing up, onsen is ready to dip in!

I felt very weak afterwards though, I have no idea if this is the effect of onsen – relaxing, but in one sense sort of loosening up all the muscles. I didn’t take very long time in the bath, because really hot, and I was really tired. But I enjoyed it quite a bit, and turned out that the ryoukan’s is the only onsen that I experienced during my stay in Japan.

I didn’t even had chance to pack up for tomorrow. Tomorrow would be an adventure since I’ll be going to Takebashi for a meeting, using Tokyo subway – by myself!