As some of you might’ve known (belaga terkenal aja), I am an avid manga reader. More than I do novels. More than I watch movies / TV. One of the mangas that I repeatedly read, Gals, by Mihona Fujii, tells story about girls gang who hangs out constantly in Shibuya. Then, everytime I read the adventures of Kotobuki Ran and her friends in the manga, I always wondered, what is this place really like ? Is it as hip as it was depicted? Does everyone really wear trendy clothes like I seein Fruits magazine ?

Of course Shibuya is one of the destinations when I know I’m going to spend my time in Tokyo. Along with some other places such as Harajuku, Shinjuku, Asakusa temple, Odaiba, Tokyo tower etc, which only few I could manage to visit.

The unbelievable things are that in Shibuya intersections, there are crosswalking where people can go to all directions, and not bump into each other. I failed to document that, though.

Shibuya also is heaven for shoppers. I saw bargain shop such as 100 yen stores with variety of goods from toothbrush to bag. One afternoon, after roaming around the station and activate my JR pass, I asked the friendly JR staff how to get to 109 (Ichi Maru Kyu). She put on an understanding and sort of funny smile but politely directed me to the building.

I had a very high expectation, therefore I’m quite suprised to find out that 109 is a small building with escalators connecting levels of fashion outlets, much like “Strawberry” or “Naughty” in Bandung. On ground level, there was a humungus collection of Hello Kitty merchandise (not my kind of thing), even they have a ko-gal Hello Kitty doll (weirdly cute).

I climbed the escalator and stopped by some outlets to check out the trendy gladiator shoes (by the time I was in Japan, the trend hasn’t reach INdonesia, but it’s now everywhere). Meant to buy a pair, but all the small size have all sold out.

Sakura Hotel Jimbocho, Tokyo, 28 June 2008

Morning breakfast in the hotel lobby couldn’t have been categorized as 5 stars hotel material, but boy, didn’t it taste great. After starvation of last night, the serve-yourself toast with butter and jam with list of choices of teabags and coffee is heaven.

Made myself toasts and sweet sakura tea. After the quick (very hungrily) breakfast, I still had time to go up to my room and do some last packing and lay down (still kind of sleepy) for half an hour before going down and checked out at the front desk.

From the quite annoying receptionist ( I forgive him thanks to the satisfying breakfast), I found out to go to Tokyo-eki, I need to go to Jimbocho-eki and take the Hanzomon Line to Otemachi-eki, then trasnfer to Marutomachi (the red circle) Line until Tokyo-eki. There I will meet my kind new friend Niswar who will be my guide to Kyoto and Nara.

The shinkansen leaves at 9:33. We take Hikari bullet train. Eventhough I already have my JR Pass handy in my hand, I still have to get the ticket to reserve the seats – but no fee required. Unfortunately we were there in the very last minute, so the only train car available is the smoking one. Yah, fine lah, second hand smoker for 3 hours.

Shinkansen board

We went to the special platform for shinkansen and waited only around 10 mins. Every 10 mins shinkansen arrived (and departed) in very punctual timing. The train inspector came and always check if the doors were all closed, and make sure that everything is in order. For an organized freak, Japan must be heaven!

Our train came, and we hopped to our car in the very end, and then off to Kyoto!

The stations on the way to Kyoto included Yokohama, Nagoya and some other cities that I’d want to visit (but have no time to). The train itself is very steady and not making any noise. We can stand as it runs in around 130 km/hour speed. That’s bleeping fast!

Shinkansen platform

Take two! Action!

I was hoping to be able to spot Fuji-san from shinkansen (so they said) but not today, since the weather lately had been cloudy. So we just enjoy the train. A couple of times there was a girl selling drinks and onigiri or snacks in a trolley. I bought ringo juice, more expensive than in combini.

The shinkansen, and most of JR trains, I like, because they use English also for announcement if closing to each station. Like Yamanote, the most useful line that circling around Tokyo, the announcements are bilingual, using a quite hip American accent girl voice, announcing related station. I think it created quite a different atmosphere altogether.

Kyoto Tower

We arrived in Kyoto at 13:30 or so. Quite hungry. Clouds hang low when we went out of Kyoto-eki. Right outside, there was Kyoto Tower (I thought it resembled the Seattle Needle tower, somehow looked like it came from Jetson’s cartoon – not too impressive, I’m afraid). We stopped by at the closest combini and bought another onigiri (believe it or not, I have survived so far by living on onigiri, bottled tea and sandwich only). I spotted even the convenient store in Kyoto carried small things souvenir-like, for example key chain or handphone strap. Wow.. Kyoto is so artsy (or maybe it’s just because the combini is near the station).

The Hostel

Turned out that the hostel that I booked was quite some blocks away from Kyoto-eki. Again people, remember advice no #1 : Don’t believe the map the hotel give you on their website!! We walked, luckily I have my friend that can help me (pak Niswar I owe you big time).  And then we finally found hostel, strangely noone was there. It was smaller than I thought, and quite scary.

Then I just realized I got a notification email from the hostel, telling me that in case of the hostel was full, they could give me a co-ed room. Uh-oh. Suddenly, cheap hostel was not such a good idea. My friend advise me to cancel and quickly reserve another hotel, preferably closer to Kyoto-eki. I browsed in a rush from my faithful z610i, but then most of the hotels are all fully booked (the day being Saturday, and summer too, so obviously visitors were already reserved the hotels).

Good thing I did a research before coming to Japan, remembering something about a hotel not so close to Kyoto-eki area, but near the Imperial Palace (Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan). So I Googled it, got the phone # and called… there was a room!

So we didn’t tell the guy, in fact we let the luggages there (because not check in time yet). We went to Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavillion), the so-called must-see destination no. 1 in Kyoto.

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion Temple) is the informal name of Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺, Deer Garden Temple) in Kyoto, Japan. It was originally built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as part of his estate then known as Kitayama.^[1] It was his son who converted the building into a Zen temple of the Rinzai school. The temple was burned down twice during the Ōnin War.

The Golden Pavilion, or Kinkaku, is a three-story building on the grounds of the temple. The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a shariden, housing relics of the Buddha. The building is often linked or contrasted with Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion Temple, which is also located in Kyoto.

From Wikipedia Kinkaku-ji

It was quite packed in Kinkaku-ji. We met some ’suspected’ students from Indonesia, it’s quite funny to hear Bahasa after so long not hearing it being used in public place. He he. It was raining a little, but didn’t stop the visitors from taking snaps at the beautiful  golden temple.\

Raining in Kinkaku-ji

Greeny..

Golden Temple

the villa

another view of the temple

After walking around the pond (with big koi fish swimming cheerfully), we followed the crowd  and went on the path and passed a tea house (where you can order tea too), and some souvenir shop that sells … amulet (jimat!) in tiny fabric bags, attached with a small tinkle bell. The sign in romaji said what the amulet is for, for example : traffic safety, health, success in study and many more. Tried to look for the amulet for love (ha ha i know) for my single friends, but there’s none. So I bought each from the pile for the fun of it.

We then walked out to the exit. The garden itself is also quite amazing, but being raining a little and the thought of having to get to the hotel (plus kind of tired) made us went quick. Stopped by at the souvenir shop, and bought yukata set (3,500 yen for a flowery yukata with obi and geta – I think it was a bargain).

And then went by bus again to the hostel. I canceled the booking after got reservation at the hotel near Imperial Palace, but in order not to make the manager angry, I said I’d pay the price of one night. Nicely enough, the guy (sticker on his chest said ‘Hide’) said he would call his boss and ask if I could get a refund. Arigatou, Hide-san..

I did get half price refund. So I went to the hotel by taxi, dropping my friend to the station on the way. The hotel was indeed quite far from the station, but that’s okay. I got my peace…

Hotel across Imperial Palace

Unintended I fell asleep. OMG! Two hours later I woke up feeling hungry, ate the sandwich I got from the afternoon, and then watched some TV. The programme in NHK, oddly enough was about several gaijins who commented on what’s cool in Japan, and they mentioned the pre-paid card (what is it called?) for train, and the shinkansen being two of the things cool. It’s so kewl… I just rode a shinkansen! (Kampungan mode on).

Then watched some weird teenage dorama about shogi. It’s like watching comic books or anime but it’s live action, complete with its exaggaration, including some flaming shogi chess.

After looking at my oleh2 in satisfaction (feeling that I have accomplished some of the tasks from this trip ) I forced myself to sleep again. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day, to Gion and then Nara.

Outside, rain was still pouring down on the garden of Imperial Palace of Kyoto

The morning was filled with anxiety, because I had to remember how to get back to Shibuya station, and then figure out how to go to Takebashi by subway. Seems easy for Tokyoites, but for myself, this is something new.

Tokyo Train Map

So you gotta know what station you should go to, which line is that, and where to transfer if there is no direct line going to that station from your starting point. 
Then you have to figure out how much you have to pay for each line. Because you buy ticket according to your destination and each lines you have to pay separately (or you would have to do fare adjustments, which means you have to add into some amount if you didn’t buy the right ticket).

I had to go from Shibuya Station by the Hanzomon line and stop at Kudanshita station, then take the JR Chuo line to Takebashi station. The office for our meeting (the last minute meeting that my boss suggested – on my leave day) is just next to the station.

I have to say that I’m proud of myself not to get too panic and finally I arrived at Takebashi (about 45 mins too early, because I had to have spare time just in case the worst happened, like I got lost or something!) 

There I was and I have no idea which building I had to go (There were maps like in every block, but the building of the office that I was supposed to go wasn’t listed, so I am hopeless). So I just walked to the nearest building, asked to the security in front, which eventually called his friend who (Thank God!) speak English. And he said this is Meteorogical building, not the office that I was looking for. Then he directed me to the public phone (because I’m almost desperate), and then I called the office where I’m supposed to meet, and the person barely spoke English. But she was nice enough to told me that the building is on the different exit of the station.

So another tip from me, please read the signs and make sure which exit that your destination is located, because different exit from the same station would lead me to some other neighborhood.

Finally I went back to the station, took the other exit, and voila, read the signs (I was so nervous I mislooked the clearly written sign on the subway walkpath.

I arrived, hot and sweaty, without any suits (because I wore the only formal wear I brought I’ve already used yesterday for the event), wearing crocs, and of course, with my bagpack. The building is this formal one like a bank (because I’m meeting the bank for development cooperation), and the two girl receptionists at front (of course all nicely-dress with their perfect make-up) greeted me.

I was told to wait, and then I waited in the big lobby until some woman picked me up, introducing herself as the asisstant of the person that I was supposed to meet. Since I was very early (which I explained to the receptionist - doubt that they would understand me, but anyhow), she said his boss was still in the other buliding. So we went one block to another office of his, which located inside a mixture of mall and office. And I had my meeting and all. (of course all meeting details will not be included to maintain the entertainment value of this blog ) )

The person was nice enough to print me a map of the neighborhood ( I guess he had heard about my little adventure around the Takebashi station), so he directed me to go from Takebashi and t hen take Mita LIne to Mita station, which I would attend the second day of the Summit meeting.

View of the imperial palace Tokyo

View of the Imperial Palace

It was good that I had a meeting there at Takebashi, the place was just accross the Imperial Palace, but unfortunately when I asked if I could go to Imperial Palace, it’s only open on the weekends, so I just bought my lunch (starving after getting lost and all), and a new contact lenses solution (and a little juggling of words in the optical).

There was conveniently a post office in the mall, so I bought several postcards with the stamp already included. The lady staff was so nice, so I was able to pick good postcards for Zidane and hubby, my parents, Ruby (who was supposed to go with me to Japan), my cousins and nephew.

The nice office partner told me to walk to Jimbocho station, which located several blocks. It wasn’t bad, and I just had lunch and managing to go by myself to Takebashi so far gave me some confident (though got lost haha).

On the way to Jimbocho station, I passed a street where they sell used-books (read it on LP), and I stop by there just to write the postcards and dropped it on the nearby mailbox.

I took Mita line from Jimbocho-eki and arrived safely in Mita station. Then my next challenge was to get to the campus where the meeting was. Again, when I surfaced on the neighborhood, I was puzzled as there was no signs to go to this campus.

Though a little hesitate, I asked a nearby salaryman there, who probably went out for a smoke, where is this daigaku (university). He answer, “Wakaranai” so I thanked him and text-messaged my friend, who came and picked me up

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!