Tokyo - Part 3

Tokyo, Day 2 (Continued)
Shopping at Harajuku
Japanese people are stylish! I don't think I saw a frumpy person the whole time we were in Japan. Everyone (and I mean everyone) was either sleek and sophisticated or an all out fashion freak! And there is no fashion gender gap here. The guys are just as adventurous with their hair and clothes as the girls are. Even the business-suit-wearing-briefcase-carrying serious men had super edgy/spiky/asymmetrical hairdos. So we went to Harajuku, a spot famous for crazy fashion girlies (who look a little mismatched and over the top by western standards) and a spot absolutely covered in shops.
I was overwhelmed with the masses of people and on a complete fashion overload! We went to one building that has about 5 floors and another 5 half floors (you can only get between floors and half floors with stairs -- stroller/wheelchair access doesn't seem to be too much of a concern in Asia), and what a scene! I was excited to pick up "my little something" from Japan here, but I was too overloaded, and I couldn't figure out what would work for me in Malaysia anyway, so we just window-shopped. We went to a sweet little cafe in the back of the building. And...

I'm in love with Tokyo! I don't know why, but I told George that it somehow reminds me of the Faroe Islands. He suggested that it was the weather. And to be honest, that's fairly likely. But it's more than that. It's also the high-tech-modern/simple-life vibe that the Japanese people have. It's the high-fashion-for-everyone deal. It's the subtle culture that was infused into everything. This city/country has a real soul. And I know I may offend, but at least for me in my experience of America so far, it has no perceptible soul. What I mean by that is that its identity is changing and is imprinted on the land by the changing people that come and go; it's about the day-to-day, just getting through your life stuff, whereas Japan, and Europe, seem to have their own intangible quality that you can just feel and breathe in when you're there. It's as if the land itself has its own real presence, living in a symbiotic relationship with its people. To be fair to the US, maybe I just haven't traveled to the right regions to look for a soul. I really haven't seen that much of it.

Anyway, back to the trip...
So after Harajuku window shopping we were completely wiped out, so we went back to the hotel and though it was only about 4 or 5pm, we put our heads down for just a few, tiny moments and fell into a deep, deep, deep sleep. This is pre-sleep:

Tokyo, Day 3 (Really Day 2)
Fish Market
I read in my travel book that there is really impressive fish market that is just a MUST SEE. Really? A fish market?? Um, ok, if you say so!

Well, we went anyway, because we just decided to go to the places the book suggested since we didn't have any more time to waste at Starbucks making these decisions, and... it was really, really cool! We didn't make it for the pre-dawn selling extravaganza, but what we saw was impressive. There were rows and rows and rows and rows of soooooooo many kinds of fresh sea creatures of various kinds being sold to everyone from people in rubber boots with baskets strapped to their bikes to fashion girlies in high heels (not recommended) and plastic grocery bags.
Fish on a bike?

There was also a produce market, and then there was a market of random thingamabobbies.
There was also a slew of sushi restaurants with, presumably, the freshest sushi in the world, but none of them took credit cards (another thing we're experiencing a lot in Asia), so we had to roam the city in search of an ATM that would take our card -- not an easy find!
This cool little shrine was in middle of the market madness.

While George was trying one ATM of many, I spotted this guy taking his own little photo:Apparently the emergence of cherry blossoms really is a big deal to the average Tokyoite.

I also saw this little bookstore. If you look closely, you can see a book about Obama on the table right in front of the man. It never ceases to amaze me how much foreigners inform themselves on our politics when we do little to inform ourselves on theirs. Remember, this isn't a book about a president or even the democratic candidate! He's in the running to be in the running, and still foreigners are reading about him!
Still on the quest for an ATM, and I saw these oddities...

A Japanese convenience store. Its ATM also wouldn't work for George.All this ATM hunting had us hungry, so we found this really amazing little hide-away place to eat at. First we tried to find a restaurant recommended in my travel book. No good, it was closed, and that had taken forever, so now we just looked for the first Japanese restaurant we could find. That was TOUGH. They are just as interested in foreign cuisine as we are! We finally found a cool little café that seemed totally authentic. And it was kind of fun. You had to order your food from a vending machine, and someone would bring it to you. Only one problem -- the vending machine only had Japanese characters, so we had no idea how to order. We gave up and accidentally stumbled upon this place.
It was so cool! It was down under the street level, it was tiny, and it was overflowing with ambience. It also had Japanese food. Finally!
Another thing to note about the Japanese people (other than their helpfulness and fashion sense) is the way they really care about their surroundings. The city is clean, clean, clean. And there aren't any trashcans around. Do you know, people rarely eat on the go here, and if they do happen to have some trash, they hold onto it till they get home!?!? Also, the city is full of little opportunities for gardening. Many shops have little clusters of planters in front of them on the sidewalk, like this:
So, we were on our way back to the fish market area with cash in hand (ok, we'd eaten lunch already now, but we still wanted to go try the sushi), and I decided to make a stop at the Kabuki-Za theater to see some Kabuki. I only watched for about half an hour or less as Regin was talking and screeching and George had to wait outside with him. But it was cool to see, even though I couldn't understand a word. I didn't get to take any pictures inside, but here is the gorgeous theater from the outside:After all of that walking, ATMing and everything, the fish market and sushi places were closed by the time we got back. So we headed back to the subway. Several of the walkways down there have artwork or historical pieces to look at.

More soon...