Day 2 – wet and wild

We were promised a wet day, but we got much more than that. 

At least it started out to be quite tolerable with a light misty rain, and temperatures on the coolish side. At least we were prepared. We had our own umbrella as Jen bought one from the hotel desk for the exorbitant amount of 200 Yen, or $2.00. It was one of those very light appliances – clear so that your vision is unimpeded. Now I have never owned an umbrella in my life, and generally quite happy to walk in the rain, especially the inland rain where it is pretty light and lasts a few minutes and leaves behind the beautiful smells of damp soil. So I as happy enough to spend a day wandering in this light mist.

Our first stop was the delightful Kiyosumi Gardens, truly an oasis of delight, right in the middle of this vast city with a large pond with lots of bird life. The large stepping stones around much of the pond forces you to walk slowly and thus absorb the beauty of the trees, water and birds. It was quite serene, and a happy way to start the day.

By the time we got to our second destination, another shopping district adjacent to the Sensoji temple, the rain was beginning to settle in and the temperature was dropping rapidly. The giveaway was the mass of umbrellas with people leaning into the wind. The market area was a thriving, surging mass of people – all (apart from me) with umbrellas. Umbrellas become lethal weapons with the random way people walk, changing direction without warning and whipping the unexpecting and unumbrella-ed with their weapons. I was like Rocky Balboa, ducking and weaving to escape the lashes. And I was beginning to get wet. As I mentioned earlier, close crowds are not my thing and I was happy to escape. We ducked into a side alley and discovered some friends waiting in a queue for some lunch. More to the point, waiting for a seat inside with the promise of food to warm the insides. The spicy noodle soup and fried dumplings were fantastic and we did enjoy that lunch.

Our guide had us on a pretty tight schedule and had us rushing on to our next destination, which I think included the Imperial Palace. This involved a long walk to a spot where you could see the Palace gates, but not the palace. This seemed a bit underwhelming, especially in driving rain and even more temperature drops, so I opted to stay on the warm (and dry) bus with a few sensible others while Jen wandered off with the less-sensible. It all seemed a bit pointless.

Jackie, our guide pressed us on to our next stop, Shibuya Station where there is shopping and more shopping. By now the rain was quite hard and I was forced to buy my first umbrella, a sturdy-looking device with glad wrap to keep out the rain. Shibuya Station is also the place where the dog Hatchiko is memorialised in a statue. You might remember movie Hachi which was the beautiful story of his life. It is a rather good movie if you get a chance to see it.

By now my blood-caffeine levels were getting dangerously low and we were desperate for another place just to sit, have a coffee, escape the rain and pause from the relentless pace we have kept. The closest that resembled such a place was a Burger King (Hungry Jacks). Jenny managed to negotiate the self-serve ordering device and somehow the simple need for coffee morphed into fries, coffee, and apple tart. It was all nice and hot which was its primary purpose of warmth rather than nourishment. Some friends, also with the same needs, found us, but their order consisted of whopper burgers which looked vile and with nothing either appetising or appealing about them (the burgers, not the friends!)

Our schedule is fast-paced and we had to hurry back to our coach for the last site of the day. For some obscure reason, our guide seemed to think that we needed to have more shopping opportunities that included seeing the red-light district of Tokyo. He was so excited to take us to this area. It will surprise no one that shopping and red light districts will not generate a flutter of interest for me. Jen will get a little excited about the shopping dimension. Okay, Jenny will get very excited about the prospect of shopping, but even her levels of excitement were dulled by the rain and cold. Again we sought sanctuary in sustenance and discovered a Krispy Kreme shop, selling an American version of doughnuts. We had hot chocolate and a doughnut each, which, while obscenely sweet, was delicious and energy giving.

It was heaven to finally get home. We had a call from our friends Machiko and Satoshi with whom we will lunch tomorrow. They sounded excited about seeing us, as we are about seeing them after several years. Jenny has already fallen into a deep sleep. At first I thought we were experiencing a light earthquake, but the low rumble seemed to be coming from Jenny’s bed. Don’t tell her I said this, will you!

In summary, the rain and cold were disappointing, but we did see some interesting parts to this large and fascinating city. And we continue to get know our companions a little better with each day. And that is a good thing.

Again, mata ne.

Bill

Having issues loading some photos – so just a few today.