Tokyo!
I am in sunny Tokyo!
I arrived last night on the bullet train, which was pretty damn cool, although I did have to sit
on ther floor in the smoking area, but I didn't really care. It only took 1hour 20mins. to get from Nagoya to Yokohama, so comfort wasn't really an issue. Trains are pretty darned fast over here (the fastes in the world, no less) so the journey literally flew by. Happy days.
This morning, my host Rachel and I awoke bright and early after what was probably an unhealthily small amount of sleep. Tonight promises birthday festivities, so I'll have to see how the fatigue pans out. Nothing a few beers won't solve, I'm sure.
Anyway....this morning we awoke bright and early to visit Tskiji- an area of Tokyo packed with markets, the most significant of which being the fish market. It was crazy- hundreds and thousands- even millions - of different types of fish, squid, octopus, shrimp, lobster, crab and so on. The atmosphere was manic (there were fish-guts splashing here and there; nice!) both in and outside the market area, as everyone went about their business- be it buying, selling or preparing. Fascinating stuff.
So...you're in the fish market area of Tokyo and you need some lunch. What do you choose? Of course, it has to be pancakes and maple syrup. Ok- that was breakfast- a little later we took the plunge and ordered some fresh-from-the-market sushi. I quite like sushi as a rule. Never been crazy for it, but I think I could learn to love it pretty quickly. Rachel and her co-teacher friend didn't seem quite so keen- indeed it was their first proper sushi experience in Japan. However, I think we all enjoyed at least some of the food we ordered! (NB; sushi in England doesn't taste, look, smell or feel anything like the real thing!).
Having not updated for a while - a quick note on last weekend.
Last weekend was amazing. I went straight from work to Gudjo, a town about 90 mins out of Gifu by car, famous for its dancing festivals during the Obon Festival, which was in full swing at the time. I have never seen so many people dancing together. Traditional Japanese dancing seems to involve a series of repeated steps, which result in the participants moving steadily in a direction dictated by the music. I tried my hand in a few dances, and found it oddly calming. There must have been thousands upon thousands of people in the town, the vast majority in traditional dress. The atmosphere was incredible- I hgad an amazing time.
Following the all night dancing, my hosts (students at the school) and I grabbed a couple of hours sleep in the car, before driving up into the mountains to see the Amidaga Waterfall. We waited an hour for the rains to stop, before venturing up to see the waterfall, and standing so close to it that we all got soaked to the skin anyway. It was beautiful. In fact, the whole weekend was wonderful- and we capped it all off with some ten pin bowling. Which I lost.
I arrived last night on the bullet train, which was pretty damn cool, although I did have to sit
on ther floor in the smoking area, but I didn't really care. It only took 1hour 20mins. to get from Nagoya to Yokohama, so comfort wasn't really an issue. Trains are pretty darned fast over here (the fastes in the world, no less) so the journey literally flew by. Happy days.
This morning, my host Rachel and I awoke bright and early after what was probably an unhealthily small amount of sleep. Tonight promises birthday festivities, so I'll have to see how the fatigue pans out. Nothing a few beers won't solve, I'm sure.
Anyway....this morning we awoke bright and early to visit Tskiji- an area of Tokyo packed with markets, the most significant of which being the fish market. It was crazy- hundreds and thousands- even millions - of different types of fish, squid, octopus, shrimp, lobster, crab and so on. The atmosphere was manic (there were fish-guts splashing here and there; nice!) both in and outside the market area, as everyone went about their business- be it buying, selling or preparing. Fascinating stuff.
So...you're in the fish market area of Tokyo and you need some lunch. What do you choose? Of course, it has to be pancakes and maple syrup. Ok- that was breakfast- a little later we took the plunge and ordered some fresh-from-the-market sushi. I quite like sushi as a rule. Never been crazy for it, but I think I could learn to love it pretty quickly. Rachel and her co-teacher friend didn't seem quite so keen- indeed it was their first proper sushi experience in Japan. However, I think we all enjoyed at least some of the food we ordered! (NB; sushi in England doesn't taste, look, smell or feel anything like the real thing!).
Having not updated for a while - a quick note on last weekend.
Last weekend was amazing. I went straight from work to Gudjo, a town about 90 mins out of Gifu by car, famous for its dancing festivals during the Obon Festival, which was in full swing at the time. I have never seen so many people dancing together. Traditional Japanese dancing seems to involve a series of repeated steps, which result in the participants moving steadily in a direction dictated by the music. I tried my hand in a few dances, and found it oddly calming. There must have been thousands upon thousands of people in the town, the vast majority in traditional dress. The atmosphere was incredible- I hgad an amazing time.
Following the all night dancing, my hosts (students at the school) and I grabbed a couple of hours sleep in the car, before driving up into the mountains to see the Amidaga Waterfall. We waited an hour for the rains to stop, before venturing up to see the waterfall, and standing so close to it that we all got soaked to the skin anyway. It was beautiful. In fact, the whole weekend was wonderful- and we capped it all off with some ten pin bowling. Which I lost.
posted by Christopher at 8:53 PM
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