To say my time in Japan was exhausting is an
understatement. I collectively had 21
hours of sleep in the 5 days we had, which added to the 2 nights of no sleep
before port because of the rocking makes for one tired SASer! Cassie, Amanda
and I woke up around 6 the morning of port to catch the sunrise, and we could
not have been luckier. We were able to get great pictures of the sunrise on one
side of the ship, and pictures of Mt. Fuji on the other (Dad should be proud
because we caught it at the “golden hour” (; ). Getting the chance to see land
after such a long time was like Christmas morning. It was about 30 degrees
outside, but it didn’t matter because there were tons of us on the deck taking
pictures of anything solid.
Because of the
“Perfect Storm,” as the captain liked to call it, we were late getting into
port by about 2 hours. When we finally pulled in, there was a full-on marching
band with flags playing for us with an entire slew of people watching and
waving to us. I don’t know if it was just so awesome to see people waving us
into port or the fact that I was seeing land after 9 days at sea, but either
way it brought tears to my eyes. Apparently, the marching band is a tradition
when welcoming the MV Explorer to Port. A few years ago, there was a terrible
storm, and the good ol’ Explorer was the only ship brace enough to cross the
Pacific and port in Yokohama, so now they celebrate us coming to port. A few
friends had purchased tickets to the final match of Sumo wrestling up in Tokyo,
so they booked it out of Yokohama as soon as they cleared customs, and both
Cassie and Amanda had field labs for class, which left me and Nicole to hang
around for the day.
We had no rush to get off the ship and clear customs, which
was backed up from people with field labs, so we had a relaxing lunch on the
ship with other people in the same situation. We decided to team up with two
guys, Braden and Justin, who had the same plan of just walking around Yokohama
and seeing what there was. With no set plan, we headed out with our first task;
finding an ATM that took American cards. In Japan, most post offices and
7-Elevens have ATMs that will take cards from overseas, so we were able to find
one quickly (7-Eleven in like Starbucks in America; there is one every two
blocks or so).
Nicole lived in Japan for 3 years, so it was like having a
personal tour guide who could tell us all the cool “local” things to see. First
stop- the vending machines. As weird and lame as it sounds, the Japanese have
invested some awesome time and technology into their vending machine industry. A
lot of them had cool theme songs, anime characters and bright lights, and sold
a lot of stuff that you wouldn’t think to find. The greatest success was
finding hot chocolate, yes, HOT chocolate in some. There were also juice boxes
full of Sake, assorted flavors of odd Japanese drinks, and some even had
cigarettes. We then walked roughly 3 ½ miles into down town (which my feet were
unhappy about, because the boots I was wearing was not meant for such
distances.) We ended up in a random part of town which seemed dead and closed
down, until we realized it was a clubbing district and we found cool club names
to take pictures next to. My favorite was the Rainbow International Club.
On our way back to the general area of the ship, we stumbled
across what we think was main street. There were stores which sold cheap and
cute clothes, but I resisted the urge to buy anything. What I was willing to
spend every penny on was the pet store which had the cutest puppies and kittens
I have ever seen. The woman working at the pet store saw we thought these were
the cutest things ever, so she took a kitten out and we got to play with it.
Unfortunately, she then took it back. (If pets were not a prohibited item on the SAS
list, I would be writing this post while on my bed, cuddling with 10 new furry
friends.) All of the dogs I saw people had were small (no bigger than a Yorkie)
and they were very fashionable with little doggie sweaters. After the pet
store, we found a rinky-dink sushi place which was the kind with the conveyer
belt that you pull off the plates as it goes by and then add everything up at
the end. It was amazing and not at all like American sushi, but surprisingly
the first and last of sushi restaurants I saw the entire time in Japan. We left to restaurant then hit up a street
vendor who sold strawberries which we were advised to try because they are in
season. Another great investment of Japanese time and technology because these
were the best strawberries I have ever had. If you go when they are in season,
I HIGHLY recommend getting a few dozen boxes of them.
We then decided to walk on the other side of town and came
across an amusement park inside of the city. Braden and I chose to ride a
roller coaster, and by the time we got back to Nicole and Justin, there were
already a few other SASers with them. We then walked across the street so they
could have dinner at the mall, and then walked to yet another restaurant to
find Sake for people to try. It didn’t have any, but we felt bad because the
wait staff went through some trouble to seat our large group, so one person
ordered pasta and someone else got a beer. After that side trip, we went back
to port because it was about 10 pm, and Amanda and Cassie were getting back
soon.
When we got to the terminal, they were both sitting in the
main building searching for Wi-Fi, but we couldn’t find any so we decided to go
on a long walk looking for a place that had some. We walked for about half an
hour in the cold without any luck before we decided to turn around head back to
the ship. On our way back, we passed a hotel and picked up its Wi-Fi from the
middle of the street, so we stood there for about 20 minutes. I was able to
FaceTime my sister which was really exciting and so good to see her J When our fingers felt
like they had frostbite, we called it a night and headed back to the ship just
in time to see some snow flurries. We got back to the ship, packed our bags,
set our alarms and went to sleep. That was the first day. I told you-
exhausting.
On day 2, Amanda, Cassie and I woke up at 7, grabbed some
breakfast on the ship with a friend Mike who decided to tag along, and left for
the Yokohama train station. The train system on Japan is very overwhelming at
first glance, especially if you are only used to a few different color lines.
The Tokyo Subway is complex, and you have to jump a few trains (paying
different fares for each one) as you go. The lines are different colors, but
some are also different shades of the colors, so you have to know if you want
the light blue, medium blue or dark blue line. It also didn’t help that all of
the maps were in Japanese and as we got closer to the city, less and less
people spoke/understood English. The train ride took roughly an hour, and was
completely silent. They don’t talk at all on the train, so it felt a little
awkward a first. It is also frowned upon to eat and use your phone on the
trains.
When we reached the train that would eventually lead us to
the hotel the sumo group was staying at, we had no way of communicating with
them, so it felt like a wild goose chase through the streets looking for the
hotel and crossing our fingers hoping they were still there. We got off the
train about 5 blocks too early, and walked from there to the hotel, stopping
along the way to show people the address. My feet were yet again not happy with
my or my choice of shoes- boots again. It is advised to try and find young business
men and women to talk to because they are generally the ones who are educated
in English and can help you out. We
finally found the hotel, which is apparently the nicest one in all of Tokyo;
the ANA Intercontinental. (One of our friends’ parents own 18 different hotels
and have stocks in different chains, so he was able to get the employee
discount) Right as we walked down the lobby, the Sumo group came out of the
elevator which was perfect timing. Mike decided he was going to head back to
the ship because he was staying on it while it was in transit to save money, and
then we quickly went upstairs, dumped our bags, and headed out with Kayla and
Ben to Shibuya which is a district of Tokyo similar to Time Square. We found
the famous cross walk that 3.2 million people cross every day, as well as the
famous statue of a dog. I couldn’t tell you the significance of this dog, but I
know whoever put it there had poor judgment because it was right next to a
smoking area.
We found a hole in the wall restaurant where you pick what
you want from a vending machine type thing and the food is brought to you. The
pictures were hard to decipher, so we all punched random buttons and hoped it
wasn’t anything gross. I ended up with a dish that I think had chicken in it
with rice on the bottom. We then walked
around the shops of Shibuya, and then took a train to the Imperial Palace
across town. We got there at 4:03, but it closed at 4, so we could only take
pictures from the outside. Then we took another train to Tokyo Tower, but when
we saw the prices we agreed that it was cool enough from the outside. One of
the ticket options was a ride to the top and then a tour through the Magical
Dungeon. We still aren’t completely sure what that is…?
We walked from Tokyo Tower back to the hotel, which should
have taken 5 minutes, but we ended up getting lost and took a detour, turning
our walk into a mile long journey through the back alleys of Tokyo. When we
caught up with the rest of the group, we were all starving and looking for
sushi. The concierge told us it was a 5 minute walk down the street, but our
navigator Matt took a wrong turn, and we ended up at the beginning of Roppongi,
which is the clubbing area. We were tired of walking, so we cut our losses and
picked the first Japanese restaurant we saw- which happened to be Chinese.
After dinner, we wanted to see what Roppongi was all about and headed in that
direction. A promoter came up to us and took us to the Green Land, a club which
had fake ivy covering the ceiling and life-size models of cheetahs and tigers
in plexy-glass tables. It was nearly
empty when we went in, but the 11 of us filled the space quickly. The staff
really like us, and kept wanting to take pictures with us. By 12:30, a group of 6 SASers came in, along
with some more locals. I left to go back to the hotel at around 2 with Cassie,
Kayla, Raj, Ben and Phil. Tired, I sat in the hallway for a while utilizing the
Wi-Fi and calling my parents and talking to some friends. I eventually went to
sleep around 2:30/3.
I got a startling wake-up call at 4:30 from Amanda, who had
just gotten back from the club, who wanted to go to the Tokyo fish market.
Struggling to move, Cassie, Kayla, Amanda, Phil, Lisa and I got ourselves
together and somehow made it there by train. It was freezing cold, pitch black
and altogether terrifying. The fishermen rode around on little carts and paid
little to no attention to anything around them. Collectively, we neared death a
dozen times, and kept getting yelled at because we were in the wrong areas. At
around 6:45, we all decided enough was enough and we headed back to the hotel
to take a nap. I had heard a ton of great things about the fish market, so
don’t let my experience sway you if you ever decide to go. I’ve talked to
multiple people on the ship that did go and said it was fantastic. I think we were
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We got back to the hotel around 8, and settled into bed.
Keep in mind, there were 11 of us sharing 2 rooms, so finding any sort of soft
place to sleep was a miracle, but I lucked out and was able to share the bed
with 2 others. When we woke up around 10:30, we all showered, pulled our things
together and checked out of the hotel. In the process, I lost a ring in the
elevator shaft, so that was a sad note. We then took the bullet train down to
Kobe, which took about 3 ½ hours to get to, and most of us tried to nap. When
we got to Kobe, we checked into the hotel (ANA Crown Royal) and were able to
sit and relax for a few minutes. At this point, it was Raj, Ben, Phil, Lisa,
Julia, Kayla, Cassie, Amanda and I, so the 1 suite was able to hold us (The
bathroom alone could have fit two of my cabins inside of it.)
We asked the concierge for a good place that sold Kobe beef
and set out to try and master the Kobe subway. It was much easier than Tokyo,
and we got to downtown Kobe in no time. The restaurant we went to, Steak Land,
was hibachi style, and very expensive. Amanda and I decided to split a Kobe
steak between the two of us, so the price came down to about 2,000 Yen (roughly
$20). I was happy with the meal, but I would have been totally fine paying the
$55 to have my own, it was just that good. It was the kind of meat that melts
in your mouth, and all the hype is so true. It really is the best beef there
is.
After dinner, we
wanted to see more of downtown Kobe, and decided to walk the streets. It was
around the time when the drunken businessmen go home, so we ran into a few who
were very excited to see Americans and wanted to talk to us. After encountering
3 different groups who all thought Cassie was famous because she lived in
California and I knew the President, we decided to call it a night and headed
back up to the hotel. I was able to call my dad and talked to him for a while.
The sleeping situation was tricky because there were 2 beds and 9 of us. We
pushed the two beds together and all 6 girls slept horizontally on the beds
with our heads in the middle sharing pillows. Raj slept on the couch, Phil
slept on the floor and Ben slept in the bathtub.
We didn’t set any alarms, so we slept in a little bit which
was a nice change of pace. I woke up and was able to FaceTime with my mom and
dad, which was so nice (as much as I normally don’t like to admit it, I do miss
them). I even got to see Buddy! Kayla, Cassie, Amanda, Ben and I then took a
train to the ship really quick to change shoes (finally!) and I dropped off all
of my stuff. We were then in search of
an ATM and found a Canadian who lived in Japan that could help us out. After we
pulled out some money, we went to the Kobe station and bought our tickets for Kyoto
which was about an hour away. Kyoto is the more traditional part of Japan with
multiple temples, shrines and Geishas.
It was lunchtime when
we got off the train and we were starving, so we got lunch in the station
before heading out. There was a huge temperature difference between Kobe and
Kyoto, and I am not sure if it was because Kyoto is in the mountains or because
it was cloudy, but I was not as warmly dressed for Kyoto as I should have
been. We went to two different temples
within walking distance of the train, both uniquely different, but also very
similar. The first one we went to, Amida Hall, was built in competition with
the second temple and is the largest wooden structure in the world. The second
one was overall better and more intricately decorated. By the time we finished
with the two temples, it was close to 4:30. We weren’t able to see the Bamboo
Gardens or the Botanical gardens, which I know Cassie was bummed about. On the
plus side, it was super cold, so I don’t think we would have seen any bloomed
flowers.
We walked to Gion which the guidebook said had one of the
prettiest streets in all of Asia. I could see the potential, but because it was
winter, the cherry blossoms weren’t in season, so it looked like a typical
street. It was also dark out, which probably didn’t help the situation. We
didn’t want to risk missing the train back to Kobe, so we headed back at around
7:30 and got back to the hotel by 9. On the train back, we ran into another
group of SASers and compared stories. When we got back to the hotel, we were
starving but most of the restaurants were closed, so we ended up finding the
equivalent to a Taco Bell, but with Japanese food. This means that it was cheap
and quick service. Our poor server couldn’t speak or understand any English, so
it was a struggle to communicate what we wanted to him. There was a lot of
pointing, and a little miscommunication. Amanda thought she ordered a bowl of
noodles and was brought out a plate of cheese. I had planned to go back to the ship that
night because I had and field lab the next day , but it was too late and I
didn’t want to take the train alone so I stayed at the hotel again.
Day 5, I was woken up, not very kindly, by Ben who slapped
my legs until I sat up at 6:30. Raj, Ben and I all had field labs, so we headed
back to the ship by train and got there by 7. Raj’s lab met at 7:15, so Ben and
I went up to breakfast before I went back to my cabin and had a quick shower.
My field lab was for Mass Com, so we started out in the classroom by watching
The Cove, a documentary about Japanese fishermen who trap and kill 23,000
dolphins a year in a small fishing town called Taiji. The dolphins trapped are
first looked at by dolphin trainers all around the world who buy them for
$150,000 or more, and then they are shipped out to the different
“swim-with-the-dolphins” centers. The rest are then herded into a discreet cove
and killed, turning the water red every day from September-March, which is the
migration season. These dead dolphins are then sold as food, the problem being
the ppm of mercury in a dolphin is 2,000 when the safe limit of consumption is
.04. This meat is labeled as whale and tuna and sold to schools, and the entire
operation is being covered up by the government. It is an incredibly sad and moving
documentary, and I highly advise you watch it.
After watching, our class went to an aquarium where we
watched a dolphin show and were able to explore. The other awesome thing about
Japan is their photo booths that Photoshop automatically and has cool
backgrounds. Ben and I did one, and I hope there is a scanner on the ship that
I can upload them, because I want to show you how cool it is! We then met up
with students from the Kobe University and hung out with them for a while
before coming back to the ship and giving them a tour of the Explorer. Once
they left, Ben and I met up with Kayla, Cassie, Amanda and Nicole and we had
dinner before all of us went back to the room and crashed.
One thing that struck me was it is normal to wear surgical
masks there. I was told they are used if they are currently sick, or if they
have a big event that they don’t want to get sick for, such as a wedding or a
vacation. There also are not many trashcans in any of the places we were. This
is because you are expected to keep your trash with you until you get home, and
the streets are very clean. The toilets are a mix between bidets and squatting
holes, and the toilet paper is scented (so I’m told). The best part is there is
this really good ice cream that is inside of a waffle cone with a layer of
chocolate in the middle. Amanda and I are making it our mission to find a way
to get it in the states. I really enjoyed Japan, but it was not what I was
expecting. I’m not sure what I envisioned it to be like, but I was pleasantly
surprised. Everyone was so friendly and excited to see us, they were also very
willing to help us out if we were lost. I had a great time in the 5 days I had,
and now am recuperating in the 2 days between there and China!
XO,
Sara
PS- sorry that post was a novel, and if you made it all the
way through, congrats! I wanted to condense it, but I did so much and didn’t
want to leave anything out. Thanks for reading J
No comments:
Post a Comment