Day 81 – Tokyo

Nov 17th

Grossness
We got up at 6AM to make “bath time” when we had to shower in the communal showers. Luckily, I got in there when no one else was. After making it to the train station, we picked up some beacon wrapped asparagus pastries and juice before boarding the bullet train for Tokyo. Once on the train, we found seats in the third car and settled in for a nice nap. I sat next to a old man in a business suit, who was reading manga (comic books), which almost everyone reads in Japan. They are ubiquitous on the trains, seen in hands of salarymen, housewives, college, high school and elementary school children. But this guy was reading anime porn, which was totally awkward. He spent most of his time in a perpetual cycle of reading, heading to the bathroom and falling asleep. I tried to shift closer in my seat to Sara, who had passed out for most of the time. Honestly, I was a little scared he might touch me if I feel asleep, so I vigilantly stayed awake through the trip.

Tokyo!
After pulling into Tokyo station and locking our things in a station locker, we hoped on the subway to the Shibuya district in Western Tokyo where we began our walking tour north to Shinjuku. During our walking tour we admired the business industrial streets of Tokyo. It looks remarkably like NYC, and had all the ritzy shops that you can find anywhere but we were in Japan! While making our way into the Harajuku district (famous for the teens that dress crazy like in Gwen Steffani’s music videos), we stoped for lunch. We ordered steamy bowls of udon or soba noodles with green tea. Once filled up, we continued walking along Harajuku to find Kiddie World, a massive six story toy store that had every Japanese cartoon character under the sun. We spent a good deal of time looking around and playing with the toys. Brit and Sara got leather bracelets engraved, while Goldie and I had a photo shoot on the floor devoted to Snoopy. We peaked into a few more shops, before finding We Go (a popular used clothing store) where everyone went wild with the selection of flannels, boots and wool hats. Finally, we took a break at Starbucks. While sitting and chatting outside, we someone dressed up as Santa Clause walk in. Jokingly, we guessed it was another Semester at Sea students… and low-and-behold we were right. Following Santa, marched in a rein deer and the red Power Ranger. Dominico, the Power Ranger, explained they just felt like dressing up for no reason. It really didn’t surprise us, since SAS students kinda do and wear whatever the hell they want on this trip. After feeling refreshed, we headed further into the Harajuku district toward Yoyogi park and fund the H&M that had a line outside that was three blocks long! I hope it was worth getting inside because it was about eight-stories high. We just admired the people and headed through the Harajuku alley streets where we came upon some of Gewn’s Harajuku girls. That’s where we came across the small eclectic shops that I could have spent all day in. Unfortunately, I had to make it back to Yokahama to visit the Ramen Museum for my Psych of Food class.

Ramen Museum
Once in the Shin Yokahama station, we headed straight for the Museum, which was just a few blocks from the station. Staged as the streets of 1950s Tokyo, the museum takes visitors back in time to when ramen was first transforming with new flavors and distinct tastes. Furthermore, visitors can sample a range of ramen shops from areas across Japan, including places like Sapporo, Asahikawa, Tokyo, Yokahama, Wakayama, Hakata and Kumamoto. Each of the restaurants had their own unique taste, ambiance and aroma based on the chef’s specifications for their ramen. We had a great time walking around just looking at the Museum itself, but also got captivated by a game of bingo that erupted in the center. With the help of two staff members, we were able to translate our bingo board into English versions of the various sea animals that made up the simple, 3-by-3 bingo board. I actually won bingo during the second round, and got a free lollipop that is currently sitting beside my bed in all its glory. Afterward, we settled down in the Fukuchan Ramen Shop to taste the steamy noodles sprinkled lightly with crushed garlic. Full of ramen and dirty from a day of traveling, we made our way back to the boat to get some rest from seeing 6 cities in 4 days.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was seeing Santa, a rein deer and a Power Ranger walk into Starbucks. My “low” was having to head back to Yokahama sooner because of my FDP requirement (the Ramen Museum).