More Bogglington Adventures

Californian ROOMIES, a river cruise, the world trade centre observatory, Tsujiki fish market and Tokyo central in rush hour!



Needless to say I have had a hectic but brilliant day!

Last night I went out with Noriko, we went to a festival called Torinoichi (Festival of the Rooster) which dates back to the Edo period and it is for good fortune and successful business. It was based around the Tori Temple and there were thousands of people! There were hundreds of stalls lining the streets mostly selling kumade rakes which are bamboo rakes with charms on. Apparently each family buys one of them a year and keeps it for good fortune and prosperity. There were also what seemed like hundreds of food stalls. We had "Yakitori" which was chicken offal and chicken meat skewered and barbequed with "tare" sauce. Even though the thought of offal made me feel a bit bleuugh it was actually very yummy! Then we tried miso stew which was okay but personally i think miso tastes of farts and bad breath!
We queued for the temple and when we got there, made a donation so that we could then ring the ritual bell (which i think is for good luck etc) I rang it about 3-4 times and you are only supposed to ring it twice... oops. oh well, hopefully that's more good luck for me! haha.
Then we went to a place near Tawaramachi to have a drink and a bit more to eat - I tried oysters for the first time!! yummy but slimy!
When I got in to the hostel, there were 2 more girls there - they are from California and very enthusiastic about everything except getting out of bed. And oh my god...am I super tidy or is everyone else super messy?! I didnt know girls could make so much mess, i thought it was just restricted to boys. Anyhoo apparently we have a 3rd ROOMIE who is korean but i havent met her yet.
Anyway after waiting for signs of life from the american girls for ages this morning, i decided to get up anyway and just try to be quiet so i didnt wake them! I headed off to Asakusa to get the river cruise from there to Hinode Pier - the main port of Tokyo. I got a croissant and a CAN of hot chocolate from a vending machine (which tasted of farty miso soup!!) and i got there literally one minute before the boat was due to go - whooopee! it was a beautiful journey and i took loads of photos. When I got to Hinode Pier I went and saw HamaRikyu gardens - it has seawater ponds which change level with the tides -it has a cute little tea house too! THEN i went on a mission to find the World Trade Centre Observatory and found it eventually - it was definitely worth it, the views were absolutely breathtaking, you could see the whole of Tokyo for miles and miles and miles and on a clear day apparently you can see Mt Fuji from there too. There were a group of 4 japanese ladies having a picnic at one of the tables up there (what an amazing place to have lunch!) and one other man strolling around... I cant believe it wasn't packed to bursting, it was so good and only about 4quid entry fee.
You can see so much from up there and there was a great view of Tokyo bay, Tokyo tower and the Imperial Palace Gardens. I didnt want to leave there, but eventually did.... on another mission to find Tsujiki fish market. The streets surrounding the fish market were bursting with fresh fish /seafood restaurants and sushi bars and there were also loads of stalls selling fresh fish, dried fish, wellies, fishermans nets, knifes etc.... I loved it and spent ages wandering around there. I then decided to go back to the hostel via Tokyo central station so that I could book my venga-bus ticket to Osaka as you have to reserve in advance and I'm going on Sunday night. Nobody at the bus station spoke english but after a lot of pointing and reading from my phrasebook, i have one ticket on the nightbus to Osaka Sunday night - leaving 11.30pm and getting in to Osaka at 7am. That'll be interesting. ha ha. Back to Tokyo central - I have never seen such a huge station in my life, it has got to be the size of Petersfield ha ha. AND it was rush hour.... that was an experience to say the least! I had some mans face squashed up against my back and my armpit in some womans face on the metro home!....lucky i washed this month ;) Now I am washing my smelly socks etc and updating this while I wait for the cycle to finish! Think ill get an early-ish night tonight as no doubt it will be a hectic one tommorow- meeting Noriko at 1pm and she is taking me somewhere fun apparently. I am staying with her and her family until I leave for Osaka on Sunday - I have booked myself into a Capsule hotel on Thursday night (19th) and then on Friday I am going to Kyoto to learn Zen meditation at a buddhist temple! Oooerr! can't wait - apparently you have to meditate in the same position for 2 hours solid, i hope i dont get a numb bum or pins and needles in my leg and then fall over when i stand up! xx