In Full Bloom

Kei woke me up at 7:30am as she was leaving for work. After I got out of bed, I found that she left me some seven pages of Post-It notes full of instructions. Hello, Mom! HaHa! I found it hilarious that she even spelled out how to use her PASMO card; I later told her, "Uhh, Kei, they actually have those in Singapore. I've tap-tapped my ass to get through the subway gates before." See? This is why people should travel: one can find out about these cool things available in different countries. ;P

After showering and leaving later than usual, I walked to my home subway station, Aoyama Ichome, to catch the train to Asakusa (pronounced "Ah-sahk-sah" and not "Ah-sah-koo-sah" as I pronounced it prior to coming to town) which was also on the Ginza line so I didn't have to transfer and deal with getting trampled by the "Sea of Humanity". Since Kei wasn't with me, I was paying more attention to the subway. Hmmm, Seoul's is definitely much more user-friendly. Seoul's subway has overhead screens that tells you the stop and which side of the train you'll exit from. When you're exiting the subway, the exit signs list the destinations available using that exit. You really can't get lost in Seoul. I promise!

Anyway, the Kaminarimon Gate was a few steps away from Exit #1. I found it with no problems at all especially since all the Caucasians were heading the same way. When traveling, I always say, "Follow where the white people go, and you'll find what tourist spot you're looking for."

As much as I had wanted a picture next to the giant lantern, I have realized that it's quite pointless to ask your fellow tourists to take your picture because they never frame the shot correctly. You end up being a tiny speck or worse, they only take a picture of you and don't include whatever it is in the background. I've found this to be a big drawback when traveling alone. ;P

I headed over to Nakamise Street where I was greeted with all the souvenirs I could wish for. Man, talk about cellphone straps galore. Holy ish! And yes, there were a lot of Hello Kitty ones. Must...not...buy.

After looking around Senso-ji Temple and the garden outside, I walked back to the entrance where they were giving away fresh orchids for Buddha's birthday. No wonder there were lots of people for a Wednesday.

I spotted a stall selling octopus balls so what's a girl to do, but eat. I quickly found out that I'm not in Seoul anymore: $5 for 6 pieces of octopus balls. Hmph! I wanted some yakisoba too but that's another $5. Instead, I had a "plain" ningyo-yaki, a small Japanese cake with sweet red beans for $1. Yum, but quite greasy. I miss you, hotteok! And wow, there are a lot of "-yakis" in Japan. HeHe!

I bought a few souvenirs including a wooden Japanese doll. I actually wanted a bigger, nicer one, but I just thought they were way too expensive plus I could get them in Seattle at Uwajimaya. LoL.

I was about to go down to the subway when I spotted the "Giant Poop Building", the Asahi Brewery Building, from a distance. I walked over to the bridge and took a picture. Then I spotted the sakuras over at Sumida Park and walked over there. Ahh, sakuras falling in the wind. So picturesque. I then spotted rickshaw "drivers" in their tight short shorts. Wow, those shorts ARE tiny.

The next instruction from Kei was to take the train to Ueno Park. OMG! While Cathy was begging for sakuras in Seoul, they were in full bloom in Tokyo! All these trees next to each other were so gorgeous! I sooooo want a DSLR now to capture all these beautiful things that I see when I travel! Just like any other place in Japan, the park was packed with people. I managed to find an available bench by the lake with people in paddle boats (think Baguio's Burnham Park). Kei later asked me if I rented one and I was like, "Eh? Watch me get tired and not make it back to shore!" HaHa! But oh wow, the park was so pretty! I actually saw the sakuras when my plane was landing yesterday so I knew that I wasn't going to miss them while in Japan.

After circling the huge Ueno Park, I walked over to Akihabara. Seriously, I need to stop walking to places and just ride the train. Since it's a little past 1pm, none of the lights were on. However, I did see the girls dressed in french maid outfits, beckoning guys to come in to the stores. I found a crepe shop and bought a crepe, only to find out that the crepe "shell" was pre-made so it was far from yummy. Boo! While walking, what did I see being shown on one of the building's jumbotron? Big Bang! HaHa! I'm like, "Aww, yes, I missed you guys in Seoul." When I was riding the shuttle to the KAL bus stop yesterday, I actually saw the poster for the April 18th concert with Big Bang, Rain, and others. It wasn't meant to be, boys. Only LeeDongGun and I were meant to be for now. HaHa!

I needed to make my way back to Hiroo station so I tried to find the Hibiya Line stop, but couldn't figure out where the hell it was. I asked a middle-aged man, but he was confused to where it was so I ended up asking this girl and thankfully, she knew English. She was kind enough to even walk me to the station.

I was a bit early in Hiroo so I walked to the grocery store to buy a bottle of water. All this time I thought the drinks in the vending machines were priced regularly, but those are Y150, while they were only Y95 at the grocery store! I swear, Kei needs to tell me these things! I also walked over to Hiroo Plaza, but there wasn't much to eat over there unless you're up for KFC. I decided to just walk over to Kei's work and wait for her there.

Aww, my little Kei moving on up from our old sucky workplace. It's good to know that all of my fave co-workers, including myself, are out of there. I just need to find work as soon as I get back to Seattle. ;P

We went to Tokyo Tower, but were a bit early to see the city aglow, so we opted to eat dinner first. Kei is not the best tour guide around since she has been out of the country for a number of years, so we were walking aimlessly for a while before heading back to this little Japanese restaurant we passed by near Tokyo Tower. Unfortunately, the place was full of salary men smoking over dinner. :( Again, it was all vending machines for ordering.

We went back to Tokyo Tower and finally went up. So the list is now: Kuala Lumpur Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur), Macau Tower, Seoul Tower, and Tokyo Tower. I gotta get back to Shanghai soon for the Orient Pearl Tower. Anyhoo, Tokyo Tower has these mascots, the Noppon Brothers. Unfortunately, I think they look like p3nises so I've called them the P3nis Brothers. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see them. Of course, what's a Japanese tourist destination without a proper Hello Kitty cellphone strap? There's one with her next to Tokyo Tower. I passed up on it, using the reason that I didn't get the Asakusa one so it's pointless now to get one from the other places I'll be visiting. HeHe! Kei did drag me in one of the photo booths though. She and I were both wearing blue and the background color of the Tokyo Tower was blue so when the pictures came out, only our heads showed in the picture. It was hilarious!

By this time though, my feet were spazzing out. My feet were aching at the bottom from sharp pains. I think they're overworked from all the uphill hikes I've been doing everyday, in addition to all those subway stairs. Or maybe, I'm just getting old. Seriously, I was in pain.

Kei, thinking that I needed to be off my feet, decided to take me to Shibuya (or as I'd like to ghetto-ly pronounce it, "She booooo yaaaa!") for some karaoke. I told her that I went to a noraebang in Seoul and she quickly said, "Well, here in Tokyo, we call it karaoke." Yes, yes, so do Americans. LoL.

Unlike the noraebang we went to, this one actually had Michael Jackson songs so I was able to sing "Man in the Mirror" to my heart's content along with some Brian McKnight songs. Afterwards, I checked my e-mail and found out that I have a phone interview for a job that I applied for before I left Seattle. Sweet.

Before heading back home, we stopped by to buy a generic version of Salonpas for my feet. My gawd, my grandma used to use Salonpas! I'm really getting old! A box of those suckers are $15 in Japan. Sheesh!

After slapping one on each foot at home, I hobbled into bed. Me. Pain. Ouch. I want my mommy!