The day has come!
But first, I had to get a legit tourist spot out of the way. Kei and I woke up early to go to Tsukiji Market. Ahh, Tsukiji. Who knew that you could die there from all those little trucks zooming around. Watch out because they don't care about stupid tourists.
Those tunas are huge! When I went to General Santos in the Philippines, I missed seeing the tunas because I arrived there late in the afternoon so this was actually my first time seeing them. Let's see how the boys at the Pike Place Market toss these puppies around. HaHa! We also saw the mountain of styrofoam boxes next to the market and I kept saying how Seattle's MayorNickels would've totally hated this place (he's looking to ban styrofoam boxes at restaurants around the city in a few years).
Although it would've been nice to be able to say that I ate sushi at Tsukiji, I wasn't up for it this early in the morning. Instead, I bought a pack of fried wontons and these cheesy things at the market and called them breakfast. When we got out to the main road, we saw the ramen restaurants and I wished we ate ramen instead. I bet they were cheaper, too.
Kei wanted to take me to Harajuku, but I insisted that we should start heading to where we needed to go since it was nearing 9am already and it takes about an hour to get there. Okay, so I was a tad bit excited, but I was also saving some feet energy.
After about an hour on the Keio Line, we arrived at Tama Center Station and walked over to (drumroll please!) Sanrio Puroland. Mwahahaha! The dream fulfilled! We were the only adults without kids in tow. HaHa! When we purchased tickets, we got free keychains and Kei gave me hers since I gave her my Doraemon toy yesterday. That sounded like we were a couple of five-year-olds. LoL.
When the gates opened, I was just in awe. The first character we saw was Hello Kitty herself. I had to muscle my way to get a picture with her and keep those pesky little kids from getting in the way. HaHa!
The highlight of the park for me was the Sanrio Character Boat Ride (look out for Badtz Maru getting spanked) and the Believe Parade which featured most of the popular characters. If you're a Sanrio freak like me, you can appreciate seeing the Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Pekkle, Keroppi, plus the other oldie characters like Cheery Chums on display. Loved them all! Loved them so much we rode the Boat Ride twice. The first time was for me to try to take pictures and the second to enjoy the ride. Geek! LoL. I ended up buying the souvenir pic for Y1,000.
The Hello Kitty House was cute, but I thought the souvenir pic with Hello Kitty was dorky because it didn't even have a background.
At the Festival Plaza, they had collector's edition cellphone straps featuring each of the Sanrio characters. I eventually talked myself out of them since I do have all my 100 Sanrio Family plush toys at home which I still haven't figured out how to sell on eBay. HeHe.
The crappy thing about Puroland is the shows. Don't get me wrong, they were well-staged and didn't skimp out on special effects, but they were all in Japanese. In Hong Kong Disneyland, they had subtitles for all the shows, allowing foreigners to actually enjoy watching them. Nonetheless, I can't deny that I'm now a fulfilled woman. HaHa!
Since my feet were spazzing out already, we skipped Harajuku and Roppongi and headed over to Kei's mom's place to burn my pictures since my SD card was already full.
Seriously, being "injured" sucks. Whenever I travel, I do my best to stay in good health by drinking lots of water and never skipping meals, but little did I know that something like this could turn up and cut my itinerary in half. Tsk!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Teleporting in Tokyo
Kei took Thursday and Friday off to be with me. So with a travel buddy who owned a professional camera, we headed over to Chidori-ga-fuchi for some more hanami. We stopped by a convenience store for breakfast (yakisoba, Pocky sticks, bread, and milk tea) and off we went to the park to sit and stare at the flowers. Since it was early and on a weekday, we had the park to ourselves. Finally, no crowds!
Darn these flowers for being so pretty. I especially liked the ones on droopy branches which I've come to call "Droopies."
Since we had a lot to cover before my feet started spazzing out again, we headed over to Ginza. First stop: the Sony Building for the geek in me. I swear, it's the coolest place in the world. There's a section there where kids can dress up and take a picture and test out the photo printers. Umm, feeling like kids, Kei and I took turns and came home with free souvenir pictures. HaHa! But really, those printers produced clear and crisp prints! Very nice. I was also salivating over all the DSLRs. Ugh. Must buy one when I'm employed again so I can learn how to use one and be ready for my next trip!
Afterwards, we searched for the Godzilla statue which Kei didn't know existed. After help from kobans, Japanese police boxes, we found the dinky statue outside an office building. Come on, Tokyo = Godzilla; I had to see it.
It was time for lunch and despite my asking Kei to have lunch at a food court so that it'll be a little cheaper, we ended up at a posh okonomiyaki restaurant since she kept telling me that there were no food courts in the department stores. Darn this tourist guide of mine. HaHa! We had the lunch special for $10 each, but the okonomiyakis were already pre-made. They just put them on the teppan to heat up; not fun at all!
Since Kei wanted to come with me to Hiroshima, we headed over to Tokyo Station to get her train tickets while I availed my JR Pass. My gawd, it's true: the JR Pass is really a huge saving! Kei's tickets were somewhere around $400! Crazy!
We were in the area already so we walked over to the Imperial Palace. It turned out that Chidori-ga-fuchi was only around the corner from the Imperial Palace; we could've done this earlier. There was nothing much over there for we skipped the East Garden since it was almost closing time (and we somehow missed the entrance to the garden), but again, it was nice to get away from all the crowds in Tokyo and find some peace. By this time, my feet started spazzing out so I slapped on some Salonpas while sitting on one of the benches.
Instead of heading over to Harajuku, I suggested we go to Odaiba instead since it appeared to be the most out of the way tourist spot.
Wow, this was the Tokyo that I imagined: the place looked very Jetsons-like with the Fuji TV headquarters building. We took the Yurikamome Line, which crossed the super cool Rainbow Bridge, and got off at the Daiba stop. The view of the sunset from the Odaiba Seaside Park was awesome and I wished I had the money to stay at the very nice-looking Hotel Nikko over there. After eating Happy Meals at the McDonalds in Aqua City (Kei wanted the Doraemon toys. HaHa!), we headed over to Palette Town to ride the Odaiba Ferris Wheel, which turned out to be the largest in the world. Fantastic panoramic view!
After a tiramisu crepe at Crepe Ojisan, we headed over to Venus Fort, passing by the Toyota Mega Web.
Me: Kei, is this where that human robot is located?
Kei: Uhh, I think that's a Honda thing.
Me: Oh.
HaHa! That's what I get for not researching Tokyo as much as I did for Seoul. ;P Venus Fort is like Vegas' Caesar's Palace, complete with high-end stores. Next!
Going home, we took the Tokyo Teleport. Yes, that's what it's called. I'm telling you, this side of town is so futuristic. LoL.
Once again, I hobbled into bed looking forward to tomorrow's big day.
Darn these flowers for being so pretty. I especially liked the ones on droopy branches which I've come to call "Droopies."
Since we had a lot to cover before my feet started spazzing out again, we headed over to Ginza. First stop: the Sony Building for the geek in me. I swear, it's the coolest place in the world. There's a section there where kids can dress up and take a picture and test out the photo printers. Umm, feeling like kids, Kei and I took turns and came home with free souvenir pictures. HaHa! But really, those printers produced clear and crisp prints! Very nice. I was also salivating over all the DSLRs. Ugh. Must buy one when I'm employed again so I can learn how to use one and be ready for my next trip!
Afterwards, we searched for the Godzilla statue which Kei didn't know existed. After help from kobans, Japanese police boxes, we found the dinky statue outside an office building. Come on, Tokyo = Godzilla; I had to see it.
It was time for lunch and despite my asking Kei to have lunch at a food court so that it'll be a little cheaper, we ended up at a posh okonomiyaki restaurant since she kept telling me that there were no food courts in the department stores. Darn this tourist guide of mine. HaHa! We had the lunch special for $10 each, but the okonomiyakis were already pre-made. They just put them on the teppan to heat up; not fun at all!
Since Kei wanted to come with me to Hiroshima, we headed over to Tokyo Station to get her train tickets while I availed my JR Pass. My gawd, it's true: the JR Pass is really a huge saving! Kei's tickets were somewhere around $400! Crazy!
We were in the area already so we walked over to the Imperial Palace. It turned out that Chidori-ga-fuchi was only around the corner from the Imperial Palace; we could've done this earlier. There was nothing much over there for we skipped the East Garden since it was almost closing time (and we somehow missed the entrance to the garden), but again, it was nice to get away from all the crowds in Tokyo and find some peace. By this time, my feet started spazzing out so I slapped on some Salonpas while sitting on one of the benches.
Instead of heading over to Harajuku, I suggested we go to Odaiba instead since it appeared to be the most out of the way tourist spot.
Wow, this was the Tokyo that I imagined: the place looked very Jetsons-like with the Fuji TV headquarters building. We took the Yurikamome Line, which crossed the super cool Rainbow Bridge, and got off at the Daiba stop. The view of the sunset from the Odaiba Seaside Park was awesome and I wished I had the money to stay at the very nice-looking Hotel Nikko over there. After eating Happy Meals at the McDonalds in Aqua City (Kei wanted the Doraemon toys. HaHa!), we headed over to Palette Town to ride the Odaiba Ferris Wheel, which turned out to be the largest in the world. Fantastic panoramic view!
After a tiramisu crepe at Crepe Ojisan, we headed over to Venus Fort, passing by the Toyota Mega Web.
Me: Kei, is this where that human robot is located?
Kei: Uhh, I think that's a Honda thing.
Me: Oh.
HaHa! That's what I get for not researching Tokyo as much as I did for Seoul. ;P Venus Fort is like Vegas' Caesar's Palace, complete with high-end stores. Next!
Going home, we took the Tokyo Teleport. Yes, that's what it's called. I'm telling you, this side of town is so futuristic. LoL.
Once again, I hobbled into bed looking forward to tomorrow's big day.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Tokyo, Oh Tokyo
My hotel shuttle dropped me off at the KAL bus stop to catch the bus to the airport. I forgot to ask the Tourist Information Center last night where the cheaper generic airport bus stop was in Myeongdong so I had to cough up W14,000 for this ride (W5,000 more). At the airport, it was another Dunkin' Donuts breakfast to finish off the last of my wons. I actually had to use my credit card because their darn egg, cheese, bacon biscuit was almost $4...without a drink!
I got to Narita with no problems and as instructed by former co-worker Kei, whom I'll be visiting in Tokyo, I took the airport limousine bus to The New Sanno Hotel in Minato-ku. $30 for a bus ride! And to think I was whining about the $14 KAL bus ride in Seoul! Tsk. After two hours, I got to The New Sanno Hotel which was supposedly "very near" Kei's work. However, I wasn't familiar at all with the area so I wasn't about to drag my luggage around the city, trying to figure this out. Luckily, the guard was quite nice and called Kei for me who wasn't expecting me today. She thought I was arriving tomorrow! And this was after I've given her my complete flight itinerary and everything a whole month ago! After a $7 taxi ride to her work, I found Kei who was still in shock that I'm in Tokyo. In return, I was in shock about her. LoL.
We rode a taxi to her grandma's condo where I'll be staying at for four nights before I head off to Kansai. Maybe it's because I'm in a posh neighborhood, but I didn't think the condos/apartments in Tokyo were small as I've heard about over and over before. Hmm, it's all relative, I guess.
Since Kei didn't know that I was arriving today, she didn't have her stuff at her grandma's place, so we headed over to her mom's place via the subway and this was the start of my "Oh my God, I can't live in Tokyo" mentality.
Tokyo's subway is very much like Seoul's except that there aren't any manned ticket booths. Instead, you have to look at the subway map and find your intended stop where it'll say how much your ticket is. Using the ticket machine, you insert the coins, press the price for your ticket and voila, you now have your subway ticket. This is actually a longer process than having a manned ticket booth. In Seoul, I just tell the ajussis my subway stop, and they would give me the ticket which had the price already stamped on it. Easy peasy, fo' sheezy.
As we walked down to the platform, Kei was telling me how dirty Tokyo is and that's why I should wear a mask every day and gargle some antiseptic every night. I kept laughing because coming from Seoul where people talk highly about their city/country, Kei sounded so anti-Tokyo for someone Japanese. I was like, "Are you an American trapped in a Japanese body?!" LoL. Tokyo's subway seats were covered in fabric, hence looked dirtier compared to Seoul's. I found that Tokyo-ites were more casually dressed than Seoul-ites: I actually found lots of fellow jean-wearers and not all suit-wearers were wearing ties. This finally silenced my self-image problems that surfaced while in Seoul. HeHe. Regardless, Tokyo subways are chaotic: people running up and down the stairs, people pushing themselves in an already-packed train, and well, drunk people on the subways. Bleh.
I told Kei that I wanted Yoshinoya for dinner, but she couldn't remember where a Yoshinoya was (Seriously?! First level by Red Ribbon at SM Megamall, Kei. HaHa!). When we got out of the station, we saw a Matsuya so we opted for Yoshinoya's competitor instead. Wow, a vending machine to order your dinner. Thankfully, Kei was with me, because the whole thing was in Japanese and the pictures were so tiny that they weren't helpful at all. Kei didn't know that water came with the meal so I ended up paying for bottled water. Pooh!
Afterwards, we made it to their own apartment and again, hello, this place isn't small! After checking e-mail and Kei gathering her stuff, we made it back to her grandma's condo where I went straight to my Japanese bed for the night (umm, after I gargled the antiseptic. LoL). It was uneventful, but very long day for this traveler.
I got to Narita with no problems and as instructed by former co-worker Kei, whom I'll be visiting in Tokyo, I took the airport limousine bus to The New Sanno Hotel in Minato-ku. $30 for a bus ride! And to think I was whining about the $14 KAL bus ride in Seoul! Tsk. After two hours, I got to The New Sanno Hotel which was supposedly "very near" Kei's work. However, I wasn't familiar at all with the area so I wasn't about to drag my luggage around the city, trying to figure this out. Luckily, the guard was quite nice and called Kei for me who wasn't expecting me today. She thought I was arriving tomorrow! And this was after I've given her my complete flight itinerary and everything a whole month ago! After a $7 taxi ride to her work, I found Kei who was still in shock that I'm in Tokyo. In return, I was in shock about her. LoL.
We rode a taxi to her grandma's condo where I'll be staying at for four nights before I head off to Kansai. Maybe it's because I'm in a posh neighborhood, but I didn't think the condos/apartments in Tokyo were small as I've heard about over and over before. Hmm, it's all relative, I guess.
Since Kei didn't know that I was arriving today, she didn't have her stuff at her grandma's place, so we headed over to her mom's place via the subway and this was the start of my "Oh my God, I can't live in Tokyo" mentality.
Tokyo's subway is very much like Seoul's except that there aren't any manned ticket booths. Instead, you have to look at the subway map and find your intended stop where it'll say how much your ticket is. Using the ticket machine, you insert the coins, press the price for your ticket and voila, you now have your subway ticket. This is actually a longer process than having a manned ticket booth. In Seoul, I just tell the ajussis my subway stop, and they would give me the ticket which had the price already stamped on it. Easy peasy, fo' sheezy.
As we walked down to the platform, Kei was telling me how dirty Tokyo is and that's why I should wear a mask every day and gargle some antiseptic every night. I kept laughing because coming from Seoul where people talk highly about their city/country, Kei sounded so anti-Tokyo for someone Japanese. I was like, "Are you an American trapped in a Japanese body?!" LoL. Tokyo's subway seats were covered in fabric, hence looked dirtier compared to Seoul's. I found that Tokyo-ites were more casually dressed than Seoul-ites: I actually found lots of fellow jean-wearers and not all suit-wearers were wearing ties. This finally silenced my self-image problems that surfaced while in Seoul. HeHe. Regardless, Tokyo subways are chaotic: people running up and down the stairs, people pushing themselves in an already-packed train, and well, drunk people on the subways. Bleh.
I told Kei that I wanted Yoshinoya for dinner, but she couldn't remember where a Yoshinoya was (Seriously?! First level by Red Ribbon at SM Megamall, Kei. HaHa!). When we got out of the station, we saw a Matsuya so we opted for Yoshinoya's competitor instead. Wow, a vending machine to order your dinner. Thankfully, Kei was with me, because the whole thing was in Japanese and the pictures were so tiny that they weren't helpful at all. Kei didn't know that water came with the meal so I ended up paying for bottled water. Pooh!
Afterwards, we made it to their own apartment and again, hello, this place isn't small! After checking e-mail and Kei gathering her stuff, we made it back to her grandma's condo where I went straight to my Japanese bed for the night (umm, after I gargled the antiseptic. LoL). It was uneventful, but very long day for this traveler.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Annyeong, Seoul
Oh no. It's my last full day in Seoul. Say it ain't so!
After mailing a couple of postcards at the Seoul Central Post Office (again, only five minutes away from my hotel!), I walked over to Namdaemun Market, another Divisoria if you will. I found myself inside the accessories arcade, but it seemed very early and not all the tinderas were around. Walking further to Seoul Station, I caught the train to go to the World Cup Stadium.
I haven't had breakfast so I went to the mall's foodcourt. I knew how to order at a foodcourt since that's what I did in the AK Mall in Suwon, but since all the restaurant names were in Hangul at this mall, I didn't know which one had my bulgogi dolsot bibimbap. The cashier, who was quite nice and seemed to be familiar with confused tourists, walked me over to my counter and told the cooking ajummas to look after me. HeHe. The ajummas were all smiling at me and seemed to be quite amused. They kept talking to me, but I had no idea what they were saying. For the first round, I figured they asked me where I was from so I said, "Miguk saram." They all smiled and repeated what I said and then they started talking away again like I understood them. Eventually, one of the ajummas spoke up and addressed me directly and I'm like, "Uhh, I don't understand." No, really, ajummas, I don't understand. LoL. But eventually the light bulb turned on, and I eventually got that she was telling me to sit down while they cook my food. Score!
When the food was ready, they hollered from five feet away that my food was ready. Funny, but I was quite appreciative that they were looking out for me because I probably would've just sat there while my food was getting cold. Since my tongue almost fell off from all the spiciness of my last dolsot bibimbap at Insadong, I made sure to sit next to the water dispenser this time around in case I need to chug down lots of water again. HeHe. While finishing up my huge stone pot of rice goodness, a mother and daughter pair sat at a table next to me. As always, the baby was looking at me and I was making funny faces at her to make her laugh. Why do babies love me? Before I left, I said "Annyeong!" to the baby while the mother happily looked on. Ha! I swear, there's hope for my Korean language skills! HaHa!
I went back outside and walked around the World Cup Stadium. I was hoping to see the grass, but all the gates seemed to be locked without anyone around. However, I eventually saw some ajummas cleaning up outside and sure enough, a few more steps further led me to an opened gate. Bingo! I just went in and walked down to the seats. Ahhhhhhh! The location for KimRaeWon's "What Planet Are You From?". Mission completed. HaHa! Actually, a couple of nights back, there was a soccer game between NKorea and SKorea, but I didn't think it would be fun for me to go alone so I decided against it. But this is good enough.
I had to be in Yeouido for an appointment at 1:30 so I took the train to Yeouinaru Station. Before leaving the station, an ajussi asked me if the train was going to Yeouido and I said yes. I kept on thinking, "Out of everyone he saw, how unfortunate of him to pick a tourist to ask this question." HeHe. Good thing I knew the correct answer. He then asked me if I was American and I said yes. Hmm, must be the jeans, sweater, and sneakers ensemble that gave it away. He later told me that his brother was studying at University of Michigan. I wanted to ask him more about the job market here in Seoul, but the language barrier couldn't handle it. When we got out of Yeouinaru, he pointed me to the 63 Building, but I knew there was a free shuttle that I can take so instead of heading over there, I made a detour instead. I bid him goodbye and looked for the shuttle stop.
I couldn't find it. How far is 40 meters? This American doesn't know. And I should've downloaded an Apple app for metrics conversion before I left Seattle! After going up and down the street, I found the shuttle, but it didn't stop when I flagged it down. It turned out that the shuttle stop was further down the street. When I got there, everything was in Korean and if I assumed correctly, the shuttle arrives every hour. If I were to wait for the next one, I'd be late for my appointment, so I started heading over to the National Assembly Building, which I soon realized was quite a walk from where I was.
Since I didn't have internet anymore at my hotel, I didn't have the phone number nor the map of the KBS Building that I was supposed to go to. All I knew was it was the one near the National Assembly. I passed by the very packed Yeouido Park where Cathy was at a couple of days ago, hoping to catch the sakuras in full bloom. The park was full of office workers at their lunch hour...not sure why they were there since I didn't see any restaurants nearby. Eventually, I found the KBS Building. Woot!
Walking inside, it reminded of those couple of times I had to go to the ABS-CBN Building for my pointless interviews at Star Cinema. When I got to the receptionist, it took another fifteen minutes for them to figure out where I was supposed to go since I didn't have the phone number of who I was supposed to see. Eventually, they managed to figure it out and off I went to see Sarah and Chris tape their K-Pop Connection show on KBS World Radio. What friendly people in the English section of KBS World Radio! Free plug! HaHa! I was telling them of my unemployment and how I want to find a job in Seoul, but all of them kept telling me that the easiest route is to be an English teacher since all of them started as such. Aigoo!
So that's how radio shows are made. Cool stuff. And I really love how one's voice comes off really nice on radio waves. I wonder if my squeaky, high-pitched voice can be improved via those mics. HaHa!
After bidding them adieu, I headed over to Yeouinaru Station to do this shuttle thing again. Luckily, it arrived shortly after I got there. Ahh, 63 Building. Unfortunately, there were some people with me at the elevator, so I couldn't raise my fist, look up, and shout "Supermaaaaaan" as the elevator went up. Oh come on, you know you want to try it, too. The view was still quite hazy, but it was a little better than yesterday's Seoul Tower view. As I looked out the windows, I really kept wishing that a job will turn up for me in this crazy, but fun city. All the KBS World Radio folks kept telling me that it's all about connections, similar to how I eventually found a job in Manila. Let's see, there's Cathy...and there's Cathy. HaHa!
I was hoping to go on a Hanggang Cruise and go to Olympic Park, but I'm just way too pooped to walk and I wanted to be back at Myeongdong before the stores closed. Instead, I headed back to catch the train. At my hotel, I asked if Break-Out had a show tonight and it did, but watching it would be another W50,000 and the stores would be closed by the time the show let out. So instead, I just walked around Myeongdong and relished my last moments there. I bought some carmelized sweet potatoes (grub!), but refrained from another hotteok. After awhile, my feet started aching so I headed back to my hotel at 8:30pm, the earliest I've been back in all of my six days in this city.
While doing my laundry on the 10th floor and watching CNN report about Barack being in London to meet the Queen, it finally set in that I'll be leaving tomorrow. *Sniff.
After mailing a couple of postcards at the Seoul Central Post Office (again, only five minutes away from my hotel!), I walked over to Namdaemun Market, another Divisoria if you will. I found myself inside the accessories arcade, but it seemed very early and not all the tinderas were around. Walking further to Seoul Station, I caught the train to go to the World Cup Stadium.
I haven't had breakfast so I went to the mall's foodcourt. I knew how to order at a foodcourt since that's what I did in the AK Mall in Suwon, but since all the restaurant names were in Hangul at this mall, I didn't know which one had my bulgogi dolsot bibimbap. The cashier, who was quite nice and seemed to be familiar with confused tourists, walked me over to my counter and told the cooking ajummas to look after me. HeHe. The ajummas were all smiling at me and seemed to be quite amused. They kept talking to me, but I had no idea what they were saying. For the first round, I figured they asked me where I was from so I said, "Miguk saram." They all smiled and repeated what I said and then they started talking away again like I understood them. Eventually, one of the ajummas spoke up and addressed me directly and I'm like, "Uhh, I don't understand." No, really, ajummas, I don't understand. LoL. But eventually the light bulb turned on, and I eventually got that she was telling me to sit down while they cook my food. Score!
When the food was ready, they hollered from five feet away that my food was ready. Funny, but I was quite appreciative that they were looking out for me because I probably would've just sat there while my food was getting cold. Since my tongue almost fell off from all the spiciness of my last dolsot bibimbap at Insadong, I made sure to sit next to the water dispenser this time around in case I need to chug down lots of water again. HeHe. While finishing up my huge stone pot of rice goodness, a mother and daughter pair sat at a table next to me. As always, the baby was looking at me and I was making funny faces at her to make her laugh. Why do babies love me? Before I left, I said "Annyeong!" to the baby while the mother happily looked on. Ha! I swear, there's hope for my Korean language skills! HaHa!
I went back outside and walked around the World Cup Stadium. I was hoping to see the grass, but all the gates seemed to be locked without anyone around. However, I eventually saw some ajummas cleaning up outside and sure enough, a few more steps further led me to an opened gate. Bingo! I just went in and walked down to the seats. Ahhhhhhh! The location for KimRaeWon's "What Planet Are You From?". Mission completed. HaHa! Actually, a couple of nights back, there was a soccer game between NKorea and SKorea, but I didn't think it would be fun for me to go alone so I decided against it. But this is good enough.
I had to be in Yeouido for an appointment at 1:30 so I took the train to Yeouinaru Station. Before leaving the station, an ajussi asked me if the train was going to Yeouido and I said yes. I kept on thinking, "Out of everyone he saw, how unfortunate of him to pick a tourist to ask this question." HeHe. Good thing I knew the correct answer. He then asked me if I was American and I said yes. Hmm, must be the jeans, sweater, and sneakers ensemble that gave it away. He later told me that his brother was studying at University of Michigan. I wanted to ask him more about the job market here in Seoul, but the language barrier couldn't handle it. When we got out of Yeouinaru, he pointed me to the 63 Building, but I knew there was a free shuttle that I can take so instead of heading over there, I made a detour instead. I bid him goodbye and looked for the shuttle stop.
I couldn't find it. How far is 40 meters? This American doesn't know. And I should've downloaded an Apple app for metrics conversion before I left Seattle! After going up and down the street, I found the shuttle, but it didn't stop when I flagged it down. It turned out that the shuttle stop was further down the street. When I got there, everything was in Korean and if I assumed correctly, the shuttle arrives every hour. If I were to wait for the next one, I'd be late for my appointment, so I started heading over to the National Assembly Building, which I soon realized was quite a walk from where I was.
Since I didn't have internet anymore at my hotel, I didn't have the phone number nor the map of the KBS Building that I was supposed to go to. All I knew was it was the one near the National Assembly. I passed by the very packed Yeouido Park where Cathy was at a couple of days ago, hoping to catch the sakuras in full bloom. The park was full of office workers at their lunch hour...not sure why they were there since I didn't see any restaurants nearby. Eventually, I found the KBS Building. Woot!
Walking inside, it reminded of those couple of times I had to go to the ABS-CBN Building for my pointless interviews at Star Cinema. When I got to the receptionist, it took another fifteen minutes for them to figure out where I was supposed to go since I didn't have the phone number of who I was supposed to see. Eventually, they managed to figure it out and off I went to see Sarah and Chris tape their K-Pop Connection show on KBS World Radio. What friendly people in the English section of KBS World Radio! Free plug! HaHa! I was telling them of my unemployment and how I want to find a job in Seoul, but all of them kept telling me that the easiest route is to be an English teacher since all of them started as such. Aigoo!
So that's how radio shows are made. Cool stuff. And I really love how one's voice comes off really nice on radio waves. I wonder if my squeaky, high-pitched voice can be improved via those mics. HaHa!
After bidding them adieu, I headed over to Yeouinaru Station to do this shuttle thing again. Luckily, it arrived shortly after I got there. Ahh, 63 Building. Unfortunately, there were some people with me at the elevator, so I couldn't raise my fist, look up, and shout "Supermaaaaaan" as the elevator went up. Oh come on, you know you want to try it, too. The view was still quite hazy, but it was a little better than yesterday's Seoul Tower view. As I looked out the windows, I really kept wishing that a job will turn up for me in this crazy, but fun city. All the KBS World Radio folks kept telling me that it's all about connections, similar to how I eventually found a job in Manila. Let's see, there's Cathy...and there's Cathy. HaHa!
I was hoping to go on a Hanggang Cruise and go to Olympic Park, but I'm just way too pooped to walk and I wanted to be back at Myeongdong before the stores closed. Instead, I headed back to catch the train. At my hotel, I asked if Break-Out had a show tonight and it did, but watching it would be another W50,000 and the stores would be closed by the time the show let out. So instead, I just walked around Myeongdong and relished my last moments there. I bought some carmelized sweet potatoes (grub!), but refrained from another hotteok. After awhile, my feet started aching so I headed back to my hotel at 8:30pm, the earliest I've been back in all of my six days in this city.
While doing my laundry on the 10th floor and watching CNN report about Barack being in London to meet the Queen, it finally set in that I'll be leaving tomorrow. *Sniff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)