Phase 2: Wonder

I can't lay in bed anymore. I'm simply too excited. My uncle is introducing me at 9:30 AM to Iwama-san, his colleague in charge of the meetings here in Tokyo. I bought him a Minnesota Twins cap while I was still back home (as it's customary to thank your host with gifts when traveling in Japan), because I hear he's a big baseball fan. I still haven't been able to call for my Ghibli tour, because the plane was delayed and I had no way of contacting them during business hours. Feeling kind of hungry, so I took a quick glance at the room service menu. 2500 yen for toast, jam, juice, and tea. ($25!) OUCH... well, no breakfast. I'll just shower up, get dressed, and explore.

Ended up running into my uncle on the way down, and he was hungry too we had breakfast at the hotel's main restaurant. BAIKINGU!~ (Buffet!~)


The buffet was 2700 yen ($27), and included both the familiar and the bizarre. Wrapped bean curd topped with ginger and a unique take on French Toast using puffy rolls were my favorites, along with freshly squeezed OJ. My least favorite was actually something that looked the most familiar. Bacon. They called it "crispy bacon", but when I bit into it, it was like chewing on a mixture of glass and cardboard. It had barely any flavor and tasted like it was made out of pig skin and some sort of fish mixed together - and it probably was. I ate a bunch of fruit too, which was actually pretty fresh - even the pineapples. Now I'm just waiting for 9:30 so I can call and confirm my tour details, and then go exploring before my pickup time. Iwama-san seemed caught a bit off guard by my speaking to him in Japanese, but gladly took the gift I offered him.

Got the tour set up, and went exploring for a short while. Unfortunately due to it being Friday here in Japan, the East Gardens are closed. I need to come back either tomorrow or early next week to get some sakura pictures. Bought some AA batteries for the camera and a Diet Pepsi (both barely more expensive than in the States) at the hotel's shopping arcade.

It's fun to interact with the Japanese, I can speak enough to where I feel (mostly) comfortable asking questions and receiving answers - except when I'm nervous, then I screw up. Ah well, good enough for me. A lot of the signs are all in kanji (for the roads and stuff) but fortunately most have English too. I would have settled for hiragana, as that would have made me feel a bit more educated and might have allowed me to have a stronger case for convincing my uncle to learn it...he's over here enough that it would REALLY help him. :)

The Ghibli tour was an experience in itself. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside the museum (which ROYALLY sucks, since there's so much I wanted to take pictures of). BUT...hahahaha...I managed to snap a picture in the most unlikely (or likely, I suppose) of places - the ONLY place away from the prying eyes of the camera nazis in blue shirts - the MEN'S ROOM. And it just so happens that there was a huge display from Laputa (I think it's Laputa anyway...) right above one of the urinals. Since I was in the bathroom alone at the time, I managed to ninja-snap this picture... Enjoy:



The museum itself was split up into several sections... The outdoor garden (where pictures were allowed):




The Saturn theatre, where a short Studio Ghibli film was shown (Koro no Daisanbo) about the misadventures of a lost dog. The film itself was pretty boring, but I loved the Ghibli art style and there were some funny parts. The best part of the movie? I understood all the dialogue. If this film was available outside of the museum, I could have completely subtitled it into English. It's been the first time here in Japan where I haven't felt like a complete baka...

There was also the downstairs exhibit room -- this room was my favorite, and also the most difficult to describe. There was a carousel that, when a strobelight was activated, caused the individual character elements to animate. There was a "history of the projector" - from what I could tell, I couldn't read it all - and a timeline of Miyazaki's work, which included the still-barred-from-the-US-by-a-copyright-dispute Tales from Earthsea. Nearby was a playground shaped like the Neko Bus (damn that no pictures rule) and the obligatory gift shop with overpriced Miyazaki souvenirs.



And finally, a simulated artist's studio and a special exhibit on "Sanbiki no Kuma" - the Three Bears. Yes, of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They had "life size" bears that took up literally an entire room. I'm wondering whether this is Miyazaki's next big project or if it's simply some kind of offshoot. I'm hoping for the latter. DO NOT WANT.

Also on the tour I met a young couple from the UK - both huge video game nuts - and also a family from Los Angeles... All very nice, very interesting people (especially the family from LA - who are world travellers and have lived abroad for a number of years in Latin America and Europe). I learned a lot, and got some very interesting stories, on the way to and from the museum itself. The tour disbanded at Tokyo station, and everyone dispersed rather quickly, which for me led to a sprint across one of Japan's largest railway stations looking for the JR Pass Exchange counter. After a few misadventures while attempting to ask for the location of this counter, I eventually found it. Phew. JR Pass GET!

I feel empowered now, and thanks to the Ghibli tour I feel I can get practically anywhere I want in Tokyo on the trains. I need to make sure I remember to write down the address to the Square-Enix store in Shinjuku, since I'd like to go there on Sunday with Kamijoh-san if possible. There's no way I'll be able to find that place on my own.

Upon my return from the misadventures of the JR pass, I met my uncle in the lobby, who had apparently just finished his round of meetings. He wanted to go exploring in a place where he was taken during the workday - Marunoichi building. Now, this place is part high-fashion shopping mall, and part high-class food court. There are traditional Japanese restaurants as well as restaurants serving Italian and French cuisine. There is an amazing grocery store on the bottom floor serving lunches for around 700 yen...the cheapest I've seen. I'm TOTALLY eating there a few times to save money for more goodness from Akiba. The restaurants on the upper floors are cheap too, but definitely gaijin-unfriendly. All the menus are pure Japanese, and even the prices were in kanji. Unfortunately, A LOT (and I mean probably close to half) of these places had menus where I could count on one hand the number of entrees I could figure out, much less order. The rest (such as the katsu, tempura, and sushi specialty shops) appeared a little less intimidating. I want to go to the katsu place sometime and eat lunch or dinner - I think it would really help my Japanese to be thrown into situations where falling back on English isn't a sure bet.

I'm tired, but still wired. I think I'll need the Tylenol PM again tonight. Tomorrow begins with an early visit to Tsukiji Fish Market at 6AM (yes, that early...I KNOW...but I have to see it) and then - well, I'm not sure yet. But my uncle and I are going to explore together, so that should be fun.