nothing to prove

about time

For the last few days of my parents trip to Japan I am going to work backwards because it is easier for me to remember that way. Let me note that we basically slept in on Tuesday and my parents thankfully made it home safely despite our tardy arrival at the airport.

The last night before my parents left Japan we went out to eat at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku and they actually let me through the door. It is hard to describe how delicious the food and drink were. After ordering a bottle of red wine, we all ordered an appetizer along with our meal. When the plate of food is more expensive than the bullet train ticket to Tokyo, presentation is everything. I didn't want to touch my food for fear of ruining it. In the end it was well worth it. Then we decided on a dessert sampler to go with another glass of wine before heading over to the bar area. The two thousand yen seating charge was almost worth the view and the live music. All in all an amazing evening with my parents before I headed back to nichome (the gay district in Tokyo) for one last night on town by myself.


Before dinner we were at a place called Kamakura. It is home to one of the largest daibutsu (big buddha) in Japan. I had actually been to Kamakura a couple years ago just to see the buddha and the beach with some friends. However, this time I decided to do a small trek through the forest with my parents. Once we got off the train there was a zen temple, Engakuji, to visit right outside the exit. Despite the large metal bell at the top of a long flight of stairs, it was pretty dissapointing so we headed on our hike shortly after entering. The daibutsu hiking course was well marked but I was still unsure if we were heading in the right direction. Luckily we saw signs for the temples that we wanted to see there. First we visited Zeniarai-Benten, or the money washing shrine, which gives the money that is washed good fortune. Of course I had to rinse a few ten thousand yen notes since I won't be making much money when I get home. After my mom finished wandering the souvenier shops, we headed to the fox shrine. The Sasuke Inari, fox shrien, was tucked back into the woods and had a beautiful row of tori gates for an entrance. As the title eludes to, there were plenty of fox statues to be found throughout the temple. Then it was time for lunch and we found a cute little restaurant on the way back to grab a bite to each before continuing on our trek.


After plenty of hiking we emerged from the forest and found the daibutsu. The cool thing about the daibutsu in Kamakura, besides the fact that it is outside, is that people are allowed inside the buddha for ten yen (about ten cents). My parents were not very impressed because they had apparently seen a few too many temples and shrines already. Still, there was one last temple to visit down the road so we took a walk to Hasedera, and the eleven faced kannon. It was a great thing we did because there was a gorgeous garden inside and literally a wall of flowers. The large ten headed buddha inside was also extremely impressive and I was pretty upset we weren't allowed to take pictures of it. Finally we headed back to Tokyo for the big night at the Park Hyatt.



Sunday we went around the city of Yokohama. Again I had gone there two years ago but only briefly and the only thing I saw was Chinatown. All morning we wandered the streets of Chinatown which was fun but things really didn't get started there until around lunchtime. In order to show my parents some of the crazy things Japanese people do, we played the taiko drum game and took some print club pictures at the local arcade. It was pretty amusing watching my parents play but they admittedly did a good job with it. After grabbing an overly priced lunch we headed over to the stadium to watch the Yokohama Baystars take on the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in a baseball game. We had gotten our tickets earlier in the day so we headed in to find our seats right at the start of the game. Despite some rain early on in the game, it was fun to watch while having a few beers. Sadly the Yokohama Baystars lost by two runs with the tying run at bat but it kept the game interesting.



Then we went to the other side of the city to see the ramen museum there. The museum itself was almost nothing but I got to make my own cup of noodle. Plus the basement was made into an old Japanese city with all the ramen shops as the stores. It was really cool to see and they had a bakery there along with an old school candy store and game area. Once we ate dinner we headed back to see the bay area at night. There was a giant ferris wheel, it claims to be the biggest in the world, with a clock in the center so we caught a ride. After taking a scenic waterfront walk back, we decided to head back to the Keio Plaza Hotel and called it a night.


The day before we spent the day wandering Tokyo. We trying to see any last minute things my parents hadn't already seen on their own or with my study abroad advisor Dave Bennetts, who they fortunate enough to meet with earlier in the week. It basically boiled down to a lot of souvenier shopping. Throw some lunch in at the restaurant that the Kill Bill movie was modeled after, Gonpachi, and an all you can eat sukiyaki dinner and that was the day. All the shopping had drained us so we called it an early night for some relaxing before true chaos began.

On Friday evening I arrived in Tokyo with just enough time to check into the Keio Plaza Hotel and head out for one of my last nights in nichome. Since I needed one night to myself while I was in Tokyo, I went alone and luckily my parents were okay with it. Afterall it was my last weekend in Tokyo before I leave Japan.

posted by Aaron @ 7:52 PM