What I Did On My Summer Vacation

My Trip To Tokyo

Monday august 19th

Still raining a little, but I expected it. Actually it helped to bring the temperature down. I'd be spending less on beverages for the next day or two.

Speaking of spending, had to get mo' money. I had enough for the hotel and a bit extra, but I knew I'd be needing more so I went to the local bank. It was the second I'd gone to. The first didn't have an ATM in English and neither did the second, so while there I found they had a currency exchange dept. I figured the guy in charge of foreign exchange would speak some English, so I tried the phrase "Eigo de hanash' te mo yoroshi des' ka?" which means "is it okay if we speak English?" I've been dying to use that phrase, but most English speakers tend to reveal themselves before I get a chance. "No. No." He shakes his head. Oh well. The phrase for dollars to Yen was simple enough and I had it written down. I had $45 American in my pocket and I exchanged it for 5000+ Yen. I forget the exact amount. This would be cool, till I found an ATM.

Walking around Fuchu, I found the place to be quite agreeable. The train station was nearby and the tracks elevated. The streets below the tracks are lined with trees and greenery. It's a commercial part of town, but it's pretty nice. I notice a couple of CD shops and a bookstore I intend to return to either later on or perhaps tomorrow.

My goal for the day was to return to The Imperial Gardens with a tape recorder to capture the sounds of the Emperors collection of Cicadas. The few people I've mentioned this to here seemed to find it odd that I should want to do that.

I had to change trains in Shinjuku to get to Tokyo Central. No trouble with train tickets today. Any time I was confronted with Japanese language fare charts, I was able to whip out my copy of my Bi-Lingual Tokyo Atlas and simply match the Kanji characters found in the book with the ones on the chart. I took the Keio line which instead of letting passengers off at the mall (perhaps it does at a different exit than I took) does so at the Keio Depato (dept. store). Coincidence? I think not. I found another of those shirt/pants combos like those I bought in Asakusa on sale here. A little bit more expensive, but this time with slippers. I kinda wish I'd picked it up. Though a different color and pattern from the previous two I'd gotten, I figured two is enough. Since coming back and wearing them (with normal pants), people have mistook them for Karate Gis, which they are not. The slippers might've been nice, though.

If I could find a decent (for me) ATM in Asakusa, then surely one could be found in Shinjuku right? Figured I'd look for one here before continuing my journey. Took a little bit of walking but eventually I spied with my eye a Citibank. Man, what a sight for sore eyes. The Coca Colas and the McDonalds I could live without, but American banks are a godsend if you need ATMs around here (and happen to be from the U.S.).

Time for lunch. I looked around a bit, decided to keep it simple. Actually at some point I peered inside this McDonalds looking place called First Kitchen. I inadvertently made eye contact with one of the girls behind the counter who then greeted me and motioned for me to come inside, which I did. I would've felt I was being rude had I walked away, and besides, this was as good a place as any. I did keep it simple by ordering the same stuff I had at McDonalds, previously; Chicken Tatsumi (sp), fries, and soda. I pointed at the menu and said "kore" or "this", preceded by "Sumimasen onigaishimasu" and ended with a simple "domo" or thank you.

Tokyo. The first entrance to the Gardens isn't really the entrance. It leads to an area with fountains that's just across the street from the Palace Gardens. On my first visit the fountains were turned off for some reason, though it didn't give me much pause at the time. Now they were on, so I snapped some pictures. Walked across the street and then over a bit to the Otemon gate only to find that it was closed. Like museums, they were not open on Mondays. Crap!
I decided this area of Tokyo could use a little more exploring, so I set off in the opposite direction of where I went after the first time I exited the Palace Gardens. On my way I found Hibiya Park, which was not too shabby. Lots of nice floral stuff going on here. Some homeless folks too, but a park's not a bad place to call home in the summer, I imagine. I could be wrong, of course. Wandered around for quite a bit.

Exited the park and continued wandering, making turns I expected would lead me back to Tokyo station. Once again I was quite mistaken, as I found when I learned I was in Ginza. No problem. I had nothing but time, but I was out of disposable cameras. It looked like I'd spotted another temple, so I went into a convenience store and picked up a camera. As I got closer to the structure, I could see loads of people lined up to enter, quite a few exiting and many just hangin' out in front. It now appears to be a theatre of some sort. I don't feel brave enough to go in so I don't.

I continue my walk 'till I do return to Tokyo Station and give the mall there a second look. I headed back to Fuchu and fought the impulse to hang out in Shinjuku after dark. Too tired. In Fuchu I stopped at a place called Tsutsuya Culture and Convenience Club, one of the stores I found earlier. The CDs and DVDs were upstairs, books, magazines and manga were downstairs. It was connected to one of the exits to Fuchu station (the station itself has a CD and book store also). There's a batch of used rental CDs on sale. Mostly singles marked at 100-300 yen. I get two by my favorite singer, Bird, one by Monday Michiru whom I'm unfamiliar with (I think I saw her name on the credits to Birds new album), and one by Toshinobu Kobota (whom I've heard before on the Japan Not For Sale vol. 3 compilation, which was also my first exposure to Bird). There was a sign on the batch that suggested they were selling at half off. I assumed they were priced as marked (discount already accounted for) considering the price, but I was wrong. I paid 50-150 yen for these CDs. I resolved to come back tomorrow. Again, too tired, and hungry. I stopped someplace to eat, and pointed to a picture of something that looked interesting. I was served some sort of fried breaded chicken topped with a fried egg. Yuck! Tried to move the egg, but it was kinda soft, so some of it spilled on the chicken, which I ate for most part. There was something else on the plate I didn't like, but I don't remember what it was, but I remember leaving it when done with everything else.

My room has a refrigerator, so I stopped at a local market, got some juice and junk food and headed to the hotel.