Tokyo Time!!

Picking up the thread from last week: I was December 2nd, I checked out from Hong Kong and made it to the airport with plenty of leisure time. As illustrated above, I joyously received a seat on the aisle and had ample space to stretch out my long legs.

I was, perhaps, too joyous...

I landed just before midnight and took a taxi to a capsule hotel!!!! I've wanted to stay in one basically since I learned of their existence, so this was really fulfilling a dream for me (if you're not in the know, capsule hotels rent you a single bed in an enclosed pod -- but the pods have a TV, alarm system, etc.). I just think they're neat.

The atmosphere is very muted and hushed; it's super calming imo.

The bed! Luggage is stored in a locker room, and the hotel provides pajamas for you.

Because I stayed here mostly just to say I'd done it, the next morning saw me getting up and taking all my stuff to a different hotel with proper rooms. I picked a more traditionally Japanese hotel (ryokan) in a residential area. It was a family-owned business, and the elderly daughter of the owners was so sweet when she checked me in.

After I got that settled, I went out to see my friend Chiaki! I saw her in October of 2016, promised to come back and visit for longer, and then I did. We met in my first year of college when she was doing a year abroad while getting her master's, and we hit it off right away. Since we last saw each other, she got married, so I also got to meet her husband briefly. Unfortunately, I don't speak any Japanese, and he doesn't speak English, so Chiaki had to translate between us constantly.

Anyway, since I hadn't taken my time exploring Tokyo the first go round, we decided that I needed to see as many of the famous neighborhoods as I could. Our first stop was Harajuku, where I blended in with all the other tourists, haha.

We're up on a overpass to cross the street.

A Peanuts store! I was tempted to buy souvenirs here, but I had SO LITTLE space in my suitcase lol.

Then we walked north to Meiji Shrine. It's relatively modern, opened in 1920 to commemorate Emperor Meiji (of the Meiji Restoration), and I was surprised by the use of natural, unpainted wood.

At the gate.

You know me by now, so sit tight for some shots of the architecture and surrounding garden.

I love the blue and yellow curtains here.

No snow in December yet, but the day was chilly and leaves had began to turn!

We took a photo for some visitors, and they repaid the favor. I'm....not sure what I was trying to do by crouching, but I sure did it. Also you can see that I'm wearing two coats, a scarf, tights, and legwarmers because I DID NOT have normal winter clothes haha.

We took a quick metro ride to the busy heart of Shibuya -- scramble crossing! It's a five-way intersection and there are TONS of pedestrians nearly all the time, so watching crowds surge across is something of a must-see.

A lot of people compare it to Times Square, but it doesn't have the same tourist trap feel (to me, anyway).

Another attraction here is the statue of Hachiko, a famous Akita who went to meet his owner every day at the train station, even after his owner had been dead for nine years.

This statue is outside of exit 8 -- eight is "hachi" in Japanese, so it's very fitting that Hachiko's statue is placed here (Chiaki laughed when I made that connection because she had never thought of it).

The famous Shibuya 109 building! It's....just a mall, really, but the column in front is very distinctive.

After this, we met up with Chiaki's husband and went to a little cafe together. We walked around Akihabara (another famous shopping area) at night to see everything all lit up, and then it was time to part ways.

The next day being Monday, Chiaki had to work, so I was let loose to my own devices! She had recommended I visit Nippori Textile Town in the Ueno district, so I headed over to that part of town. I got out at main Ueno station instead of the closer Nippori station--ostensibly to get a better feel for the neighborhood, but I think it was actually because I misunderstood how to transfer rail lines.

Anyway, I took a stroll through Ueno Park, past the Ueno Royal Museum, which was advertising an exhibit about the portrayals of fear in paintings.

(she's my favorite)

There are a bunch of museums around the park area, but most of them were closed when I arrived, including the zoo.

It's fine though because I'm cute and the park was still nice.

GINKGO TREE! GINKGO TREE! GINKGO TREE!

Y'all I love fall I was so happy.

Path next to one of the various museums.

Other features included a tree planted by Ulysses S. Grant??? After his presidency, he visited Japan in 1879 with his family, and he and his wife both planted trees in Ueno Park. I couldn't get a good picture of them, but they're there and they're big.

There was also a Buddhist temple surrounded by a lake filled with lotuses.

SUCH a cool view, even (especially?) with the flowers dormant.

It looks like farmland right up against the city skyline, almost.

From there I headed over to Nippori proper. Just outside Nippori station is Yanaka Cemetery and Tennoji Temple, so of course I took a look around.

A fairly new grave with two offering cups.

I didn't take a lot of pictures on account of not wanting to disrespect the area, but it was a peaceful, solemn walk. I saw a graveyard cat, all black, but couldn't get close enough to pet it (you can see the cat crouching on the right side of the grave above).

An old ginkgo on the outskirts of the cemetery.

You can see the Tokyo Skytree in the distance looking down this path.

Directly across the little road is the temple, which is one of the few temples founded before the Edo period that still exists.

The statue is of Nichiren, a Buddhist priest from the 1200s.

I never quite know what to do when I'm visiting a temple. I like going, but I'm never sure if I should go through the classic rituals (hand-washing, ringing the bell, clapping, etc.)

It was pretty empty except for a pair of Korean tourists who came in after me and looked around.

Interior view of the main gate.

That tour complete, I headed across the bridge over the train tracks and finally arrived in Fabric Town!

It was super cute; most of the stores had outdoor displays, so you could browse without having to go inside. I ended up not buying anything, again because of space concerns, and also because the things I really wanted were the expensive second-hand kimono, haha.

I did have a dango snack, though.

After browsing to my heart's content, I went to a movie theater nearby and watched the live action Fullmetal Alchemist movie. It was an experience buying the tickets entirely in Japanese, but the attendants were very helpful and understanding.

I metro'd home and got a good night's sleep. My plan for the next day was to visit Kamakura (an hour's train ride south) and get a view of Mount Fuji!

That's all coming up next week, so don't forget to check back 👍🙏👍

Happy Trails from Hong Kong!

After Beijing, I had a few days to pack up my apartment and ship everything back to the U.S. I spent the night of November 30th at Jessy's apartment rather than fly home immediately because, with all my worldly goods (save a suitcase and two bags) out of my hands, I had decided I would make a final goodbye to Hong Kong 💔

The pretext for the trip was a concert-slash-awards-show being held on December 1st called the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA). That morning I bid my friends farewell and headed out!

Express airport train to the concert (it was held in an arena next to the airport)!

Waiting for people to file in

LIGHT STICKS

The show was fun! The funny thing about this ceremony though is that it's basically only Korean media, so all the awards were announced....in Korean. But they did give out some kind of lifetime achievement award to Karen Mok, who is a HK native.

Saturday, December 2nd

The next morning, I woke up pretty early and headed out to photograph my parting views. 😢 I flew out that night, so I resolved to make the most of the time I had!

The view from my hostel window.

(it was really high up)

Now let's get into the classic Hong Kong coastline--my first time visiting the island's waterfront!

The famous Observation Wheel

The weather was soooo goooooooood that day.

Also will you LOOK at that water.

LOOK AT IT

Indulge me for the next four pictures as I play with technical composition, not really focusing on anything for vicarious tourists.

I feel like this one could be really good for some kind of display.

The tide was slightly high and it delighted me.

Anyway, so that was down at an empty dock along a pier.

Your faithful photographer, squinting into the sun despite the canopy overhead.

Looking from the pier back to the island.

Makes me wanna fly!

Did I mention the weather was amazing?

That was about all I could do there without spending money I was trying to save, so I decided to head over to the Avenue of Stars at a leisurely pace.

....that is, I took pictures constantly.

If you can see a red circle near the middle of this picture, that was the metro station where I disembarked. I was headed back there.

This fish statue was displayed along the walkway to the waterfront (we're looking at the back here)

I.....thought it looked like a fun headpiece.....

I also passed this really cool shopping plaza.

More technical experiments--the lines in the hyper-developed part of the city are really fun.

There's something special just around the left-hand corner.....

BEHOLD

This sculpture is called "Above the Clouds," by artist Ren Zhe. He even gave an interview where he mentioned this sculpture as one of his favorites!

Close up on some of the rust starting to form.

It's hard to tell with the mirror finish, but the two figures are meant to be the same person.

This side of him is READY.

I'd call this photo "Height of Human Aspiration"....probably

What's a mirror without a selfie?

That admiration finished, I really headed back to the metro.

Paused to catch this view from the overpass....

....and these statues of comfort women (erected to pressure the Japanese government to make reparations for their actions in WWII)....

...AND this view of the path itself.

I actually took a few more photos but they didn't turn out well, haha.

Anyway, I finally got on the metro and headed back to the New Territories -- Tsim Sha Tsui, specifically -- to find the Avenue of Stars.

This construction (repair?) was on my way to the Avenue, and I just thought it was neat.

I got to the waterfront again (across from where I had been earlier), and wandered in the general direction of the Avenue.

Along the way I saw these poinsettias outside a hotel and was so excited to see them growing outdoors!

You can juuuuuust see the Observation Wheel on the right!

Enough stalling, where's the Avenue???

Well.

Turns out.

The Avenue of Stars was closed for renovation. OOPS.

This was apparently all part of a big revitalization project for Tsim Sha Tsui, but I....didn't know about it, haha.

Luckily, Hong Kong is a cool city, so I just decided to wander around until lunchtime.

Found THESE COOL STEPS and knew I was going to explore whatever was at the top.

Which turned out to be a sculpture garden!

I didn't take a lot of photos there, but it was peaceful and enjoyable walk.

As I left the garden, I saw this fountain.

HAVE I said before how much I love the way greenery there is in contrast to the skyscrapers?

Just before leaving, I found TURTLES.

Also probably the home of a nature spirit. Like--

I stepped out of the sculpture garden only to find....

...the Hong Kong Avenue of Comic Stars!!

In the style of my intended destination, the Avenue of Stars, this comics industry display involved large statues of famous Hong Kong comic book characters. It was meant to raise awareness of Hong Kong's publishing history, and it was really fun!

Especially because this was the first guy I saw with NO context!

Almost certainly the last face you'll ever see if you met him in real life.

Coco Chanel could never.

Unfortunately, I couldn't spend very long here, since I did need to get back to my luggage before going to the airport.

As I was going back to the metro again, I heard a marching band practicing, and came upon these festival preparations.

Also these light strings with words like "Love" and "Joy" sprinkled in periodically. I would love to see them at night someday!

I got to a metro station, but after getting inside, discovered that I didn't have bills small enough to buy a one way ticket! Frustrating! Normally, what I do in situations like that is to buy a snack so that the cashier breaks my bill for me. However, there were no convenience stores in this station, so I ended up deciding to find a restaurant, have a quick lunch, and then get my bags (the initial plan had been to eat at the hostel or airport).

I was in a fairly central part of the city, so I was sure I would find some kind of fast food place easily.

Except, instead....

...what I found was Dim Sum Icon, a Spongebob Squarepants-themed dim sum restaurant.

Let me say that again for you: A SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS-THEMED DIM SUM RESTAURANT.

Dim sum is definitely not the quickest meal, but there was no way, absolutely no way I could not eat here. So I did.

spongebob_laugh.mp3

Not sure how relevant the unicorn floaties are, but they sure were there.

I need you to understand that this venue was playing the Spongbob Squarepants movie, muted, with subtitles, and over the stereo came The Eagles' "Hotel California."

"You can check out any time you like..."

"...but you can never leave."

Rest in Pieces, boys.

Anyway that was the weirdest thing I've ever experienced.

Got my bills broken, took my money to the station, bought a pass, and got on the train. When I got off, I...took more pictures. But not many!

Neat building near the hostel.

The walking atmosphere is so fun outside the main tourist districts too.

I think this is a temple? I could smell the smoke rising up behind the banner.

Pixel art graffiti taking city streets to a new level outside my room.

For real this time, I got back to my room and picked up my bags.

WHEW folks, what a wild day! I'll let you go here, but I didn't lay my head down until I was in Tokyo that night, so stick around for the rest of this adventure next week.