Day Three of Arrival Orientation (The One with the Maid Cookies)

Day three was our big tour of Tokyo courtesy of the PIEE staff; something I’m sure we’d all been looking forward to for a long time. The day started off interestingly enough with Craig sleeping in and due to a miscommunication through the door of his apartment, the rest of us waiting for him for almost an hour before giving up and going to breakfast with hardly any time to spare. Despite this we managed to get to the room to meet everyone in time! Go team!

After we’d all split into groups and met our group leaders and assistants, we headed out of the center for the first time since we arrived. It was good to see some people that weren’t wearing pink sweaters for once. We headed to the train station where we caught a train and then another train once again to get into the main part of Shinjuku via the Odakyu Line. The train system in Tokyo is pretty amazing. Everything down to the ticket system and all, it’s much more advanced than back in Brisbane and much more efficient – if a little (Hello, understatement!) crowded and packed.

Our first stop was the observation deck of the Metropolitan Government Building. Nothing short of a breathtaking view as far as city skylines go; there was literally nothing but buildings, buildings and more buildings as far as the eye can see. There were scattered parks of course, but for the most part it was just a mass of buildings. Seeing the city lit up at nighttime would have been amazing.

After taking in the view and taking more than a few pictures of it, we headed back down to the ground floor and made our way to Asakusa with our groups. Getting to Asakusa meant more trains, and we took the Marunouchi and Ginza Lines to get there. Once we’d arrived I made the wise purchase of a hot milk tea from a nearby vending machine and we got to witness the clock above the tourist information center’s performance. Many photos were taken, of course.

The Asakusa leg of our tour involved seeing the Kaminarimon Gate, the shopping street of Nakamise which was just beyond the gate, and then the Sensoji Temple and Sumida Park which lay just beyond that. The parts that stick out most to me are Nakamise and the Sensoji. Both great in their own right, the shopping street was packed and really fast paced but there were a bunch of great stores with assorted food and souvenirs. Sensoji Temple was pretty large and very beautiful, we managed more than a few photos in the temple alone, as well as the nearby Sumida Park. At the Sensoji I also got my first おみくじ (Omikuji – A written oracle, or fortune). You had to pick up the giant tin (After paying about 100yen), shake it around a bit and then pull out a stick. You take a sheet out of the draw corresponding to the number on the stick you pulled out. My fortune was great – I pulled out ‘The Best Fortune’ which foretold many great things for me… Sununtha wasn’t nearly as impressed with her fortune.

After all this was said and done, we headed off to have lunch at an Okinawan style restaurant called うちなー家. I can’t remember the specifics of my meal, just that it was delicious and that I totally neglected to take a photo before I ate it. I do, however, have an exceptionally flattering photo of a crazy foreigner. During lunch one of the other Australian guys who was with another company (WEP, not SEA) was showing off his Maid Cookies, which led to a discussion about Otaku and Akihabara. The Maid Cookies will never be forgotten.

After lunch was eaten and we were all ready to leave we headed off to take the 水上バス (A water bus, or ferry rather) from Asakusa to Hamarikyu. At first we all sat on top of the boat to see the sights better, but with the wind it was way to freezing and eventually we all migrated to the lower levels. While we were on the top of the boat though, a random old Japanese man kept looking at Alistair (Who is reasonably tall, as a random Japanese girl had mentioned in the lift at the youth center on an earlier occasion) and ducked as the boat went under every bridge, while saying ‘Watch out!’. He had a can of Asahi in his hand, so I’ll assume he was drunk.

When we got to Hamarikyu we went for a walk through the Japanese gardens, took a lot of photos and just took in the scenery for a bit before heading off on a trek to the PIEE office from there, which involved walking to the subway, catching another train and then walking a lot more. I personally felt suitably fit after the day was over. At the PIEE offices we introduced ourselves in Japanese to the staff behind the exchange program, which went pretty smoothly for most; showing just how much everyone’s language skills had benefited from our time in Japan already.

After the introductions we headed back to the center by train – a much shorter trip than getting there, and we were back in time for dinner at the center’s café this time. The atmosphere (And the salmon) of the cafeteria was missed. Sleep came easily that night after so much trekking around the city.