Well, here it is; the end of the epic voyage. Bowing out on a day which, in itself was a pretty epic voyage.
My final dental appointment to have my permanent crown fitted was booked in at 1:30pm in Ginza and everything else was “organised” (in as much as I am capable of organising anything) around that. I started with a very quick stop-off at Shimbashi as it was on the way to other places and I had previously spotted something from the train that I wanted a proper photograph of…
From there, via New Days convenience store to buy cakey breakfast, it was off to Akihabara again on a special request errand for a friend. Mission accomplished, then to Ryogoku, where I’d spotted some handy little presents for people. Most shops here don’t open till 11am and I almost cleared this poor fella out of his stock at 11:02am and decimated his float for the day, making him break my 10,000 yen note. Gomen nasai, sir.
Breakfast by the Sumida river near Sumo Hall, then, as I still had a little time to kill, I headed to Ginza early and thought I’d have a nose around Tokyo’s poshest district.
It seems on Saturday a large portion of Ginza San-chome, the main street, is closed to traffic, allow people to mill around where they choose and, indeed, stop for a sit-down and a cuppa in the middle of the road. Imagine how the idea of pedestrianising Regent Street every weekend would go over in London. Yeah…
It was funny to see people instinctively still crossing the road at zebra crossings though.
So, Ginza is very shiny, expensive and well-to-do place. Pretty much all the shops are high-end global fashion brands, so sorry friends, but no presents were purchased here. Have a crazy wobbly building on me though…
Oh and a “Dandy! Dynamite!! Dangerous!!!” Steven Segal poster…
Tell me you don’t want to see that.
Anyway, I wandered up to the dentist’s office about fifteen minutes and was greeted by Hayashi-san, who heard me talking to the receptionist and poked here head out from around the corner with a big grin and a cheery “Hello!”. She ushered me into a room straightaway and got to work (early! Take note, NHS dentists) on my tooth.
That woman has a streak of mischief to her too. About halfway through, she suddenly said “I have to tell you one thing. The [I didn't catch the word. Sounded like "haijin", but that means cripples, so that can't be it. Although...] around here are crazy about you. You’re very popular with the girls.”
I opened my mouth to make a stunned noise and she quickly shoved in some cotton wool and went “Bite down on that. Back in a few minutes” and wandered off! I sense it was all a ruse…
Anyway, we finished up the whole crown procedure in about 45 minutes and she gave me printed out map. “You said you were going to see if the sakura was out in Ueno Park. Don’t get off at Ueno, get off at this station and walk up this road. You have to see it.”
Not wanting to argue with Tokyo’s finest tooth doctor, I rode the two extra stops on the Ginza line to Tawaramachi and ended up on what is called on the public “You Are Here” maps, “Kitchenware Road”.
If Akihabara is where you can pick up anything electronic and Harajuku is the place to shop for clothes, then Tawaramachi is where you go to get everything for your restaurant. Pots & pans, cutlery & crockery are sold everywhere and there is a “gaudy flashing sign” shop. There are shops devoted to the various decorative lanterns one can hang outside one’s premises, a shops that sell nothing but knives of varying sizes, shapes and scariness and a shop that sells nothing but the plastic replicas of food that are on display outside virtually every Tokyo restaurant.
Mmm… tasty-looking, but fake…
Ueno Park is about a fifteen minute walk from Kitchenware Road (thank you iPhone Google Maps and a free wifi hotspot), so rather than put any more pressure on my rapidly depleting Suica card, I hoofed it to the park. Turns out I wasn’t the only one…
Yes, the sakura was indeed out and so was most of Tokyo.
The blossom wasn’t the only reason people had descended on the park. There was also some sort of Japan/Pakistan friendship fair thing…
…booze…
…food (I had a really nice lunch of beef noodles and cherry ice cream from the park vendors)…
…croquet…
..and cats.
Even my return trip to Harajuku being a bust (the sword museum closed for the day before I even left Ueno and a shop I was told was there… wasn’t) couldn’t put a downer on the day as I got to see this…
…and this big fella came to say hi too:-
I saw a kingfisher here too. He jumped off his rock, caught his fish (a little silver one, not one of these heavyweights), biffed its head on the rock to do it in and fluttered off to dine. All before I could even get my camera out.
How can a day with cherry blossom and kingfishers be a bad one?
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The trip may be over, but this won’t be my last entry. I’ll be adding bits here and there as I find photos and remember stuff. Tokyo Snack Review isn’t complete and I think I still have an Engrish Alert! or two to add as well, so stick around.
For me, its bedtime now as I fly home in the morning.
That is sooooo cool! Am so glad the cherry blossom came out in time for you to see it (who needs sword museums, pah!), plus a kingfisher? Am so jealous!
Also – you see? You see?? This is why I thought the lady wrestler you were photographed with wouldn’t have minded seeing you again to sign your picture! I’ve been telling you you’re pretty for years..! I reckon if we end up being through, you move back to Tokyo