Japan - Day Twenty-two
Hahaha... so, if I'm going to blog about my internship, I think I should finish my Japan posts first, ne?
Oh, wow... it's almost been a year. Oh, I really suck. (T_T)
Anyway, on June 9th (2009), I arranged to meet a friend at Ueno Eki because I've never been to Ueno Park. On the train there, some musicians boarded and sat across from me.
Just normal musicians, right? You might be asking yourselves why these guys were worth mentioning.
Let me zoom in on one of their instruments:
Yes, that's a Kuromi mask slung around a guitar? Bass? Anyway, slung around an incongruous instrument. The guys were kinda shocked/bewildered when I asked them if I could take a picture of it. Hahaha~
I got to Ueno station a little early and decided to wait for Tatsuya. So I took a picture:
Ueno Park, just like the various shrines that dot Tokyo, seems to be a popular place for school trips. So, of course I had to take candid photos. Perhaps it's all the anime and dramas that I watch, but I love seeing the kids in their uniforms. Even if they're just white shirts and pants.
I got a little hungry, so I went back into the station and found Yakisoba pan~!! Yay!!
Unfortunately, I must have gotten day old yakisoba pan because it looks so much better than it tasted. It was pretty darn gross. The bread was too dry. Ah well, lesson learned. Not everything in Japan is delicious. (Actually, I already knew this due to a previous encounter with natto...)
I waited until about half-past three and then decided to call Tatsuya. Usually the Japanese are pretty promt, so the fact that he was late meant something was up. So I called him... and yeah, something was up, all right. He'd forgotten our plans to meet.
So I ended up exploring Ueno on my own... which was fine. It's a beautiful park and much bigger than I expected.
It also has a shrine hidden within it.
I don't know why I was surprised. It turns out that shrines are everywhere in Japan.
I came across this cute cat sleeping on my way to the shrine, so of course I had to take a picture~
He looks sooooo happy, ne?
On my way back from the shrine, I ran into this old ojiisan. He came up to me and started talking... which was really surprising. The Japanese are usually very timid, so to have someone approach me on his own was really remarkable. Happy for company, we sat down by a pond to chat.... in fact, I took a picture in front of the pond.
It was really pretty and peaceful, with the city. The ojiisan seemed nice at first. He was 60 years old and worked nearby, but had finished work early and so was just on a stroll in the park. He had two children, one was a daughter about my age. Those who have met me know that I'm a pretty friendly and outgoing person in real life. I love to meet new people. I love hearing people's stories and while I was in Japan, I would go up to complete strangers and have a conversation with them. So, at first, this meeting with this ojiisan seemed normal to me. But then he started scooting closer to me on the bench. And then he tried to put his arm around me. And that's when I realized, this is no normal ojiisan. This is a sukebe ojiisan (perverted old man)! Ugh. Needless to say, I ran away as fast as possible.
On my retreat back to the station, I did see one more unusual thing.
Yes, this is the bewildering sight of a Japanese man in a kilt playing bagpipes. Ueno, I later learned, can be quite dangerous as it's full of homeless people and guys trying to pick up girls. My girlfriends said that they never go to Ueno Park alone. Haha, lesson learned.
Since it was still early after I left Ueno, I decided to hit Akihabara. I sat down next to a salaryman and almost ended up with his head on my shoulder. So as payback, I took a picture. This is how close he was to me >.<
The first thing I see when I exit the station is this:
A 20-foot tall hot and sweaty Aiba... kyaaaa~
In Akihabara, they have these stores that are dedicated to nothing but gachipon machines. It's amazing. And cramped. Strangely enough, one gets used to the feeling of claustrophobia in Japan. Many store aisles would be this narrow and I would invariably end up bumping into the person behind me. I said 'sumimasen' an awful lot.
Akihabara also has a live performance space. It's a street-level open area with seats and an audio setup. I think it was created when the neighborhood started cracking down on street performers a couple of years ago when the crowds started to get out of control. In truth, I wanted to see the kind of Akihabara where otaku would go and perform ota-gei wildly in the streets. Sadly, I was two years too late. (T_T)
Anyway, in this performance space, I was able to catch an indie artist. She was really cute and I ended up buying her single.
And of course, I had to take a picture with her.
Afterwards, I happened to run into a classmate, Jason. We ended up going to a couple of arcades after eating a cheap and delicious dinner at Yoshinoya. Seriously, the Yoshinoya here in NYC is terrible. I went there once and almost threw up, that's how bad the food was. T_T It's so much better in Japan. I recommend you go there at least once and try it. It was a staple restaurant for me and my classmates, since we were all poor students trying to live on a budget.
While walking back to the train station, we were talking about the stabbing that happened in Akihabara about a year ago when Jason said, "What are those flowers?" We quickly figured out that the stabbing had happened exactly a year before and the flowers were set up on the corner where the man plowed his van into a group of pedestrians and then hopped out, brandishing a knife.
The drinks and food were also offerings to the victims. In cemetaries, I often saw not only flowers but food and drinks laid out beside tombstones.
All in all, it made a rather somber ending for a rather strange day.
Oh, wow... it's almost been a year. Oh, I really suck. (T_T)
Anyway, on June 9th (2009), I arranged to meet a friend at Ueno Eki because I've never been to Ueno Park. On the train there, some musicians boarded and sat across from me.
Just normal musicians, right? You might be asking yourselves why these guys were worth mentioning.
Let me zoom in on one of their instruments:
Yes, that's a Kuromi mask slung around a guitar? Bass? Anyway, slung around an incongruous instrument. The guys were kinda shocked/bewildered when I asked them if I could take a picture of it. Hahaha~
I got to Ueno station a little early and decided to wait for Tatsuya. So I took a picture:
Ueno Park, just like the various shrines that dot Tokyo, seems to be a popular place for school trips. So, of course I had to take candid photos. Perhaps it's all the anime and dramas that I watch, but I love seeing the kids in their uniforms. Even if they're just white shirts and pants.
I got a little hungry, so I went back into the station and found Yakisoba pan~!! Yay!!
Unfortunately, I must have gotten day old yakisoba pan because it looks so much better than it tasted. It was pretty darn gross. The bread was too dry. Ah well, lesson learned. Not everything in Japan is delicious. (Actually, I already knew this due to a previous encounter with natto...)
I waited until about half-past three and then decided to call Tatsuya. Usually the Japanese are pretty promt, so the fact that he was late meant something was up. So I called him... and yeah, something was up, all right. He'd forgotten our plans to meet.
So I ended up exploring Ueno on my own... which was fine. It's a beautiful park and much bigger than I expected.
It also has a shrine hidden within it.
I don't know why I was surprised. It turns out that shrines are everywhere in Japan.
I came across this cute cat sleeping on my way to the shrine, so of course I had to take a picture~
He looks sooooo happy, ne?
On my way back from the shrine, I ran into this old ojiisan. He came up to me and started talking... which was really surprising. The Japanese are usually very timid, so to have someone approach me on his own was really remarkable. Happy for company, we sat down by a pond to chat.... in fact, I took a picture in front of the pond.
It was really pretty and peaceful, with the city. The ojiisan seemed nice at first. He was 60 years old and worked nearby, but had finished work early and so was just on a stroll in the park. He had two children, one was a daughter about my age. Those who have met me know that I'm a pretty friendly and outgoing person in real life. I love to meet new people. I love hearing people's stories and while I was in Japan, I would go up to complete strangers and have a conversation with them. So, at first, this meeting with this ojiisan seemed normal to me. But then he started scooting closer to me on the bench. And then he tried to put his arm around me. And that's when I realized, this is no normal ojiisan. This is a sukebe ojiisan (perverted old man)! Ugh. Needless to say, I ran away as fast as possible.
On my retreat back to the station, I did see one more unusual thing.
Yes, this is the bewildering sight of a Japanese man in a kilt playing bagpipes. Ueno, I later learned, can be quite dangerous as it's full of homeless people and guys trying to pick up girls. My girlfriends said that they never go to Ueno Park alone. Haha, lesson learned.
Since it was still early after I left Ueno, I decided to hit Akihabara. I sat down next to a salaryman and almost ended up with his head on my shoulder. So as payback, I took a picture. This is how close he was to me >.<
The first thing I see when I exit the station is this:
A 20-foot tall hot and sweaty Aiba... kyaaaa~
In Akihabara, they have these stores that are dedicated to nothing but gachipon machines. It's amazing. And cramped. Strangely enough, one gets used to the feeling of claustrophobia in Japan. Many store aisles would be this narrow and I would invariably end up bumping into the person behind me. I said 'sumimasen' an awful lot.
Akihabara also has a live performance space. It's a street-level open area with seats and an audio setup. I think it was created when the neighborhood started cracking down on street performers a couple of years ago when the crowds started to get out of control. In truth, I wanted to see the kind of Akihabara where otaku would go and perform ota-gei wildly in the streets. Sadly, I was two years too late. (T_T)
Anyway, in this performance space, I was able to catch an indie artist. She was really cute and I ended up buying her single.
And of course, I had to take a picture with her.
Afterwards, I happened to run into a classmate, Jason. We ended up going to a couple of arcades after eating a cheap and delicious dinner at Yoshinoya. Seriously, the Yoshinoya here in NYC is terrible. I went there once and almost threw up, that's how bad the food was. T_T It's so much better in Japan. I recommend you go there at least once and try it. It was a staple restaurant for me and my classmates, since we were all poor students trying to live on a budget.
While walking back to the train station, we were talking about the stabbing that happened in Akihabara about a year ago when Jason said, "What are those flowers?" We quickly figured out that the stabbing had happened exactly a year before and the flowers were set up on the corner where the man plowed his van into a group of pedestrians and then hopped out, brandishing a knife.
The drinks and food were also offerings to the victims. In cemetaries, I often saw not only flowers but food and drinks laid out beside tombstones.
All in all, it made a rather somber ending for a rather strange day.