Mmm... cabbage

Today was my second and last full day in Tokyo – and Japan. Situations at home necessitated booking an earlier flight home than I’d hoped, but there’s not a lot I could do about that. I’d managed to organise a couch to surf for the evening, and Taka-san said it would be no problem for me to leave the bulk of my luggage at the hostel. This would be far preferable to lugging it around central Tokyo all day until I could meet Misa in the evening.

In fact, he went one step further. When I reached Narita station the next morning I was to call him from a payphone. He would then bring my luggage to me. Wow. Talk about customer service!

Following the directions he’d dug out for me the previous night I had my train timetable in hand. First thing was to get more cash so I could afford to pay for the tickets. Fortunately the local 7-Eleven had one of the few ATMs that accept foreign cards. Unfortunately, for some reason, it wouldn’t take my Visa Debit card. And the attached help phone only put me through to an automatic service in Japanese… However, it did accept my Visa Credit card, so I took a cash advance on that.

I used the Keisei Line to get me to Asakusa via Aoto. When Taka-san had given me the train times I had pointed out that such a thing was impossible in the UK. Where I moved from one train to another I had precisely three minutes to change platforms and trains. No way could you rely on British trains to be so on-time that you could do that. Besides, even if they were you’d have to figure out what platform you were on, which one you were trying to get to and then traverse half a railway station.

Not so here. Trains on certain times and routes always arrive at set platforms. As these two tied together, the platforms were right next to each other – so only ten metres to walk from one train to the other. And don’t get me started on the punctuality. If a train’s due to depart at 10:31, it departs at 10:31. If it’s arrival time is 11:17, it will pull in at 11:17. Awesome.

Senso-ji temple

My journey to Asakusa was a little over an hour and cost around Â¥900 – only six quid. For the comfort, speed, convenience and reliability this isn’t bad. The only downside to this excellent transport system is the complexity. There are two main train lines around Tokyo – the aforementioned Keisei Line and the competing JR Line. Unline the UK, these “lines” own their own stations so even somewhere as small as Narita will have two buildings, often very close together, each serviced by a different company.

This makes it very important to ensure that if you’re meeting someone at “the train station”, you specify which one you’ll be at.

Also, the trains integrate with the underground system with the vehicles sharing the tracks. This means you can start from a non-underground Keisei Line station and end up at an Underground station without changing trains. And no longer on the Keisei Line as such. This makes it very confusing when you’re trying to figure out how to get back to a Keisei Line (for instance) station for your return journey.

I pulled...

None of the maps make this very clear, so realistically you need local knowledge – preferably from someone who understands your problem. Bear in mind that locals will have understood this issue for years and will likely be confused as to how you don’t “get” it!

Anyway, I disembarked at one of the two Underground stations in Asakusa and walked up to the torii to wait for Noriko, who would show me around for the day. Unfortunately, I was slightly delayed as I wasn’t sure what station I was at, and Noriko was held up in traffic on the bus. I didn’t have a mobile she could contact me on, but she could get internet on her phone. So I located an internet café nearby.

This was an experience in itself. Not particularly cheap (but I only needed 5 minutes – minimum stay was 30), but very nice indeed. Quiet, very much like a library with countless manga books and DVDs to browse. There were a couple of pre-wired PCs, you could use your laptop… or you could use a “borrowed” laptop which was supplied in a little bag. Bizarrely, this was the cheapest option.

I connected up, got a mail to Noriko and a reply back, then went to wait for her again in a specific place by the torii. It was very busy so needed to be sure she’d spot me.

Indeed she did and we took a walk through the torii and up towards the Senso-ji temple. Between the two is a lovely walkway bordered by traditional Japanese paper lanterns. It’s typical of the care and decoration such places enjoy and it’s very beautiful.

As we reached the steps to the temple, we washed our hands at the provided basin and stepped inside. Lovely carvings and statues, as well as paintings of dragons on the ceiling awaited us and I tried to snap a few photos but the lighting just wasn’t that great.

Just outside (to the left if you’ve walked in from the torii) is a gorgeous garden. Water features, towers, flowers, greenery, little bridges… it’s hard to believe you’re near a concentrated shopping area. It really is quite serene.

Japanese wedding

Past there and you hit the touristy shops, although unlike many other countries the “tat” is generally of pretty good quality – and with prices to match. Noriko picked up some sweets for her work colleagues and I bought the standard handful of postcards. I’d already bought stamps the previous day.

Down the street a ways, Noriko chose a restaurant for us to have lunch at. I’d simply requested “cheap” and “no seafood”. The speciality we were to try is called okonomiyaki. Obviously, I have no idea what this means but essentially it’s “cabbage pancakes”. Yeah, I know. Had I known that first I might have suggested McDonalds instead but I’m really rather glad I didn’t.

Seating is on cushions on the ground – something my Western bum still has issues with – at short tables, the centre part of which is a heated metal plate. A waitress lights the gas underneath, takes your order and returns with your choice from the menu in a big, uncooked mass. The ingredients are simple – egg, flour, milk, shredded cabbage and whatever else you requested. I went for pork and there were to thick-ish slices of bacon on the top. Cooking is even simpler – drop it onto the metal plate and use the spatulas provided to ensure it cooks right through and to flip it.

There are sauces and dressings to one side and I used a thick brown one which was applied with a brush. I have no idea what it was, but it tasted like a halfway house between HP Sauce and BBQ. In other words, it was delicious – as were the pancakes. Far, far better than I was expecting. I was really happy with Noriko’s choice!

Fed and watered (and with my eyes streaming from the smoky cooking), we walked back into the daylight and around the shops some more before plotting a course for Shibuya. This would be another area that Noriko herself hadn’t explored so we were both looking forward to it.

Continues in the next post!