i've never been more excited for a new year in my life. 2009 was just plain awful, and while i'm not naive enough to think that once the clock strikes midnight, all will magically be better. i know it won't be that easy, but i can't help but be hopeful. before we get to that, must finish our time in kyoto.
we got an early start, since we wanted to hit up one more "must see" in kyoto before the train to tokyo. checked out of our guesthouse, dropped off our bags in a locker in the train station, and caught a bus to kiyomizu-dera temple, one off the city's most famous landmarks. to enter, you have to walk up a sloping and pretty steep road named chawan-zaka, or tea pot lane. cute. it was lined with shops, most of which were just opening their doors for the day. headed into the temple grounds and saw the famed building from several angles. made our way to the otowa-no-taki waterfall, where i stood in line with my buddha cup and drank from the sacred waters which supposedly have healing powers. how i could use some of that!
we were on our way out but decided to turn around to pay a visit to jishu-jinja shrine, which is on the temple grounds. this definitely left us with some funny memories. posed with japan's version of cupid, rubbed some deities for luck, and tried to walk between the "love stones", which are 2 stones spaced 18m apart. the trick is you have to do it with your eyes closed - if you're successful, you wish for love will be granted; if you fail, well, then.. sucks for you. ha. what made it even more challenging was the fact that there were lots of people walking around the shrine, and nearly walking into you. also, the japanese language coming at you from all angles is also really distracting. i tried first and nearly took out an entire family in the process. i was about 2 feet off. no love for me! haha. that's okay, not my wish for 2010. all i want is peace of mind =) jos tried next, and was successful: she waited until there was a decent clearing of the crowds as well as walked fast with big steps. clearly a better strategy.
back to the train station, got a mr. donut (green tea flavored for me) and our bags, then boarded our train to tokyo. it was not nearly as nice as the previous trains we've taken even though it was the same class. maybe it was because of the holiday and they needed to add more (old) cars. it was really crowded, and the train itself was pretty bumpy. this was unfortunate since it was the longest ride we were taking, but we still got some amazing views of mt. fuji, which was 100% worth the trip. so glad it was a relatively clear day (except for the one cloud right over fuji ha).
the second we stepped off the train in tokyo, you could feel an immediate difference. so much more crowed. so much more diversity. so much more cosmopolitan. ah, city life. caught another local train to our hostel (tokyo international youth hostel) which was literally over the subway and train station. super convenient. and secure - it literally was a government owned building with private security. which also meant that it had a curfew of 11pm - even on new years eve. so our options were to stay out all night, or to go out with the hostel group on a shrine walk. since there wasn't a central gathering place or "times square" of tokyo, we decided it would be just as interesting to do the countdown with our hostel followed by the shrine walk, something we wouldn't get to experience ever again.
wanted to get the most out of the last day of our JR pass, so headed over to the harajuku area to do some wandering and people watching. found a trendy restaurant and grabbed a bite (literally - the portions were so small) to eat, then wandered and got a crepe to fill up our empty tummies. apparently it's the thing to get here - there are crepe stands everywhere! wandered over to the meiji jingu shrine, which was just massive. the shrine was completely decked out for the festivities with vendor booths, barricades, a enormous tv screen and lots of police and monks scurrying around making last minute preparations. and it's needed: 3 million people visit this shrine for the hatsumonde (first shrine visit) during the first three days of the new year. glad we went now! wandered next up and down omote-sando with all the designer stores, though didn't do any shopping there.
back to the hostel to relax a bit before our evening activities. already exhausted, so glad we didn't opt to stay out all night. the countdown was kinda lame but that was fine with me. we all gathered with our enthusiastic hostel workers, drank some sweet sake (or actually whatever sake is before it's refined), and prepared to toast the new year. i said my little prayer for 2010 and hoped for the best..
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
cheered and toasted and hugged and kissed and genuinely welcomed 2010. thought of G and hoped he was having a good celebration back in seattle. next the hostel handed out blue name tags so security could identify us when we came back after the shrine visit. and they weren't joking about the security: we were literally escorted through the bowels of the building by a guard. it felt a bit "mission impossible meets school class trip". headed to the shrine and chatted with several of our newly made friends, of which freddy was by far our favorite. he also served as our entertainment as we waited for 2 hours (yes, 2 hours!) to enter the shrine. i can't really describe him in words and really wish i had had a video. some of my favorite freddy quotes:
--do you love japan? i love ny! do you love ny? i LOVE ny!
--have you ever met barack? why not?! he seem very approachable. you should meet him.
--do i look like a japanese?
--where the firework?! where the firecracker?! where the firework?! where the firecracker?!
oh, freddy. thank you for providing us with some fond memories.
anyway, waited in line for 2hrs in the freezing cold. but at least jos and i were prepared; some of the girls just wore kimonos, and since they weren't "real" they were pretty thin and flimsy. i'm not sure how they didn't get frostbite, but i guess the sake helped. i've never seen such sheer numbers of people and the line seemed never ending. by the time we left around 2:30 it actually seemed longer than when we were in it, formed by all ages and walks of life. my favorite was this little old bent over lady walking with her cane to join the line at nearly 3am.
while waiting in line we managed to memorize the sequence of movements to perform while at the shrine. first up: hand cleansing at the temizuya fountain. the water was freezing! but fortunately a dedicated shrine worker was standing ready to hand us a towel to quickly dry our hands. next, throw in your money! the offering is usually Y5, which to me sounds like an obscenely small amount when we're talking about wishes, but i guess any more and your wish will come true - but much later than if you give less. works for me. next it was bow. then bow again. then clap. then clap again. then pray - and i did. i gave thanks for 2009 and the lessons it taught me, so as to not leave it on a bad note. then i prayed for peace of mind in the new year. and i truly meant it from the heart. finally, one last bow.
milled around the shrine grounds for a bit to soak up the scene while waiting for our group to all get through. then it was pretty much a run back to the hostel, and after a brief hang up of being locked out, our leader found a way in and the guard, and to bed we went. happy new year, and may it be a good one.
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