so i've decided that my new year's resolution for 2010 (boy it feels good to write 2010) is that i will strive to be more positive, in all aspects of my life. every year i make meaningful resolutions that will truly impact me and the direction my life is going. last year was the first time i failed at my resolution (which was to be more assertive and take more initiative in my own life). big fail. still not entirely over it, actually. moving on.. i'm usually a pretty happy-go-lucky kinda gal, but some big bad negativity has taken over and it's brought me down. way down. i know it will be a struggle, but i really need change in my life - and i'm a firm believer in the power of positive thinking anyway. so what better time than the new year to truly turn over a new leaf. so, here's to positivity! =)
anyway, back to japan. the only downside of our hostel is that you can only shower between certain hours, and i almost slept through that time frame thanks to being up so late for new year's eve. whoops. made it just in time. jos and i decided to head to a coffee shop to grab breakfast and discuss our plans for the day. we agreed to head over to ueno park area - which is chock full of museums and even a zoo. it actually has the highest concentration of museums anywhere in japan. unfortunately, due to the new year holiday, all the museums were closed. since we knew this ahead of time, we weren't entirely disappointed. headed to toshogu shrine, known for it's bronze lanterns and dedicated to the guy (tokugawa ieyasu) who's credited with unifying japan. walked around the entire perimeter of the park. saw the most adorable old man half-walking half-jogging, who said hi and waved to everyone he passed. what a face! he had such a twinkle in his eye. i would have loved to have photographed him. i love old people..
along the outside of the park we passed by benzaiten temple, gokojuin temple and kaneiji temple and its cemeteries. back in the park came across a central fountain where we saw what appeared to be a soup kitchen. there were quite a few homeless-y looking people around, which was pretty oddly countered by the loads of families we saw picnicking just a few meters away. walking a bit more came across the statue of saigo takamori, the samurai who disemboweled himself as a sign of protest. intriguing.
headed south to ameyoko, a back street that was once a famed black-market district. we were looking for a shrine, but entirely missed the street we were supposed to turn on, so kept heading down towards akinhabara, or "electric town". we weren't entirely sure if the "town" was a specific building, or an area, or what. wandered in and out of several electronic shops. prices weren't great, so mainly just browsed. saw some funny anime things, including the famed 'maids'. headed back towards the shrine, but never made it there. not because we couldn't find it or missed a turn again. but yushima temmangu shrine was so mobbed, we couldn't even get close. and i thought the line last night was bad. this one stretched - literally - around SEVERAL city blocks. i've never seen anything remotely close to that before. i guess no praying to the god of learning for us!
headed over to the asakusa area, center of kabuki theatre, but the walk ended up being longer than we expected. it was evening by the time we got there, and i think we'd agree we were both tired and cranky. after a bit of bad luck navigating our way to the information center, finally found it, and finally our luck changed. it turns out that we were going to get to see a show after all! met the cutest japanese man, who spoke incredibly good english, and was a self proclaimed kabuki expert. we had come to the right place! we should consider ourselves very lucky to find such an expert of kabuki! adorable. if you have a chance to go to this info center, i highly recommend it. they were most helpful. our kabuki expert gave us the times and the insider info as to when to get in line and which show to see. he suggested kanjincho, as it was the most dramatic and would be easier for us to understand. thanks kabuki expert!
as it was already evening, didn't really seem like we'd have time to really enjoy all that asakusa had to offer, so agreed to come back another day. decided on the water cruise, which during the day would probably not be the most scenic thing in the world, but at night all the bridges and buildings were lit up and quite pretty. we got tickets for the 17:20 departure, but since the 17:10 was running late - we made that one. it was supposed to take a leisurely 40mins, but i guess they tried to make up time, and we made it to hinode pier in a quick 25. oh well. made the trek over to hamamatsucho JR station, and with a couple of transfers were back at our hostel. most restaurants were closed by this point, so we headed to the ubiquitous family mart to pick up some breakfast goods. on our way there, stumbled upon an italian restaurant that was almost too cheap to be real. went all out - ordered a salad, a personal pizza and wine - all for Y800. craziness. my red wine was cold. but i'll drink any wine for a dollar.
back at the hostel had planned for an early night (trying to catch up on some sleep) but got into a really interesting conversation with a girl named ginessa from nyc. she originally was asking us about nara - as she and her travel partner were headed that way soon. but it evolved into how she worked for the museum of natural history (one of the best museums i've ever been in) and how she goes on archeological digs! like for real! i for one thought it was fascinating, as i've always wanted to go on a dig. maybe one day..
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