May 5, 2008

This year had been my best traveling experience as the Lord blessed me with a younger sister who invited me to visit her to her host scholarship country, Japan. If not for the sole reason of her mabuhay miles on the brink of dropping, it would have taken me longer to buy that plane ticket to the land of the rising sun. I was there for technically 8 days to visit Denise and of course to enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of Japan. I am still now gasping and longing to go back to the cuckoo sounds echoing the streets when it’s time for you to cross; to inhale the cool and refreshing slap of the gentle wind when we went biking round the parks that strip Tokyo Bay; gulp that cold bottle of Calpis after the long mind twisting, neck breaking, foot running and nervous digging of the ticket in Tokyo’s intestinal pattern of subways and surfaced mae’s, machi’s and dori’s.

Day 1 – April 21 - Monday
DisneySea is our gate to an 8 day escape to a world of fashion, expensive food, temple and shrine marathons, vendo machines and 24-hour convenience stores on every block, sento (public baths), manicured Azalea bushes, quaint shops selling fans alongside okashi (rice-based sweets) boxed like fancy jewelries, sembei (Japanese crackers), ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) and Hello Kitty’s, Ampanmans, Doraemon’s and Stitchs (yes…from Lilo and Stitch).

DisneySea is a huge metropolitan of grandeuse architecture featuring Renaissance Europe with matching Gondola cruises, America’s Goldrush and African Tropics as they individually themed it to the Mediterranean Harbor, American Waterfront, Port Discovery, Lost River Delta, Arabian Coast, Mysterious Island and Mermaid Lagoon.

Denise and I, with our limited time and short lower extremities were only able to traverse the following:

Electric Railway

Transit Streamer Line

Stormrider – nakakatawa yung mature woman who briefed us before the ride, kasi she’s passionately serious about a tornado nearing our location

Aquatopia – simply the best!!!!!

Indiana Jones Adventure Temple of the Crystal Skull

Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage – I almost cried here. The puppet tour was too magnifique.

Journey to The Center of the Earth – di naming inasahan ni Denise and sudden drop

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – so gayish and fake, for those who love powerpuff girls and has only been to Cubao carnival in their whole life

Ariel’s Greeting Grotto – oops parang tired and plastic na ang smile ni Ariel, (she won’t forget to say hi to Flounder from us)

Mermaid Lagoon Theater – we watched “live” the musical production Under the Sea with Ariel, Flounder and other ocean creatures hanging and dancing to and fro the ceiling, well Sebastian was the best performer

I got to rub elbows with Jafar and Gimini Cricket. Just these two fictional mascots since me and Denise have to maximize our photo shooting.

We had curry for lunch and ice cream in the afternoon. We left at 5 pm as our calves and soles are breaking in half.

A few of Denise friends (2 Alishirs, Sardor and Asako) invited us to join them for a few drinks somewhere were we saw one shop which had a poster of Filipinas titled “POGI”.

Day 2 – April 22 - Tuesday

Rikugien Gardens, Tokyo Imperial Palace, basta temple-hopping
GRIPS party welcoming new students, ate little for all that’s left were non-edible-looking so I toast to Coke instead before the dancing, then got bored exit back to TIEC.

Day 3 – April 23 - Wednesday
Denise had class in the morning at GRIPS and so she left me in Roponggi, on one of the streets that align with Tully’s Coffee and Banana Republic. Roponggi Hills was the elite area of Tokyo as I started breezing through Mori Tower, of which I didn’t go to the viewing deck mainly because I wasn’t interested but headed instead to the Museum shop within the confines; West Walk which is the mall for the affluent Tokyoites as you see in their choreographed walks, shopping sprees and pang-alta-c-ciudad manners; that area where the streets are passed by Porsches, Alfa Romeos and Lamborghinis, of which a Mini-Cooper showroom is present, where street gardeners maintain small patches of very beautiful blooms organized in flowerbeds, where daga-looking dogs are showed-off like firstborns and whose leashes are Hello Kitty’s, and last but not the least boutiques that have live mannequins posing and waving on the shop windows. I spent most of my time sitting down, drinking orange juice and iced tea in a large area with tables and chairs and a big TV monitor that spoke alien while popping dried plums on my cottony mouth.

As Alishir, a friend of Denise, just got time available to take me around, he volunteered to take me around. Our first stop was at a park, I forgot the name, where we just walked, talked, people-watched and appreciate a lagoon garden. Since it’s time Denise may have already finished her classes, Alish took a short quick tour of GRIPS before we meet Denise.

We had pecking duck dinner at a Chinese restaurant where the waitress was kind of impolite which led us to think she’s not Japanese. After that hearty meal, we passed by a nearby giftshop to salivate on the small and carnal goodies.

Day 4 – April 24 -Thursday
Museum of Modern Art visit. Most works were Impressionist style.
Shinjuku window shopping, Tokyo Hands was the best. Nightbus for Kyoto at 11 pm.

Day 5 – April 25 -Friday
Kyoto was sooooo cold, or is it because we got out of the bus at 6 am?
Had breakfast at Mcdonalds within the confines of the train station. Navigated towards K’s House and walking was not really funny. It bore a clot on my right big toe. We just left our baggage and wasted no time to accomplish what we went there for, visit the World Heritage Sites which are solely Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.

Shopped for sneakers, had authentic ramen for lunch and dinner? (I forgot where)

Went to an onsen (had indoor and outdoor) and bathed until we had headaches and there’s no more dead skin to shed in the shower.

Slept mightily and woke up at 9 am

Day 6 – April 26-Saturday

Had Shakey’s lunch and went temple racing
Travelled to Osaka to check-in on the dingy hotel that has free internet service

Day 7 – April 27-Sunday-Osaka Day – visited the largest aquarium in the world whose main star is a baby whale shark (maybe from the waters of Donsol, Sorsogon).
We met up with Denise Japanese friend and off we went to Osaka tower na chaka and typical congestion ng gray buildings ang view, ate from the best Takoyaki-selling store, and ate again on their famous streetfood long-queued store of which you will treat yourself to a wide array of breaded anything (from cheese, green pepper, pork, asparagus, squid, cherry tomatoes, etc) with freshly-cut raw cabbage as side dish.

Went back to Kyoto to take the 11 pm nightbus for Tokyo

Day 8 – April 28-Monday
ODAIBA sights, biking, Aqua City, Venus Fort and 100 yen shop

Day 9 - April 29-Tuesday

Day 10– April 30-Wednesday-Ueno and 100 yen shop
Farewell Dinner

Day 11 – May 1-Thursday
9:30 flight back to Manila through Narita Airport