Day Seven: Leaving Kurashiki and Arriving in Ikebukuro

Hello! You found the compass!


      All of the events of every day are bleeding together. We're so busy that I have to ask people what we did today just to keep things straight. I have to look at the folder of the day's photos to remember what went on. So much to see, so much to do.

    Also, the picture of me in a yukata didn't really show much of the yukata so here are Tim and Franco showing them off! (I meant to post this with the traditional inn entry but forgot to!)

Look at 'em! Look at how handsome they are all dressed up!

      Anyway, today was relatively easy to remember because we didn't do a whole lot! Tess, Kristen, and I went back to the Little Mermaid cafe for breakfast. As usual, it was delicious! I actually have a picture of it this time.

Awesome.

      After checking out of our super seedy hotel-WAIT! I didn't write about the seedy hotel, did I? OH BOY! Well, it's time for stories. Last night, we stayed at the Kurashiki Station Hotel. It was very convenient because of the close proximity to the station, as the name suggests. Kristen, Tess, and I were in a triple again. It smelled like a smoking room and had an ash tray and matches, so Kristen burned two matches for both fun and to get rid of the smoke smell and replace it with match smell. We had a view of a place called Parlor All Star 21, which I thought was a strip club when I first saw it. Eric and Tim came to visit our room and Eric said that he had come to the same conclusion (strip club). However, the REAL reason that Eric came to our room was to show us something magical about our T.V. remotes and some pamphlets in the rooms. He pointed out that the T.V. remote had two different sets of up and down buttons labeled "channel". The set on the left of the remote was for regular channels, and it turns out that the set on the right was for pornography. Yes, Japan had an entire separate remote "clicky thingy" (as I professionally call it) for pornography in their hotels. (Maybe America does too, but that would be news to me.) Also, those pamphlets I mentioned were for call girls. Pictures included. We considered inviting one over for tea, but she probably wouldn't have spoken English and it would be expensive (also, we wouldn't have had enough tea for her and the two "doctors" who were "examining" her in her picture). To continue the list of oddities of the hotel, we found this odd sign at the ends of some hallways. I don't really know what it is supposed to mean. Suicide prevention? I have no idea.

      Okay, back to today's story. So we checked out of the sketchy hotel we explored a historical district of Kurashiki. The district has a small river running through it where traditional boat rides are offered. Koi and other fish swim in the river, as well as two swans. There are bags of fish food available for a small fee. Dr. Huang bought some and we got the chance to feed the fish, as well as the pigeons that the food attracted. It was funny; they ate out of our hands like chickens. We also visited two museums and then had free time to wander the roads and check out the merchants.

One of the museums we saw. Kurashiki Museum of Folkcraft.

Begging for more food.

     

One of the two swans.

Not one of the museums we went to, but I liked the dog-covered roof.

Ivy Square: A small area with a hotel and some restaurants at the edge of the historical district.

Boat ride, anyone?

      One of the stores we came across was the ideal store for a crazy cat lady. (Or cat lovers. Dog lovers would be okay in there, but it's mostly cat stuff.) It was filled to the brim with everything you could want to own with a cat on it: purses, wallets, tote bags, mugs, cups, plates, paintings, signs, toys, the list goes on. There were two HUGE cats in a glass area with beds and toys. They were asleep when we got there, but they were still fat and cute. The music though...I can't imagine staying sane and working there. The music was Christmas Carols sung by cats. As in, the carols were all meowed. It hurt my soul after awhile...I think I went mildly insane from over-exposure to cat paraphernalia.


      After skipping around and having fun, we went to the train station to embark on a four hour train ride to Tokyo. I took a nap for a little bit, and when I woke up Dr. Huang was telling people to look out the window because we were passing Mount Fuji! It was an unexpected surprise, but it was something to behold. I didn't expect it to be as massive as it was, even from that distance.

The majestic Mount Fuji!

       The size kind of puts into perspective how incredibly stupid we (the United States) were to even consider painting it red to demoralize Japan in World War II. (Seriously. It happened. Google it.)

      And then, after a very relaxing ride on the Hikari Bullet Train, we arrived in Tokyo. We took the subway from there, and reached our destination: Ikebukuro.

      The first thing I noticed about Ikebukuro is that it is far more crowded than any of our previous destinations. It is much more New York City-like than Kyoto or Miyajima. We found our hotel (which is not sketchy, but the alley to get to it is) and settled into our new rooms. We were all fairly hungry and Becky, Tess, and I went to a place that we had passed on the way to the Sakura Hotel. From the first glance it looked like a cheap, traditional ramen shop. When we arrived, we discovered that it had much more than just ramen and it was still cheap! They used the ticket system, which was cool. (Rather than sitting down and ordering food you pay at a machine and press the button for the food you want, like a vending machine. It gives you a ticket which you bring to the cooks.) I ordered a curry and rice dish, which to my surprise also came with a massive bowl of udon noodles. I finished the curry and the noodles (but not the broth) and I was stuffed. It was delicious, the portions were fairly big, and it was cheap. I may have to return there sometime.

Hedge owls outside of Ikebukuro Station, West exit.

      Once we returned to the hotel, full and happy, we decided to stay in. We had been considering going to Shinjuku tonight but decided against it. We are getting up early tomorrow and going to the Tokyo Imperial Palace. Guess what? Our application to get a tour of it was accepted! So we'll have gotten to see both of the imperial palaces in this trip! Woohoo! We're also going to three or four more places tomorrow, so I should have plenty of pictures and stories.

      Oyasuminasai!