Of Emperors and Octopus

so first, let me be clear about something.  my spelling and punctuation, as you all know, are impeccable.  however, in japan, the keypads are proving a bit daunting, what with mixing things about and placing obstacles in front of my overzealous typing.  for example, the quotation mark is shift+2.  and apostrophe is shift+7.  and the space bar is shorter to make way for the toggle switch between english and japanese.  ready?  っqウェリ.  i don't know what that means.  i hope it translates to "rock and roll ain't noise pollution."

moving on, without ever forgetting my caveat, today was a long jaunt around Tokyo.  it began with a breakfast of watermelon and cherries while watching japanese tv.  i am no more informed now than before I watched it, but I am more entertained.  I took the train with Nari to work and then continued to the Imperial Palace and adjoining gardens.  much of the palace has long been destroyed and all that remains are tall stone walls and guard buildings.  the gardens were a nice walk, but overall, I wouldn't place it high on the list of things to do.  then I went for a walk through the main shopping districts of Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku.  I didn't buy anything, but the 6 floors of toys at Kiddy Land blew me away.  panda bear lotion dispensers?  piggy banks that munch on your finger?  more anime than I know what to do with?  sorry joel, they had many a transformer, but not the ones you wanted.  they did, however, have Soundwave ipods and Optimus's convoy in the form of ipod speakers.

after much walking about, I had a nice lunch buffet for a mere 10$.  1,200 yen.  one thing i will say about yen - too many coins!  anything below 1,000 yen is in coin form - 5, 10, 50, 100, 500.  cmon now.  my pockets are full, dude!  

I really enjoyed the walking about.  I still maintain that tokyo is a futuristic cartoon land.  everything is bright and bouncy and cartoon like.  by the way, Uniqlo japan is awesome!  manga tshirts galore, though nothing that I thought looked good on me.  in general, the clothes shopping is dynamite.  I am not buying anything now, one, because I don't know what I'd even be looking for, and two, because I don¥'t have any room in my pack right now.  when i get back to tokyo, I might pick something up.

following lunch, I went into Yoyogi park to see the Meiji shrine, a Shinto shrine built in remembrance of Emperor Meiji and his wife.  Amazing.  the buildings are insanely beautiful, and sited within a blossoming and dense park, transported me back in time to the Japan of legend.  I was able to watch a brief prayer ceremony and take part in the shrine customs of handwashing, charity and prayer.  the walk around the park both prior to, and following, the shrine knocked my socks off.  austere beauty and dense greens, well sheltered from the noise of the city beyond.  this is the park that Marcia, from the bar last night, suggested I visit on sunday, when it is filled with punks, firedancers, musicians and other hipster folk.  I may stick around to experience local youth culture.

while walking into the shrine, I spotted a cute boy from afar - tall, blond, seemingly muscled and impeccable bone structure.  I shadowed him for awhile, and after watching the prayer ceremony, I asked him if he could take my picture.  following, we got to chatting.  his name is Tommy, and he is on a five day trip from Finland.  a very shy man, he had some of the worst teeth this side of austin powers.  i quickly sensed our conversation was going nowhere quickly, and took my leave.

after more window shopping, I located the gay district for later adventures.  but, with tired feet and an already hungry stomach, i took the train back to Nari's to relax until going out tonight.

sidenote, at Kingston last night, I also met a Japanese boy named Tomo who emailed me today with many a link to videos of him trainjumping.  I will paste some of these after I take a look.  I hope to find him later on down the line, as he seems like an interesting person to know.

i am also working to upload my pictures as I go to Flickr, and will post a link when I figure it out.  as for now, i am going to have a beer, eat some sushi i picked up from the corner store, and chill with Nari's brother's girlfriend (who speaks no english, but who just stir fried some octopus I want to try).  kampai!