Penguin. The other white meat.

Vacation in Tokyo, Part 4

May 2000

On Thursday, I headed back to Odaiba on the Yurikamome to do a little more looking around and took a few more pictures. I also wanted to check out Tokyo Teleport. From there, I took the Rinkai Line from the island heading east back to the mainland. From there I boarded the Keiyo Line and headed my way to the Tokyo Sealife Park. Tokyo Sealife is a part of the Kasai Rinkai Park. I didn't really see much of the rest of the park; I was just interested in the aquarium. It's a nice place, and I definitely recommend a visit. It isn't as massive and impressive as the Kaiyukan aquarium in Osaka, but it was still nice. There is one room in particular that is cool that features a wrap-around aquarium. Schools of tuna circle around you.

Once again, my thoughts turned toward my girlfriend Mayu-chan, and how I would like to visit the aquarium together with her. I was looking forward to being reunited with her the next day. I spent a long time at the aquarium, just watching the fish and contemplating.

Late that afternoon, I visited Asakusa. It was decorated for the celebration of the New Year 2000. The winter sun was starting to set, and all the shops of the Nakamise were lit up. It was so pretty. I wandered around the Asakusa area and took a lot of photographs as the sun set on the city.

That night I ate an unagi (broiled eel) for dinner at a restaurant in Asakusa. It was a smaller restaurant, so I had to share my table. I sat with an older gentleman from Hokkaido who was vacationing in Tokyo. He knew a little bit of English, too. I had a nice time there, but I think that is where I misplaced my gloves. My hands were cold on the way home that night.

The next morning, I checked out of the youth hostel. Cathy was checking out too, and was going to be flying back to Taiwan later that day. I think she said she had been going to school in San Jose, taking some college classes. We both had time to kill, so we went to the Meiji Shrine. I showed her the back way, through the entrance that is next to the Youth Hostel.

We emerged from the quiet beauty of the shrine grounds to the bustling shopping district of Harajuku. I hadn't vistied Harajuku on my previous stay in Tokyo, and it was much more subdued than the visual overload of Shibuya, the neighboring shopping district. Harajuku truly has a different atmosphere to it.

We walked south to Shibuya. I did some shopping for a new pair of gloves. Most were high priced in Harajuku and in Shibuya, but I finally found a decent pair at a store called "oione." (I never asked anyone how I was supposed to properly pronounce the name of the store.) Cathy talked to a salesman there and got directions to an all-you-can-eat (tabehoudai) Japanese food restaurant that's only a thousand yen per person! It was just around the corner. I usually cannot trust myself in an all-you-can-eat restaurant because it's like my eyes roll back in their sockets like a shark and my jaw unhinges like a snake. But I had to be especially careful, because they charge you extra if you let food go to waste. They had unagi there, so I was happy. After eating, it was nearly 1pm and we needed to part ways. She was going to Tower Records, and I needed to return to the youth hostel to get my luggage.

It was Friday afternoon, and my week in Tokyo was coming to a close. After a rough start in Los Angeles, I ended up having a great time in Tokyo. At Shinjuku Station, I took the 3:00 Azusa express train to Okaya. There, Mayu and her mother were waiting for me and we drove to the family's home in Iijima. That night I proposed to Mayu. She accepted, and she became my fiancee.

Next, read about my life in Japan once I got a job teaching English there!

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