Tokyo

Thank God for friends in Japan!  Ayami emailed me the details on the ticket I should request to get me from Kofu to Shinjuku and back again.  She wrote it in English and Japanese and told me I should print it out and take it to the station.  I just took the paper in and pointed and it worked like a charm.  I got a return express train ticket from Kofu to Shinjuku plus a two-day free ticket for the trains within Tokyo for　￥4500.  It is usually around ￥2200 for a one-way local train (slower than express) ticket.  The train left Kofu at 9:14 am and arrived in Shinjuku at 10:52 am.

Junko and Ayami met me at Shinjuku station and we made our way through the tunnels and passageways to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.  From the 45th floor we were able to get an excellent view of the sickening expanse of buildings.  The buildings stretched out one after another barely an alley between them for as far as the eye could see.  Beautiful Shinjuku!

We participated in a Japanese tea ceremony.

We made our way by subway to the Hamarikyu Gardens where we wandered amongst the Japanese style trees and flowers and participated in a Japanese tea ceremony.  We were served a very green, foamy, and bitter green tea with a Japanese sweet (vegan like most Japanese sweets).  We sat cross legged or sitting on our heels on the traditional tatami mats.

We then walked to the other end of the park where we were able to catch a boat that took us down the river to a place called Asakusa.  We went to some very crowded Japanese-looking markets with lanterns out selling fans, kimonos, and--most importantly--Japanese sweets.  We made our way through the crowd to the `Kannon Temple.`  There I purchased another fortune.  This time I got a level one!  It told me that everything I wanted would come true and that changing my home would not be a bad thing!

After the temple we took the subway toward Ayami`s house.  We then switched to a train (I finally got to use my free ticket) and got off in Kachijouji where we went to Deva Deva Cafe, a western-syle vegetarian restaurant.  The portions were very small for the price (￥1260 for a burger patty with no bun, 6 string beans, and a bit of house salad.)  But the atmosphere was good and they told us of a health food store nearby.  We went looking for egg replacer but they had never heard of such a thing (they showed me to the quinoa instead).  So I got some TVP stuff and we headed back onto the trains to get to Ayami`s home.

At Ayami`s I made a new friend.  His name is Mame and he is a 4-year-old Chihuahua.  His name means bean and he was instantly drawn to me laying on his back on my lap so I could rub his belly.

Saturday was a long, action-packed day full of the sites and sounds of Tokyo!  After visiting with Ayami`s mother for bit, if my broken Japanese and her broken English, we headed to bed.  I will upload the pictures from his entry and write about what we will do today later.