Taking Time to Smell the Roses

24/06/17

Morning walk

So this morning I woke up quite early, and decided a walk would be in order. On my explorations down the main shopping street near our accommodation, I discovered the entrance to a shrine, so of course I had to explore! It was a pretty little shrine, only I met an unexpected friend… I saw a little snake! The presumption is that he belongs to the shrine, because it’s extremely rare to find a random snake in the city.

 On return to the house and after breakfast was had, us girls decided to get ready for our breaking of bread, which meant it was time to get our kimono and yukata on! It took a couple of tries, but we finally got my obi to work, and we went downstairs to show off. Everyone loved them! After our meeting we headed off to Shinjuku Gyoen. It cost us $2 to get in, but it was so beautiful! There were so many flowers, trees, so much grass, and it didn’t feel like we were still in the middle of Tokyo. We had a couple of locals say we looked cute in our yukata/kimono, and a few wanted to even take photos with us! It was so surreal.

We finished the day with yet again more karaoke, which was so much fun!

25/06/17

This morning we were moving back to the first house, so the morning was spent packing and cleaning up our current accomodation. At lunch time the owner of the house arrived and took us to am amazing little curry restaurant, which served all you can eat curry! And we got to try some berries straight off the tree on the way!

After we moved back to the apartment, we explored the local shopping mall, then moved on to Shinjuku and Shibuya again! We saw a really fantastic beatboxer busking in Shibuya, and explored a massive shopping centre in Shinjuku.

Yonder, In Yokohama

20/06/17

As you can probably tell by now, I’m attempting to concoct clever titles for my blog posts… is it working?

Today was another packed day! As with yesterday, the day began with breakfast and a shower, but with an added twist; I would be taking the kids for their class today, instead of sitting with the adults! We talked a bit about how Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12), then made an epic mess making some mason jar lights.

After our class and pack up, it was lunch time, and of course, exploring! Today’s destination was Yokohama, a port city south of Tokyo and a beautiful little city (well, compared to Tokyo). It was much less crowded, and the sky was sunny, the perfect day for being out and about. As our train ride had been straight after class, our stomachs were grumbling and lunch was a top priority. Once we arrived in Yokohama and figured out how to get to the Cosmo Clock 21 (our primary destination), we were on the hunt for lunch. Our station was really close to the Yokohama Stadium, so we detoured via the stadium and gardens around it. The stadium had a really cool baseball themed fountain, and the gardens nearby were beautiful.

When we finally got back on track for food, we managed to find a Hawaiian restaurant near the port. It was upstairs in a row of restaurants, and the decorations were fantastic! The attention to detail in every aspect of the decor was incredible, with display inserts in the tables to carved wooden ceiling fans. The menu, however, was only in Japanese! We attempted to decipher the menu, but ended up having to ask for an English menu… thank goodness for rudimentary Japanese skills! The menu was predominantly curry and bowl meals (meat and rice), but the food was pretty delicious.

Fed and watered, we resumed our trek to Cosmo World, bypassing the famous Red Brick Warehouses and stumbling upon a massive shopping centre. We later discovered that the building had a rooftop mini golf course that we could only see from the ferris wheel. The shops had a Hawaiian themed foodcourt, with sadly overpriced lemonades and delectable cinnamon scrolls (which Americans call cinnamon rolls… so weird!), but some interesting shops which were good for souvenir shops!

Luckily, just outside the shops was Cosmo World! Entering and purchasing our tickets, we were finally en route to the Cosmo Clock 21! A full 15 minutes of harbour views and crazy selfies.

Afterwards we returned home, but our dinner conversations were highly amusing! Discussions of onomatopaeia across cultures was fascinating, and it turns out that knowing the word for deer is handy when trying to explain a moose to a Japanese person, with assistance from rudimentary English and hand signs!

21/06/17

Today was a slow day – the inclement weather was not conducive to getting out and about… However the local op shop and dollar store was visited, and I finally got myself a fan (perfect for those warmer days). It was a relaxing day chatting with the other Bible Week attendees, feeling poor after paying my fees, and enjoying good food, so I’ll leave it there. Off to Shibuya tomorrow!

~Tash