Day 51: 21 May 2009

LOCATION: TOKYO, YOKOHAMA
MOOD: WEARY
LISTENING TO: DMX – ONE MORE ROAD TO CROSS

GOING IN REVERSE:

I got up nice and early this morning and began the long trip back to Tokyo. The entire journey would take around 6 hours and I wanted to arrive in time to still be able to do something when I got there. The actual trip was fairly uneventful; I passed the time as I had throughout the trip so far, by watching the scenery and chugging through album after album of music. It was interesting seeing all the cities I had visited fly by in reverse order and I had plenty of time to reminisce about the amount of ground I had covered in the previous two weeks.

The only thing of note was that I actually managed to catch sight of Mt Fuji this time around. I must have been sitting on the wrong side of the train on the way down, and this time I very nearly missed it as well. I woke up from a short nap in time to catch sight of the white giant towering over the town below. I quickly dug around my bag looking for my camera and dashed away a couple of shots before the scene became too obscured by telephone poles and houses.

The first murky shot of Mt Fuji.

Probably the best shot that I managed to take.

I also like this shot - Mt Fuji imposing itself on the urban jungle.

SOME THINGS DON'T CHANGE:

I arrived in Tokyo around mid afternoon and immediately set about trying to find my way to my hostel. I was staying in the same general area as before (Asakusa), but this hostel was on a different subway line so I had to find the fastest way there. As it turned out, some of the connections that I thought I divined from the clustered subway map in my Lonely Planet guide didn't exist and I was forced to take the most conventional route. Of course nothing is that simple in Tokyo and it was only after I walked all the way across the sprawling station that I figured that out.

I eventually made it to the hostel and got checked in, dumping my bags upstairs and getting something to eat. When I got back I cracked open my guide and laptop to plan what to do for the afternoon and evening, but I was interrupted by one of the girls who worked for the hostel. She explained that there were visiting Shiatsu masseurs offering massages and asked if I would like one. I replied that I would probably have to pass, but then she mentioned that magical word that is like honey to the ear of the cash-strapped journeyman: 'free'.

I figured that since I had a few days in Tokyo and only one chance to get a free massage I would give it a shot. It turned out to be a little different to what I had expected. The word 'Shiatsu' translates literally as 'finger pressure', and that's exactly what it is. The masseuse got me to assume a rather strange position lying sideways and proceded to press his fingers deeply into my shoulder muscles. It wasn't exactly painful, but it wasn't a great feeling either. He managed to work out most of the knots except for a one big one at the base of my neck that he worked on for a few minutes before finally giving up. I thanked him and had a short chat with him about Shiatsu before getting up to leave.

The girl at the counter returned and asked how I had found the massage, to which I replied it had been interesting. She asked where I was going and I said Yokohama, and she advised me to check out the Yokohama bay area. A lady seated at a nearby table piped in and seconded the recommendation, so I was sold. She was surprised when she found out that I wasn't Japanese, and she suggested that once I had picked up a Japanese girl I should take her to Yokohama Bay as it was apparently a pretty romantic place. With that reminder that I was still single, I picked up my bag and headed out.

THE FUTURE ISN'T SO BRIGHT:

Both ladies had recommended that I check out the Yokohama bay area because of the recent Minato Mirai 21 (Port of the Future 21) development. They said that going there was like experiencing a taste of the future. With that tantalising prospect in my mind I braved the rush hour public transport crush and toughed out the 50 minute or so ride from Tokyo. Yokohama is Japan's second largest city, but it only has a population of 3 million (compared to Tokyo's 20 million) and it is close enough for regular commutes so the train was extremely crowded. Forget grabbing one of those handles dangling from the ceiling, you don't have enough room to fall over. At every stop there would be a mad rush of people in and out and you are buffeted around like particles in Brownian Motion.

Given this arduous journey and the glowing references my expectations were pretty high when I arrived at Yokohama, but sadly it didn't really live up to the hype. Yes everything was shiny and new, and the architecture was definitely modern bordering on the futuristic. But at its core it was just a bunch of tall buildings and shopping centres, and the skyline wasn't that impressive after having come from Tokyo. I think the scenery was also somewhat cheapened by the ferris wheel and amusement park built along the bay, although that didn't stop me from taking pictures. The ferris wheel is the world's tallest, standing at 105m, and I was tempted to ride it before I realised that everyone around me was in a group of some description and that it would be pretty embarassing to ride it by myself.

Taking pictures of the ferris wheel was fine though.

I can see what the lady back at the hostel was talking about - it would be a nice date spot, in an American high school movie way.

Or you could just sit and enjoy the scenery with that special someone.

I contented myself with taking a stroll around the precinct and taking pictures. Pretty much everything was closed by the time I got there so there wasn't much to do besides look and eat ice cream. It was a bit of a disappointment to be sure, but at least I had the satisfaction of being able to say I had been to Yokohama. If I had more time I would have gone for a whole day and checked out some of the other sights Yokohama has to offer (for example it's supposed to have an awesome China Town), but with my time and money constraints being what they were I cut my losses and headed back for some well-earned rest.

The tall building in the left of the picture had an observation deck, but unfortunately it was closed by the time I got there. That's the last time I trust my travel guide.

This was the metropolitan art museum - I think. Given that everything was closed I just decided to take photos of the interesting architecture.

To be honest I was a lot more impressed by Shibuya (where the train from Yokohama terminates in Tokyo).