Speechless in Tokyo

I have no voice. My voice has been gone since last Wednesday. I sang one too many verses of "The Wheels on the Bus," shouted "Double-Up" way too enthusiastically and performed countless Team Chicken/Team Monkey dances. My vocal chords were pushed to their limits. I'm not sick. My throat doesn't really hurt, I am just voiceless.

But last Thursday night I took a trip to Tokyo to renew my passport at the U.S. embassy, and that was very interesting...



THE OX IN ME
My chinese zodiac sign is the Ox - we are described as hardworking, dependable, calm and caring.

As a side note, they say that people born in the year of the Ox often need to be in a quiet and peaceful place to think their ideas through -- which in my case, couldn't be anymore true! When it looks like I'm spacing out - I'm not. I'm probably trying to zone you and everything else out because it's all blocking my thought process. So don't be offended. =)

But anyway, the Ox is also described as sometimes being stubborn, and I admit, I can sometimes be.

When I had arrived at Tokyo Station I had to figure out how to get from Tokyo to Akasaka - by subway, it takes no more than 10 minutes. So I thought the trip would be easy. I knew which subways to take and I had maps. I set off!

Getting to Akasaka wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was my first time taking the subways in Tokyo - which, whenever I look at the huge map of the subway system, I always see this overwhelming cloud of DOOM. But like I said, I conquered that challenge.


Getting to the U.S. Embassy was the problem. I took the wrong exit out of the station and ended up on the wrong side of Akasaka. I asked people where the embassy was and they either didn't know, or referred me to the police box.

So I go to the police box and just my luck, they were out on patrol. Now at this point, I had been walking for 30 minutes and I could've easily hailed a taxi and solved my problem within a few minutes, but I didn't.

I kept walking...

I walked to and from each information map. The first map didn't even have the embassy on there! But I was hopeful and just kept going and going. Map to map. And finally I saw the embassy in the corner of one of them

So how do I get there? I see it on the map - but I'm a bit disoriented.

Long story, short. It took me 2 hours to get from Tokyo Station to the U.S. Embassy - and the real pisser was that it only took 15 minutes to renew my passport. It was that easy!

(-_-)

But on the brighter side, now I know how to get to the embassy on foot.



EXPLORING AKASAKA
Akasaka had a kind of international flair. It was definitely a cleaner part of Tokyo and there were a lot of high-rises. Many of the streets were dotted with international restaurants - so for lunch I decided to treat myself to a Thai Buffet.

The Thai Buffet wasn't that great. It wasn't bad - but I wouldn't go back again. It was clean - but there weren't as many choices as I was used to seeing in a "buffet." The food wasn't spectacular and it's so weird for me to say this, but my favorite dish was the vegetable dish (gasp!).

I walked around and spent some time at Hie-Jinja Shrine. I was captivated by the very large white gate at the bottom of the steps.


And honestly, I spent more time than I had planned to be there because I couldn't find the exit! I walked down steps which I thought would lead to the exit, but it just lead right back to the entrance! And the way I walked in had "Do Not Enter" signs going the opposite way. I was stumped.


But finally I just decided to go against the grain, and go out the way I came in. Tehehe... =)



DAYTIME SHIBUYA
Shibuya looks a lot different in the daytime. All of my previous visits have been at night because the lights on the buildings make this portion of Tokyo look so lively. But in the daytime, it's still lively, just that now I can see a bunch of stores I didn't see before.


Picked up 2 magazines: one for Photoshop and one for Illustrator. Even though they were a little pricey I just had to buy them because they had re-sparked and re-inspired me to dust off my programs and make something.

The techniques are amazing and I choked on the excitement I felt by looking through these.





DAYTIME HARAJUKU
Finally, I saw some freaks! Finally! They were sooooo pink and had so much white make-up - oh God were they scary and yet, so fascinating. I wanted a picture, but I didn't. Sure they were freaky, but it seems creepy taking pictures of strangers.

Plus, I had no voice - so in order to avoid the mime motions and the embarassment I glanced from a distance and continued on my merry way.

I know I might call them freaks... but you know - um, everyone can have internal beauty and props to them for being so ballsy.

[------ insert what would've been an interesting Harajuku picture here ------]

DROPPIN' BY YOKOSUKA
Got my dose of the military life when I stayed over at the boyfriend's parent's house in Yokosuka.


Watched Jumper, which wasn't that bad actually - they left enough cliffhangers to hint that there will be a part 2. I give it 3/5 stars.

While at the theater I remembered how it was growing up around the military. The theater was where we spent a lot of our time. That was where the drama went down. It was more than just watching the movie. A lot of movie theaters are like that, but for military children - we don't have much to do on base - so the theater provided that spot to catch a glimpse of the Class Hunks (lol at the usage of Hunks)/Hotties. You know high school stuff.

There was always the issue of how we were going to get into the PG-17 flicks. Before the high demand of cell phones - we all waited in line to use the theaters public phone. Now that I'm older, I see how annoying that all is - but it's a big part of growing up.

Standing for the National Anthem made me momentarily feel like I wasn't working/living in Japan anymore. I felt like I was back at home - but back when I was younger. Back when we felt very safe - and were bored out of our minds living on this rock - but somehow we managed to entertain ourselves. And we all knew that in the end we loved living there. The comfort zone.

Then at the end of the anthem there is always someone who yells: Play ball! and you snap back to reality.

SPEECHLESS IN TOKYO

Here are some observations I picked up while being without a voice in that massive city:

• Ordering food is kind of hard, but luckily there are menus you can point to. The morning rush can be a little more embarrassing since you're holding up the line
  
  
• Strange looks are always in order
  
  
• The girls in Shibuya were the meanest of the bunch. When I walked into stores I was always greeted by some girl - and the moment I motioned that I had no voice - I was given a snooty look. Geez - it's not my fault! But these girls are the dolled up ones - who already carry a sort of stuck-up flair with them. It was just mean.
  
  
• Walking into a restaurant by yourself AND without a voice renders strange stares
  
  
• The people at the embassy are very polite. When I told the agent I was working with that I had no voice she replies, "Oh I understand - well then, I'll try to do most of the talking."
  
  
• They might think it's because you sang way too much karaoke the night before:
  
  
• When I went to the Japanese travel agent in Yokosuka - I was whispering and he didn't question it. Then my boyfriend's mom says, "You know she doesn't always speak like this, she's just sick."
  
  

  To which he responds, "Oh!!! I thought you sang too much karaoke last night."
  
  

  LOL
  
  
• It's not so bad. In a country that isn't about being loud - you can get by with whispering. But be prepared for the occasional "look."

Other observations:

• TOKYO TOILET REVIEW
  
  
• Tokyo Station: 1/5 stars. All suck. Most are drop toilets - and most smell of urine, even at the start of the day. But the best I've been to so far is in the underground passage of the Yaesu Central Side.
  
  It's down a stairway of steps just before the fork to go to Rose Road. It's not so bad, still smells - but there is a proper changing room for those early, "need a morning refresher" drop-ins
  
  
• Shibuya - Tsutaya 5th Floor (Women Only): 4/5 stars. This one was by-far one of the cleanest I've been to in Tokyo. It's only for women - but there's another floor only for men. There are Western Toilets and it's clean.
  
  
• Tokyo Station - Underground Mall (all the way at the end): 4/5 stars. I take it back - there is one very clean bathroom that I've found so far in Tokyo Station. You have to pass all of the restaurants in the underground. You'll come to clearing and you'll see a deep orange bathroom to your right. Very clean. =)
  
  
• OMIYAGE HEAVEN
  
  
• Tokyo Station - Yaesu Exit: Daimaru of Tokyo Station City. Omiyage galore! I wanted to buy it all! Move on over Tokyo Banana!
  
  
  
  

It was a good trip. Well-accomplished. I survived being by myself and voiceless. I survived the throngs of people. I survived the subways, trains and buses.



Now, if only I can survive this cold, coldddddd winter. It was much warmer in Tokyo and there was NO snow.

My car is screaming, "Help me, help me!"