Gardens of Delight

It's 4 am, which is 6am to my body and I'm awake. May as well just go with the flow and get my room sorted out. I am staying here for the full trip, for me that equals travel bliss, no packing and unpacking. I have just realised there is an alcove in my room, which is very Japanese. I can make my very own shrine of shopping! 

The correct name for this space is Tokonoma
it's a recessed space for artistic appreciation.
So far on display is my day 1 shopping and the
lovely origami bird made by the cleaner 

My first trip to Tokyo was all about cherry blossoms, this trip is timed to see autumn leaves.  The only bit of research I have done is from the many gardens which ones to visit, I have picked one large and one small. 

So to kick off my first full day I am walking to Shinjuku Gyeon National Garden, it was once the estate of a shogun (ruler).

Shinjuku Gyeon National Garden,
an oasis in an urban jungle
It's big, 144 acres

Out into the sunshine I go, oops, already distracted I had planned to head directly west, but the sunshine on that building is amazing so let's walk this way, snap, snap, moving on. 

Oh, a man is putting out a sign that the post office is open, let's just nip in and get some stamps.

Hmm, sign language is needed and the super helpful guy is getting me two stamps to send postcards to Australia. Oh my, oh my, I wish I could have video on now to share this. He is separating each stamp one perforation at a time, each edge is perfect. This guy loves his job and is in the ideal career. Well, that detour took much longer than anticipated but was worth it to experience a real-world experience of Japanese perfectionism. I am going to have to at least stick the stamps on straight to honour his efforts!

Now onto the gardens, ticket paid, I'm in. Through the woodlands, down to the lake, there is a bird, what is it? I am too slow. No autumn leaves yet, oh, wow, there is a beautiful chrysanthemum display. The Chrysanthemum Festival is an annual event that was meant to finish yesterday but it's still going strong. Lucky me. Finally find the right path to the pavilion, now up to the avenue of trees. This garden has it all and hardly any people on a work day, just pensioners, a few birders and some kindergarten kids. Finally, I spot some maples turning red. Thats perfect. 

Part of the annual Chrysanthemum festival

Taiwan Pavilion reflections

First spot of red

Time for a break, this cafe looks nice. Oh oh, no English menus. They seem to have disappeared during the pandemic as well as confidence in speaking English. My 10 words of Japanese are not going to get me very far today. The girl in front of me is very excited, hmm, I will have what she's having. 

The end result:

The next garden is a train ride away, I have made it to the right station but there are two exits east and west and I have no idea which one I need. But I can see the direction I've gotta go. I point and have a half-English conversation with a man in a suit and he points to the correct exit. Phew. Arigatou gozaimasu! 

And here we are at Koishkawa Korakuen Gardens. It's much smaller, but oh so beautiful. Very traditional, with lots of history, I can just imagine 200 years ago, lovely ladies dressed in kiminos wandering the paths and reciting poetry. 

My lunch, udon noodles and seasonal vegetables	A bride and groom in traditional dress
My photo of the day  a lady dressed in autumn colours  (a very Japanese thing)	Photoshoot by random Japanese couple I met who wanted to practice talking English with me

 

Exhausted now, it's time to head back to base. 

A toursit can always fit in one more 'thing'. Next door to me is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building so lets go. It's massive, slightly Art Deco / Modern style, I assume it was built after World War II?  At the top is a free Observatory and that is my objective. I arrive as the sun is setting......

The day I discovered Godzilla, King Kong and the Suica Penguin

On this trip, I am staying in the Shinjuku area its the busiest area in all of Tokyo. I am on the west side, which is a little bit more civilised and known as the business side. I am surrounded by lots of tall office buildings. 

It's 9am, my room is sorted and my bag is dumped, it's raining and a bit cold but I am raring to go out into the streets of Tokyo and see what I can discover. First, let's get my bearings and head down to Shinjuku station. There are miles and miles of people walking towards me, everyone has masks and umbrellas and I am definitely heading against the tide. I am wearing a mask, it's a weird experience to put it back on as at home (Sydney, Australia) we have not been wearing masks for 6 months now. Actually, there is not as many people as I would expect, are they working from home in tiny Tokyo apartments I wonder?

Yeah, there is a pedestrian tunnel that leads most of the way to the station, that's going to be a bonus on rainy days. I have made it into the bowels of the station, It is a destination its its own right, with 35 platforms and 200 exits. It's often touted as the busiest train station in the world. There is a big bank of suica machines, time to recharge my travel card. Tick. The signage is fantastic, so it's time to head for the East Exit and my first mission.

Oh my god, is that a giant cat on top of a building? Yes, it's actually a digital screen looking like a hologram on top of the police station. It's advertising for tourists not to get scammed by call girls in this area. Very effective. Now back to my mission, I ran out of time on my last trip to find this uniquely Tokyo spectacle. It's Godzilla looking down from the top of a building. 

Now a lot of walking, fun and exploring:

Eating a Pokemon bun filled with custard

Stumbling across King Kong in a back street

Going crazy in the Hello Kitty store

Watching trains head south

Finding Suica Penguin,
the symbol for the 
travelcard I use

17,240 steps later I can declare this day is a slice of true Tokyo fun to get me back into the swing of international travel! 

One mission left for the day, the grocery store for some supplies. In one word, overwhelming. Plus now my card won't pay, this has happened many times today, they don't want to take cash, and don't like my Suica card either, things have changed since the pandemic, before cash was king. The store manager is a whiz and he sorts it out on the self-checkout counter. In hindsight I think the cashier did not want to serve me, just wanted me out of her lane? Time to head back to base. 

So many confusing options, feel like
 I am an intrepid explorer 
just for getting cereal and milk :)

First trip after the pandemic

Japan has announced it is reopening to visitors after being closed for nearly 3 years with the pandemic. So with short notice and little planning, I have booked a flight to Tokyo to reset my travel batteries. It has been quite a while since I have been on a flight, 984 days to be exact. The last time was the week 'toilet paper hoarding' started in Australia.

Time to wave goodbye to Stevie :( 

The airport is empty, there is only one person in front of me to do a passport check. And I have a whole security line all to myself. I've never seen it like this. Into Qantas club, got my favourite seat, and it's time to settle in. Now the messages start, Beck, Pita, Sue, and on and on. My Instagram account has been cloned and they are sending messages to everyone I know asking for money. Thankfully everyone figures out it's a fake, reports it and let's assume it's over. Who knows. 

The plane is an A330, it's new, it's clean and the entertainment systems have been upgraded. Its 10pm I am already tired but let's start off this overnight flight with a movie that right up my alley, Mrs Harris goes to Paris. It's lovely, set in the 1950s a cleaner in London goes to Paris to buy a Christian Dior dress. Now it's time to try to get some sleep, I struggle then I must finally fall asleep when we are nearly to Tokyo. The breakfast service wakes me up with a start, I swear I will never fly economy again. But I'm sure once I see the business class prices I will change my mind.

New plane, even smells nice

We land and it's 6am in the morning. After 10 hours of flying, I am glad to finally be here at Haneda airport. 

My first experience of back to masks

Walking, walking, walking it feels like immigration is miles away. Traffic jam, okay everyone needs to show their app with approval to enter Japan. Thankfully my Telstra connection is working and I'm all good to go given the magic piece of pink paper. Shuffle, shuffle and into the immigration line. About 100 people in front of me doesn't look too bad. That was a stupid assumption. Only five immigration points operating, and everyone confused about the new system, it takes nearly 2 hours to get out. Everyone has masks on. The silver lining to all this, it's all the bags have been lifted off the baggage carousel. So grab mine and now I have to go and do another form of identification. Done. I'm out. 

Big delays due to lots of paperwork
to prove you are vaccinated

Hop in a taxi, I get an old guy who can speak a little bit of English. 30 minutes later we are at the Hyatt. The Hyatt valet apologises that I had to travel in an old car. I say just the opposite, I love the retro look and he does some photos for me. :-)

My base for the trip, in West Shinjuku