We had to wake up early enough to get ready and be on our way to the Hato Bus terminal in Hamamatscho. After getting showered it was 8 o'clock and we needed to just be on our way there. They told us we needed to be at the bus terminal by 8:40 as we were not staying at a hotel that has a tour pickup option being so far away in Asakusa. We took the Asakusa line to Daimon and arrived at the bus terminal at almost exactly 8:40. We found our tour location and got our stickers then we asked if we had time to get breakfast and were told yes we had 10 minutes. We went upstairs to the Segafreddo and got croissants and coffees each. Daniela got chocolate and I got plain. The tour seats were assigned and we were given seats 2A and 2B which was just behind the tour guide on the left side of the bus which is pretty good. It is the side facing out to the edge of the road rather than the center.
The tour started a couple minutes late because some Filipino passengers were late. In fact some of their party didn't arrive at the station and were left behind. The first stop of the Dynamic Tokyo tour was Tokyo Tower where we were given tickets to the lower platform and rode up right away. We walked around the platform and took pictures. The guide gave some explanations. There was a small ritual presentation from a group of elderly Japanese people at the shrine up there I saw. On the lower floor we spent time on the glass bottom look down points and took pictures and watched people be scared of it. Basically by the time we were done this it was already time to leave the tower and onto the bus with no time to look at the shops.
The next stop was for a tea ceremony at the Happo-en Garden. The garden was a nice Japanese style landscape garden with a row of bonsai trees, the oldest of which were 520 years old. The garden had been in its state for over 150 years the guide said and is privately owned now. It is obvious that the locals use it very extensively for weddings. As it was Sunday we witnessed at least 4 different weddings happening there, sometimes making it difficult to get around. As we walked through I stayed close behind the guide because she said the seat of honor was near an alcove and the tea master would serve the guest of honor. Daniela kind of got stopped taking pictures but I let her fall behind. We got in the first tea ceremony group and I managed to get Daniela the seat of honor. When she came in I gave it to her. The tea ceremony is very ritualized and meant to be done in harmony so everyone has to do each act at the same time. First we were served candies that were very sweet, almost sugar. They were hard pressed candies of sugar not like the soft items we had in Kanazawa. We ate those as she started the preparation of the tea for the guest of honor and watched her prepare. She had to make sure the water was the right temperature and her whisk was still good. Then she mixed in the matcha and whisked it to frothy. This all took about 10 minutes. Then she served the tea in a bowl with a figure painted on one side. The figure is passed facing the guest as a sign of respect. The guest takes the bowl and places it in the palm of the left hand and turns it clockwise in 2 90 degree turns so the painting is facing the master and drinks the tea. She asks if it is good after you taste it then everyone is supposed to say keiku des which means, "It is good!" with a big smile. After that you finish the tea. Then you rotate the painting back to you counterclockwise in two turns and contemplate the bowl for a bit then you rotate it back clockwise and clean the bowl's lip with the small slip of paper the candy was placed on and then you place the bowl down. From there the master finishes the ceremony and the bowls are collected. After the ceremony was over we had a few minutes to walk around the garden and take pictures while the other group had their ceremony.
We went from those gardens to the Chinzan-so gardens where we were served a barbecue lunch. These gardens were bigger than the Happo-en and again they were loaded down with weddings happening. We were walked right to the restaurant which has special tables with grills that are made from lava stone from Mount Fuji that are heated very hot and the food is cooked on the surface. The servers prepare the food for you. We had beef and pork along with vegetables like pepper, onions, asparagus, carrots and sweet potato. They had branded some writing into the potatoes. We were also given salad and rice and tea. Daniela and I both had sake, she sweet and I dry. They were good. The food was really good. Each piece was dipped in soy sauce as it was served. The meal took more than an hour for us to be served completely. They gave a small bowl of ice cream for dessert. By the time were finished the food and sake we had only a few minutes for the garden and had to basically race back to the bus with only minimal picture taking at this garden.
The tour then drove on to the Imperial Palace grounds where we had a short photo opportunity at the normal location at the double bridge. We took a few pictures there and at the statue of the samurai before moving on. By this point it was incredibly hot out and Daniela was glad she brought the umbrella to hide from the sun. The guide said it was record hot probably over 31C which is basically at 90F.
We were taken to Hinode Pier next and embarked on a cruise through the Sumida river which took about 40 minutes and brought us to Asakusa. The cruise was nice because we sat downstairs in the air conditioning and it was much cooler than outside. The boat was a basic tour ferry and nothing exciting. I had a River Special Downtown Ale which I believe was a brown ale made by Asahi. Daniela had an orange juice along the way. The boat had a series of explanations of the sites that were prerecorded that it played but it was hard to hear them.
After disembarking we walked to the Senso-ji temple and listened to the Guide, by the way her name was Noriko, give her speech about the temple. From there we parted ways with the tour because it didn't make sense to be ridden away from the area just to have to find our way back. There was nothing left after the shopping time at the temple but a ride to Tokyo Central Station. With the heat we were both tired. I got a cherry blossom flavored ice cream then we went back to the room and took a rest for a few hours.
When we woke up and got cleaned up we wandered around Asakusa for a while before deciding to have dinner a Sushi restaurant I do not know the name of. I had the sashimi platter of 8 choices and Daniela had the "Rich Salmon" and Japanese pickles assortment. The fish was all very fresh, my sashimi plate included octopus, tuna, red snapper, squid, scallop, clam, mackerel and shrimp. The only thing I can say is that this is the first time I have had sushi where the fish was not cut so all pieces were separated properly. I was a bit disappointed in that. However the food all tasted very good. I accompanied with an Asahi beer. Daniela again had orange juice. After dinner was over it was back to the room to turn in for the night. It was reasonably past 10 by the time we got back.
The pictures from Japan day 9 are here.
No comments:
Post a Comment