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Honeymoon Blog/Picts - Day 4

Mitaka and the Ghibli Museum: (As told by Andrew)

"Rain was our alarm clock on Sunday as Tokyo lay beneath a blanket of clouds. We had a late start this morning due to pure laziness. The clouds have a way of doing that to you on vacation. You just want to stay in and relax, but there is so much to see and little time to do it in. We compelled ourselves out of bed, watching BBC World and the International CNN, showered, put on some fresh clothes and then it was the hunt for food.

Downstairs in the Keio Plaza Hotel are several restaurants ranging in price. We decided upon one of the more expensive ones due to its large buffet because I really couldn’t decide what I wanted. It was a nice spread of different nationalities of food and desserts. The environment was clean and professional, service always excellent. After several plates of food, Marla told me that the Japanese are excellent mimics when it comes to cooking often beating other countries at their own game. I had a particularly good plate of pomodoro where they take freshly boiled pasta and swirl it into a carved out wheel of parmesan, add sauce and then scrap the edges of the wheel for the topping of cheese. It was delicious. Desserts are also very good with a wide selection. Instead of sauces (i.e. chocolate sauce) there is jellies. Marla had a scoop of vanilla ice cream with coffee jelly on top which got the ol’ thumbs up from us.

After eating we had to search for necessary umbrellas as the rain poured all day and night. The hotel, luckily, had free umbrellas for guests. We walked out into the late morning greeted by the locals all covered in different colors of umbrella mixing their way through the streets dodging each other’s radius to make their way to the shops as today seemed busy as, I assume, Sunday is the day of personal tasks to be completed. The train stations were packed and everyone seemed on high speed getting to their respective destinations. We had a difficult time exchanging our Japan Rail vouchers for actual tickets because we were led from one place to the other. Obviously this happens all the time because we were greeted at one travel office with an small map in English that showed us the proper way to go. Nothing more, just here’s the map and get out you wet Americans. Actually the woman was extremely nice, I’m just imagining a rude Japanese service person and I can’t find one anywhere. It just doesn’t happen.

With tickets in hand it was time to get to Mitaka. We took the local trai

n, which stops at every stop, out to this wonderful affluent suburb. At one stop, they changed train pilots and they bowed to each other and offered the new captain the chair which he graciously accepted. I just love this social tradition, it puts both parties at the same level and gives the other person a bit of respect so needed between strangers. I’ve gotten into the habit of bowing to just about everyone, mostly because I don’t know what to say, but also...I really enjoy it.

Mitaka was raining, even more so that Shinjuku and we started our 1200m walk to the museum. The pathway was cobblestone and quiet. A wonderful difference to the craze of Tokyo. Along the path were actual homes, not something you normally see, complete with small garages, balconies and some even had yards.

We closed in on the museum and the crowds began to form, often crowds of 20 to 30 at a time. We approached with a bit of caution as everyone had tickets in their hands and we, of course, had none. One of the ticket takers gave us an guide in English telling us how to acquire tickets but it was a long involved process that normally would take months of planning in advance with tickets selling from only one location and only being able to purchase at the 1st of the month. But we put on our best confused American faces and he agreed to let us in after the crowd died down a bit. Once in were we told of no pictures, which sucked because there was some amazing things to see because the entire museum is dedicated to Hayao Miyazuki’s work. If you haven’t checked out his films, I highly recommend them on pure artistry alone. They’re a bit odd with most characters derived from Japanese legend or just making characters personified frogs, badgers and hedgehogs. We were treated to a 20 minute short film of his about a boy who grew a small planet from a seed he bought from a frog on the side of the road. It sounds a lot stupider than it was, but it was the better plot I could derive from not being to understand the language. The best part is that the tickets are actual frames from the movie. The inside is a maze of staircases, floors and exhibits. The outside of the building has a cafe and rooftop gardens, one containing a lonely robot among a crafted garden. Other exhibits are beyond words and have to be seen to be absorbed properly. In the end we spent about 2.5 hrs there leaving about 6 pm.

We caught the express train back which had more comfortable seats than the local train and sat next to a few text messaging teens. It was a relaxing trip back with the city lights streaking by at 60 mph. The city definitely takes on an altered personality in the rain. Light bounces everywhere creating an almost new daytime.

Hunger overcame us by the time we made it back to our home station at Shinjuku and decided upon one of the station’s restaurants. Once again, we pointed at what we wanted and quickly had platters of food. I enjoyed a cold pasta and Marla had a combination of tempura and sashimi. After finishing my large Asahi beer, we walked the underground pathway home to the hotel where I collapsed around 8 to the sounds of Marla tapping at the keyboard which, if you haven’t tried it, can be very soothing.

Tomorrow, we try Kabuki and I have requested Shimbuya, the location of “Lost in Translation”."

Photos of the day:

http://web.mac.com/thedeutsch/iWeb/Andrew%20And%20Marla%27s%20Japan%20Honeymoon/May%2006%20-%20Photos.html