Tokyo - Tokyo More adventures ...
Saturday, I'm not an early part for the simple reason that I was up late and besides I had not slept well. Since I had deleted Akihabara, I could also afford it.
First stop: Koishikawa Korakuen garden. What is it pretty! And to think that my guide never notified not even (I found the pipe on a forum)! For more information about this garden, go read
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koishikawa_K% C5% 8Drakuen (I will not copy, anyway!).
At the rear, you can see the Tokyo Dome. It is a well known stage in Japan is the site of a famous baseball team (and in Japan, baseball is sacred! One of the most popular sports.)
In this garden, I realized that the cherry trees were already blooming!
I must say that I spent much time in this garden. I actually do as the Japanese, I dined there. There was also a lot of people! While the Japanese had come here to admire the cherry blossoms and eat on a bench (in Japanese parks, there is often a lot of benches). Moreover, in this garden, there are some food vendors (they lose the north, the Japanese, they have the business sense!).
Finally, I am torn from my reverie to go to the store Square Enix. Hmm ... It's really small, anyway. And as is a shop for all franchises in the group, in the end, there are not many goodies Final Fantasy (at least not enough for my taste). I could still see some pretty things that nobody will ever afford, and admire the beautiful Sephiroth in the soil.
I resisted de Chocobo plushes (2000 yen is theft!).
In the end, I bought a strap for mobile phone (Moogle ^ _ ^) and a small figurine. For the figure, is 300 yen is nothing, but it goes on a business principle: they call this art trading, you buy a box and you're sure to have in a figure, but you not know which character you have (5 possible characters). I took one hoping to have Squall, I had Basch, he missed! I have nothing against him, he looks pretty stylish, but I never played FF12 so ... Well, the good thing is we have a nice bag too (Chocobooooooooo. ..).
Next step: the Ghibli Museum. I had an hour early, so I had plenty of time. At the entrance there is a giant teddy Tottoro, but all Japanese want to be photographed with, can not have a suitable photo. So I'm sitting on the side, until there is nobody in my field (and he had to wait, huh!). I think a Japanese pitied me, she came to ask me if I wanted her to take a picture of me with Tottoro. Euuuuh, no, not really ... But even someone spontaneously helpful! Well, finally I got the shot I wanted.
I headed towards the entrance for more photos. There, a museum worker asked me my ticket. I give him. "Ah, that's 16h, you're there too early!" "I know, I know." "Come back around 15:30, you may bring to that hour."
So at the appointed hour, I could get into the museum. At the entrance, you are given a ticket which is a piece of film of one of the Ghibli films. I had Porco Rosso (the scene where he goes to the dealer to buy bullets). We do not see much on my photo, sorry.
And then there is amazement, this museum! Everything is in the detail: the handles de portes sont dans le thème Ghibli, partout des peintures avec des personnages de leurs films, des vitraux reproduisants des scènes de films, ... Magnifique, tout simplement. Malheureusement, les photos n'étaient pas autorisées à l'intérieur, mais vous pouvez aller voir ici :
http://www.buta-connection.net/studio/musee_visite.php (cliquer sur les différents endroits du musée pour voir une explication et des photos). J'ai particulièrement aimé la seconde exposition permanente, sur l'atelier de travail d'un animateur. Partout, au mur, des dessins de Miyazaki, chacun d'entre eux étant un petit chef d'oeuvre. C'est bien simple, j'étais tellement émue que j'en had tears in his eyes (and I was not alone!). I had to resist the urge to take the drawings!
In the museum there is a shop. It is big enough, but crowded, and I think what I saw in Akihabara was better. Moreover, I find that almost everything is focused on Ponyo Tottoro and while this is not my favorite Miyazaki. So I just bought a keychain Chihiro (sorry for the pictures, I can not do better).
last step, Tokyo Tower. So already there before go, I was exhausted so I had sore feet. I came to the tower through the Zozo-ji temple. It's great because you see the silhouette of the temple and the tower above (in parenthesis, I love the color of the tower, I think it's nicer than the Eiffel Tower).
Arriving at the tower, already, I am surprised that there is a large building at his feet (he does not seem to me that's the way to the Eiffel Tower!):
I take the picture quickly, then I look carefully: m. .., a queue! I must say I never expected not that at all. I put myself in the queue. As it progresses, I realize that it is longer than I thought. Finally, I can have my ticket. I enter the building. You must repeat the line, at least one queue as long as the previous one, to take the elevator and go up (impossible to do on foot). Finally, I survive, I can take the elevator and arrived at the first observation deck at 150m. If I wanted to go to the second platform at 250m, I have to redo the queue and pay 600 yen more. Since I had already paid the 800 yen entrance and queuing seemed insurmountable je me suis arrêtée là. Au départ, il y avait tellement de monde que je ne voyais rien. Finalement, en me voulant sortir, j'ai dû descendre un étage plus bas où il n'y avait quasi personne. Donc j'ai pu mieux admirer. Globalement, c'est joli, pleins de petites lumières, et il y a un pont illuminé que je trouvais sympa (malheureusement, la photo ne donne rien).
Est-ce que ça vallait 800 yen? Non. Globalement, admirer la tour de l'extérieur est ce qui vaut vraiment le coup d'oeil.
En sortant, pour me récompenser (et parce que je n'avais still not had enough), I bought a rolled pancake containing peaches and strawberry ice cream. Very good! (There, I feel that some drool, well done, niark niark niark.) ^ _ ^
Last day Sunday.
the morning, I prepared to leave the hotel. A few words about it: it's really a super good value for money. In my room, I had a TV and an empty fridge to put what I wanted. I had my pc, but, on the ground floor, there are also PCs available with internet, free. The shower and toilet are shared and very clean. The shower is very spacious, Shampoo and bath with shower available. There is also a hairdryer in a room with sinks. In the bedroom, a towel and a yukata is provided. In short, everything I need! The only flaws, if I find: a bit far from metro (10-15 minute walk) and a bit noisy at night. In short, I would go back without a problem and I recommend it to all students broke (a big thank you to the person of a forum that I had been recommended).
So from the hotel. I stop at Tokyo station to cast my pc in a locker. Since Friday, I feel completely lost at this station. There are people everywhere, a maze paths, and no lockers views. I really had to look 15 minutes to fall over. Then towards Shibuya.
Shibuya district is the clothes. Me, I wanted to go see Shibuya 109 (a building full of clothes for girls), Mandarake (a store devoted to manga) and Tokyo Hands (store that sells everything for the home). I easily found
Shibuya 109. It is an 8-storey building. Good level dud, it's not for me. Already I do not cut Japanese (I already talked Friday ^_^), but also it's very bling-bling or quitch and very expensive. Obviously, it shops for anorexic rich kids, indeed! I swear, anorexic, I'm not even sure I would have found for the fact that Aline S in Belgium! Then, well, it's often not pretty (although I'm sure I would have liked to go shopping with Aline, we would be amused and perhaps even dug up something nice). Otherwise, level taste, the Japanese are ... weird! The more brilliant, the more frou frou pink with (and Hello Kitty as a bonus, it's even better), the better. For the rest, fashion is also here in fluorescent color and flashy, it hurts the eyes.
About fashion, I am still admiring devant les chaussures des japonaises. A part celles qui s'habillent sport et qui mettent donc des baskets ou de simples chaussures, la plupart des filles ont de belles chaussures féminines (et souvent aussi des talons de hauteur indécente!). Souvent, je me dis "Comment font-elles pour marcher avec ça?". Et bien j'ai eu l'occasion de constater que certaines ne savent pas, donc elles marchent en se tordant les chevilles, c'est très très joli à voir. Mais c'est la première fois quand même que je me surprends à regarder les chaussures comme ça (il faut dire, dans le métro, j'ai que ça à faire). Sinon, concernant la mode, c'est à Tokyo que j'ai enfin pu constater le phénomène Vuitton in scope: I still see no evil, even the arm of young girls (even rich kids ...). After
Shibuya 109, I wanted to find the other 2 stores but I'm lost. I decided to postpone it and go to Harajuku to visit the temple Meiji-jingu. There, I was lucky, there were Shinto weddings to the chain and I could take pictures. It's very nice but a little too fast.
I dropped the garden tour, he I tried not really, the weather was gray and I was afraid of being late for my appointment. I indeed go to 13h with a Francophone, Julien, to eat. I do not know him, but he initially intended to put me up on Saturday. Not seeing it coming, I called him: he thought it was 14h (that both men, that!). So we set an appointment later. On the back of the temple, I stopped at the souvenir shop to buy a nice mirror (useful to put the lenses).
Finally, I met Julie and we were eating together in a small bistro (not really oriented Japanese). I have also eaten chicken with vegetables, it seemed good! So, I have talked with Julian. He is 29 years old, lives in Japan for 5 years and has been married for three years. It works in time illustrator, and his wife also works. Although he lives in Japan, he looks very critical of Japanese society, and the mania of the Japanese seem to favor and behave in sheep. He is fortunate to have been able to make Japanese friends who do not fit the traditional mold. But obviously these people are rare. He also taught me that the dream of Japanese is Disneyland. For example, the best marriage proposal will be there. After he told me that I indeed noticed that most people here enjoy their time off to go to Tokyo Disneyland. It's really unfortunate to have this kind of ideal ... In short, we discuss various, well then he has kindly offered to show me where was Mandarake and Tokyo Hands. Mandarake, manga is very focused, very little goodies. We did find some posters, but nothing to my taste. He told me I missed probably older stuff in Akihabara, because I could find everything I wanted (no wonder I missed it, it's so big and stores spread over so many floors ...). Tokyo Hands, it's interesting, but if you live in Japan, not for shopping ... It touve of everything: furniture, decoration, crafts, stationery, ...
After all that, I could take the Shinkansen (another model train, I knew I squeeze my butt this time ^ _ ^) and I went home it was past midnight.
I apologize for the photos, some are blurred and sometimes it's quite repetitive ... The
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