This afternoon Fumiko and I rode the trains from Sengawa over to Omotesando, a popular area next to Shibuya and Harajuku that has a lot of high end stores and a fair number of tourists as well. I was going to buy some souvenirs at the Oriental Bazaar while she taught two facial yoga classes. Then we were to rendezvous up at a coffee shop and head out to meet Fumiko's brother Nobu, if he was available, or her friend JJ, for a drink.
When we arrived at Omotesando we discovered that the Oriental Bazaar is closed on Thursdays. I had to keep myself occupied for three hours. I decided to walk over to Shibuya and roam around. Shibuya is full of trendy clothing boutiques for the twenty-something set. I read that it has more hair salons per square meter than anywhere else in the world. I noticed quite a few. Since I wasn't shopping for that crowd I didn't buy anything, but I did spot this cool motor scooter:
I have seen a number of these limousine-like lowriders around Tokyo but nothing even remotely like them back in the states. There are also a huge number of different folding bicycles around here. Some of them have suspensions and some are very high quality and lightweight and look like they could ride as fast as a full size road bike. I want one!
Eventually I walked back over to Omotesando to meet Fumiko and her agent, Mutsuko. I got to the Farmer Coffee shop a little early and ordered a cup of coffee. Apparently it was 'a very special cup of coffee made using a unique and slow acting filter that was developed in America in 1948'...or something like that. At least that was the marketing that they used to rationalize the $7 they charge for it. Ok, it did come in a nice little carafe with a small crystal of cream and some designer sugarlumps. Starbucks was right next door; I wonder what they charge...?
I was nursing the last 20 cents worth of my coffee and wondering if I was going to be required to buy something else when Fumiko and her agent showed up. They ordered some drinks and we all sat and talked for another 20 minutes. Mutsuko was very gentle and easygoing but apparently she drives a hard bargain and is a shrewd negotiator. She certainly seems to keep Fumiko in work.
After we left the cafe and said goodbye to Mutsuko, Fumiko called Nobu and learned that he was under the weather. Since we couldn't meet with him we decided to head over to Shibuya for some Indian curry. The restaurant was down a flight of stairs below a street packed with twenty-somethings roaming the boutiques and coffee shops. We had a curry buffet for 10 bucks each. It was quite good. As we left the restaurant I had to snap a photo of the place across the street:
Next up we called JJ and decided to meet her for a drink in Rappongi. JJ is a good friend of Fumiko's. She is Korean, a citizen on the Netherlands and is now working in Tokyo but hopes to move to California and become a ceramicist - anyone have a connection for her? We met at a very fancy place in Midtown Tokyo, which is quite cosmopolitan, unlike Midtown Sacramento. Afterwards we walked outside to look at the cherry blossoms. They have started to bloom in the last 4-5 days. Today was supposed to be the peak here in Tokyo. It is hard to get a good photo of them because the white seems to just fade into the surroundings. They are in bloom all over Tokyo though and it is beautiful. I feel really lucky to have caught the bloom since it apparently only lasts for a week
After we left JJ we were going to head home but decided to go to Shinjuku Tower on the way. We had talked about it the other day and Fumiko had said how great the city view is from the 45th floor observation deck. I can attest to that! It is amazing to walk around the observation room and look out the windows at Tokyo in every direction, lit up as far as I could see. Tokyo has 12 million inhabitants (plus and additional 2.5 million in the daytime) and I would guess that wherever you look from Shinjuku Tower there are a million people within the scope of your view.After taking in the views we had a drink at the bar. What a great place for a drink. You look across the bar and see nothing but city lights. Across the way we could see people dining on the top floors of another high rise. You could probably spend a lifetime trying to visit all of the cool restaurants and bars with a view in Tokyo.
The drink menu had some interesting choices such as the "vioret fizz" or the "Sharley Temple". We settled on a cherry blossom martini for Fumiko (it's in season) and a 17 year old Suntory Hibiki whiskey for me (thanks for the tip El and Kevin). Fumiko's drink had real cherry blossoms on top while mine had a single large ice cube that looked like it was carved from a glacier. Of course they were expensive but it was a special moment in a special place and that made it seem like a bargain to me.
After we left Shinjuku Tower we got onto a train in Shinjuku Station that already looked full to me when we squeezed in next to the door. Over the next three minutes about twenty more people would pack themselves in through that same opening leaving us in the middle of the car compressed from all directions by a mass of humanity. When we pulled into Sengawa and walked out of the station, the cherry tree that had been slowly opening up a little more each day was now in full bloom. Here are some photos of the same tree taken on Saturday and today.
Ok, there is much else to write about including Easter Sunday when I went to Catholic mass in Rappongi, visited a Buddhist temple in Harajuku, checked out the gothic lolitas in Yoyogi Park and caught the Boston Red Sox - Yomiuri Giants game at the Tokyo Dome all on the same day. However, it is way too late tonight, I mean this morning. Tomorrow we are off to Osaka with a stop along the way to visit an onsen (hot spring) by the sea.Oyasumi!
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