Thursday, August 09, 2007 Traipsing Tokyo By Dorothy Bangayan The Unlonely Planet
JAPAN, the Land of the Rising Sun, is a contradiction of the ancient and modern, of tradition and technology. My nine-day trip with my grandma or "amah", as I call her, was too long and yet too short and I will tell you the tales of our best journeys from Tokyo to Osaka and everything in between.
Visiting Asakusa Shrine, the largest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, it is ritual to cleanse the body with pure running water first.
Outside the temple, bamboo dippers are placed to wash one's hands and mouth, perhaps from the worldly desires generated from Nakamise Shopping Street. Entering the Kaminarimon Gate, one has to walk through Nakamise first before reaching the Shrine at the very end.
Stall-lined Nakamise Shopping Street overwhelms us with knick knacks like dolls and paper cranes, kimonos and obi belts, ninja outfits and samurai swords, painted parasols and paper fans, wooden sandals and lanterns.
Wizened old women dip sticks of rice balls over peanut powder as fine as sand and men wedge creamy scoops of green tea ice cream in between flat cakes as if making sandwiches. Senbei, crunchy rice crackers grilled on the spot is flavored with soy and wrapped in seaweed. We paused to watch an assembly line of wrinkled hands deftly wrap red and black bean cakes on squares of printed paper.
An endless row of mochi (pearl rice balls), frozen berries on sticks, green tea and sesame biscuits, strawberry chocolates and Hello Kitty cookies piqued our taste buds. The place is brimming with store vendors and locals, tourists and shrine goers, girls in kimono and school girl goth. It may be a tourist trap but everything inside it makes you feel inherently Japanese.
Our next stop is at the Tokyo Tower where we experienced an earthquake. As our tour group ran to the elevators, the rest of the people of Japan acted calm and continued on with their sightseeing.
We chanced a glimpse of Edo Castle from the outskirts. Edo is the former name of Tokyo. Open to the public only on January 2 and December 23, we strolled around Kokyogaien park, originally part of the Castle gardens amidst black pine trees and immaculately clean green grass. This park remains the largest green area in Tokyo.
Shopping at Ginza is a pastime of the affluent. Closed to cars, this wide street is flanked by upperclass shops like Louie Vitton and Escada which we ignored to browse at glass displays of handmade sweets that are too pretty to eat.
Now, the Japanese seem too meticulous for words. Even their little chocolate and mochi balls must be decorated to perfection, wrapped delicately in paper, placed in a decorated tin box and inside a lavish paper bag. Egg pudding is placed in individual black and gold boxes with stencil outlines.
Even plain gelatin is transformed into art as we see red jello fishes swimming inside a mold of clear Jello to imitate a fishbowl.
We spent the next rainy day at Disney Sea. Now if you have to choose between the two -- Tokyo Disney containing the traditional rides and Disney Sea, a park designed with seven aqua themes, go with Disney Sea.
With themes like Mysterious Island, Mermaid Lagoon, Mediterranean Harbor, Lost River Delta, Arabian Coast, Port Discovery and American Waterfront, Disney Sea can satisfy any water baby.
The impressive parts are the facilities for the elderly and disabled. Being with Amah, I was given a choice of electric, manual and motorized wheelchairs to choose from. They give detailed briefings and test drives before they rent it out.
The motorized wheelchair is like a mini golfcart and is also great for placing bags. The whole park is designed with ramps and special entrances for disabled passengers and they are given priority for shows that it makes me want to be rent a wheelchair even if I'm not with my amah.
There are a ton of rides for old and young alike. I had fun at 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea where you are plunged into an ocean adventure in a submarine.
At Arabian Coast, we get to ride with Aladdin's voyages (in Japanese) and see a 3D Magic Show with the Genie. Teeners can experience thrills at the Tower of Terror ride. For kids, they can frolic at Ariel's playground. And to cap the night, enjoy the romantic view of the American Waterfront right up to its nightly firework display. (To be continued next week) (Email Author at wandergirl28@yahoo.com.ph)
