Japan: Day IV - Return to Toyohashi

I swapped my indoor slippers for my outdoor slippers and made my way to the onsen (Japanese style hot bath). It was 9:00am and it closed at (9:30 so I made it there just in time). I had the whole bath to myself. I decided to use the outdoor bath rather than the indoor one. The big bath inside looked a little too artificially green for my liking. Obeying onsen etiquette, I removed all my clothes in the dressing room and took with me only my small wash cloth. Once in the bathing area I rinsed off with hot water. This is considered one of the most important of onsen manners. After I had completely rinsed, it was time to get into the steamy hot tub. The greenery around the stone clad pool was an attempt to make it look natural. Luckily I had been to a real one just a few days ago so it didn't take much to sit back and imagine being in a real one. I got out when I was thoroughly hot and totally relaxed. I investigated the onsens engineering. How? I wondered. How does all that water stay so hot. There wasn't a constant flow nor was there heating elements anywhere to be seen. All parts of the inside weren't hot to touch. All that was inside the tub was a bag of what looked like charcoal. Maybe they were special heating rocks.

I met up with Ali in the garden where we had another celebratory photo shoot in honor of our second month traveling. We took the train straight to Ueno although not exactly directly. We worked out the quickest route on the subway which involved three line changes. We wandered aimlessly through the small crowded streets of Ameyoko. The streets below the train tracks were jam packed with markets selling all kinds of clothes and food. It was all too much to take in. The transport, the people, the smells, the advertisements. It appears the success of a Japanese model depends largely on how western they look. Adverts everywhere depicted ghastly white Japanese women and men who don't even look Asian. There were bakeries by the dozen. The two things I love the most - baked goods and fresh coffee - everywhere around me. Japanese don't have street names. This made map reading quite difficult. Got lost a few times more than we really had time for. We eventually found the store that we had been looking for. Muji. The best place to buy note pads, journals, pens and folders of every shape and size imaginable. We spent way too much time in here. Ali told me about her experience in the toilets in the department store. She said that there were so many buttons and lights on the side of the toilet that she didn't know which one, if any, to press. So, she pressed all of them. One unique feature she discovered was the musical note button. When she pressed it, a loud waterfall noise blasted out of the small speakers on the toilet. It was supposed to disguise the sound of her "more natural" waterfall noises I guess. Great idea in theory except it was more embarrassing for Ali than if she hadn't used it. The music didn't stop. The toilet started flushing automatically but not when she wanted it too. The music was still louder than ever and she had finished the job ages ago. She wanted to flush the toilet again but couldn't because no manual way to do it. Everything was electric. There were digital figures on the tank counting something, heated seats as well as special water jets that eject from the rim to spray your behind. I was intrigued. Ingenious I thought! I suddenly had a brilliant idea of my own. Taking into consideration our severe time restraints in Tokyo, I thought of a brilliantly cheap and easy way to see "all of Tokyo". Without wasting a second more of our precious time we made our way to Shiodome where we could visit the World Trade Centers observatory deck. It had started to rain. The views were unbelievable. Buildings covered the earth in all directions and out into the horizon. There was no end. No fringe. It just kept on spreading into the distance. A rainbow appeared once the rain had stopped and I managed to take a picture before it disappeared. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji but no such luck.

At 6:30 we took the Shinkansen back to Toyohashi where we were picked up at the station by Kaz. He asked if it would be ok to take us to visit his friends Kiyomi and Toshihiro who live about 30 minutes away. Kiyomi speaks good English and wanted to meet us. She plans on visiting England again after an earlier trip she took several years ago. Kiyomi and Toshihiro are married and both work in the city in an office. They were extremely welcoming. When we entered their apartment they introduced themselves and then asked us to sit on the couch in the living room. Their apartment (one of about 30 or so in the block) was small but comfortable. Kiyomi prepared the tea and laid out some unusual desserts on a tray. Kiyomi, Toshihiro and Kazunori sat on the floor with the tea and sweets. We all talked for hours about our native homeland and helped answer a few of each others curious questions. I even learnt how to write my name in Japanese.