Shinjuku

Home of the busiest train station in the world (2 million people a day pass thru this particular junction!), Shinjuku is a sight to behold.  Surreal to say the least.  For many a first time visitor, Shinjuku is the Tokyo to see.  It was here that we set off this morning at the crack of 11:00.  Our goal was to hit the bookstore and a photo exhibit in the Nikon Gallery, free and open to the public 7 days a week.  

A 30 min. train ride later and we were negotiating the frenzied atmosphere of a Saturday afternoon in this massive "suburb".  Our first "official" stop was the photo exhibit.  With limitless varieties of stores, displays, restaurants, cafes, sights, people, fashion and street-side events, we probably stopped at least 10 times before actually making it to the Nikon Gallery, a scant 10 minute walk without interruptions.  28 floors up and the view was incredible; hard to fathom, really.  There were 2 photo exhibits on display: one a color print series of the 4 seasons as seen in Japan and the other a black & white project 2 years in the making.  The photographer was there and he told me that he had made the camera used for all the photos.  Basically a medium-format pin-hole camera that used regular film, all exposed for about 1 minute. He titled his series "A Landscape Outside the Window" because in every shot he used 2 old, wooden, glassless shutters to frame his landscapes.  

The next stop was lunch.  A few weeks ago we passed by a gourmet onigiri (rice ball) cafe and since tuna mayonaise onigiri is one of Miki's favorite lunches, we decided to try it out.  Luckily we were able to get a seat at the bar and sat down to 5 rice balls (2 grilled salmon, 1 tempura, 1 tuna mayonaise & 1 avocado prawn), a glass of cold oolong tea and a hot cup of Darjeeling tea. It was actually quite nice because of the location: within Shinjuku station with great people-watching capabilities.  After lunch we meandered over to the 6-floor bookstore, Kinokuniya. The foreign book selection, unfortunately, only occupies the top floor but they have a wonderful selection.   Miki found 2, Ericka found 2 and I found 3.  One is a Tokyo city guidebook & map, so I guess that doesn't count as strictly mine...

Carrying on... it was now nearing 5pm and we decided to get some ramen at a restaurant we had seen earlier in the day.  2 orders of miso ramen (Hokkaido style) and a plate of gyoza and we were good to go.  Won't need any salt for the next 2 days!  While paying the bill Miki entertained herself by running around the escalator/elevator landing chasing the multi-colored strobe lights tracing random patterns across the floor.  It wasn't long before we heard the tell-tale smack of someone falling on a hard floor followed by a teary wail.  She knocked her forehead good and I'm sure she'll have a nice egg tomorrow.  Thankfully the staff at the ramen restaurant gave us some ice to cool things down and it seemed to take Miki's mind off her injury.  Needless to say, we decided at this point to call it a day and head home. 

On the train ride back, just as the train doors were about to close, 3 young (white) foreign women stepped on.  Once the train was under way I asked them where they were from.

"Canada", they replied.

"Oh, yeah, whereabouts?"

"The western part", one said, using a hand gesture.

"Hmm.  Try me."

"Vancouver."

"Really, we're from Nanaimo."

"Wow, small world!" another one said.

Turns out they were on a post-high school graduation holiday and one particular young lady was actually interested in returning to Japan to teach English one day.   

We got home around 6:30pm, had a quick bath, read Miki's new books and put her to bed.  

I poured a cup of sake and here I am updating this blog...

Oyasumi nasai.   Some photos from the day, hope you enjoy as much as we did.