life in the old lane

Today, I realized that being a tourist in Tokyo is like playing a really good VR game.  You are always on the lookout for tiny little clues that help get you to the next level. 

I had planned on talking a day off, but hey I might not come this way again. So, the Imperial Palace which I knew I could find on foot.? Or the Meiji Jingu Shrine which would take a couple of trains. I was underwhelmed with the Imperial Palace on my last visit. But I was willing to give it another try. I consulted with Michelin green guide: the palace got one star and the shrine three. Meiji Jingu Shrine wins  

So, off I went. It was grand.

 I will rest tomorrow on the plane  but now I must get ready to get on the plane if I make it to the plane that is. It will be a train and a monorail  I will leave early  

Next stop Singapore. 

yes, boys and girls, there is a Cup of Noodles Museum.  It was very busy, but rather charming.  Cup of Noodles as we know it came on the market in 1971. And, it is called Cup of Noodles in Japan. 

 I am getting tired, so, it’s find the subway, find the train and get back home time.

Fortunately yesterday’s paper announced it was time to “knock down the plums”.  Apparently this is done to encourage more plum blossoms next spring. And the rather large green plums are apparently sold to residents who make pickled plums. This was outside the hotel.

Yes, I was out “late”.

Big fuss here in about requiring women to wear high heels at work. The Labor Minister agreed that it was necessary for women to wear heels while working. Seems to me that unless you are a pole dancer or work at Jimmy Choo’s what’s on your feet doesn’t matter. (Safety shoes notwithstanding.)

Today didn’t work out like I had planned. But it was fine. I had planned on riding the only street car left in Tokyo around. But google and I couldn’t find the street car. Most of the day I was lost and wet  

But, I found this charming small temple.  Most unlike the one yesterday.

A little diplomatic silliness played out in front of my hotel this morning.  Remember my hotel used to be a train station.  The new Chinese Ambassador was scheduled to present his credentials to the Emperor. So, as he has done for the last hundred years the Emperor sends a carriage to collect the Ambassador at the train station. Needless to say the Ambassador came to the hotel/train station in his limousine.  

About five this evening I ventured out by subway.  That was rush hour. But it was no worse than the Metro orange line.  

I wanted some night shots.

I walked 7 miles today. Thinking it’s time read a little and go to sleep.

 

This was in Asakusa. A shopping street maybe 4 blocks long. And every shop just sold one thing. Hair sticks-but not hair clips. Hair clips would be a different store. But, I am getting ahead of the story.  First I have to get here.

Actually, pretty damn hard. I figured out that this was the train station and I needed to find the CORRECT subway station some where underground. This whole underground thing is problematic.  In my part of Tokyo there are 3 to 7 layers of underground. Folks who work blocks away from the station can walk from their office building to the train/subway without stepping outside. These aren’t simple passageways but underground shopping mall type things. Google doesn’t know about this. And my phone GPS isn’t spot on accurate in Tokyo. 

Eventually, I find the correct subway, acquire a 24 hour pass, and make in on the correct subway and successfully transfer.  

I always get a fortune. I got a “good “ one  Among other things it says: There is a little bit of worry about traveling. 

And now back to the shops.

After all this sightseeing and window shopping, I head back to my hotel.  Had no problems until I tried to find my way out of the subway system.  Finally popped out some 3 or 4 blocks away from where I should have been. But, while wandering lost and looking for a way out, I passed a 7-11 and got a ham and Brie sandwich for dinner. 7-11 in Japan has the same name and the same logo. But it isn’t the same. No Big Gulps for starters. There’s a 7-11 bank. They sell food that you can actually eat without getting food poisoning.

I took a nap when I finally made it home.  At my age, one adventure a day seems to be it.  

People seem to like to get their pictures taken in front of my hotel.

I didn’t do much today. The spirit was willing but the body said wait just a minute. So, I give into advanced years and took a nap and didn’t venture far from the hotel. But that didn’t keep me from getting lost. I did find an ATM Machine that gave me money. And I found a Starbucks. If I can ever find the Starbucks again, then I can find the ATM Machine again.

The end of the hall is not my room. It’s a dogleg turn and I am at the end of a second  equally long hallway. One would think that the hotel entrance would be in the middle.  But it’s not.  It is at the far right end and my room is the last on on the left.  Get my steps in just coming and going. 

Wonder if I can stay awake long enough to finish this posting. It has been a very long two days or one day it’s hard to say. When I got up it was yesterday and now it’s today. That old international dateline. And since I am not going back where I came from I won’t get that day back it’s gone forever. At my age, it matters!

I think I walked about 8 miles in this strange TODAY. But toady was very easy. I had no trouble. Well, dinner was a problem. But I had granola bars in the suitcase. If I had been able to find a 7-11 I could have scored dinner. But I didn’t see one it was granola bars.

The restaurant in the hotel lobby looked promising until I saw coffee was $15 a cup. Little cups at that.

But, here I am, wearing my Hotel provided jammies. Better than my usual.

And, a last look out front.

Bed thing now.

JAL Departure lounge[/caption
Just hanging out watching my fellow passengers waiting to go. It was be an 8 hour flight and I should get into Narita airport at about 3pm tomorrow.

Planning on taking the train into Tokyo Station. I think I have enough Yen on hand to buy a ticket. Japanese ATM machines don’t like Americans or Canadians or Europeans. And Japan businesses don’t like plastic. My hotel will take plastic.

Japanese. They travel differently. Westerners try to squeeze all of our stuff into carryons and then we try to stuff the overstuffed carryons in the overheads. Japanese travel with HUGE colorful rolling suitcases. Apparently there is a weight limit on them, because at check in people were swapping stuff from case to case.

Time to go for my pre departure walk about..

Delightful end to my week in Honolulu. Had a fine dinner out in the ‘burbs with my grandkid and her boyfriend. They are both delightful grownup people. I had bacon Mac and cheese. And Guinness. And espresso ice cream. Happy grandma.

Today, I went to look at trees. Big trees.

This was a bus trip to look at trees. Google isn’t 100% reliable when it comes to Honolulu buses.  Google took me into an interesting part of downtown in quest of a bus back to my hotel.

Wonder what I’ll find next?

next entry will be from Tokyo, internet willing. 

 

 

Today, was the wedding. If it weren’t for this wedding I doubt that this “last” lap around the planet would be taking place.

The groom is an old friend of Carlton’s from Arlington. About 5 years ago, Bill moved to Honolulu to take care of his 90 something mother. Along The way, Bill tried online dating and surprise surprise he met the love of his life. And after 3 years they got married today. All together, they have 11 grandchildren.

The wedding was lovely. It would have been unusual in Arlington. But here in Hawai’i it was normal. Mochi for favors, rousing round of Banzai, and a reggae band. It is why I love Hawai’i.

And, they had jello. Considerably more stylish than the jello at the Asylum. But still jello. I did not waste any calories on the jello. Not when there was chocolate nearby.

But now I am winding down my time in Honolulu. I am really really glad that I came. And I am also happy that I stayed at the ilikai where I lived 50 years ago. I loved watching people surf my old break – Kaiser’s. Named after a long gone hospital.

If it weren’t for my friends and my accidental family back at the Asylum I might just go AWOL.

But, leave I will on Monday continuing this lap around the planet. I feel like, my life is in some sort of bonus level now. And “game over” isn’t all that far away. Glad to have today and hoping to have tomorrow. This isn’t sad. This is just reality. I am fucking old. And, for now, old beats the alternative.

 Like at the Asylum, I am on the sunrise side of the building- so to see the sunset I had to go outside.  This is the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor. Mostly sail boats. 

 My big event today was a field trip to Hānaiakamalama.  This is a small house museum and a sister to Carlton’s much loved Hulihe`e in Kona.  I had a lovely visit there. I almost didn’t go but I’m really glad I did.  

 I learned two  things  today. 

1.  Even a very good power bank is useless without  a cable.  And
2. Google isn’t always right. Google sent me off to a bus stop that was no longer in service to catch a bus that no longer went to where I wanted to go. Fortunately a real human was driving the bus and he got me sorted out. 

And surprise! 

Learned something here too. Lacking a tripod, the phone takes better pictures of fireworks than the camera. 

 

Went to the aquarium today.. Had a great time. Honolulu’s  aquarium is sort of fun sized. It’s not too big, just about the time you’re getting tired you’ve seen all the fish.  And most of the fish are local boys so they’re all friends from the ocean. 

 I once went all the way to Chicago just to see a jellyfish exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science..

 Then, after a little rest I went to my old shopping center, Ala Moana center. Back in the day it was a real people shopping center. We bought stuff. Underwear, pots, car batteries, the occasional washing machine.  Now it has one of the largest collections of high end shops on the planet. Most of the shops have black suited bouncers stationed at the door. And frequently the doors are locked.  I didn’t go into any of the shops. The bouncers most likely would not have let me in. I did go into my old grocery. It is seriously upmarket as well. But I got take out for dinner. 

An excellent day comes to an end.  But after walking 7 miles, I am tired. Damn tired.

In the center of the image there is a 6 or 7 story parking garage. The roof of the parking garage is the luau venue. 

Hotel luau are usually pretty bad. But this is exceptionally awful.

Enough snarkiness about the luau at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

 I had a moderate day today.  I took the bus to the Bishop Museum.  The bus ride was interesting. Bus people always interest me. Heck, I am a bus person myself. 

The Bus is very much used. Many are the larger articulated models. The 2 buses I rode today transported 4 people in wheelchairs or  motorized scooters. This is more handicapped ridership than I would see in a month of riding back home. Not sure why the difference. 

From the bus Honolulu does not look like a glitzy tourist destination but rather like the sleepy colonial port that is at its heart.

Eventually I made it to the museum. Even though I am interested in its subject matter and understand the significance of most of the artifacts, I found the museum to be powerful with an uncomfortable undercurrent of terrible loss.

 I was blessed with 15minutes in the Kāhili Room all by myself.

Today, we tend to focus on the feathers, but the stick, pole, standard is the most important part. It is the named part of the Kāhili. This one is named Ka-ula-ho’ano-lani and dates from 1859. The pole has 6 brass and 6tin bands. The entire room is very dark, very chilly , very powerful.

These bowls decorated with human teeth are just creepy.  Exactly whose teeth did you use to decorate your spittoon?

Time for a change of pace.  The LEGO exhibit.

This is enough from me for one day. Tomorrow maybe the aquarium.