Japan - Day 9

Today we did two things which I think should be on anyone's "Things to Do Before I Die" list.

1. We went to Shinjuku Station, which is the world's busiest station. We waited before rush hour to pass before hopping on a train to Shinjuku, but even at the time we arrived (10:30 or so) there were people everywhere. It was amazing, and must be seen to be believed! The bizarre thing is that even though it was crowded we didn't have to push or shove our way anywhere. Even though there were hundreds of people all heading in different directions you could probably close your eyes and walk through the station without banging into anyone. Although it my case it may of been the fact that I was sporting a couple of giant coldsores which kept everyone away. The station is massive. We were heading to a park and following the maps scattered throughout the station (an aspect of Japan that we really appreciate) it took us something like half an hour to walk from one end of the station to the other.

2. Going to Japan during cherry blossom season is a must-do. After finding our way out of the labyrinth that is Shinjuku Station we arrived at the Shinjuku Gyoen Park. There was a small fee to get in and boy, was it worth it. The park is massive and we spent hours there admiring the beautiful grounds and the trees exploding with blossoms. It is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my travels.

After lunch we stumbled across the coolest internet cafe we've ever been in. It's a place where you hire booths where you can read comics, use the net, play Playstation, watch TV, get a meal delivered etc. We got allocated a two person booth where we were able to laze about on an incredibly comfy leather couch. I caught up on emails etc., while Shanon slept comfortably beside me. We only intended staying an hour, but we were so comfortable that we ended up staying for three. Wandering around with a swollen coldsore-ridden lip is extremely uncomfortable so it was nice to be able to relax for a while.

Up until now we'd had no troubles communicating with the Japanese as their patient nature, or my basic knowledge of the language, have got us through just fine. But our exchange with the girl at the internet cafe will have us scratching our heads for a long time to come. When we went to pay she put a price into the cash register and then showed us a different amount on a calculator. Both amounts were fine by us, so we just handed some money over. She gave us some change and then gasped and started apologising. We thought perhaps she'd undercharged us so we tried to give her more money. But she wouldn't take it and kept on apologising. When she could see that we weren't understanding her she plugged this calculation into the calculator: 1400*2=2800-3000=-200. This didn't help us one bit. Since she wouldn't take anymore money, and she wasn't giving us any back we thought it might be best for all of us if we just walked away. She apologised some more as we took off up the stairs.

It was rush hour by now so we went back into the station to see just how busy it gets. It gets busy alright. People, people everywhere! We wandered through the station and out the other side to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, where you can go up to the observation deck free of charge to admire the view. It was dark by the time we got up there and there were buildings and lights as far as the eye could see.

Not willing to brave the subway while it was still rush hour we went in search of dinner. We ended up in the Shinjuku NS Building which was quite amazing. It is hollow with a 30 storey atrium and is home to the largest pendulum clock in the world. We thought we might like to visit the nearby area of Shibuya before going home, so when we thought that rush hour might have passed we headed back into the station. It was close to 9pm by this stage, but it seemed like there were even more people than before. It was too difficult trying to figure out what train we needed to take while we were being swept along in a sea of people. So we gave up and took the subway back to our hotel.