Thursday, May 25, 2006

Kyokujituki!

This morning I get up at about 10:00am. I think that the hectic Tokyo schedule has tired me out, so I take my time in getting ready for the day of exploring ahead. I have breakfast while watching a Korean drama on TV (At least I think it is...there seems to be a lot of crying involved, and Phil told me that’s generally a good way of distinguishing between Korean and Japanese drama) and then head out to Nakajima Park (which is near the first hotel that I stayed at) to take some pictures of the cherry blossom before it all finally disappears.

I reach the park, enter the gates and start to walk around. The first thing I notice is how huge it is (It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be. For some reason I imagined it to be a small place with a bit of grass and a couple of trees. And maybe a squirrel eating a nut)

The park is really beautiful (but then, all Japanese parks seem to be) and I spend quite a bit of time just sitting by the boating lake and enjoying the sunshine. As I walk around taking pictures, an elderly Japanese gentleman offers to take a photo of me standing in front of Hoheikan (a white painted Western style wooden building that the Meiji Government constructed as a hotel in 1880) which I accept. I also get to practice speaking some Japanese by thanking him and saying goodbye. He didn’t laugh at my attempt, so I think my pronunciation was ok.

After leaving Nakajima, I have a quick scout around the immediate area before I head back up towards the centre of Sapporo (There’s shopping to be done don’t you know!)

Feeling a strange urge to return, I go back to the Tanukikoji shopping arcade, start at one end and work my way along to the other. I stop off at a shop that I’d noticed before I went to Tokyo (mainly because it had an armband with a swastika on display in the window. Not the sort of thing that you usually see in a shopping arcade) I go in and have a look around. It’s a strange mixture of plastic mecha kits, tacky gifts, weapons, model railway accessories and…and…do my eyes deceive me??? No! It is!!! Japanese flags! Yay! (for those of you that read my other blog you would probably know that one of the things that I wanted to track down while I was here was a Japanese Naval flag (or Kyokujituki to give its official name)

I head back towards my hotel (with an excited spring in my step! LOL!) and go to Matsuya which is just across the road for lunch. This is the same place that Phil and I had lunch at on the first day in Tokyo, so I’m familiar with the routine of choosing from the selection of dishes displayed on the ticket dispensing machine, putting the money in the slot and then handing the resulting ticket in at the counter. I sit down and once again practice my chopstick skills by eating the fried egg that’s comfortably sitting on top of my meal only to look up and notice that a young girl sitting across form me is eating the exact same thing but using a fork! Hahaha! Time to feel very smug indeed!

With lunch finished, I start round two of shopping, walking up and down each street in the main shopping area in turn, taking a look in any shop that catches my eye. I stop for a cup of tea in Mc Donald’s, successfully ordering a cup of tea (When I say order, I mean I point at the picture of a cup of tea that’s on the very handy menu and say “kore kudasai” LOL!) The only complaint that I have with Japan is that they only serve cream with hot drinks (tea and coffee) and as I usually take semi skimmed milk (healthy me! LOL!) back in the UK it takes a bit of getting used to.

Tea break over and done with I recommence shopping. I discover ‘Central’ a huge shop full of stationary, art supplies, greeting cards and a multitude of other stuff. I’m in heaven!!! Why can’t shops of this kind back in the UK be as good as this??? Two hours and a much lighter wallet later, I head back to the hotel with a small mountain worth of Origami paper, stickers, greeting cards and stationary (I resisted the temptation of the blue bubble wrap. It was difficult, but I was strong!!!)

With weary legs I return to the hotel, walk up to the reception desk and ask for the key.The young receptionist in a yellow uniform gives me a nervous smile followed by a slightly confused look. “One minute please” she says and disappears. She returns with a slightly older woman who is wearing a pink uniform. Once again I ask for the key to room 209…The pink suited receptionist also gives me a nervous smile followed by a slightly confused look. “One minute please” she says and also disappears, while the yellow suited one quietly moves to the side (probably to breath a sigh of relief that she’s managed to pass the problem onto someone else!) She returns with an even older blue suited woman. Once again I ask for the key and without hesitation the picks the key up from the shelf behind and hands it to me.“Phew!” I think to myself “That was fun” (O_o)

I return to my room, check out the new stuff that I've just bought, make myself a cup of tea, watch some TV and relax...

Evening time arrives and I decide to go to Brians Brew for dinner. After a twenty minute walk around trying to find it (it’s actually only five minutes from my hotel) I call Phil to ask directions. Just as he’s explaining how to get there, I find it by accident.

I locate a nice cosy spot at the end of the bar, perch myself atop one of the barstools and order a Moscow Mule and something to eat.

While waiting, an American guy comes in with some friends. I recognise him from an earlier visit, and apparently it’s his Birthday.


So much for the nice quiet evening at the pub.

Bugger.

About twenty minutes, one Moscow Mule and a portion of fish and chips later, a mysterious figure enters the pub and disappears into the kitchen. After a bit of frenetic activity behind the scenes, it's revealed that the mysterious figure is a belly dancer, hired to perform for the American guy.

She shimmies into the centre of the pub, wearing full Turkish costume and begins to dance. It’s a good job that belly dancing doesn’t require a lot of space, as there isn’t any since more of the American guys friends have since turned up, intent on having a party.

With song one over, the dancer whips out some tiny finger tip cymbals and begins to dance once again, “tinging” in time to the second tune that's started to play.

Unfortunately, this is a very long song which seems to go on forever, and about a third of the way through her “tinging” gets decidedly wobbly and she looses the beat.

Despite that, she gets a rousing reception with lots of applause, and then disappears as quick as she arrived.

I decide on one last drink, say a quick hi to Akimi (who has appeared from somewhere out the back) and head back to the hotel. Luckily I’m better at finding my way from pub to hotel than from hotel to pub.

It must be the vodka that’s honed my sense of direction…


3 Comments:

Blogger Eriko said...

Belly dancer?!Was she Japanese or Turkish (I don't think there are many Turkish belly dancers in Sapporo).

About the flag you bought, it is called "Kyokujitu-ki"(Sun with radiation).

Hinomaru means "Circle(maru) Sun(hi)", so it's ordinary Japanese flag and also called "Nissho-ki".

7:38 PM  
Blogger Colin said...

The belly dancer was Japanese and very good she was too (apart from the 'tinging' But hey, it could have been a long day for her! LOL!)

Thanks for the information about the flag! (I do like to get my facts correct!)

I thought it was a bit strange that both flags would be called the same, but I could only find the one name on the internet.

I'll change the title of the post immediately!

Actually I did go back to the same shop a few days later and buy the Hinomaru too!

:D

3:43 AM  
Blogger Eriko said...

Many Japanese may not know the name "Kyokujitu-ki" and acutually I didn't. It's funny that I've got a Union Jack and you've got a Hinomaru....

4:31 PM  

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