東京 お久しぶり！

The last time I was in Tokyo was August '08, after the summer programme at Kobe University ended I took the shinkansen to Tokyo and spent a few days there, whilst staying at Kasumi's place in Mitaka. This time is actually my first time in Tokyo outside summer (previously visits were during summer holidays: '03, '04, and '08).

Right now I'm staying at Rachel's place in Yokohama. Her dormitory is situated in Hiyoshi. When we got back last night, I finally realised why her rent cost over 60,000 yen per month (excluding utility bills; compared to our ~23,000 yen including utilities at Handai) - the building is very modern and quite posh-looking. It's quite big and accommodates a large number of foreign students. The residents access the building and their rooms by a key card. Rachel's room is not big but it has an en-suite, a balcony, and her own fridge. The lounge is really spacious, with a flat-screen TV and an open-plan kitchen.

As modern and nice as the Keio dormitory is, I'm quite content with what we have at Handai. The rent is relatively cheap and we don't have to commute to go to class! According to Rachel sometimes she can spend up to 3,000 yen per week just on electricity. Then there's the daily commute (about an hour) from Hiyoshi to Keio's Mita campus.

Today we went into Tokyo - first to Keio. I wanted to see her university, since it's one of the most famous and prestigious in the country, and also the first. Before we entered the campus we had lunch at Saizeriya (サイゼリヤ), which is a Japanese-Italian chain restaurant. The portion is on the small side but it's cheap (about 400 yen for a plate of spaghetti)! I thought the portion was perfect for lunch; later found that there's a branch in Senri-chuo (new place to eat, guys!).

Keio University is quite pretty - the buildings are from the Meiji era so it's got some heavy European influences, especially the library. On the other hand, some buildings are very contemporary. Keio is also the most expensive university in Japan, so one can see where all the tuition fees have gone to! There was also some early cherry blossom to be spotted around campus, I think the trees will blossom fully towards the end of the month.





We went to the union shop; Rachel bought a guide to Seoul (she's flying off next Monday) and I bought a book about cherry blossom hanami in Kyoto (which I'm looking forward to - plenty of photos to be taken!). At the shop we also found many Keio merchandise. I guess every university on this planet has its own branded goods, but the range at Keio was quite amazing - even including a Keio Hello Kitty!

Afterwards we went to Harajuku and went to Meiji-jingu. Even though I had already been to Harajuku several times I still hadn't been to Meiji-jingu, (while it was Rachel's 10th visit). The walk from the JR station to the shrine takes about 10-15 minutes but it's a very pleasant stroll. The tall trees provide a wonderful canopy over the broad avenue, it's a totally different scene from the lively Omotesando. The shrine itself is quite impressive, especially the dark wooden pillars. And the stand where people hang their wishes was also bigger than others I've seen elsewhere.



In Harajuku we went to Forever 21 and H&M. I had originally wanted to do some shopping, but realised that I don't have much money left so gave up on the idea. Plus it was a nightmare in those two shops! Yes Harajuku is generally very crowded with young stylish Japanese on their shopping pilgrimages. But these two shop were on the extreme end. It was impossible to actually look through the rails of clothes without bumping into a stranger or finding it hard to breathe... Forever 21 was not as expensive as we thought but H&M was a rip-off! We saw this ordinary jacket on the rail and it's 12,990 yen. At home it would have cost maybe 30 to 40 pounds? I'm telling myself never buy anything at H&M in Japan (even though the one in Osaka just opened last Saturday).

We met up with Cayley at 自由が丘 for dinner. 自由が丘 is in Meguro and is famous for its desserts (notably cute-looking cakes), but we didn't have cakes. We had dinner at an izakaya before going to karaoke for 2 hours. Yes I basically did what we usually do in Osaka...anyway it was fun 'cause I hadn't seen Cayley since October (probably won't see her again 'till we go back to Manchester! She's going to France for a work placement in the summer). The two hours of karaoke (plus one drink) cost about 1,500 yen, a bit expensive for me. Perhaps I'm just used to cheaper prices in Osaka.

P.S. The Grease medley Rachel and Cayley did was quite amusing. That karaoke machine also had Lea Salonga's version of "On My Own" from Les Mis :D musicals rock my world!