Well, if I were to measure days by the minutes I spent being lost, 0 being ideal, then today would have only been a 15. Yesterday..well, let's just say that's the day that should not be named. I started my day by sleeping in. I know, shocking! I may or may not have woken up around 1 pm. I have no idea what happened. I woke up at 7:30, hit the snooze button, and next thing I knew it was 1pm. Anyways, feeling crazy, I threw clothes on and headed for the coffee shop. I got my iced coffee to go, and hopped on the subway. While there I decided to head to Nikolai Cathedral. Remember when I took a picture of the model of this at the Edo Tokyo Museum? Here it is in real life. Anyways, for a 300 yen "donation" you got in the door and were allowed to enter the lobby only. You couldn't go through the whole Cathedral, and you couldn't take pictures. Talk about fine print. According to my book, it was built with funds provided by a Russian czar, and designed by English architect Josiah Condor. It's a Russian Orthodox church, and was named after St. Nikolai Kassatkin, who was a 19th century missionary who converted thousands of Japanese to his religion.
With my "donation" or "admission" as I like to call it, I got a yellow prayer candle. So I lit it, and said a little prayer that I would find my next location easily. With the help of the iphone compass I made it across this river, which I thought was really pretty:
And sure enough, here was the Yushima Seido Temple I was looking for, which is one of the few Confucian temples in Tokyo. It was founded in 1632, but the current structures date from 1935.
My next stop was to go to the Kanda Myojin Shrine, which according to my map was three blocks north and one block East. I headed North, and was distracted by a Doutor...my favorite coffee shop that has delicious sandwiches and the almighty sweet potato. I hadn't eaten yet, so I stopped in. It wasn't as nice as the Doutor in our neighborhood, but it was still amazing. Jacked up on caffeine and sweet potatoes, I headed out to complete my journey to the temple. My map led me to these stairs. 81 stairs, in fact.
I got to the top, huffing and puffing, and these were my first sights:
Then, finally I got to the main shrine!:
This cool fountain was to one side. While I was standing there, I heard a ton of men chanting. My first thought: Monks?? I hung out, and eventually about 30 men in business suits emerged. They were all doing a little after-work chanting, which I thought was really cool.
Then, I walked towards the main exit, and found this horse...?
I seriously stood there for 15 minutes, trying to figure out what on earth this horse was doing there. I watched (him? her?) and he or she kept eating leaves off the ground that had fallen from the trees. So I can only assume this was their version of a landscaper. It reminded me of a farm in Scandia, MN, by my parents house, where the farmer lets out his cows in his lawn so that his lawn is always "mowed". The downside of this though, is that the cows wander into the road, and have caused more than one accident. Locals know to slow waayyyy down when going past his farm.
Anways, I hung out with the horse for awhile, and then moved on, after saying goodbye, of course.
Some parting shots with the Shrine:
When I left the shrine, I realized that the temple I had been at earlier, was ACROSS THE STREET! That's right, my stupid book led me 4 blocks and 81 steps astray. Where is Rick Steves with his turn by turn directions when I need him?!?!
Disgruntled and muttering to myself like a crazy person, I started to make my way towards the train station. I walked through Akihabara, which is known as "Electric City". Basically every type of electronics ever made is sold here, and the sales people all know many languages so you can buy whatever you want.
Having no need for electronics without my personal Geek Squad (Mike, I say that lovingly), I wandered for about 15 minutes, slightly lost, and then found the train station. I got to Tokyo and headed to an art museum that I wanted to see, only to find out that they are closed until Sunday (what the heck!?!). Then I headed to the Marunouchi Building, where I met Mike at our new favorite place (A Hawaiian Burger joint). I got there a little early, and wandered through a grocery store, where I found THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL: Kona Beer!!! I grabbed six bottles, held them like they were my babies, and waited in line. If you think I sound crazy, understand this: Japanese beer is not good. The light beers taste like Natty Ice, and the dark beers taste like Natty Ice with soy sauce. So finding Kona Beer is like a dream come true.
Standing in line, hugging my treasures, I drew a few strange stares (one from a guy who then went over and inspected the entire display of Kona Beer...you are welcome, sir), and eventually I bought 6 bottles for 30 bucks. Yikes, but worth every penny. After a few delicious burgers, we made our way home, and watched one of my favorite movies, Dan in Real Life, while enjoying some good beer (finally!!!). All in all, a great day.
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