Going To Tokyo

- Benassi Bros . Rumenian
- Benassi Bros . Illusion
- DJ Veio . I don't need to need you
- DJ Veio . Da Pump
- DJ Tiesto . Traffic
- DJ Tiesto . Just be
- DJ Tiesto . Walking on Clouds
- DJ Tiesto . Adagio for Strings
- DJ Tiesto . Touch Me
- Motorcycle . As the Rush Comes
- Motorcycle . My Blue Heart
- Motorcycle . Around You
- Bar Live . Aqualife
- Groove Armada . Get Down
- Get-Far . Shining Star

A farmer's house in Wakoshi.
Usual sightseeing in Tokyo suburbs.

  This Monday has been very special to me.

  I felt really bad when waking up in the morning, not being somewhere I knew. It was actually 1pm, everybody had already left, and I pretty much felt like shit.

  Yuji had taken two days off, and he was planning to go to a place I did not fancy seeing. I wanted to go back to an electric neons place...

  Still, I followed him through Wakoshi in what should have been a short walk in the suburb before reaching the station. Silently, he took me to an amazing house left to the government, and especially to the city of Wakoshi, by the couple who lived in it. It is a old-fashioned, traditionnal Japanese house the citizens take care of and organize exhibitions and festival in. I couldn't believe such a place actually existed...

Two sights of the above mentionned house from outside.

Two sights of the inside of the same house.

  There were several child playing in it, and as soon as we started visiting the inside,on little girl feel in love with me. Her eyes wide-opened, she quietly asked Yuji where I was from. When he answered France, she looked amazed and told me I was beautiful. Her name was Seina and she introduced us her friend Yuna.

  Those two little girls were so smart, curious, clever and in love with us we just spent an hour talking and playing with them under the kotatsu. I was frustrated not to speak Japanesem but with the help of Yuji and everyone's efforts, we managed to communicate enough and understood they wanted to take us to another place, called here in Japan 'KinderGarden'...

  There, we again played a lot, ran, took pictures altogether, met their sensei, then Seina insisted to take us at her house and we met her surprised mother... We promised to meet again the following Monday.

  It was so sudden and unexpected I still cannot believe it. Now I know it was just a foresight of what was waiting for me, of the whole journey : " In Tokyo, the unexpected is always waiting somewhere. "

Seina and Yuna.

Yuji playing with the girls.

In the 'Kindergarden'.
[More to see in 'Wakoshi' article, in 'There' section, coming soon...]

  After all these emotions, around 5.30pm, we took the train and decided to go to Shinjuku, a district I particularly wanted to see by night. I took the opportunity to memorize what I could of Tokyo train and Metro network, which is finally not that complicated and which I got used to after 4 or 5 days.

  Arriving in Shinjuku, I couldn't think of anything else than taking pictures, and I actually took a lot of. Shinjuku is definitely one of the most busy district by night, on any day of the week. A must-see... Especially the area of Kabuki Cho, a famous place for its hosts, hostess, prostitute and love hotels.

  We then met one of Yuji's friend called Jun and ate soba altogether in a very unexpected place, mix between a Japanese traditionnal restaurant and a European Pub. Bizarre enough to be mentionned...

Outside the strange soba place, in a creepy street.
You have to walk up the stairs to enter the restaurant.

Two of the many pictures I took of Shinjuku by night.
[More to see in 'Shinjuku' article, in 'There' section, coming soon...]

Two weird kogaru on Kabuki Cho who insisted for me to take a picture of them...

  When Jun left, Yuji started walking like crazy through the district, without a word. Following him, I again took loads of pictures without knowing where I was about to go... in the most beautiful place I have ever seen.

  We ended up in front of a pretty high tower in which we entered. I thought it was offices, but we took a lift and when its doors opened, I discovered we were in a very luxuous hotel-restaurant-bars complex : Shinjuku Hyatt Park Towers.

  The whole place is amazing, and I wasn't able to talk anymore. It just took my breath away. I went on following Yuji through rooms and restaurants, more and more luxuous, but didn't notice yet the view we had through the little windows and I was about to discover...

Shinjuku Hyatt Park Towers Entrance.

Two luxuous waiting halls.
[More to see in 'Hyatt Park Towers' article, in 'There' section, coming soon...]

An idea of the view...

  We again took a lift, and doors opened on a duplex bar decorated with bamboos and lampoons... The atmosphere was so quiet, a bit of piano, some bending waitresses... I definitely wanted to stay there. And the most amazing was the view, all around us were huge windows and a transparent roof. I couldn't believe it.

  Again, we walked through many rooms, all impressive, and took another lift to finally arrive in the most beautiful place I have been in. The famous New York Bar.

   If you have seen the Coppola Movie 'Lost In Translation', then you know the New York Bar. Yeah. This one, the one they meet in, the Jazz Bar in wich you can see Tokyo floating by the window, as a surreal electric island. The one on the highest floor, the 51th.

   We sat, and just after us, a jazz band started a live concert just in the middle of the tables. I had the piano player by my side, and was in front of the window.

   Being luxuous and wonderful, it was obviously expensive, but as always with Yuji, I have been treated as a princess. He ordered Cheese and Porto with some fruits, and I started smoking the best cigarettes ever, in the best place ever, listening to this enchanting music without a word, only enjoying the view and praying for this moment never to be stopped...

What we ate and what was to see from my seat...

The Jazz Band and, again, the view of a floating Tokyo...
[More to see in 'Hyatt Park Towers' article, in 'There' section, coming soon...]

  After 3 short hours in there, we directly went back home, convinced it would be hard to do something better...

  I slept well, and had wonderful dreams I can't remember. It had been my trigger : after such a day, I had no choice but to enjoy.

  Come what May.

Jim in Inokashira Park, Mitaka, probably telling us something interesting and clever... no way. Arienai.

  Jim is definitely one of the two persons I will miss the most when going back to France, although I am a bit mad at him nowadays.

  He is a funny, curious, clever guy who's been given the sweet nickname of "Colonist Bastard" by Ayaha because of being British. As a consequence, he is a good drinker and loves real ale, and that's one of the many common points we share. His only default : his girlfriend, aka AB. Do not ask. Never met such an arrogant, hypocrite and disregarding b###h. Whatever.

  I wish I could have spent more time with him, because I particularly enjoyed every moment [there may be an exception...]. He is the first person I met when I arrived and I hope he will be the last I see before I leave. He is just him, someone special.

  Moreover, he is the best party organizer I have ever seen, and is so outgoing he can take anyone anywhere, even if he has met the person 15 minutes before.

  Behind the jokes, I also had the chance to discover a complex person, sensitive and respectful, and I am more than glad to know I now have such a friend.

  Thank you Jim for being you and having taken care of me the most you could, for allowing me to meet everyone, for organizing some of my best parties ever, for putting so much trust in me and for your precious advice...

  - My favorite Jim's sentence : " Sorry for not being a free and normal traveller... " [or something similar]

Yuji sitting on a bridge in Inokashira Park, in Mitaka.

  Yuji is not only my host in Japan but a very good friend, and the host of many couchsurfers. It is rare not to find at least 2 people living in his flat for a few days, and people usually talk about him as one of the best host ever.

  Complex fellow, he speaks a amazing amount of languages, and has travelled through Europe especially. He also is a good photograph.

  We are totally different from each other, and even if I consider him as am exception because of being more opem-minded than his compatriots, he is still influenced by Japanese mentality and has difficulties to be outgoing without overwhelming...

  But still, we get along well and can have great talks, a lot of fun and great moments together !

  Thank you Yuji for allowing me to realize my dreaming and for introducing me to such a bunch of wonderful people in here.

  - My favorite Yuji's sentence : " Hey Jim, how do you say 'whatever' in English...?'  "

Out of the plane, waiting with some other [handsome] passengers for the intern train to our Terminal.

  After the long flight, I finally landed in Narita airport around 2.45pm, still a bit tired in spite of my sleep in the plane. A little, intern train took all the passengers of my flight to the right Terminal in which we all went under a regular check up : informations about the aim of our journey, identity control on the passport, picture, fingerprints...

  Unable to give neither Yuji's address nor his phone number, I have been kept during half an hour and been obliged to give the only valid Japanese informations I had with me, it is to say Naoko's name and phone number. A bit ironic considering that I haven't even met Naoko during my journey. I felt like a criminal and was scared like shit in front of this cold, authoritarial man yelling at me that I had to write an address in Japan, or at least a name and phone number... But he probably got sick of me and let me leave.

  Finding my luggage has been easy, Narita airport is very well organized, so it took me about 10 minutes. I was already in another world, listening to the annouces in Japanese, entering all the shops just to see those crazy Japanese stuffs and food...

  Using an internet connection, I sent a mail to my parents and went to ask a lot of questions to the Tourism Information desk. The employee, a girl, was cute and her terrible English was completely balanced by her huge smile and true intention to help me. She told me the thing I needed to know the most : Narita's train to Ueno station was on the Keisei Line, and I only had to go down the stairs in front of me to take it. I chose to pick the 1000 yens ticket for the non-express train that takes 20 minutes more than the Skyliner.

  But first I had to call the famous Jim to ensure he was about to pick me up on the platform. So did I, a bit nervous, and after a catastrophic identity control by a policeman who couldn't acknoledge me on the picture of my passport and kept me about 40 minutes, I went on the Narita train platform to take the train with another thousand people.

Narita's Skyliner to Ueno Station, not my train.
1900 yen, 1 hour.

Another cool rabbit lover in the train.

A cool base ball player in the train... Wasn't able to take a picture of the whole team, but they were pretty good looking.

The train itself.

  I figured out in the train that it was already night outside and that I was fucking late because of this policeman. I really hoped Jim would wait for me, and managed to focus on what I could see through the windows. Narita airport is pretty far from Tokyo in itself, and the landscape changes every 5 minutes, from fields to neons and buildings.

  The train in itself is, as every metro and train in Tokyo, clean, silent and warm because of the heaters under the seats. It is definitely a place you can sleep in, and a lot of Japanese do. In front of me, I had this cute little girl sleeping in her Mac Donald's bag. When she suddenly woke up, her face was covered with her burger sauce. It would have been rude to take a picture, but I couldn't prevent myself from smiling and turned my back at her so she couldn't see me.

  An hour and a half later, I finally got to Ueno station. And nobody was waiting for me on the platform.

  I decided to climb up the stairs and found a public phone similar to the one I had used in the airport. I called Jim and explained what was around me, an AmPm store... He was waiting for me on the Skyliner platform... He finally found me and offered to carry my luggage, which I highly appreciated.

  I followed him to another train taking us to Ikebukuro station, where we had to meet Yuji in his office and take the key of the flat. I immediately had a trustful feeling toward this guy whou could have taken me absolutely anywhere.

  When we went out of this second train, I had my first shock : Tokyo. The lights, skycrapers, neons, shops everywhere and huge cross. I just realized I actually was in Tokyo. And still couldn't believe it. Jim made fun of my wide-opened eyes. I was trying to catch everything, looking at every tiny place or sign, but definitely coulnd't.

  I had the opportunity to make fun of him too : unable to remember the location of Yuji's office, he made me walk about 30 minutes around the district, walking again and again down the same streets. We smoked and laughed a lot on the different pavements, still carrying my rolling luggage. I had the impression everybody was staring at us. And I was right.

  I can't remember how we ended up in a tiny surreal street, stucked between two giant buildings, which made me think about an old way to a geisha house... Tokyo was definitely surprising.

The above mentionned street.

  We finally found and took the key went back to the station, took another train on Tobu-Tojo Line to Wakoshi, the suburb Yuji lives in. It took us about 15 minutes, and we got to the flat after another 15 minutes walk. I discovered the fucking slope I have to go up and down every day to reach the station or go back to the flat... Sports.

  I got rid of my luggage, drank a glass of water, and Jim informed me that we were going to eat sushis in a traditionnal restaurant just about the flat. I was dreaming of a shower but the idea of eating sushis was so tempting I again followed him.

  I discovered the amazing restaurant Taro Zushi in Wakoshi. It is a little and quiet place with very warm amd welcoming people. One of the cook speaks a good English and is really funny. I felt really good in this place, as if Tokyo and Japan were welcoming me. I had this great talk with Jim about our lives in our mothern countries, our different jobs, his life in Tokyo... and such a good dinner !

The English speaking cook, funny as a manga character and friendly to any foreigner.

My delicious sushis !

  Yuji finally joined us, the owner offered each of us a pinte of beer and we talked and talked until midnight. Missing the last train, Jim got obliged to sleep at Yuji's, so we again drank cocktails in the flat and, unexpected, another couchsurfer arrived. A great, funny Korean guy I have no picture of and cannot spell the name, but who will definitely stay in my mind because of an episode I will relate later on...

  My first night in Tokyo was warm and long, without any dreams, as a little death. Something new was waiting for me. Something I couldn't even imagine.

Picture of a bookstall taken in the waiting room of Terminal E, in the airport Charles de Gaulle, Paris, during my long and terrifying waiting...

  This Saturday has probably been one of the longest day in my whole life.

  After an agitated and unexpected night of only three hour sleep, I had to finish to pack my bags. Struggling not to forget anything at 6am in the morning is a good training to become independant and responsible, I guess...

  Furthermore, the conditions of my arrival in Tokyo were not that clear yet, the internet connection of my house being k.o. for a few days, I couldn't even reach Yuji or read the mail he had sent me the really morning about when and where I had to meet him or whoever else...

  It caused a lot of worryings to my mother, who is already of a worrying nature, and caused me a huge, strong headache at the same time : was it because of the ton of questions I couldn't answer, or because of the lack of sleep...? I still don't know.

  Finally, I managed to get it all packed up, and my family silently took me to the train station. I was so under pressure and so exhausted I couldn't talk or do anything by myself which scared me a little more about what was next : finding my way through Paris being that tired, and spending two entire weeks completely by myself in Tokyo...

  I couldn't even sleep during the four-hour train trip Paris. It was time for me to think seriously about what was about to happen... the later, the better. "Mieux vaut tard que jamais."
Unfortunately it was also time for me to realize I had totally forgotten to charge the battery of my cellphone, which did not contribute to make the things easier, not being able to get my parents calls.

  I do not remember well how I ended up in the good terminal of the airport, I just remember finding an internet connection and finally reading Yuji's really weird mail :

" You will get to the airport and call this number :

080-6xxx-xxx

His name is Jim, he stayed at my place. He's a British guy. Just try calling him several times. He's also busy, so he might not be able to notice your call.

You are going to take Narita express to UENO station. He will be waiting for you on the platform. "

  It was freaky. But I tried to convince myself that everything was going to be easy and okay, that nothing could happen to me and time ran out... I took meds to be relaxed during the flight, but it didn't kill the fear... On my way to the aircraft, seeing such a huge piece of metal with wings, my heart missed a beat. I still cannot figure out wether if it was because of my fucking plane phobia, or because of the enormous Japan Airlines logo on its side.

  Neither can I figure out how I could stand such a long flight - about 12 hours. I am very proud of myself, I remained calm and quiet, and even succeeded in comforting myself, all alone. I wish it was the same next Sunday, for my return flight... two crazy weeks after my arrival day : Sunday 17.02.2008.

Terminal E is already a part of Japan... so many japanese people in there !

One of the amazingly beautiful paintings I have seen in 'Tokyo Metropolitan Museum', Ueno.

  It is not only because I am such a paradoxical French girl that I am starting my blog tonight, when I only have 3 days left here in Tokyo... It is also for very convenient reasons as the crazy rythm I have been experiencing since my arrival day...

  Today being my first day "off" since February 16th, and my relatives complaining for the lack of news, stories and pictures, I decided to finally post my first messages on this board. I will only change the date of the messages in the Day by Day section so as to allow you to enjoy it as a diary.

  I also decided to write this blog in English first, with the intention of translating it later on, probably when I'll be back in France, settled again in a world I know and cannot surprise me anymore.
Because this story is not only dedicated to my French friends and relatives, but also to all these crazy human beings I have met and hope to meet during this trip, and who, or at least most of them, speak English.

  In these last lines, please let me introduce myself :

  I am Line - aka Pauline, Pinpin and FB -, 20 years old, born and living in Southern France. Interested in arts and technologies, but even more in the Japanese amazing mix between tradition, culture and modernity, I had always planned to come in this city of my dreams : Tokyo.

  And there I am.

  I hope you will enjoy with me this critical moment of my life, the one I am finally reaching my dream...