Ah the sweet comforts of a home! Terri's place feels like heaven. It is right in the middle of Shinjuku, a couple of minutes from the imperial palace and is surrounded by....most importantly, a ton of good restaurants.
I share the house with Terri, Frank and Terrence, all good people from AllHands. We go out and find some grub at a local joint. The place is so small, that the kitchen and dining room barely fits us and the cook. Delicious, by the way.
A Night Out
The rest of the day is spent organizing and uploading photos and videos to the site. Something I later found out worked for a day, and then, keeping with Blogger's stunning performance of its constant inability to do the only thing it is put on this earth to do (blog), eventually stopped working. Bad luck? Acts of almighty deities up above? Perhaps alien interference, or secret agents at work. We will never know. All I know is that I am so beyond frustrated with something that should be so &"@+ simple but that has been made almost impossible to use. Next time I need a site up, Blogger will be waaaaaay, way, way.....way down the list.
Regardless of my love for inefficient technologies, I find myself going out. 25 people from AllHands meet up in the middle of crowded Tokyo, and we head to a restaurant.
Here we feast, no exaggeration, almost till we feel sick. All ridiculously delicious food, of course. Reina, a good friend of mine put together an awesome get together! We laugh, we eat, we drink. We have a blast.
Karaoke Time
After that we head to an English pub. Then....karaoke. Being a karaoke virgin, singing in front of others can be a didn't nerve wracking. No problems though. Everyone sucks! And again we have a blast.
Lazy Moments
You ride, you experience, you eat, you volunteer, you go out and then....after 25 days of that, preceded only by the last dash of studying for graduation as well as an enormous amount of preparation for this trip....you crash.
Not literally of course. I find myself in Tokyo. A city I have always wanted to see....and what do I want to do? Sleeeeeeep. So I take most of the day doing what most people do, and just relax at Terri's place. At 3pm I head out, bike-less of course, and happy about that, and head to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building. Here I see a spectacular view of the city. Lovely!
More Time's A-Wastin'
Third day here, I manage to not do much sightseeing again. I want to, but between the basic needs of eating, blogging (tried to fix videos...no luck here obviously) and contacting future couchsurfing hosts, I find myself again at 3pm. Here 3pm is 3 hours away from pitch black darkness.
Second Harvest
I take the initiative to go meet the good people at Second Harvest Japan, the recipient if the donations. Having contacted them a prior day, I find out our schedules do not work out and there is no available volunteering position for me. Bummer. But, I head out there anyways.
The CEO, Mr.McJilton, shows me around the warehouse as he explains their operations. Here are some fun facts about the organization:
-2HJ delivers goods for disaster survivors to 180 local agencies in Tohoku and works with several other organizations in the area, including....AllHands!
-Their 7 trucks bring loads of goods up north every week and have reached the region more than 120 times.
-Each truck brings 200 to 300 boxes of goods to people in need.
-Because of 2HJ's connections with companies and NGOs, the organization provides 10 times the amount of food with the money it receives. This means that since pedalforjapan has reached $1,500, around $15,000-worth of food will be delivered to help people in temporary shelters and housing in Tohoku. Awww yyyea!
Mr. McJilton ends up having to leave for a meeting, and I continue on in the city. I did not get the chance to work with these good people unfortunately, and although my mind is willing, I think the body is happy to have some time to recharge. But, I wish all the people of 2HJ the best. Just like AllHands, it is generous people like this, who out if their own initiative help to make the world a better place. I hope you reach your goal!
Night Riders
Me, Florent and Mika from AllHands meet up for a ride with our bikes. I won't lie. Riding around late at night in Tokyo with your friends is pretty bad ass. We eat a late post dinner meal, get a double dose of ice cream at the fanciest Denny's I have ever seen and eventually go our separate ways. If you are reading this Mika and Florent, you guys are awesome. Never felt so bad ass riding my bike before lol.
One Last Day
I have one more day in the largest city in the world. Tomorrow brings me back to the roughness and challenges of my adventures. But I don't care that I am tired still. I don't want to waste another day relaxing. I am going sightseeing. I buy tickets to Studio Ghibli Museum, a famous anime producer. First, I hit up Tsukiji, the famous fish market where supposedly the best freshest most tastiest fish in the world can be eaten. Delicious!
The Ghibli museum is also awesome. Many beautiful pictures and artwork fill the place. Kids have a blast and I won't lie, so do I.
I end my last day with Prabin, a friend's cousin. We hit up a local ramen restaurant and then chill at his place for a bit. My time with him is short unfortunately as I have to get up at 4am tomorrow. Back to the usual schedule. I hope that the second half will be nice. I think it will. I am just scratching the surface, but I am getting Japan, and bicycle touring, and surviving and all that good stuff. I think I will be all right.
Tokyo....what a city. I am really going to try and see if I can move here for a couple of years. Truly an amazing place.....it is all I thought it would be, and more. Leaving it gives me a sense of melancholy in a way. I am half way.....past it actually now. My time in Japan will be over before I know it. But....enough with the sobbing. The second half of Japan holds some of the most culturally rich and historically important places here. Not to say.....they say Cape Sata is somewhere on this side.
Goodbye Tokyo. See you again, mighty city of 30 million souls.
10km (in 5 days....never felt so good!)
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