The Roving Reporter

A sumo wrestler strolls down the streets of Tokyo...

Posted by: Amy Reiter

Monday, April 2, 2007 6:54 AM

After one 5:30 a.m. drive to the airport, one three-ish-hourlong flight and three trains, I arrived safe and sound at my hostel/hotel in Tokyo, Japan.

But I'll begin from where I left off...

Yesterday was a truly wonderful last day in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

I saw so many great people at the morning's Rotary district conference, heard a moving speech about how Rotary's goal of eradicating polio is almost complete and another speech by Shanae Hinkle, our team leader from Danville, who gave a heartfelt thank-you to all the Rotarians who took us in, showed us their homeland and shared with us their jobs, cities and lives for the month of March.

Then two pre-Rotarians took us to do some shopping. We went to a jade market full of people haggling over the expensive green stone and the Kaohsiung Museum of Art, which has an awesome gift shop. The young not-yet-Rotarians, Jacky and Solomon, were so nice, driving us around and helping us make some deals on cool stuff -- all of which somehow fit in my now-70-pound suitcase.

(By the way, Solomon's been a blog-checker, and he disputed that Australia is part of the Austronesian language family, as I wrote in an earlier post. I've done some more research since and found a few conflicting reports -- some say northern Australia is part of it, some say it isn't. If you have the definitive answer on the Austronesian language, write in and let me know.)

Anyway, Kaohsiung, despite the smog and stray dogs, is a pretty great city, and I'm happy I've gotten to know my way around it and know some of the people in it.

But back to Toyko and today's events:

After getting to the Juyoh Hotel -- which has teeny-tiny rooms just big enough for a twin-size futon on the floor and tatami straw mats to step on only with slippers -- I got directions from the excellent manager, who helped me plan my whole trip. Then I got walking.

I saw the exterior of Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple in the heart of Asakusa, a historic area full of shopping and narrow streets and packed-together little buildings. The temple was completed in 645, and I guess at that age you need a facelift. Consequently, large areas were covered with scaffolding and the temple was closed by the time I arrived in the early evening, I'm not sure if for the day or for the construction.

I also saw cherry blossom trees, hundreds of them adding color to the gray and brown brick drabness of many of the city's buildings. They were so gorgeous, with thousands of pink petals falling like feathers onto every street. April is peak time for cherry blossoms, as so many people have already told me, and I'm glad to be here for it.

Near the temple is a large touristy shopping district. I wandered the district, resolving that during this trip I will not buy: shoes, purses, Japanese swords, fans, an obi, and myriad other bright, different things that keep catching my eye. I predict that at least two of these resolutions won't last 24 hours.

At the end of the evening, I attempted to get home the way I came and failed miserably. Nice people kept giving me directions until I finally got back to my hotel. One guy in a convenience store even photocopied his map for me and drew the directions -- with landmarks -- to the hotel, free of charge.

Nice people. I'm psyched for tomorrow. I've got the world's largest fish market on the agenda for the morning.

Words of the day (Japanese language):
arigato = thank you

Amy

p.s.: The top photo below is our last dinner with our Taiwanese Rotarian friends at the Rotary District Conference in Kaohsiung. The second picture is of people in Tokyo having a picnic under the cherry blossoms, and the third picture is of Senso-ji Buddhist temple.

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