Day Seven

The seventh day in Japan. We were having lots of fun and exploring places 
on our own. Today the morning wakeup was the most exciting. We had a full 
free day to explore and decided to visit Mt. Takao(600mts high). I was more excited as 
it is my favorite thing to do, 'The Trekking'.
After having stomach filling breakfast we all left for our destination. 
Changing metros from iidabashi to Shinjuku and ahead taking a kieo line for 
Takao Sanguchi. We reached the station after 2 hours of traveling.

The view is so beautiful that we could not stop clicking the photographs. We even saw the making of noodles. It was so nice to see that.
We did a little shopping of snacks and went towards the ticket counter for 
chair lift. On the way met a new friend, a cute doggy.

The chair lift experience was the greatest. The sceneries, cold chilling 
wind was mesmerizing. Felt never to get down of the chair and we reached 
the top.

From here we decided to trek to the mountain top and chose the trail. It 
was a 2.5km beautiful pleasant trail. Trail full of fun and masti. Greeting all people meeting on the way saying konichiwa (hello) arigato (Thank you) and then in hindi namaste and shukriya was great fun.

we reached the top and the view, just froze looking at the beauty created by god. could see the whole city down. i was just feeling like a bird flying freely in the sky.
clicked many selfies and were enjoying the natures beauty.

we went into a hotel there to refill our self’s. some had the soba noodles and some were happy with Pringles and dry fruits. we even tasted the sake. (Japanese drink). 

as it became sunset we started trekking down. and decided to experience the cable car. the steepest cable car in Japan. it was a great experience and enjoyed the thrill.
we did a little shopping and left for Shinjuku. 

 

Shinjuku the entertainment city. its just wow. we saw the Godzilla head and the Imax theatre. it was just wow!

we roamed a little bit and left for Iidabashi. the day ended by an adventure of sitting in a rapid train and reaching Tokyo and again searching for the local to reach our home place, Iidabashi! 
finally after the adventurous day we reached back at 10pm and enjoyed our sleep.

 

                                                                 -Aishwarya Joshi

DAY SIX: Wow. Its already been six days in Japan. Time flies by so fast when youre having the time of your life. Today we all woke up a little later than usual, at about 8:45 am and headed out seperately to Waseda University. We all gathered in the ICC buildings to meet Mr. Robert, the coordinator of programme who then led us to the space where we would be performing our much anticipated show on India day. After practicing and showing Mr. Robert a brief rehearsal of our final show we headed out for lunch at the fully equiped Waseda canteen. There's so much variety and choices in the food items that i was amazed even though it was my second time in the canteen.

Rehearsal in the room for India Day

Lunch at waseda

                                 


After lunch we visited Waseda university's writing centre. Mr. Diego, a tutor at the writing centre explained its working and facilities which are quite similar to our own college. After a tour of the writing centre the kind people there served us some delicious japanese snacks and tea. But the activities werent done yet...


                                               

Writing center

Japanese tea and snacks at writing center

Mrs. Yumi, who has been with us for the past few days took us to witness and be part of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. It was truely a unique and beautiful experience and after we were done Sir Vasant gave the students who volunteered to show us the tea ceremony some gifts. The end of the tea ceremony marked the end of our scheduled activtes for the day and it was now time for me to do some exploring.

Tea Ceremony

I headed down to the metro with no partcular distination in mind. All i knew is that it was barely 4pm and there was so much of Tokyo left for me to explore. I went to a magazine stand at the station and pulled out the Tokyo Metro Guide, from there my eyes zoomed in on The Imperial Palace, just 5 stations away from Waseda. I took a direct train to Otemachi station and as soon as i stepped out of the exit i saw it. The Imperial Palace is truely beautiful, surrounded by soft flowing waters and autumn trees tinged with orange, the architectural style of this landmark is captivating. A little walk down the lane led me to the famous tourist spot, Nijubashi bridge, which means double bridge in English.

Imperial Palace North Gate

Imperial Palace side view

Nijubashi Bridge

After taking about a dozen beautiful pictures i decided to relax in the abundant green open space beside the palace. After a short rest i decided to just walk and explore the area. The first place i discovered was Japan National Theatre, followed shortly by Tokyo court. Both beautiful buildings. I ended up walking so much and got so caught up in exploring i didnt realise it was already 8pm and i had reached Sakuradamon, which is 2 stations away from Otemachi station! I quickly grabbed a snack from the nearest supermarket, a corndog and took a direct train to Iidabashi via the Yurakucho line. Within barely 15 minutes i was back to our Hostel in Iidabashi and admiring the scenic pictures i took today on the comfortable couch. All in all, an amazing day in an amazing city. Looking forward to an even better one tomorrow.

Tokyo Court

Zoya.