Tokyo
Have to say, that was a world not to be missed. #TeamLabs Borderless was something else.
We have spent the majority of the time underground here in #Tokyo and it was quite surprising to get outside and have a look at the city streets from above ground. I am sure it is possible to spend months or even years in the endless caverns that make up the subway - kilometre after kilometre of multi-level underground streets and shopping malls and entertainment spaces all connected by train lines.
When we did the map check for today's activity - it indicated a 37-minute walk or a 37-minute two train journey ... and that train journey estimate included 14 minutes of walking as well. "Why not?" we thought. Let's give the underground a miss - and take the "high road."
Had breakfast at the now familiar "Tully's Coffee" shop and decided we'd walk above ground back to the hotel as a little teaser for our later start. Hmmm, that should have been our warning.
There's no simple crossing of the road here in downtown #Tokyo - all the pedestrian traffic (that isn't in the subway) is funnelled up on overhead flyways - and although we could see our destination, it involved a convoluted series of escalators, walkways and switchbacks before we would once again enter a subterranean world and gain access to the hotel.
Anyway - unschooled and totally ignoring that little hint, we took off and 55 minutes later our 37-minute walk was complete. We'd followed the map religiously and it was only when we found ourselves following behind other couples, equally glued to their maps, that we formed a little coalition with other lost souls and found an entrance.
But we had arrived - and we had prebought our tickets a good 6 weeks ago using an APP called "KLOOK." If you had turned up without a booking you would have been completely disappointed. Tickets were actually sold out and the next availability was a late evening option on May 1st. WOW.
Entry was through a ramp descent that gets gradually darker until you are through the final check point and are in total darkness. We hadn't actually read the fine print of the ticket until we were lined up for entry - no pregnancy (we were right there), no blood pressure (hmm) and no old people (oops.) We were thinking and hoping, that in the dark, they couldn't tell. Anyway, the orientation video added an extra layer of drama - this is a world without a map! Now that was a HUGE concern and actually got the blood pressure up for "you know who, the one that really wants a map." The beauty of this installation the orientation video claimed, was to have to find your own way through!
And it was literally a maze with rooms ranging from massive multi storeyed heights to low lying ceilings where you felt you have to duck. And all in varying degrees of darkness, illuminated by immersive digital art.
Walls were covered in constantly changing images, rooms dripping with lights, mirrored floors, walls and ceilings, every colour you could imagine and many that you couldn't. Patterns and reflections and even infinite reflections. Your only clue to navigation was that if you saw your own reflection ahead, you knew you were at a wall.
We roved the spaces and it was just so beautiful, so clever and beyond anything we have ever encountered. I am freely admitting that in one room, let's call it the bubble room, I was so overwhelmed with emotion I burst into tears. I haven't thought much about it before, but if I were to have a vision and an associated feeling of heaven, this would be it. It was like being immersed in an infinite sea of gently glowing golden lights. This was just one of the rooms.
There were hundreds of people in the installation, but the background sound effects, and the darkness made it possible for you to exist in your own space. For all of the installations that involved that immersive experience, every visitor had to read out loud and acknowledge a statement about how they would respect the contents of the space and definitely would not touch any of the artwork. This was tricky - you were actually in the lights - moving and weaving and in some cases ducking to avoid whatever was featured.
Two hours later, we had no idea if we had found every installation, but after four repeated visits to the lily pad room, we thought maybe we had covered it.
It was incredible. And now that we know what it was like, we'd probably be prepared to walk for a week above ground to get there.
To recover, we pulled up a table in a nearby bakery, ordered a hot lunch of clam chowder and carbonara and plotted our next moves.
Everyday we've been in #Tokyo I've said "Imperial Gardens East Gate," and every day there's been a good reason as to why we've had to postpone this visit. So over lunch we had the maps out and @Mac potentially had us back underground. I opened the website for ticketing instructions and couldn't believe my eyes. Gardens are CLOSED Mondays and Fridays! Not just this Monday- every Monday. Seriously! Bummer. Oh well, I am sure there is an online documentary I can catch later on!
Not to be deterred @Mac just hopped into "save the day" mode and found a substitute - it's not as if there is any shortage of gardens in #Tokyo. The new find had the advantage of being near our accommodation and gave us a view of the harbour.
So, it was back into the subway and then another insanely convoluted up and over and eventually an across to deliver us to the #Hamarikyu garden. This was adjacent to #Tokyo Bay and featured a series of sluice gates to control the tidal ebb and flow of seawater into the ponds. Plenty of trails to stroll, bridges for water crossing and a tea house perched on an island. What makes this garden special, is that it is an oasis of calm in amongst the silver high-rise of the busy downtown #Shiodome.
And the bonus, flashed our passport to prove we were over 65 and got in for half price. Even had one last cherry blossom tree doing its thing as our farewell to #Tokyo.
Made it back to the #Villa Fontaine for multiple rounds of Kahlua in their guest #Happy Hour and as the feet began to thaw from their numb state and common sense started to kick in @Mac convinced (a very reluctant and whiney, moany) me we had to walk and plot the route for our #Yokohama escape to the cruise ship tomorrow. Thank goodness he did because it took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to find the network of elevators we would need to get us to the JR ticket office and train line tomorrow.
We'd managed to find the hidden rooms in the dark in #TeamLabs, you'd have thought it would have been a breeze to find an elevator in full light. I'm suggesting the route he has plotted is such a winner, there'd be a market for it! He wouldn't let me take notes or photos, no use leaving a breadcrumb trail, someone would have cleaned it up .... hope he remembers for tomorrow.
We were up and around, down and up, off course and confused but had the constant blare and clapping of the male performer and the entourage of female fans tonight as our anchor. This whole performance underground thing that seems to happen every day in the #Shiodome was a saviour - need the magic of a similar guiding light tomorrow.
Too exhausted to even think about dinner - rounded on a familiar #7/11 and grabbed an egg sandwich (oh they have been so good) and a couple if pieces of chicken- figure we have 23 days ahead of cruising cuisine - a light late grab and go was acceptable. Too tired to even pack - set the alarm for the morning and gratefully fell into bed joking that tomorrow we would be back on a "water bed."
PS did two loads of washing here (secured the machines at 6.30 am) and the ironing. Best equipment we have encountered so far. Clothes came out dry and the iron was hot! It was only after my 3rd conversation with an Indian gentleman that I realised I was braless in the hotel PJs and scuffs in the public space of the laundry. Not sure on the protocol that - with my branded PJs top he may have thought i was staff. Unfortunately, seem to have misplaced two little socks .... have asked the Indian gentleman to check his load when the machine finishes.
PPS @Mac is so good navigating the subways. You not only need to know station to station, line to line stuff but also how to understand the exits. Sometimes, that is the biggest challenge, knowing which exit to pop up from. There is so much information on the walls and signage. If you know that the info exists, you can take advantage of it - you seem to find another piece of the puzzle every day. Hope he has that magic locked in for tomorrow's journey on the JR line - we don't have tickets "yet."
Weather: 17 degrees
Steps: 19 845
KEEP CALM THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
When they tell me I'm too old to do something, I attempt it immediately. Pablo Picasso
No comments:
Post a Comment