Asakusa (浅草) with Mr. Know-it-all

[forever_wandering]

We had planned on going to Asakusa at around noon, but since I was still jet lagged and didn't wake up until around 16:30, Y-san* and I ended up going at around 18:00. It wasn't as crowded and everything looked so much more impressive in the dimming light, so despite not being able to spend the entire day there, but it was still really enjoyable. 

Y-san* is one of those people who knows a lot about everything and isn't afraid to show it.
The majority of our conversations begin with "Did you know..." Usually, I don't know, he explains it further, and I learn something new.  I had been to Asakusa a couple of times before going with Y-san, but being there with him and listening to all he had to say made me feel as though I was visiting it for the first time. 

As we made our way down the street, Y-san* tried to get me to "try" just about every treat there was, and I'm sure he did that to bug me about watching my weight. When I finally found a snack I did want to eat, he looks at me with those big eyes of his and asks, "You...want to eat that?!"  Which of course, made me not want to eat it at all. We stared at each other before we started laughing and carried on.  On our way back, we ended up splitting some dorayaki which was what I had wanted to eat in the first place when he teased me! and green tea. 

Oh! Right! No trip to Asakusa is complete without some kind of omiyage!
Y-san* bought me a little cellphone strap with the five yen and sandals attached. I thank him but explain that I already had a new cell phone strap I had purchased the day before. "But," he begins to say, "Look. This one jingles." He shakes it a bit, and it does indeed jingle. I nod slowly, thinking it was very unlike him to be attracted to something noisy. He must have sensed my confusion because he finishes with, "If you have this on your phone, I can't lose you and I always know when you're coming." 

.....So I'm like a cat, Y-san*? 

"I like cats." He says and proceeds to put it on my cellphone. "Plus..well, we won't discuss how you always get lost. I like cats. Lets leave it at that." 

We left it at that and headed back to the station, my new cellphone strap jingling jangling all the way.  

Y-san= My friend's name starts with a Y, but in order to protect his privacy, I did not use his full name. 

Comments

[xiao-tsubasa.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha, it was sweet of him to get you a cellphone strap. He totally knows about your secret half-life as a cat :0

Is dorayaki good?

[kurikuribebi]

Seriously! I wonder how he found out. Probably because every time he'd come to pick me up, I'd be sprawled out on the bed like "Blaaaaahhh," being all lazy. Lol.

Dorayaki is amazing, especially when you eat it while it's still hot. It's not at all hard to make. Give it a try!

[moldypotatochip.livejournal.com]

That's such a cute story!

I've been to Asakusa about 3 times I think, but it's been a while. I don't think I've been there at night.

Stupid boys trying to tell girls what not to eat (>.<) lol.
Glad he split the dorayaki with you in the end.

[kurikuribebi]

Yeah! This was my first time going so late and I loved it. It's really made me want to visit other temples and shrines at a later time. Especially the larger ones. I wonder if the vibe at night is as relaxing as it is during the day...or if it's a bit creepy.

I've been to temples during the day that definitely give that "Something isn't right," feeling.


Seriously, guys like that make me soo...ugh. I think Y-san was honestly doing it just to annoy the heck out of me. He's on a diet too, so he didn't eat anything aside from what we split. Maybe next time, I'll bug the heck out of him. "Hey Y-san! From a distance, that fat looks like muscle. Good job!" =D

[kurikuribebi]

Oh, I feel so honored that you thought of Andrew Zimmerman while reading my post. He is like...my food God. In my mind, I strive to be like him! If I had a stomach like his, I could take on the world.


Ahahaha. Actually, it's unfortunate that I deleted over two years worth of entries. If I had kept them, you would have seen that my life is very much like some weird shojo manga. I have boys up to the neck and get in to the most awkward situations ever.

[kurikuribebi]

Yeah. Although, most of the stuff he eats is actual food. The majority of the things I try are sweets, so I'm still not up to his level of bravery. I'll work on it though!

I guess that's one way to look at it. The entries weren't really clutter though. They were a lot of my pictures from traveling and with friends and such. Someone was stealing my images unfortunately, and using it on their facebook...which is why when I add pictures to my entries now, I add my initials and link in an obvious spot.

[kurikuribebi]

What I like about most Japanese sweets is that they don't have as much sugar as American sweets. Usually, that means I eat twice as much...but hey, at least I'm happy, right? lol.

Yeah. I don't know. I would have never found out if it wasn't for a friend who shared the link on my facebook... but some chick was taking a lot of my pictures and posting them as her own. From what I saw, she never outright said the pictures were hers but when people commented and asked questions, she answered as though they were.

A little after I confronted her about it, I started getting weird messages here on LJ, so in the end, I deleted everything.

[heaaartbreaker.livejournal.com]

I've only been to Asakusa once last January but I loved it. I definitely need to go back and take everything in without getting smothered by thousands of people lol I wish I could've spent more time there and just people watched but had to catch my flight! :(

[kurikuribebi]

Yeah, it's hard to enjoy with so many people....
I've decided I'm going to re-visit all my favorite places in the evening, now that I more or less know when there is no one there.

My friends don't let me people watch anymore. I'm not entirely sure why.

[heaaartbreaker.livejournal.com]

I guess there's a good and bad to being around so many damn people lol people watching but no space to breathe :(
I'm still no-where experienced to do that at night at anywhere :( I can't wait to explore and just get myself lost in a part of Tokyo and wander around.

aww i would just sit at a cafe or smthing by myself and watch the people pass by lol idt i could ever people watch w/ my friends b/c i space out so much lol

[kurikuribebi]

That's when it's best! When I first started getting lost on my own, it was when I didn't speak a lick of Japanese. I'd just wander and wander. If I wasn't allowed to be somewhere, someone would give me the 'batsu' sign and I'd just move on. Besides, Tokyo is safe =D and your phone will have GPS.

My best friend and I sit in Cafe's and do that at the stations but when I'm with the guys, they're like "Stop that," or "Hey, you're here with me, remember?"

[heaaartbreaker.livejournal.com]

Yeah that's what I'm so excited for lmao I can't wait to explore Harajuku and Shinjuku because those are the two places where I've been really wanting to go but I've never been. Especially Harajuku w/ its uniqueness. I'll definitely be doing that, although my face will be in a map half the time b/c I'll most definitely get lose and will be nowhere near Harajuku lol

[kurikuribebi]

Let me know how that goes lol. I personally hate both of those places, and have no intention of going back. Too crowded and a lot of the shop owners are hella rude! I went in to this shop once in Harajuku to buy a friend a birthday present and before I even said anything to the woman, she gave me the once over and told me they wouldn't have anything in my size. At the time, I was 110lbs, which is underweight for me as it is, but I wasn't even there to buy for me. It was for an 80-something pound girl!

In any case, too crowded for me and the sales aren't worth the frustration.

There IS a really delicious pancake shop there though.... Haha.

[heaaartbreaker.livejournal.com]

The reason why I've never been there is b/c my mom hates it lmao She probably doesn't like the mass amount of people either lol But I don't mind it; I feel more safe and relaxed if there's more people around me. I'm definitely a city-girl, I don't think I can I ever live in a suburb. It's too quiet for me lol
I rly want to visit the shops there! But I hope I don't run into that woman :|

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Cute! ^-^

I'd love to have people around who know more about things at times.
Sometimes it can be annoying if they don't know when to stop.

I've only been to Asakusa once.
Tokyo is just too far away :(

[kurikuribebi]

I'm really in to history, so I love it when people tell me about things in detail. It's always more interesting to hear it from a person instead of reading it in a book.

Only once? That's definitely not enough! I like to take my time and stare at things, so in one trip, I'd barely see anything! I've gone about...6 times now? It's a tourist spot, so every time I meet someone new and they want to take me somewhere, we go there.

You've been to a lot of other neat places though, so I guess that makes up for being to Asakusa only once =)

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess it's easier if you live closer to Tokyo, ne? ^-^

[kurikuribebi]

True!

But for some reason it feels like people who live close to/In Tokyo never go anywhere except for...Tokyo. Or at least, they never blog about their trips? I know thats my case. I have tons written down but nothing uploaded ^^;;;;

Most of the travel blogs for Japan that I read are by people outside of Tokyo.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I think there's enough information on Tokyo anyways, so I think some of them just assume it's not necessary to provide even more.
I think the same to be honest.

As I run out of places to go, I go for the really not so well-known things and most of the time there's NO information in English AT ALL ... sometimes not much in Japanese either! I try to build something up that gives more information about those less known places as well.
Although lately I'm running out of energy.

Maintaining my new blog is really more than a part-time job and with a full-time job, moving soon and other things I wanna do, it's just too tough :(

On the other hand, nobody said I have to build it up in a day. I can take my time, right?

I'll make sure to ask you for advice on Tokyo if I ever need any then :D

[kurikuribebi]

Hm, I guess you have a point there!
Most of the blogs I've read though, have tons on clubs, shopping, restaurants and events. There aren't so many on the more historical sites...Which is a shame, because there are so many!

When I pick where I go, I look for places that even if they are popular, many foreigners won't go. It gets really annoying having people walk up to me and talk to me in English when I'm trying to enjoy time with my friends.

For instance, there is plenty of information about Minoh, but not so many foreigners go there(After going, I understood why! But that's a topic for another entry, hehe.) When I went, there were about a handful of us and we all raced to the top. Lol.

Hey now, a blog is supposed to be fun! So don't work on it to the point that you get exhausted. =D You have plenty of time to do it, yeah =D.

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I guess I could continue to blog once I'm a grandmother.
Sitting in front of the computer, typing is something I still can do when I'm old, but who knows if I'd still want to do that then?!

Oh, sounds interesting! Looking forward to that blog post then! ^-^

[mellotunes.livejournal.com]

That was one of the cutest things I've read in a while! :)

It must've been nice to get a sort of tour. I love hearing little tidbits about places.

[kurikuribebi]

Ha ha, thanks. I had originally intended for it to be a travel post with information and all that mess but then I decided to write about a good memory instead. Besides, people can easily look up Asakusa on google, but no one can easily look up my life, right? =)

Tours are great, if you have a good tour guide =)