Pork buns, Pokemon and Rainbow Mountains (4/2/17)

The first fluffy bite

caresses my tongue with bliss.

I love you, Pork Bun. 

 - Isabel Attwood, 2018

Ah the humble pork bun. After seeing it in many an anime, and hearing it described as a pasty by the God's using clouds it was a food item I couldn't wait to get my hands on. We had our first experience with one in the middle of Meiji Jingu Shrine, at an otherwise nondescript cafe. You know the ones, nestled inside popular attractions just far enough away that it doesn't impact the atmosphere but close enough for it to be the perfect place for a coffee before you carry on your day. We went inside looking for warmth in a mug and as we were joining the queue I saw the condensated glass box containing the pork buns. Eagerly we fumbled with the ordering machine and as it spat out our ticket we took it up to the counter, and a few moments later we walked away with two barley teas and two pork buns. 

I took the bun in hand and started carefully removing it's layers, deflowering it if you will. Eventually I reached the steaming beauty itself and noticed the outline of a happy pig burned into the side. Although it was intended to differentiate what meat was inside, I took it as a metaphor for the happy pig I would soon be. I touched it gently, noticing how soft and springy it was against my fingers. I brought it up to my mouth and gently took the first bite.

I think I just found God, and He is a pork bun.

Tidal waves of flavour burst through the steamed exterior and I savoured the taste of marinated pork and apple. Having taken his first bite I made eye contact with Ollie, and his widened eyes told me he was having the same life changing experience. 

We had many pork buns during our time in Japan, coming across a number of variants including beef, chilli, pizza (think Dolmio and mozzarella) and I'll never forget the choco-bun filled with Nutella. But no matter how hard they tried, whether they were from a more expensive place or from the humble 7/11 counter, no bun came close to affecting me the way that first bun did. That bun will forever have my steamed bun virginity and I'm glad my first time was with somebun special. I'll cherish the memory always.  

Now I'm finished gushing over my first pork bun, I guess I should tell you about the rest of the day. We were awake early again and decided to head over to Meiji Jingu. The shrine was completed and dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shoken in 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress. The shrine was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt shortly thereafter.

Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of modern Japan. He was born in 1852 and ascended to the throne in 1867 at the peak of the Meiji restoration when Japan's feudal era came to an end and the emperor was restored to power. During the Meiji Period Japan modernized and westernized herself to join the world's major powers by the time Emperor Meiji passed away in 1912.  

The tallest is 12m.

The shrine is in the middle of a forrested area and next to a gigantic park. You knew you were taking the right path because of all the lanterns that lined it, and occasionally the tori gates you walked under. 

Walking along the path we passed a huge collection of amazingly designed sake barrels. Some had Fuji, some had demons or dragons and there were a number with cranes and flowers.  Every year the barrels are donated by sake brewers both as an offering to the deities of the shrine and to pray for continued success. 

Opposite the sake barrels were barrels of French wine which were brought over to Japan by Meiji as a symbol of friendship and the benefits of interacting with other cultures. Wonder what it tastes like.

We reached the main shrine and honesty it's stunning. I can't even imagine the work that goes into creating something this intricate. Somehow it manages to be awe inspiring yet blends in to the natural environment, not looking at all out of place. The roof of the gate was covered in copper which dazzled in the morning sun. 

Having learnt how to do it and wanting to take part in the culture before we lost our confidence we approached the main shrine. We threw in our coins, bowed twice, clapped twice, and bowed a final time. To the side we found a small booth selling poems written by the emperor and his wife. The emperor is said to have written over 100,000 while the empress wrote around 30,000. It was ¥100 and by putting your hand into the box a poem was supposed to come to you with a special meaning. I got a poem by the empress, who wrote about even the smallest river is always flowing and reflects the mighty mountains, even having the power to change them. It meant that we should stay humble but have mighty ambitions and I loved it. I'm also hopeful it can counteract yesterdays bad fortune!

In the courtyard were two giant camphor trees planted in 1920 at the time of the enshrinement of Meiji Jingu. A thick green braid tied them together. The sign next to them gave a lovely description.

"The trees have grown under the protection of the deities to become huge and vivid, and are considered to be sacred. Well knows as "Meoto Kusu" or "Husband and Wife" the coupled trees have become a symbol of happy marriage and harmonious life within the family. 

May happiness be brought to you through the divine power of these trees"

Hopefully I won't cut our symbolic rope before the end of the trip.

The trees are considered a place of worship within themselves and so we offered a tribute, hoping that the divine trees would grant us a harmonious relationship, or at the very least we would get home without one of us slicing the other with a katana. We turned from the trees and began walking away from the shrine to go through the gate towards the garden. Before we could leave however we were greeted with a different sight; a wedding! The bride wore a pure white kimono with billowing sleeves and a headpiece that covered her hair. The groom was in a dark blue yukata with his hair knotted and a small blue and white headpiece. Another important party member (perhaps a monk?) shielded them with a beautiful red umbrella. The procession was maybe 80 people long and curiously everyone who came after the bridal party wore western formal wear.

I wonder if they were bothered by everyone taking pictures or if they had expected it to some degree. The shrine was particularly busy as it wasn't even 10am on a cold February morning but I bet brides think twice about marrying here during peak tourist summer season. 

We left the shrine and went to the gardens which as reportedly bigger than Vatican City. Obviously most of the plants weren't out yet but there were a number of ancient bonsai trees outside the empresses tea house which overlooked a lake. We walked down to the lake and sat under a straw roof. We weren't there for a minute when a gorgeous pure white heron with a strikingly orange beak swooped down and gracefully flew across the water. If that wasn't amazing enough we spotted a Kingfisher on the opposite bank, it's beautiful blue and orange plumage reflecting the sun and making it stand out from the brown branches. It studied the water and we willed it to dive, which it eventually did. It flew back to its branch and enjoyed its breakfast. We were willing it to dive again when a huge brown speckled hawk dove towards the Kingfisher and chased it away. I hope nature didn't take its course and we're pretty sure we heard the Kingfisher again so I hope it was alright! The birds we saw in ten minutes more than made up for the sleeping flowers and it honestly felt like such a privilege to see. The last part of the garden contained Kiriman's well, which works by pushing water up and over the edge so that while the water is constantly flowing it resembles a smooth pebble. We queued down small stone steps and when it was our turn to peer in a small brown bird with a yellow head fluttered down and perched on the side of the well. Completely at ease with humans it began to sing at us and drink from the well. I mean it was probably shouting at a rival or reassuring a loved one that it wasn't dead but damn it I want to believe it was having a little morning sing song at a well.   

For the rest of the trip we referred to these birds as Meiji birds, and while they seem as common as sparrows they'll always hold a special place. I could have happily carried on watching the bird but the people behind us were making excited noises and I wanted them to have the chance to have the same experience. Don't believe I was doing it completely out of selflessness of course. Part of me just hoped that it would create good karma. We bid the Meiji bird and the gardens goodbye, getting an eki stamp on the way out. 

The eki stamps were another thing I copied from Joanna Lumley and they're the best kind of souvenir. Every place of note, from attractions to train stations had a stamp located somewhere near the entrance. All you needed was a notebook and you could collect a hundred souvenirs and not pay a penny. I would love something similar over in England but you just know they would get covered in a toddlers wotsit dust and someone would steal the stamp. This is why we can't have nice things. 

After our divine encounter with the pork buns, we headed to what could possibly be the greatest juxtaposition to quiet forest worship ever conceived; Harajuku.

Takeshita street. (Take a shit street amiright?)

Think of the Brighton Laines. You've got your birdman, niche food and clothing, and the ever present smell of the devil's lettuce. Well this road was a bit like that except on acid. Every shop had space cat t-shirts and crazy BDSM style pirate costumes. The feathers on the hat alone dripped with being #extra. I know the cosplay/alternative fashion scene in Harajuku is diminishing but we saw several people dressed up. Two teenage girls came bounding along in matching dresses clutching teddy bears, and they looked like Alice in Wonderland meets the Shining. A guy who looked like a cross between the Mad Hatter and Doctor Frankenstein went past in an acid green labcoat, steampunk goggles and a purple top hat. It was great. Apparently the done thing (read;tourist trap but eh) in Harajuku is to eat a crepe, so we found a delicious looking shop. I ordered a strawbery and chocolate ice cream one, while Oz had one with actual blueberry cheesecake inside.

It's impossible to tell but these are all made of plastic. 

The crepes were amazing, and we sat on a step eating them and watching the world go by. We stood and I thought I would never need anything sweet to eat until I saw what was clutched in someone elses hand. A giant freaking candyfloss. Now I'm not talking going large at the fair giant. I'm talking the size of your head giant. In multiple colours. Like a child following a trail of smarties (incidentally something which helped me learn to crawl as a late bloomer) I picked out the people in the crowd carrying candyfloss and determined where they were coming from. We found the shop and in vain Ollie tried to convince me not to spend ¥600 on spun sugar.

"Do you honestly need to spend that much on candyfloss?"

"Yep."

We entered the shop. It smelled like Willy Wonkas butthole.

"Holy crap it's called a rainbow mountain. Now I have to get one."

"But we can get it at home"

"Um but it's not gloriously gigantic at home"

We joined the queue and watched the candyfloss magician weaving their magnificent creation.

"But why...we just had a crepe!"

"Because, Oliver, we have come to Japan for experiences, and eating a gargantuan candyfloss while I pose for stupid pictures with it is something I want to experience."

He shut up after that. But I did concede and go for the medium instead of the giant.

#wizard #pro #teachmeyourways #thisisntevenmyfinalform

Get into mah belleh.

It took a good 20 minutes to eat but my God was it worth it. Even Ollie said it was pretty good after snatching a cloud or two from my precious Rainbow Mountain. The colours even tasted differently with the pink being strawberry, the blue tasting of blueberries and the white tasting more sherberty. 

Take a picture while I put it on like a hat #LOL

 We walked down the rest of the street marveling at the displays and trying not to buy anything.

This mascot was advertising beef. It was cute but I was conflicted.

Ain't that the truth.

After that experience we knew where we were headed next. The one. The only. Pokemon Center MEGA TOKYO.

Happily located in a mall called Sunshine City, we took the metro and went in search of the place dreams are made. Pokeballs were painted on the ceiling on the escalator leading up to the store, and there were helpful Pikachus everywhere pointing the way.

Before we left for Japan I'd said I would be happy if I saw a dancing Pikachu mascot. I've seen the videos of them dancing in parades and I just thought it looked like the best thing ever. So beyond circumstance that it must have been a divine granting of my wish, we got to the store and there was not one but TWO Pikachu dancing in the doorway. IN COSTUME. There was a fairly large crowd around them but I was not against drop kicking a child so I could get a better view. The way the bodies bob around like crazy when they're dancing and waving never fails to crack me up and it was honesty like being near a celebrity. You were't allowed close to get pictures though :(

#dead. Of course someone is taking a picture with a DS.

What followed was one of the best shopping experiences ever. We tore around the shelves like possessed children, simultaneously wanting to see everything but never wanting it to end. There were plushies of every Pokemon (even Diglet got some plushie love) and a whole host of clothing, stationary, bags and home ware.

The Tokyo center exclusive. You can only get these in this one shop.

Obviously we had to get Peaches out, if only to tell Alfie that she'd made some friends. He replied later through Nanny asking why Peaches was shopping and if we'd bought all of them. I wish. 

The store also had a range of stuff that would make any Nintendo fans mind explode; Pokemon crossed with Mario. 

There was no way I was resisting.

I could have happily bought the lot but I went for a tin containing rolled sponge tubes which were vanilla flavoured and delicious. The tin ended up being super useful for holding the small things we aquired during our trip and it survived with minimal dents!

The queue to pay was about half an hour long, despite there being twelve cashiers open. However there were plenty of distractions. There was a boy of maybe four a few people ahead of us who was clutching a Raichu and making it fly through the air with sound effects. There was a girl clutching no less than eight plushies who was refusing to let go of any of them despite her parents offering her a basket. There was also a girl standing over a bin containing the two latest Eevee evolutions and having an existential crisis about which one to take home. She held them both, looked from one to the other and back again, decided on one, pt the other slowly back in the bin and started to walk away. When we rounded a corner and saw the bin again she was back and had both of them in her hands again. I hope she was happy with whatever decision she made!

¥9800 later (about £70. I can't even apologise) we emerged with a Pikachu and an Oddish plushie, a mystery Tokyo badge each (we both got jigglypuff) two Tenuguis (hand towels) one for Oz with a Mew on it and one for Ollies soon to be born niece with a Charizard on and the Mario tin. Happy but glad to get out of the store which had turned into a sweat box, we went into the Starbucks close by as we couldn't be bothered to walk any more. We both got a matcha latte which turned our tongues green and Ollie ordered entirely in Japanese which was awesome. 

It was only 3pm by this point but we were both to shattered to do anything else so we headed home. We stopped by a supermarket and picked up some noodles and planned to spend the evening in watching Netfllix and calling home. 

I can't believe my first glorious pork bun experience was over a year ago now, and nothing has quite come close since. I only hope my humble Haiku was a worthy tribute.