Travelling at breakneck speed: part 7

Saturday, October 28th.
After the izakaya in Shinjuku, we head out to the all-night onsen by the river. It's a genius idea - for a very reasonable price you can bathe, get a massage, snooze in the huge shared 'relaxation rooms', drink beer, get a facial, etc etc. So that's exactly what we do. We choose our yukata (bathrobe/kimono) and stroll around the mock-up Edo period shops and restaurants. It's a bit trippy. The baths are relaxing, if a bit communal. Thankfully men and women bathe separately. Different temperatures, different types of water. I'm sure one of them is sulphur. Hot baths, cool baths, jacuzzi. Outside there is a shared foot bath, more like an obstacle course for your feet. Odd shaped pebbles pound your feet as you walk around the bath. Drunk young salarymen squeal and nearly fall in the water.
After ramen we retire to a 'relaxation room', pull out a mat and grab a couple of hours' sleep. Up again at some inhuman hour, five or six, I have blotted the horror of the exact time from my mind. We take the train through the city to Tsukiji fish market. The city is peaceful and quiet, and I can nearly see the value of getting up so early. Nearly. We pass people carrying rectangular wicker baskets full of fish as we get closer. The market is crowded, full of people, and I feel like I'm about to be squashed at any second by one of the tiny flatbed scooter type things used to zip boxes of fish around the market. Huge tuna get sliced up in front of us. Lobsters look mournful. One spirited fish escapes from a fishmonger's grasp and makes a bid for freedom before being wrestled onto a chopping board. It is decapitated with one dull thud. After the sight of all this gleaming fresh sashimi, we head for McDonalds.
The Dali exhibition in Ueno is great. I love Dali. I have a lot of respect for any artist who has technical skill and isn't afraid to use it. I also like that he doesn't take himself too seriously, and bothers to gives his paintings titles. "Untitled," a grey splodge on a blue canvas, would set my teeth on edge. Instead Dali gives me an exquisitely detailed picture of two cellos ferociously attacking a bedside table. It is called, "Two Cellos Ferociously Attacking a Bedside Table." Does exactly what it says on the tin.
Off to Senso-ji, a big temple with a nice arcade of touristy shops to browse for inflatable swords and cross-eyed waving cats.
Then there's just enough time to cruise down the river on a boat, and the motion sends me to sleep. We hang out in a park for an hour to get some sleep under a tree. One of the funniest things I've ever seen: a baby, not older than six months, sitting on grass for the first time. Look of incomprehension on her face, replaced with shock and curiosity as she puts her palm on the grass and pulls it away quickly, freaked out by the texture. She puts her hand out again and again, not quite knowing what to make of the prickly feeling. Eventually she laughs.
Ginza, the final stop, just enough time for coffee and a cake before we part ways and I get on the Shinkansen back to Nagoya. It was so nice to see Dad and Ishbel again. I'm also a little glad to get my life back and reset my alarm to 9 a.m.