Eli and Ayjay’s Adventures (Part 1/3)

In January, I got a message from an old friend, asking for recommendations in Japan as she was hoping to come at some point in the year. I didn’t see this message until the end of February though, because I don’t go on social media much these days. My reply contained something along the lines of “If you come to Japan you’re welcome to stay with us while you’re in Tokyo, when are you thinking of coming?” And after a couple of back and forth messages over the next couple of weeks, and a lot of research later, Eli booked her flight to come to Japan… under two weeks before she set off! There was an amazing deal, dates aligned for us both and we just figured – why not! Sammy and I had just got back from South Korea and were booking a holiday to visit a friend in Aichi prefecture in the middle of March so, it was a bit of a squeeze to fit everything in, particularly when we wanted to take Eli certain places and we couldn’t get time off work, so we just had to do what we could and enjoy the rollercoaster. I’m so glad we did!

Eli arrived on a Thursday evening. Sammy cooked us a simple yet delicious yaki-udon, as Eli washed off the long-haul flight feeling in the shower. We enjoyed a beer and caught up a little, then headed off to bed. The next morning, my schedule said we had a “good breakfast”, however I cannot for the life of me remember it. I also didn’t get to journal much in that whirlwind of a week, so I’m just gonna admit, we probably had pancakes as that is mine and Sammy’s go-to “treat friends to a good breakfast” thing to do, but maybe we just gave Eli toast or a bagel – who knows! Eli can maybe confirm or deny the pancake claims. After breakfast, we went to Meiji Jingu, before it became busy. This place used to be my favourite spot in Tokyo, before the borders reopened, as it felt so quaint and special. Since then though, it is somewhere I mostly avoid, unless we can go early in a morning, because I hate to be shoulder to shoulder with so many people. Eli and I got there in good time though, had a nice walk around the grounds, I showed Eli how to pray and all about goshuin, then we walked to the North-side so I could show off my favourite reading spot overlooking the river, only to find out it had dried up or been emptied. The heron’s nest gone, the turtles and ducks all gone. I was heartbroken and I haven’t returned since. Next spring I’ll be showing some more family/friends around that  area and all I can do is hope that the water is back. I cannot go back before then out of fear that I will see the heartbreaking scene that stood before Eli and I that morning. I really was shaken by the whole thing. To lighten the mood, Eli had a combini meal for the first time and we ate it in Yoyogi park, then we went for a mooch around Harajuku. It is to be noted, Eli almost lost her IC card (the card used to get on the trains and metro and buses and stuff) like three times during this time. When I discovered she was keeping it in her POCKET OF HER JEANS (honestly, still crazy to me even now,) I told her to put it in her wallet, or even mine, but she assured me each time “nope! It’s okay in my jeans honestly!” And I shook my head in disbelief and carried on letting my friend blissfully keep dropping her IC card around Tokyo.

Now I’m going to detour from what my itinerary says, because I believe we went to Shibuya next, not sunshine like it claims. Eli saw the crossing, took some pictures, agreed it is bizarre how that’s even a tourist spot, then we headed to Shinjuku Gyoen for some chill time (because we had walked A LOT already). Eli saw her first Japanese garden and tea house, and then we sat on the grass, resting our poor legs, chatting and catching up. Although we hadn’t seen each other for years and we live literally on the opposite sides of the world, somehow we were still so similar. In the entire week, we never ran out of things to say and, at least for me, I never got sick of hanging together. I can’t say that for many people. It’s a really special friendship that I feel will last a lifetime and I’m so grateful that she came all this way and wanted us to show her around where we live. I hope I get the chance to do it again sometime, going further afield, out of Kanto region. I’d really, really love that! Anyway, back to the story, we chilled in Shinjuku Gyoen and then, as we started heading out the park, Eli realised – she had lost her IC card again, but this time it wasn’t near us. We retraced our steps, no IC card, and Eli was so “Well, it’s got like 60 quid on it, but it’s my fault and I was silly so it’s okay, I’ll just get another.” And I was flabbergasted again. What was she talking about? This is Japan! Cards don’t just disappear! Someone would have handed it in or something! I went to the cafe, near where we were resting, and I asked the staff there if they had seen the card, whilst Eli double-checked the grass. We didn’t find it, so then I was like “Well it must be at the entrance then!” Eli was not hopeful at all. I was determined to find her card. 

I was a little concerned about how they would know she was the owner, as registered IC cards like mine have my name on and can be traced back to me and my address, but Eli’s was a tourist card so had no personal data inside at all. Anyway, I would at least try, I thought. We can say roughly how much is on it and things. It’ll be fine! We got to the desk as the park was closing. I asked the lady if a tourist IC card had been handed in. She gave me a poker face. She asked me what it looked like and where it would have been found. Then she asked me where we had come from, and in the context, it sounded like she meant what area did we start from that day. I thought she needed to know, so she could send it to our local police or my address or something if the card was found. I told her Ikebukuro (which is where we lived at the time). She gave me a look. My autistic ass did not know what it meant. She asked me again, where did we come from. I looked confused, told her Ikebukuro, and then corrected myself “well actually we came from Otsuka station, but I live in Ikebukuro.” She gave me the look again. She really was trying to keep her poker-face up and I had no idea what she was trying to insinuate. You didn’t come from Shibuya ward? I was like…. No? I come from Ikebukuro? Then she changed her question. “Where were you before you were here?” And Again, I’m autistic, so my reply took the word “here” to mean Shinjuku Gyoen. I’m like “We came from Shinjuku station.” She rolls her eyes. “Before Shinjuku station, where did you come from? Have you come from Shibuya?” And honestly, we had done so much in Harajuku that day, and Shibuya was never a part of our itinerary, and we only popped there to show Eli the crossing for like a couple of minutes, I genuinely didn’t even realise that we had in fact come from Shibuya. Had I also realised that the random park staff could access the information on the card as to where we had come from, I would have been more cooperating, explaining everywhere we had been, but I really did think I was giving this lady details as to where to send the card if she found it and I thought her repetition and looks were confusing, but I didn’t think any more of it. I turn to Eli, confused and tired. I translated bits of what was happening, so she could understand. “This lady wants to know if we come from Shibuya, but I keep explaining we come from Ikebukuro/Otsuka. She asked where we were before this, but she didn’t seem to like the answer Shinjuku station. We haven’t even been in Shibuya today – we went to Harajuku and-” Eli interrupts me. “But, we were just in Shibuya.” Suddenly all the synapses in my brain finally start buzzing. I remembered. Speaking as fast as I could, I explained to the lady that we had had a very busy day, starting in Otsuka, then going to Harajuku, then we had in fact been to Shibuya, very quickly, then came to Shinjuku. The lady smiles back at me, tells me that because I also mentioned Harajuku, which she hadn’t said, I had given her new information that matched the card she had. The one she now pulled from under a desk in a little plastic wallet and showed us! Eli and I jump, “Yes!” I thank the woman so much and apologise for the confusion, she didn’t mind at all and was very happy it had been sorted. We were over the moon, but I was also annoyed I didn’t understand the context well enough to make that conversation smoother. That negativity was soon knocked out of me by my elated friend giving me the biggest hug. She really thought the card was gone along with her money, as I guess if that had happened in the UK, an untraceable card with a bunch of money on it would have been snatched up. Not in Japan though. It just goes against the culture of what the majority of people believe here. If you find money or whatever on the street, you hand it in. It’s just the done thing, and this card just proved it. We headed to Ikebukuro then to meet Sammy and celebrate with ramen. With all the stress of the last few hours, I don’t think noodles and a beer had ever tasted so good!

I was so happy when Eli told us how much she enjoyed the food. I was sort of worried that ramen was a little casual for her first proper tea in Japan, but she really really loved it, so much so that she returned to get more before she left, even though she was only in Japan a week. After food, we headed to a game centre and we showed Eli how we play arcade games in Japan. An hour and just under a fiver later, we were exhausted and ready for home. It had been a crazy day and tomorrow was Saturday, so it was the start of the only two days Sammy had off and we could spend time as a trio. So, we had to rest up. We had booked a weekend away that was going to blow our minds.