The Future

Landing in Tokyo from New Delhi was the closest we got to time travel. Gone were the cows lounging in dusty streets, the hawkers howling from every storefront. The clamor of India was replaced by the stillness of the train from Narita airport. We arrived at Shinjuku station in a mass of quiet and orderly people. In an odd way Japan felt like home. At least more like home than India. We walked through the neon to a quiet park. On a chilly February day we wandered alone.

That evening we met up with my cousin Zack outside Shinjuku. He's been living in Japan for almost 3 years and would be our guide for culinary and other adventures.

On Saturday morning, we woke up early to explore. Our first stop was the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. This was snack central with tasty bean cakes, balls of fried octopus and other free samples of traditional fare. We were late in arriving to the world famous Tsukiji fish market but that didn't stop us from eating fresh sushi. Zack picked out an awesome conveyor belt sushi restaurant. As each plate glides pass, you grab whichever you want. The pricing is based on the color of the plate and when you're done they scan your stack of plates to give you the bill.

Fueled by sushi and green tea we ride the monorail to the The Hall of the Future, also known as the Musuem of Emerging Sciences, where we, along with many Japanese school children, saw that robots will one day be our overlords. But they've got a long way to go. Being surrounded by kids and gadgets made us want to go to an arcade. Luckily Sega's three-level Joypolis was nearby. We pumped a lot of yen coins into the games before leaving.

We were off to meet Zack's friends for dinner and karaoke. We ate izakaya "family style", before heading off to our own private cubicle to sing our heads off.