30092013 Cycling around Setagaya

Boarded the flight after what seemed like a never-ending wait. The legendary notorious B787-8 was already waiting at the boarding gate for us passengers. Maybe because it was already 2am by then, I was so sleepy I fell asleep while the plane was taxiing out. Knew it took off, then woke up for the refreshment service, then went back to sleep. Wouldn’t say that it was a thoroughly peaceful one, but I managed to get more eyeshut compared to our own flight out of Kuala Lumpur.

Woke up for the breakfast service, which was eggs with bacon. Went back to sleep again after breakfast, this time a sound one till we arrived in Narita. Had to make a trip to our office to drop off some items, then met up with an ex-colleague to pass her some items before I went on my merry way. Took the bus to Haneda, then switched to the train for Kamata. Was momentary lost at Kamata station, because of the ongoing construction, I had no idea where my hotel was and lost my way. Eventually found it after going round in a few circles, left my bags there, then took the train to Shibuya, changing at Shinagawa for the Yamanote line.

I was running late and my friend was already waiting for me there. Went down to get his bicycle, and we had a very hard time trying to find the place which was a hotel, where we could rent a bicycle. First, we had to walk a long way to get to a bicycle crossing, and the hotel was hidden among a maze of buildings. We first found the back door to the hotel, but had no idea how to get in, so we asked a guy who appeared to be working in the kitchen. He then told us that we had to go a long way uphill, and eventually we will find the entrance further up ahead. After I thanked him and we left, my friend pointed out that the guy had the look where he thought both of us were searching for a hotel at this time of the day for a  sexy rendezvous. What?! Never in a thousand year would I want to do that with this friend of mine! But it was very typical of Japanese to have that thinking though.

Eventually we found the entrance, but their door was a pain. It was a large piece of wood which you had to push to get in. The lady at the reception informed us that we had to do the registration online if we wanted to rent a bicycle, so I did it using my friend’s handphone number and my credit card. Finally got the approval and my bicycle, and we started riding off. Had no idea where I was headed, so I just tailed my friend, but he was also lost! We turned into a narrow alley, and halfway the road turned into steps! Had to get off and carry our bicycles down before continuing on. My favourite riding strip was the one along the train tracks, where you rode along the rumbling trains which passed by.

We soon got hungry, and was searching for food along Ikejiri. Finally settled for McDonald’s after we could not locate a Saizeriya, but after parking our bicycles, my friend spied a Singapore flag (in his words). Told him that it wasn’t a Singaporean flag but a Turkish one! They had a reasonable set lunch on, so we went for it. The guy was really nice, but he spoke very limited Japanese or English. He then described lamb as ‘meeeek’ and beef as ‘moo’ which was amusing.

That aside, the meal was really delicious! Appertizer was soup, then main course (lamb), and chai tea to wash it all down. The staff gladly gave us free refill of tea. Wanted to continue on to Meguro river, so there was where we headed to after lunch. Wasn’t as impressive as I had imagined it to be, but still it was a good ride. My friend mentioned that the trees lining the river were sakura trees in the past, and that the Japanese used to wash their kimonos here. Also managed to make a stop at the Malaysian embassy for a picture outside.

By 5pm we decided to head back to Shibuya, as I still wanted to do some shopping. We passed an artsy bookshop filled with mothers and children, which also included a Starbucks. We kind of lost our way, and it took a great effort to push our bicycles up a super steep slope along Daikanyama. Make it 3 slopes in total which we went up. Returned the bicycles to the hotel and walked back to the Shibuya crossing. Couldn’t find what I wanted at Tsutaya, so we tried Loft and finally found what I wanted there! Made our way back to Shibuya station, and I parted ways with my friend because I had to go to Shinagawa to meet my ex-boss, and he was late! I waited a long time for him to show up, which he eventually did, and his wife was telling him off for making a poor girl like me wait for him, despite he was the one being the Japanese.

His wife had prepared a great feast for us! My favourite was the prosciutto wrapped avocado! Had a long nice chat (four hours!) over the food, and red wine, and he forced his two grown son to join us because he wanted them to speak English with me. But his sons said, ‘Hey, she could speak Japanese, so there’s no sense in speaking English with her!’. I missed having him as our boss because of his easy-going manner, but it was nice enjoying their company. Was even served a peach tart before they dropped me back off at my hotel. Did some shopping at Family Mart before calling it a long day.