A Ride Down Memory Lane

*The following post doesn`t have pictures of pretty scenery or interesting places in Japan. It is merely a reminiscence of the great times that I had in Setagaya Ward in Tokyo during my primary school (grade school) days in the mid 1990`s.

Today`s ride was an extremely meaningful one for me. Ever since I left Japan in 1995, I have always dreamed of going back to revisit the quiet suburb in Setagaya Ward of Tokyo where I spent 3 great years of my primary school life.

I stayed in Setagaya Ward from 1992 to 1995 between the train stations of Futago-tamagawa-en and Yoga. School for me was at St. Mary`s International School near Futago-tamagawa-en Station. Today, my ride will take me from Keith`s place in Kamishakuji to St. Mary`s International School by the station then back to my old house in Yoga. I did not have any addresses or road names to work with, so I will be relying on my 12 year old memories of cycling to and from school.

My first stop down memory lane was this slope that led up to St. Mary`s International School from Futago-tamagawa-en Station. The game centers (known in Singapore as arcades) used to be one of my favorite hangout spots with my buddies. These game centers were usually concentrated around the station areas so you can probably guess that I took many a walk down this slope with my friends to visit these centers!

During grade school, one of the `in` sports at that time was Dodgeball. Although it was not an official inter-school sport, we played it almost everyday during recess and lunchtimes! Below is the field where we would usually have our games.

Entering the school, I had hoped to be able to meet a few of my former teachers, but unluckily, the summer vacation had just started a week ago and all the teaching staff were on holiday too. So, I had to make do with a leisurely self-guided tour around my old campus.

My 4th grade classroom - the furniture`s still the same after more than a decade

The main hallway where I walked up and down countless times in my time there

Touring the classrooms, I found out that one of my favorite teachers, Ms. Hagenson who taught me in the 4th grade was still teaching! Apparently, she`s taking care of a 6th grade class now. I would have liked to meet her again, but like I said, it was the summer vacation now....
When I was in the 6th grade going onto the 7th grade, I finally started getting involved in some serious sports for the first time in my life. I still remember Mr. Moody, my swimming coach who recruited me into the swimming team and spent training session after training session trying to get me to perfect my breaststroke. Of course, I was never the star swimmer, but getting into the swim team was a really great opportunity for me to build my self-confidence at that time and also to get to know the older kids in the team.

In the 7th grade, I met Mr. Sava, who got me to try out for the basketball team. Below is the court where I actually touched a basketball for the first time. Although I really sucked at basketball while I was at St. Mary`s, I`m thankful that he introduced me to the sport that was to be the main focus of my life during my secondary and JC days back in Singapore!

One of my best friends during my time in St. Mary`s International School was Christopher Cruz. Its sad that I didn`t get his contact when I left Japan, but guess what I saw when I was walking along the school corridors today - he was on the varsity wrestling team! hahaha... Unbelievable... he used to be shorter than me and really scrawny, but in the picture below, he looks FIERCE... haha...

Chris Cruz - Center Picture

Another one of the classrooms that I spent a lot of time in
The huge playground where most of the grade school kids would chiong to during lunchtime
The tennis courts where I spent many weekends in 7th grade trying to improve my basketball

Besides cycling to school, I also took the school bus rather often. Below is the exact same bus that I used to take to school 12 years ago - Bus #4. I still remember the bus uncle used to act grumpy and all, but was actually a very nice guy. He would illegally stop the bus at the public busstop on my side of the road just so that I wouldn`t have to risk crossing the road by myself!

This is an interesting spot. One of the years, on the first day of school, I was so excited to see my friends that I ran towards them. And, it was exactly at that curb that I tripped, fell and skinned my knee. I think I still have a scar on my knee from that fall... hahahaha....

After spending almost 2 hours at St. Mary`s International School, I head back for my old home near Yoga station via the route that I used to cycle home by. Amazingly, I could still remember the way and I made it back to Yoga without even getting the least bit lost! And that`s after leaving the place for more than a decade! haha...

The little canal behind my old apartment lined with sakura trees that would bloom beautifully in the spring

The pathway to my old house - the brown building and the busstop that the nice grumpy uncle would drop me at

The small garden in front of my apartment where I would build snowmen in the winter

My sister`s old school - Seisen International School, directly opposite our apartment

I had lots of memories at this park below too - playing dodgeball with my friends, using the playground and the sandpit... Today, it was my lunch spot.

I used to love collecting `Dragonball` cards during grade school. It was something like Pokemon now... hahaha.... yeap, so this little bookstore was where I usually bought my cards.... lol

From my house, it was a 10 minute ride to Yoga station. Again, I took the same route that I took everytime I went to the station with my mom. The station area changed quite a lot but I guess it was still recognizable... hahaha....

From Yoga station, it was time to make my way back to Kamishakuji. The ride today was really great and cycling through my old neighborhood and revisiting my old school really brought memories of the good times I had there. Its just as well that I visited St. Mary`s when I did cause starting next year, they`ll be tearing down the place and rebuilding a brand new school complex in its stead.

In some ways, the ride today seemed to be a form of closure as I end my student life and begin a new phase of my life - a working adult.

Kamakura on a Sunday

Got up early today, shared a quick and simple breakfast with Keith then I headed off for Tokyo station to meet Yiwei and Amy to visit Kamakura.

Kamakura is a small town in the southwest part of Tokyo and is popular with the locals for its collection of temples, hiking paths and its famous Great Buddha statue. The train ride took around an hour and as expected, the town was packed on a Sunday morning!

In an attempt to escape the crowds, we set off on a hiking path that would bring us along the ridgeline of the hills and to the location of the statue of the Great Buddha. The hike was a little rougher than expected with lots of climbing involved.... haha... but we still managed to get there!

Hiking along the ridgeline to the Great Buddha

Reaching the Great Buddha (Daibutsu in Japanese), we met Junkai there and went in to take a look at one of the most famous Buddhist statues in Japan. It was huge and rather grand, but apparently, the Buddha statue in Nara is larger than this one.

The Daibutsu (Great Buddha)

After the Daibutsu, we took a stroll (through throngs of people) to one of the beaches in Kamakura. Unlike the soft powder sand that we usually associate nice beaches with, this beach was made of hardpacked volcanic ash. Not a place to build sandcastles, but the winds were strong and there were quite a few surfers and windsurfers in the sea.

One of the beaches in Kamakura

Leaving Kamakura, our next stop was Harajuku, to see the famous `cosplay-zoku` in action on Jingu Bridge. Unfortunately, either due to the extremely hot weather or the fact that we reached rather late in the afternoon, there weren`t many of the `cosplayers` around. In fact, the bridge was crowded mostly with tourists trying to catch a glimpse of the `cosplayers`. Quite an anti-climax...

On Jingu-bashi

From Jingu-bashi, we made our way to Yoyogi Park next door where many amateur bands were performing in the hope of being talent-spotted. The noise was incredibly loud, but it wasn`t really my kind of music. It seemed that each band was just trying to outscream its neighbour band! Really, really not my kind of music... hahaha...

Another one of the `screaming bands`

Passing by the entrance to Meiji Jingu Shrine

From Yoyogi Park, it was just a 5 minute walk to the trendy streets of Harajuku. As you can see from the picture below, the crowds were just insane! Just in that street alone, I probably saw more people than I`ve seen together in the past month! I guess the crowds of Tokyo are just not for me.... give me the peaceful countryside anytime...

Takeshita Street in Harajuku

Next stop, we headed for Shibuya to have our dinner. Along the way, we passed by the rather expensive shopping district of Omote-sando. Sure, its quite a famous area, but the rows after rows of shops didn`t really excite me... hahaha..

Omote-sando

Dinner was at an inexpensive but cosy eatery chain called Otoya, recommended by Junkai. After that, we headed for the famous traffic junction in Shibuya, where the pedestrians cross in every single direction possible.

Everytime the lights turned green, the human stampede would start all over again. Below here you see the herd getting ready to chiong again.....

Shibuya Center Street

For supper, we tried to go to Shinbashi for some famous dessert place suggested by Junkai. Unfortunately, when we got there, it was already closed so we had to make do with some matcha ice-cream instead... hahaha... such a long and tiring day.. by the time I got back to Plaza Kamishakuji it was past midnight - the latest I`ve been out since I got to Japan!

Tokyo Metropolis

Woke up to fine, clear weather this morning. As Takeo-san said, we could see Mount Fuji from his 14th floor balcony in Ageo City. The view was spectacular, although the mountain didn`t really show up very well in this photo.

Mount Fuji from Uzukas` balcony

After a hearty breakfast, I set off for the final city of my journey - the metropolis of Tokyo. While in Saitama Prefecture, the pavements were still rather wide and easy to ride on, but the moment I entered Tokyo, somehow the pavements immediately became narrower! I guess this is evidence of the severe shortage of space in one of the most crowded cities in the world!

Some familiar names of places in Tokyo

Today is also the day I hit the 2,000km mark of my journey. Its been a long ride - hard at times, but I thank God for blessing me with an exciting yet safe trip.

The 2,000km mark!
After crossing this bridge, I enter Tokyo!

Metropolis of Tokyo - Nerima Ward

Entering Tokyo, I turn off national highway #17 onto a prefectural road to get to Keith`s place in Kamishakuji, Nerima Ward. He kindly offered to put me up at his place for the next 3 days, so I`ll be able to save quite a lot on accommodation here while waiting for Eugene to arrive.

It took me quite a while to get to Kamishakuji station, primarily due to the very narrow pavements that I had to negotiate. Keith wasn`t home in the afternoon, so I had to find my own way to his place. Wasn`t too hard though, using the instructions he gave me...

Outside Plaza Kamishakuji - My hideout for the next 3 days

Relieved to have finally reached Tokyo

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting in his room and getting some groceries from the nearby supermarket - My usual routine... hahaha....

Staying with the Uzuka`s

This morning, I took my time leaving Kumagaya City. I wasn`t scheduled to meet my hosts for the night until around 5pm int he evening, so after checking out of Chisun Inn Hotel, I went to the nearby internet cafe for a couple hours to watch a few DVD`s and surf the net.

Leaving Kumagaya City at around 2pm, it took me less than 2 hours to cover the 30km or so to Ageo City, where the Uzuka`s lived. The road to Ageo was busy with traffic, but the pavements were great to ride on! Nice and wide, and there were hardly any pedestrians at that time in the afternoon.

Nice, wide and empty pavements all the way to Ageo City

Great weather for riding

Entering Ageo City, I went to meet the Yiwei , Amy, Takeo-san and Yukiko-san at the supermarket nearby their apartment. Their home was a really cosy place with a great view of Ageo City. Takeo-san said that on clear days, they could even see Mount Fuji from their balcony!

Getting ready for dinner

In the evening, after everyone had washed up, Yukiko-san served us an extremely delicious dinner with sashimi, handrolls, `natto` and Takeo-san`s specialty - Tempura.

Takeo-san`s Tempura

Yukiko-san`s Sashimi

It was loads of fun chatting with the Uzuka`s and telling them about our life in Singapore as well as learning more about the life of a typical Japanese family. I even had lessons from Takeo-san with regards to Japanese drinking etiquette! hahaha.... (I`ll upload more photos of the delicious dinner once I get the rest of the photos from the 2 girls)

2 of Japan`s finest sake`s

`Kanpai!`

After dinner, Yukiko-san was nice enough to take out her daughters` old yutakas to let Amy and Yiwei try them on. And then of course, we took a group photo with our very kind hosts!

Me, Amy, Ikeko－san (Younger daughter), Yukiko-san, Yiwei & Takeo-san