This Is A Lake - A travel blog

After a relatively sedate first day in Tokyo, I thought the best next step was to jump straight into the madness that is Shibuya and Harajuku. The Shibuya crossing is the first movie-checkpoint of this trip, as it featured in one of the posters for Lost in Translation . Every time the lights turn green a flood of people cross in all directions at the same time. On a Sunday morning, the atmosphere was less busy and hurried, but even in this low season the entire neighbourhood was packed. Strolling along the Shibuya area is like entering into every exaggerated Japanese metropolis scene you've ever seen in the movie. Many stores even have J-pop or commercial jingles playing *on the outside*, so you have your own soundtrack while you walk around. It's all an explosion of colour, sound and consumerism. It's an ideal place to get lost, which I did, repeatedly. Even with a map in my hand and having already established a route, orientation grows difficult if only one in eve

What is the very first thing you visit in a trip to Japan? Jumping straight into the madness that is Shibuya or Harajuku jetlagged and exhausted would have given me a seizure, so I opted for a quieter approach: Asakusa, the Old Town of Tokyo where there are still some streets that haven't given way to dinosaur-embossed skyscrapers (we love you too, though, dinosaur-embossed skyscrapers). We began by visiting Senso-ji , Tokyo's biggest temple. Your arrival into the temple itself is preceded by the crossing of several massive gates, flanked by endless stands of tourist-trap shops of every kind imaginable. Then there is a big pot with incense burning inside; you're supposed to wave the smoke towards your face, so that it may cure you of any ailments. The place was absolutely packed, even though by this time a very cold wind was already building up. Still, there were very few tourists to be seen: on the outside people were just strolling along the shops, and inside people

I am in Japan! I began booking this trip in October last year, but when you take into account the fact that I was learning Japanese at 16, this project has been in the making much longer. So. Let's start from the beginning.   In case you've ever wondered, flying on the upper deck of one of those massive two-floor long-haul planes is glorious . There's more storage space, there's less people, and what's best: the side rows only have two seats, so you can get yourself a window seat while still only having to bother one person to get out and stretch your legs. I was surprised to discover that the passengers on this Paris-Tokyo flight are easily 90% Japanese -I think I may have seen 10 soon-to-be-gaijin faces in my queue, tops. Clearly I must be travelling at the wrong time. I began by ravaging the in-flight movie collection, as usual, by watching The Perks of Being a Wallflower (which I loved), Cloud Atlas (which, having read the book, I t

In a way very reminiscent of my student days, I switched guides from an accomplished musician to accomplished doctors for the rest of the day. Sandra, Sharmistha and I apparently formed a perfect Canadian flag with our red, white and red coats. After all these years as an honorary LSHTM member, I think by now I can also claim to be an honorary Canadian, eh? (Note to the wise: Apostrophe serves real hot chocolate, the eat-with-a-spoon-kind. Eat your heart out, Paris.) The afternoon began with a quick visit to the National Portrait Gallery, where we agreed that no, Kate Middleton's portrait isn't doing her any favours (if it's supposed to be a realistic portrait with all the wrinkles and all -then why the blurry old-movie-glamour-shot look?). Then we kind of organised our own Best Of Covent Garden, the highlights of which were: The always fragrant Tea House , filled with endless varieties of black, green, white or red teas, infusions, and tea-appropriate crockery. I st

 My idea for this flash-weekend trip to London was to take it easy and simply enjoy being in the city -but I should have known that plans just make themselves there! Unbeknownst to me, the Royal Academy of Music in Marylebone houses a small museum that is open to the public. The whole building is a labyrinthine combination of old structures, new annexes, expansions, corridors, staircases, elevators... Me, I just followed Jayson. That was yesterday, and if I were to return right now, I wouldn't be able to make it past reception without getting hopelessly lost. They would find me weeks later, in some abandoned practice room somewhere. The whole place was crawling with kids going up and down, some dragging instruments bigger than themselves, or generally just looking very busy. The museum is divided across three floors and displays the evolution of pianos, wind and string instruments. Violins don't seem to have changed all that much over the years, whereas the oboe star

...and this is a lake."