The Japan Trip: Hakone And Our Last Day

Our trip to Hakone started early and began with, again, the hard truth that speed came with a price. Our JR East Pass was much cheaper than the regular JR Pass, therefore we could only take the normal train from Ueno to Odawara Station. By the time we reached there, Eday and friends had finished their breakfast.

All of us then travelled together from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto Station. From there onwards, the whole thing felt almost like déjà vu, because I had done it almost a decade ago, when I had a family trip in 2014! That bridge above the stream, the bus stop and the jetty! I was there, did them all in the same sequence!

Gunawan on the bridge above the stream.

The slight difference here was the visit to Hakone Shrine's lakefront torii. It's the one that people see from the boat and we walked to the shrine to see the other side of the torii gate. There was a queue when we got there, a popular tourist spot, apparently. We waited a bit for our turn to take pictures. 

As we headed back, we saw ducks swimming playfully on the lake. But the leisure walk immediately turned into running when we realized the ship was about to depart. We managed to get into the ship and sailed across Lake Ashi. It was nice, but fairly breezy. We eventually decided to get warm inside the cozy passenger deck as the pirate ship approached Togendai Station. 

Inside the pirate ship.

The station has a restaurant, so we grabbed our lunch before continuing our journey. In normal circumstances, we would have taken the Hakone Ropeway from Togendai to Owakudani on the mountaintop, but it was under maintenance, so we took a bus instead. 

It was here in Owakudani that Robinson Travel failed to deliver. We had seen sakura and snow so far, but Mount Fuji was nowhere to be seen that day, thanks to the fog. Even Parno must be so agitated that he spontaneously blurted out, "but where's Fuji Film?" 

And everybody laughed at his malapropism.

Aming Coffee supporters in Owakudani.

But it was also here that a historical moment happened. You see, I have always been a fan of Aming Coffee since 2017, when I interviewed the man himself. I always thought of Aming Coffee as our kind of Hard Rock Cafe, the one thing that is good from our hometown Pontianak. So on the last day we were together in Japan, we wore the Aming Coffee t-shirt. We embraced the freezing cold weather (you could tell from Parno's expression) and took the picture in Owakudani. It is now hanging proudly in my living room.

From Owakudani, we continued the journey with ropeway, tram and train. We were eventually back to where we began, then we hopped on the next train back to Tokyo. We stopped at Shinjuku Station and Parno, who was so determined not to get lost again, followed Eday closely. He even followed Eday going round the station pillar, not realizing that he was actually tricked into doing so. Now this is following someone blindly! Literally!

BL and Japanese girl he got to know in the train to Shinjuku.

We went our separate ways from Shinjuku. Seven of us went back to Akihabara to check out the seven-story Pop Life Department M's, the pachinko parlor and the porno DVD shop in the nearby basement. After that, we visited the maid cafe called @Home Cafe. 

This was one unique experience. The waitress dressed like a maid and the nickname of ours was Kitsune. She wore a surgical mask, so half of her face was covered, but she looked more like Caucasian than Japanese. When the maids served us, the whole interaction was very animated. The story was bombastic, the expression was over the top. 

At maid cafe.

Surianto informed us he couldn't make it, so we told the maid that Parno's desk had only three people. When the maid saw the bill charging for four guests, she acted surprised and threw her hands in the air, so anime-like that she got us laughing. Then, when the drinks were served, there were some gestures we gotta do and mantras we gotta say, something sounded like, "moe moe kyuutttt." 

Later on, before we went back to the hotel, we had our supper at McDonald's. Parno grumbled that we still ate even though it had been quite late at night, but he turned out to be the one eating the most, haha. As he was coughing a bit, Ardian eventually took away the fries for his own good. 

At Mcdonald's.

The night ended with us packing our luggage and gambling. We had so many coins by the end of the trip that losing the bets was not necessary a bad thing because we could finally get rid of the coins! Susan and Cicilia won that night.

The next morning, things were coming to an end. We had our last outing together in Asakusa. I had my last breakfast with Eday and Muliady, then Eday and I went to Tully's for coffee. For one last time, we saw how Surianto always appeared unexpectedly as he took the escalator down right in front of us. Then Eday, Taty, Surianto and I checked out. Eday headed to Narita while the three of us went to Haneda, going back to Singapore via Manila...

Parno and Eday: two old friends in Japan.

Liburan Ke Jepang: Hakone Dan Hari Terakhir

Kunjungan ke Hakone dimulai sejak pagi buta dan sekali lagi kita diingatkan kembali dengan kenyataan bahwa ada harga, ada kecepatan. JR East Pass yang lebih murah harganya dari JR Pass hanya memungkinkan kita untuk naik kereta biasa dari Ueno ke Stasiun Odawara. Ketika kita tiba di stasiun tersebut, Eday dan kawan-kawan sudah selesai sarapan.

Kita semua lantas melanjutkan perjalanan lagi, kali ini dari Odawara ke Stasiun Hakone-Yumoto. Apa yang terjadi setelah itu terasa seperti déjà vu karena sudah pernah saya lakoni hampir 10 tahun silam, sewaktu saya berlibur bersama anak-istri di tahun 2014. Jembatan merah di atas sungai, halte bis yang sama dan juga pelabuhan di danau! Semuanya sudah saya lakukan dengan urutan yang sama! 

Gunawan di Hakone.

Yang sedikit berbeda di sini adalah persinggahan kita ke gerbang torii Kuil Hakone yang menghadap danau. Ini adalah gerbang yang sering terlihat di brosur dan kita berjalan ke kuil untuk melihat gerbang ini dari sudut pandang yang berbeda. Ada antrian ketika kita sampai di sana. Cukup populer rupanya. Kita pun menanti sebentar untuk mengambil foto. 

Kita melihat bebek yang berenang di danau saat berjalan kembali ke pelabuhan. Akan tetapi kapal akan segera berangkat, jadi kita pun bergegas. Setelah menunjukkan karcis, kita naik ke kapal yang menyeberangi Danau Ashi dan membawa kita ke Stasiun Togendai. Kita sempat mondar-mondar di atas kapal, namun angin dingin akhirnya memaksa kita untuk turun ke dek yang hangat. 

Di dalam kapal bajak laut.

Setelah kapal berlabuh, kita bersantap siang di Togendai View Restaurant. Lantai berikutnya adalah tempat untuk menaiki kereta gantung, tapi karena sistemnya kebetulan sedang dicek, kita akhirnya menaiki bis menuju ke Owakudani. 

Dan Robinson Travel gagal menunaikan janjinya di Owakudani. Sejauh ini kita sudah melihat bunga sakura dan salju, tapi Gunung Fuji tidak terlihat karena terhalang kabut. Bahkan Parno pun protes dan spontan berkata, "jadi mana Fuji Film?" 

Dan semua tertawa karenanya. 

Pendukung Aming Coffee di Owakudani.

Tapi di tempat yang sama ini pula sebuah sejarah diukir. Bagi yang belum tahu, saya menggemari Aming Coffee sejak 2017, sejak saya mewawancarai pemiliknya. Saya selalu merasa bahwa Aming Coffee ini bagaikan Hard Rock Cafe, satu hal yang membanggakan dari kota kelahiran saya, Pontianak. Jadi di hari terakhir bersama di Jepang, kita memakai kaos Aming Coffee. Kita abaikan dinginnya cuaca (anda bisa lihat dari ekspresi Parno) dan berfoto di Owakudani. Foto ini kini digantung di ruang tamu saya.  

Dari Owakudani, kita lanjut dengan kereta gantung, trem dan kereta, kembali ke posisi semula di Stasiun Hakone-Yumoto dan pulang ke Tokyo. Kita turun di Stasiun Shinjuku yang ramai dan Parno yang trauma karena telah beberapa kali ketinggalan kini mengikuti setiap langkah Eday. Dia bahkan ikut mengitari tiang di stasiun, tak sadar bahwa ia sedang dikerjai, haha.

BL dan gadis Jepang di kereta menuju Shinjuku.

Kita berpencar di Shinjuku. Tujuh orang termasuk saya pergi ke Akihabara lagi, kali ini kita mengunjungi toko pernak-pernik seks setinggi tujuh lantai yang bernama Pop Life Department M's, tempat bermain pachinko dan juga lantai bawah tanah yang menjual aneka DVD porno. Sesudah itu kita mampir ke kafe pelayan @Home Cafe. 

Ini adalah sebuah pengalaman yang unik. Para pelayan wanita ini memakai seragam seperti di komik dan nama samaran pelayan kita adalah Kitsune. Dia mengenakan masker, jadi mukanya tertutup separuh, tapi raut wajahnya terlihat lebih mirip bule daripada orang Jepang. Ketika mereka melayani kita, interaksinya mirip kartun Jepang. Ada cerita di balik menu minuman dan pelayannya pun sangat menjiwai perannya. 

Moe moe kyuuttt!

Landak mengabarkan kita bahwa dia tidak bisa datang, jadi kita memberitahukan pelayan bahwa meja Parno hanya ada tiga tamu. Ketika ia melihat bahwa bon di meja dihitung berdasarkan empat tamu, pelayan tersebut kaget sampai terangkat tangannya, benar-benar seperti kartun sehingga kita pun tertawa. Kemudian, ketika minuman disajikan, kita harus mengikuti gerakannya dan mengucapkan mantra yang terdengar seperti, "moe moe kyuutttt." 

Sebelum kembali ke hotel, kita mampir ke McDonald's untuk makan lagi. Parno mengomel karena kita masih makan meski malam sudah kian larut, tapi dia sendiri malah yang makan paling banyak, haha. Karena dia agak batuk, kentang gorengnya lantas diamankan oleh Ardian demi kebaikannya. 

Di Mcdonald's.

Dan malam pun diakhiri dengan kemas-kemas koper dan judi. Kita memiliki begitu banyak koin sehingga kalah pun rasanya lega karena kita tidak perlu lagi menyimpan segenggam koin di saku celana. Susan dan Cicilia menang di malam itu. 

Keesokan paginya, ada kesan bahwa kebersamaan kita akan segera berakhir. Kita berjalan-jalan di sekitar Asakusa untuk terakhir kalinya. Saya, Eday dan Muliady sarapan bersama untuk terakhir kalinya. Selanjutnya saya dan Eday pun ngopi bersama di Tokyo untuk terakhir kalinya. Di situ kita juga melihat Landak yang sering tiba-tiba muncul untuk terakhir kalinya. Dia mendadak turun dari eskalator tepat di depan kafe Tully's. Setelah itu, saya, Landak, Taty dan Eday pun meninggalkan hotel dan menuju stasiun. Eday berangkat ke Narita sementara kita ke Haneda, kembali ke Singapura lewat Manila... 

Parno dan Eday: dua teman lama di Jepang.

The Japan Trip: Day Five, In Yokohama

I often used the analogy of Jakarta and Bekasi (though I should have used Tangerang as it's more accurate) to illustrate Tokyo and Yokohama. Both cities are sharing the same airport and Yokohama is not very far from Tokyo. Due to this, I couldn't help comparing how similar these cities in Indonesia and Japan are.

This is also the reason why we woke up much later than usual on the day we visited Yokohama. For the first time ever throughout our stay in Japan, we actually had enough sleep! Unlike the previous days, we only reached Ueno Station at 8:37 AM. 

Shanti in Yokohama.
Art by Eday.

Yokohama Station is only about half an hour away from Ueno. When we arrived in Yokohama, the weather was pleasant. It was nice for morning walk, so we headed to Rinko Park, passing by the Anpanman Children's Museum. Rinko Park is on the seaside. It is green and beautiful, so the ladies (and some guys) spent time taking pictures here.

Those who waited got creative with Parno. The man had been carrying popcorn around from Indonesia to Japan on daily basis because a friend asked him to take pictures for promotional purpose. It was quite irritating to have such a task during holiday, hence we decided to have some fun. There was a bench in the park, so we got Parno to pose like a homeless with popcorn on his crotch, haha.

Parno, the homeless in Yokohama.

From there, we walked to the Cupnoodles Museum. We couldn't be loving Indomie so much without getting some knowledge about the humble beginning of instant noodles! After that, we had a brisk walk to Hard Rock Cafe Yokohama for a quick t-shirt shopping.

While we were here, we got a glimpse another Parno's original behavior. We laughed so hard as we listened to Eday recounting the story. What Parno did was, he approached Eday who was in the midst of eating a burger and innocently asked, "is that a burger?" Eday froze, too shocked to continue eating as Parno was pointing at his burger and stating the obvious. He eventually gave one to Parno, haha. 

With Muliady, HRR and Shanti.

Then we resumed the journey and headed to Gundam Factory. Eday and the others walked so fast and they took the route via Cupnoodles Museum. Muliady, Shanti, HRR, Surianto and I took a longer route instead because we snapped a picture or two in front of Nippon Maru, a training vessel that is permanently docked in Yokohama Harbour.

The rendezvous happened around 1:34 PM. I was queueing for the tickets when Eday and friends appeared. It was kind of surprising that they were behind us, considering that they left Hard Rock Cafe first. It was revealed later on that the route they took was quite scenic, hence they stopped more often to take pictures, haha.

With Gundam.

Now, Gundam Factory. I was sitting on a bench, staring at Gundam. Images from anime such as Voltes, Mazinger and Getter Robo (oh yeah, throughout my life, I had never watched Gundam, haha) were playing in my head as I observed the sheer size of the robot in front of me. The anime made it so easy for the robots to move, ignoring all the physics laws. The real deal such as this got me thinking for the first time ever, how complex a robot design actually was. 

Next stop was Chinatown. The Yokohama Chūkagai is a very commercialized area. When we were there, it was swarmed by tourists. We ended up eating our late lunch at Kafuku Hanten (華福飯店), a restaurant that had no queue. Now, in our group chat, we have this rule that you can only comment after experiencing it at least twice. As a person who had eaten twice in this Chinatown (first time was back in 2015), I could safely tell you that the food was never delicious, haha. It's just after too many servings of Japanese cuisines, you tend to crave for something Chinese.

Muliady in Chinatown. Can you spot Parno and HRR?

It was late in the afternoon when we finished our lunch. Still too early to go back, we visited one last stop: Yokohamabashi, a shopping street. It was almost dark when we reached there. Most of the shops had closed, so we didn't spend too much time there and headed back to Yokohama Station. 

The thing with our fast-paced group was, some members were ill-suited for it. When most of us made it to the train platform, we then realized that Parno was missing. He was nowhere to be found. Even Muliady that came last also didn't see Parno, so I exited the ticket gate to look for him. Turned out that he was stuck because he got too many used tickets in his pocket. As a result, he wasn't sure which one to use to get out from the rapid transit line. 

We eventually boarded the train and returned to Tokyo. In Asakusa, Surianto and I decided to try out the KFC in Japan. The portion was generous, but wasn't really special. After dinner, I went back to Sake no Daimasu Kaminarimon, this time with Surianto. Eday, Gunawan and Ardian joined us a moment later and we tried out Instagram Live, haha. Taty, Susan and Cicilia happened to pass by and Eday saw them, so all three came in as well. We hung out till the bar closed. Time really flies when we have good times, because tomorrow's destination was already our last one: Hakone!

KFC in Japan.

Liburan Ke Jepang: Hari Kelima, Di Yokohama

Saya sering menggunakan analogi Jakarta dan Bekasi (meskipun harusnya Tangerang karena lebih akurat) untuk menggambarkan Tokyo dan Yokohama. Bandara Haneda terletak di antara dua kota ini dan Yokohama tidak jauh dari Tokyo. Karena persamaan inilah saya jadi teringat dengan Jakarta dan Bekasi. 

Apa yang saya jabarkan barusan juga menjelaskan kenapa kita bangun lebih siang dari biasanya di hari kita mengunjungi Yokohama. Untuk pertama kalinya sejak liburan ke Jepang dimulai, saya merasa cukup tidur! Berbeda dengan biasanya, di hari ini kita mencapai Stasiun Ueno jam 8:37 pagi. 

Shanti di Yokohama.
Ilustrasi oleh Eday.

Stasiun Yokohama bisa dicapai dalam setengah jam. Ketika kita tiba di Yokohama, cuacanya sangat nyaman. Cocok untuk berjalan pagi, jadi kita pun menuju Rinko Park dan melewati Anpanman Children's Museum. Rinko Park terletak di tepi laut. Kawasannya hijau dan indah sehingga banyak yang berhenti untuk berfoto-foto.

Yang menunggu pun kreatif menghabiskan waktu bersama Parno. Teman kita ini sudah menenteng popcorn dari Indonesia sampai Jepang setiap hari karena seorang teman di Pontianak minta agar produknya difotokan di Jepang untuk tujuan promosi. Agak menjengkelkan sebenarnya, jadi kita pun iseng berkarya. Melihat bangku taman, kita meminta Parno berbaring seperti tuna wisma dan menaruh popcorn di selangkangannya, haha. 

Parno, tunawisma di Yokohama.

Dari taman, kita berjalan menuju Cupnoodles Museum. Oh, kita tidak mungkin mencintai Indomie tanpa mengerti asal-usul mie instan, jadi kita masuk dan menambah wawasan. Sesudah itu, kita mampir ke Hard Rock Cafe Yokohama untuk berburu kaos.

Selagi berada di sana, sekali lagi kita dibikin tergelak oleh tingkah Parno yang spontan tapi jenaka. Kisah kali ini dialami Eday dan diceritakan ulang kepada kita. Sambil menunggu di depan Hard Rock, Eday menikmati burger yang dibelinya. Siapa sangka Parno malah mendekat dan bertanya dengan polos, "ini burger?" Eday tertegun saat burgernya ditunjuk dan ditanyai, padahal itu sudah jelas-jelas burger. Akhirnya dia merelakan satu burger untuk Parno, haha. 

Bersama Muliady, HRR dan Shanti di depan Nippon Maru.

Dari Hard Rock kita lantas bertolak ke Gundam Factory.  Eday dan yang lain berjalan kembali ke arah Cupnoodles Museum sementara Muliady, Shanti, HRR, Landak dan saya mengambil jalur memutar karena kita berfoto sejenak di depan Nippon Maru, kapal yang kini berlabuh permanen di Pelabuhan Yokohama. 

Kita semua bertemu kembali sekitar jam 1:34 siang. Saya sedang antri tiket ketika Eday dan kawan-kawan muncul dari belakang. Saya sempat heran kenapa mereka lebih lambat, padahal mereka lebih dulu bergegas ke Gundam Factory. Setelah ditanyakan lebih lanjut, ternyata rute yang mereka ambil banyak pemandangan indah, jadi mereka sering berhenti untuk berfoto, haha. 

Bersama Gundam.

Di Gundam Factory, saya duduk di bangku dan menatap Gundam yang tinggi menjulang. Saat itu adegan-adegan dari Voltes, Mazinger dan Getter Robo (oh ya, sampai hari ini, saya tidak pernah menonton Gundam, haha) berputar kembali di benak saya. Robot-robot di kartun yang saya tonton di masa kecil terlihat lincah gerakannya. Gundam di depan saya ini, yang dirancang sesuai dengan hukum fisika, memberikan gambaran betapa kompleks robot itu sesungguhnya. 

Pemberhentian berikutnya adalah Chinatown. Yokohama Chūkagai ini adalah tempat yang sangat komersil dan dipadati oleh turis. Kita akhirnya makan siang di Kafuku Hanten (華福飯店) yang kebetulan tidak ada antrian. Nah, di grup kita ini ada aturan bahwa yang boleh komentar cuma mereka yang telah berpengalaman minimal dua kali. Sebagai orang yang sudah dua kali bersantap di Chinatown (kali pertama terjadi di tahun 2015), saya bisa berkata bahwa makanan di sini tidak enak, haha. Hanya saja karena kita sudah terlalu sering menyantap makanan Jepang, maka masakan Cina terasa cocok di lidah.

Muliady di Chinatown. Bisakah anda menemukan Parno dan HRR?

Hari sudah sore ketika kita selesai makan siang. Karena matahari masih belum terbenam, kita mengunjungi satu tempat terakhir: Yokohamabashi, jalan yang dipenuhi toko di kiri-kanannya. Sewaktu kita tiba, banyak toko sudah tutup, jadi kita tidak lama di sana dan meneruskan perjalanan ke Stasiun Yokohama. 

Yang masalah dengan grup kita yang cepat langkahnya adalah, tidak semua anggotanya bisa segesit itu. Ketika kita sudah sampai di tempat menaiki kereta, baru kita sadari bahwa Parno telah hilang. Entah di mana dia sekarang. Bahkan Muliady yang muncul paling akhir pun tidak melihatnya, jadi saya keluar lagi untuk mencarinya. Ternyata Parno tertinggal karena dia menyimpan banyak karcis yang sudah terpakai, jadi dia sempat kebingungan mencari karcis untuk keluar dari kereta jalur biru di Yokohama. 

KFC in Japan.

Setelah Parno ditemukan, kita akhirnya kembali ke Tokyo. Di Asakusa, saya dan Landak memutuskan untuk mencoba KFC di Jepang. Besar porsinya, tapi tidak terlalu istimewa. Setelah makan malam, saya singgah lagi di Sake no Daimasu Kaminarimon, kali ini bersama Landak. Eday, Gunawan dan Ardian datang tidak lama kemudian dan kita pun mencoba iseng fitur Instagram Live, haha. Taty, Susan dan Cicilia kebetulan lewat di depan dan Eday melihat mereka, jadi mereka pun bergabung pula. Kita nongkrong sampai bar tutup, berbincang tentang berbagai cerita. Waktu cepat berlalu ketika kita bersenang-senang. Tidak terasa besok sudah hari terakhir liburan. Tujuan selanjutnya: Hakone! 

The Japan Trip: The Snowy Fourth Day

Up until one week before our trip, I was still oblivious to the fact that we were going to Gala Yuzawa. I always thought that Niigata was where we were going to see the snow, but Susan suggested Gala Yuzawa a while ago and all agreed, though everyone seemed to have a hard time remembering the name for the longest time, haha. 

At Ueno Station, waiting for the train.

Anyway, that morning, we boarded a jam-packed shinkansen from Ueno Station to the snowy resort. We stood in the train for about an hour, barely able to move, and sat down only for the last five minute. Yeah, lots of empty seats after most passengers alighted at Echigo-Yuzawa, one station before our destination. 

Now, seeing snow was Gunawan's dream, so I had no idea what to expect. I only thought that, after going through my coldest night in Japan thus far, I had to wear something warmer than what I had now. Beanie and gloves included! And they were best bought in Gala Yuzawa, which was supposed to be sub-zero. 

Inside the cable car.

And it was sub-zero, all right. But the mountaintop surprisingly had no wind blowing, so it wasn't that cold. And the view was so breathtaking. Coming from a small town that sits right on the equator line, I never saw such a beautiful landscape before. It was all white, perfectly curved at some places, so peaceful, like a wonderland. 

I would say that we didn't quite know what to do once we got off the cable car, but we adapted pretty quick. We occupied the empty space next to the ski slope and got busy. It began with a tame photo-taking activity and it immediately escalated to pelting each other with snow balls and one body slam for Parno. BL said we got few heads turning and smiling, but I guess that's the beauty of our childlike innocence.

And Parno is down!

It didn't last long, though. Let's not forget that we're in our 40s now and it was actually quite tiring to keep moving in the snow. Every misstep could result in falling down and that's what happened to me once. And those guys, instead of helping, they showed no mercy! The moment I lost my footing, they came and trashed me, the action that would eventually dubbed as baptism by ice.

Once we were done playing snow, we went inside the resort to have our lunch and coffee. We were not going back out there for another round, so we went back to where we came from and walked to Echigo-Yuzawa Station. Simple though it was, the experience was unforgettable. I simply couldn't help touching the puffy wall of snow along the roadside. Once it was formed into a snow ball, I'd throw it at the person in front of me, haha. 

BL and HRR, holding a snow ball on the road side.

We stopped at 7-Eleven for a snack and some of us then dipped their feet into the hot spring in front of Echigo-Yuzawa Station. We then took the shinkansen to Niigata. Upon seeing not much snow as we approached the city, we felt glad that we had visited Gala Yuzawa. But Niigata was not without surprises. It was there that we experienced sleet, a mixture of rain and snow. 

Niigata was like a sleepy town if compared with Tokyo. From the station, we walked towards Bandai Bridge to have a glimpse of its waterfront, then turned to Minato Marche Pier Bandai. It was a quiet market in the afternoon. We went to the organic food store, then the wet market to buy some local snack such as raw squids and dried scallops. The sea wind in Niigata was quite cold that we eventually took a break at Hyakuichizen, a hut that sold donburi (and played only songs by the Beatles). Niigata is famous for its rice, but in all fairness, I don't think I could tell the difference, haha. 

With BL in Niigata.

We left Niigata around 5 PM and reached Ichiran Asakusa in the evening. There was a queue, which was common for Ichiran, and by the time we had our ramen in our booth (instead of tables, because eating in a booth was a unique Ichiran experience), it was already 8 PM. I wanted to buy extra warm clothes and therefore rushed to Uniqlo, but by the time I got there, it was already closed.

That's when Eday and I went to Sake no Daimasu Kaminarimon, a bar in Asakusa that serves many varities of sake. We tried almost everything, from the hot sake to cold sake, but we eventually settled with Snow Drop from Akebono Brewery in Fukushima. The liquor uses sake and yoghurt as its base, very tasty and delicious. 

Snow Drop.

But what made it all the more special was the moments we spent there as two old friends who are so similar and yet so different at the same time. We had known each other for so long that not only we could reminisce the past, laugh at the present and look forward to the future, but most importantly, we also could talk openly about anything. 

All good things must come to an end, though. We had our last order and the bar eventually closed. Just like many magical moments that happened throughout the trip, we couldn't replicate them again even if we wanted to. 

Still I can tell you this much: these two kids who went to the same high school in Pontianak, they would never, in their wildest dream, imagine that they'd sit together at a bar in Tokyo one day. It was crazy. It was unbelievable. But yet there we were. That night will stay forever as one of the best times of my life...

At Sake no Daimasu Kaminarimon.
Photo and art by Eday.

Liburan Ke Jepang: Hari Ke-4 Yang Bersalju

Dari awal hingga seminggu sebelum liburan, saya tidak ada gambaran bahwa kita akan ke Gala Yuzawa. Saya selalu mengira bahwa tujuan kita untuk melihat salju adalah Niigata. Setelah saya cek kembali di grup Jepang, ternyata Susan sudah mengusulkan Gala Yuzawa dari jauh hari dan semua setuju, meski tampaknya semua kesulitan mengingat nama tempatnya, haha.

Di Stasiun Ueno, menanti datangnya shinkansen.

Di pagi itu, dari Stasiun Ueno kita menaiki shinkansen yang penuh sesak. Kita berdiri sejam lamanya di kereta, nyaris tak bisa bergerak, dan hanya duduk selama lima menit terakhir. Ya, banyak kursi kosong setelah para penumpang turun di Echigo-Yuzawa, satu stasiun sebelum tempat tujuan kita.

Melihat salju adalah impian Gunawan, jadi saya tidak memiliki ekspektasi apa pun. Saya hanya tahu bahwa, setelah malam paling dingin di Jepang di hari sebelumnya di Shinjuku, saya harus memakai pakaian yang lebih hangat lagi dari apa yang saya kenakan pada saat ini. Kupluk dan sarung tangan adalah perlengkapan wajib! Dan semua ini paling tepat dibeli Gala Yuzawa yang suhunya di bawah nol. 

Di dalam kereta gantung.

Dan cuacanya sungguh di bawah nol. Namun puncak gunung ternyata tidak begitu dingin karena angin tidak bertiup. Pemandangannya benar-benar menakjubkan. Bagi orang yang datang dari kota yang terletak di garis Khatulistiwa, saya tidak pernah melihat pemandangan seperti ini sebelumnya. Semua serba putih, melengkung bundar sempurna di pojok-pojok tertentu, begitu damai, seperti negeri dongeng. 

Saya kira kita tidak tahu apa yang harus dilakukan setelah turun dari kereta gantung, tapi kita beradaptasi dengan cepat. Kita menempati lahan kosong di samping tempat ski dan mulai sibuk sendiri. Pertama-tama kita hanya berfoto, tapi tak lama setelah itu, kita mulai iseng melempar bola salju dan Parno pun dibanting ke tumpukan salju. BL berkata bahwa ada beberapa pengunjung lain yang mengamati dan tersenyum melihat ulah kita. Mungkin karena kepolosan dan kegembiraan kita membuat mereka ikut tergelak di dalam hati. 

Dan Parno pun terhempas!

Akan tetapi aktivitas di puncak salju tidak berlangsung lama. Bagaimanapun kita sudah di kisaran umur 40an dan bergerak di tempat bersalju itu cukup melelahkan. Kita bisa tergelincir setiap kali salah langkah dan saya sempat jatuh terjerembab pula. Dan yang saya panggil teman-teman ini bukannya membantu, tapi malah langsung mengeroyok saya. Bola salju melayang dan saya ditimbun dengan salju. Semua akhirnya mendapatkan giliran serupa dan dibaptis dengan salju. 

Seusai bermain salju, kita masuk ke kantin untuk bersantap siang. Sesudah itu, kita putuskan untuk meneruskan perjalanan, jadi kita menaiki kereta gantung dan kembali ke tempat semula, lalu berjalan ke Stasiun Echigo-Yuzawa. Meski sederhana, pengalaman di Gala Yuzawa sungguh membekas dan tidak terlupakan. Sambil berjalan, saya suka menyentuh tumpukan salju di tepi jalan. Setelah terkumpul dan dibentuk sebagai bola salju, saya pun menimpuk orang yang ada di depan, haha. 

BL dan HRR, memegang bola salju di tepi jalan.

Kita berhenti sejenak di 7-Eleven untuk membeli cemilan, lalu beberapa di antara kita duduk berendam kaki di sumber air panas di depan Stasiun Echigo-Yuzawa. Dari sana, kita naik shinkansen to Niigata. Setelah melihat salju yang tidak seberapa saat kita mendekati kota, ada rasa bersyukur bahwa kita sudah mampir ke Gala Yuzawa. Kendati begitu, Niigata bukannya tidak memiliki kesan tersendiri. Di kota ini kita mengalami hujan air bercampur salju. 

Niigata terasa seperti kota yang sepi bila dibandingkan dengan Tokyo. Dari stasiun, kita berjalan ke Jembatan Bandai untuk melihat kawasan tepi sungai. Kemudian kita melanjutkan perjalanan ke Minato Marche Pier Bandai. Kawasan pasar ini terbilang sepi di sore hari. Kita singgah ke toko barang-barang organik, lalu ke pasar untuk membeli cemilan lokal seperti sotong mentah dan kerang yang sudah dikeringkan. Tadinya kita sempat duduk di depan pasar, tapi angin laut yang dingin akhirnya memaksa kita masuk ke Hyakuichizen, pondok kecil yang menjual donburi (dan hanya memutar lagu-lagu the Beatles). Oh ya, Niigata terkenal dengan berasnya, tapi setelah dicicipi, terus-terang saya tidak bisa bedakan rasanya bila dibandingkan dengan beras biasa, haha. 

Bersama BL di Niigata.

Kita meninggalkan Niigata sekitar jam 5 sore dan tiba reached Ichiran Asakusa di senja hari. Ada antrian di depan restoran, lazim untuk setiap cabang Ichiran, dan ketika kita duduk di konter masing-masing (ini adalah sesuatu yang unik di Ichiran), jam sudah menunjukkan pukul delapan. Setelah santap malam, saya bergegas ke Uniqlo untuk membeli setelan baju hangat, tapi pusat perbelanjaan tersebut sudah tutup saat saya sampai di sana.  

Eday dan saya lantas berjalan ke Sake no Daimasu Kaminarimon, sebuah bar di Asakusa yang menjual berbagai macam sake. Kita coba hampir semua yang tersedia, mulai dari sake panas sampai sake dingin, tapi akhirnya berulang-kali memesan Snow Drop, sake yang diproduksi oleh Akebono Brewery di Fukushima. Minuman beralkohol ini menggunakan sake dan yogurt sebagai basisnya, rasanya lezat dan enak untuk diminum. 

Snow Drop.

Namun yang paling istimewa dari saat minum di bar ini adalah waktu yang kita habiskan sebagai dua teman yang mirip tapi juga bertolak-belakang karakternya. Kita sudah mengenal satu sama lain begitu lama sehingga kita bukan saja bisa mengenang masa lalu, menertawakan apa yang kita lewati hari ini dan berandai-andai tentang masa depan. Yang lebih penting lagi, kita juga bisa berbicara terbuka satu sama lain tentang apa saja. 

Akan tetapi semua hal harus berlalu. Kita akhirnya memesan botol terakhir dan bar pun tutup. Seperti begitu banyak kenangan luar biasa yang terjadi sepanjang liburan, kita tak pernah bisa lagi mengulangi kebersamaan yang terjadi secara spontan ini, meskipun kita kembali ke tempat yang sama di malam berikutnya.

Kalau saya lihat kembali lagi, berikut ini pendapat saya: 25 tahun silam, ketika dua remaja ini masih duduk di kelas yang sama di SMU Santu Petrus Pontianak, tidak pernah sedikit pun terbayangkan oleh mereka kalau mereka berdua akan duduk berbincang di Tokyo suatu hari nanti. Ini benar-benar sulit untuk dipercaya, tapi di sanalah dua teman lama itu berada, menenggak sake dan tertawa. Kenangan malam itu akan abadi selamanya di dalam hati saya... 

At Sake no Daimasu Kaminarimon.
Photo and art by Eday.

The Japan Trip: The Third Day

The term third day was an inside joke. Back when we were planning for the trip, anything that couldn't fit into the itinerary, we'd brush it aside and say, "we'll do it on the third day." This is why the third day was jam-packed with all sorts of destinations, haha. 

Visiting Tsukiji Market.

The day began with a visit to Tsukiji Market (or Kamakura for Surianto as he went there alone). We were going to have breakfast there, so we went there early (as in punishing early, the recurring theme throughout the Japan trip) then walked from Ginza Station. Susan and friends instinctively joined the queue to buy tamago because the food has to be good if the queue is long. Eday and I walked a bit further and ended up having chirashi don. BL joined us later on.

When we met with the rest of the gang again, Gunawan dragged us to a mochi shop and insisted that we should try it out. The motive behind it was revealed immediately: Gunawan thought the mochi girl was kind of cute because she was shorter than him. He got even more mesmerized when they took a picture together. Parno grumbled when that happened, but much to anyone's surprise, he quickly seized the moment right after Gunawan's turn! 

"Bank of Japan."

After a visit to the fish market, we walked towards Tsukiji Station. We passed by and went into a big building nearby the station, thinking it was Bank of Japan because Parno said so. In retrospect, it was Tsukiji Hongwanji, an unusual Buddhist Temple in the heart of Tokyo. I thought it was a Shinto shrine. Anyway, people were praying, so we went off quietly.

Next stop was Akihabara. We parted ways with the ladies and did the boys stuff, such as drinking coffee at Excelsior Caffé and checking out action figures and book collections at Tamashii Nation, Radio Kaikan and Mandarake respectively. Oh yes, things from our childhood that we couldn't get back then, but we had the money and we were in the right place now! 

Playing Final Fight again!

But what I enjoyed the most there was playing Final Fight again. Nothing beats playing it at the arcade, the way it should be, with a joystick. It felt right to be able to do Cody's infinite combo again. And it was good to know I wasn't that rusty! I reached Rolento on my first try and the second attempt brought me to Abigail! Not bad for a person who hadn't played it for the past 20 years!

After having lunch at Akihabara, we went to Roppongi Hills for another Hard Rock moment. Yeah, t-shirt shopping time! At the same time, Eday was having a call there, so we had a drink at Hard Rock Cafe while waiting for him. Eday joined us and, upon seeing nobody else was on the premises, he hosted an impromptu event. It turned out to be an evening to remember, one that was so genuine, it got us teary. Well, almost all of us as Surianto was having dinner alone in Shibuya while waiting for us there.

Hachiko. You barely see it at the back!

From Hard Rock Cafe, we went to Shibuya because Gunawan would like to see the gambling dog, Pachinko. Eday warned him that unless he wanted to be beaten by the crowd at Shibuya crossing, he better got the name right. It's Hachiko, not Pachinko! Again we split off and together with a couple of us, I went to the Nintendo Tokyo. The iconic red t-shirt was sold out, though. 

At night, the weather had become pretty extreme, I'd say. I wanted to go to Uniqlo and got me something warm, but I never made it there throughout the trip, haha. We stopped by for a while at ABC-Mart instead because BL and HRR wanted to check out the shoes. They moved to another store while the rest of us regrouped. It was suggested that we better rushed to Shinjuku, so off we went. The whole thing was quite chaotic and it didn't help that Shibuya was so crowded. Little did we know that BL was left behind.

HRR, posing with Ryu in Shibuya.

By the time I saw the messages on the chat, we were already in the train. I texted BL back and we went to Don Quijote in Shinjuku. I bought a neck warmer that I eventually wore as a beanie as it was unbearably cold that night. It was freezing, so cold that I was more interested in another warm shelter rather than exploring Shinjuku. At first we went to Osakaya (BL managed to find us here) and had okonomiyaki for our dinner, then we went to Omoide Yokochō to drink sake. 

Our table was on the second floor, next to the staircase. We fitted ourselves in a place so tiny, so crammed, so Japanese and most importantly, so warm. The sake was warm, too, best enjoyed with edamame beans. So there we were, drinking sake and talking about any topics anyone could bring to the table. Now that the moments had passed, we also made fun of Parno for being such a crybaby, haha!

The night in Shinjuku.

Liburan Ke Jepang: Hari Ketiga

Istilah hari ketiga ini adalah sebuah lelucon tersendiri bagi kita yang ikut-serta dalam liburan kali ini. Sewaktu kita merencanakan liburan ini, semua tempat yang tidak berhasil disepakati, kita masukkan ke hari ketiga. Alhasil, hari ketiga jadi paling padat rutenya, haha. 

Pagi di Pasar Ikan Tsukiji.

Hari ketiga ini dimulai dengan kunjungan ke Pasar Tsukiji (atau Kamakura bagi Landak yang bepergian sendiri). Rencananya kita akan sarapan pagi di sana, jadi kita berangkat pagi-pagi (sebelum matahari terbit, seperti yang kita lakukan hampir setiap hari selama berada di Jepang) dan berjalan dari Stasiun Ginza ke pasar ikan. Susan dan kawan-kawan secara naluriah ikut antri untuk membeli tamago karena yang antriannya panjang harusnya enak. Eday dan saya berjalan lebih jauh lagi dan akhirnya memesan chirashi don. BL pun menyusul ke tempat yang sama.

Ketika kita bergabung lagi dengan yang lain, Gunawan menggiring kita ke toko mochi dan bersikeras bahwa kita harus mencobanya. Motifnya segera terkuak: Gunawan ternyata terpukau oleh gadis penjual mochi karena dia lebih pendek dari Gunawan. Dia bahkan kian terpincut ketika sang gadis bersedia untuk foto bersama. Parno mengomeli Gunawan yang mau-maunya foto berdua, tapi tidak sangka dia sendiri pun langsung menyerobot dan minta difoto juga!

Di "Bank Jepang."

Setelah kunjungan ke pasar ikan, kita berjalan ke Stasiun Tsukiji. Kita melewati gedung yang megah dan luas lapangannya, lalu masuk ke dalam untuk melihat-lihat. Sempat kita kira bahwa ini adalah Bank Jepang karena Parno bergumam dengan yakin. Ternyata gedung ini adalah Tsukiji Hongwanji, Wihara Budha yang tidak lazim arsitekturnya. Saya sendiri mengira bahwa ini adalah Kuil Shinto. Banyak yang sedang sembahyang di sana, jadi kita pun menyelinap pergi dalam hening.

Pemberhentian berikutnya adalah Akihabara. Kita berpisah dengan teman-teman wanita dan mengerjakan hal-hal maskulin seperti minum kopi di Excelsior Caffé dan melihat-lihat koleksi mainan dan buku di Tamashii Nation, Radio Kaikan dan Mandarake. Oh ya, ada begitu banyak pernak-pernik dari masa kecil kita di sana, dan sekarang kita memiliki uang dan berada di tempat yang tepat untuk membelinya.

Playing Final Fight again!

Yang paling saya nikmati selama berada di Akihabara adalah bermain Final Fight lagi. Tidak ada yang mengalahkan serunya bermain game ini di dingdong. Sudah paling benar caranya karena menggunakan joystick. Dengan demikian, saya bisa melakukan kombo yang dikenal dengan sebutan tinju balik di Pontianak. Dan ternyata saya masih luwes dalam mengeksekusi gerakan ini. Saya mencapai Rolento di kali pertama dan kalah melawan Abigail di kali kedua. Lumayan bagus untuk seseorang yang sudah tidak bermain Final Fight di dingdong selama 20 tahun!

Setelah menyantap ramen sebagai makan siang di Akihabara, kita pergi ke Roppongi Hills. Saatnya membeli kaos Hard Rock lagi! Sambil menunggu Eday yang ada rapat kantor, kita minum sejenak di Hard Rock Cafe. Tidak berapa lama kemudian dia datang dan setelah melihat ruangan kafe yang hanya diisi oleh kita, Eday lantas menggelar panggung dadakan. Siapa sangka kesempatan tersebut menjadi peristiwa yang akan kita kenang selalu? Begitu mengharukan, sampai-sampai tidak sedikit yang meneteskan air mata. Ya, hampir semua, kecuali Landak yang makan sendirian di Shibuya sambil menanti kita ke sana.

Bersama Hachiko yang nyaris tidak kelihatan di belakang.

Dari Hard Rock Cafe, kita beranjak ke Shibuya karena Gunawan ingin melihat anjing penjudi, Pachinko. Eday mengingatkannya lagi, kalau dia tidak mau dihajar massa yang berlalu-lalang di penyeberangan Shibuya, sebaiknya dia tidak salah nama. Anjing itu bernama Hachiko, bukan Pachinko! Setelah itu kita berpencar lagi. Saya dan beberapa teman pergi ke Nintendo Tokyo. Sayang kaos merahnya sedang terjual habis pada saat kita ke sana. 

Semakin malam, semakin ekstrim pula cuacanya. Saya ingin ke Uniqlo untuk membeli pakaian yang hangat, tapi tidak pernah tercapai sepanjang liburan, haha. Dari Parco, kira berhenti sebentar di ABC-Mart karena BL dan HRR ingin melihat sepatu. Mereka lantas berpindah ke toko berikutnya sementara kita berkumpul lagi dengan yang lain. Sewaktu diskusi diputuskan bahwa kita sebaiknya bergegas ke Shinjuku. Ramainya Shibuya membuat koordinasi terasa kacau dan tergesa-gesa. Tidak kita sadari bahwa BL masih tertinggal di Shibuya. 

HRR berpose dengan Ryu di Shibuya.

Ketika saya melihat grup WA lagi, kita sudah berada di dalam kereta. Saya kabarkan pada BL tentang tujuan kita ke Don Quijote di Shinjuku. Di sana saya membeli penghangat leher yang akhirnya saya pakai sebagai kupluk karena dinginnya malam itu sungguh menyengat. Begitu dinginnya angin malam sehingga saya lebih berminat dengan tempat hangat di dalam gedung daripada menjelajahi Shinjuku. Awalnya kita mampir ke Osakaya (BL berhasil menemukan kita di sini) dan menyantap okonomiyaki, lalu kita ke Omoide Yokochō untuk minum sake.  

Meja kita ada di lantai dua, tepat di samping tangga. Kita duduk berdempetan di tempat yang sempit khas Jepang, tapi yang lebih penting itu hangat tempatnya. Sakenya pun hangat dan enak dinikmati bersama kacang edamame. Di sana kita melewati malam di Tokyo, menenggak sake dan berbicara tentang topik apa saja yang terlontar. Karena momennya sudah berlalu, kita juga bercanda dengan Parno, bertanya kenapa dia cengeng, haha! 

Malam di Shinjuku.