Nothing beats a good cup of coffee. Probably this is one of the best perks of holidays, that you can enjoy the tranquility of a good cup of coffee without worrying about what’s next. I had that cup of coffee in a really good roastery close to the hotel and planed my day.
The first stop was a Japanese sweets-company, Toraya”. There I had lunch and tasted again the traditional sweet beans pancake. The food here looks always good. Here I quote Tanizaki from the current book I am reading “It has been said of Japanese food that it is a cuisine to be looked at rather than eaten. I would go further and say that it is to be meditated upon, a kind of silent music evoked by the combination of lacquerware and the light of a candle flickering in the dark.”. Involving beans in desert was novel to me as well and it seems common here. I actually really like it and it is going to be on the long list of things I will miss from Japan.
It is raining. I took a taxi to the teamLab Planets museum, a museum for an immersive experience in artwork installations. A lot of people lining up. Once entered, the patch of visitors lined up in organised lines looking at a screen giving us instructions about the experience. Somehow looked like “Squid games”. The instructions told us that we will have to take off our shoes and socks since we will be walking in water sometimes. Also if you had a skirt, your underwear might be seen since some floors are mirrors! It reminded me of a favourite joke of my late father that I can only tell you in person 😅.
So We entered the venue! First we had to climb a slope with water flowing down. It seemed like a smart way to wash the feet of all the visitors before going bare feet into the museum. At the end of the slope there was this kind of water fall falling from the ceiling. I felt the excitement. Everywhere is lit with the minimal lighting. This goes well with what I am reading now “In Praise of Shadows”. I felt I was on the verge of a new experience, and I was not mistaken.
So the whole experience was divided into halls. The first hall was a black room with two doors, one for entrance and one for exit. The floor is covered by beanbags, so you can not walk straight. You step somewhere and this shifts the structure of the beanbags. Since many people pass through the room simultaneously, the pressure distribution becomes very dynamic depending on other people around you, and this is the point. It is about the effect on each step you take on your progress as well as on the others around you. I caught myself laughing out of joy. Then we went through black dark corridors with dim lights and with surround music to the next hall.
All walls, ceiling and floors were covered by mirrors, and hanging room the ceiling were strips of LED lights that changed colour in an amazing sequence. All this was accompanied by orchestrated music to fit the patterns. I was impressed. The whole installation felt surreal, somehow like Superman’s Kryptonite from the 1978 version (sorry young boys!). I sat in a corner of the installation and kept on watching. The whole mirrors thing makes you reflect a dozen times and this somehow was humbling.
The next hall was filled with creamy water till the middle of your leg. On the surface of the water were colourful projections that included various swimming fish as well as abstract colourful patterns. This experience was also kind of surreal, somehow like an LSD trip!
The next room was less significant. It was filled with huge balloons either resting on the ground or hanging from the ceiling or attached to the walls. The light of the room changed probably randomly to change the ambiance. The following hall was both simple but touching. It was a dome with mirror floor! On the doom was projected a vast space of blackness filled with all sorts and sizes of flowers. The flowers flew in countless shapes, numbers, and forms. Visitors were asked to lie on the mirror floor and enjoy the experience that was accompanied with mysterious space music. Here, I don’t know why, I felt emotional. I laughed a bit, then I got waves of sadness. This installation has touched something quiet distant inside me. I am not really aware what it was. Then there were two more exhibitions outdoor that I found less impressive. If you are interested in seeing these rooms, check this video below, of course you will be neither immersed nor impressed 🙂
After the exhibition I went shopping in the Ginza district since it was raining and cold. I managed to checkout a couple of small art galleries as well. I ended the first half of the day with a wagyu-steak dinner. It was delicious but a less than my expectations.
***
In the evening I went to another Latin club, Cafe Leon. I found mostly older people and only a few young ladies. I chatted a little with the owner and his friend in Spanish (both from Peru). Then I danced a few bachata songs. The level was quiet low, except of one young Japanese lady that had the moves. We had a good connection, which was noticed by my new Peruvian friend David. When I went back to my seat and sat beside David, he told me to go “get” that girl since she was “ripe” and an easy catch 😂. I told him I was not interested which shocked him and he showed a hugely disappointed face. Exactly like the GIF below and said “Cleopatra is crying in her tomb!”, I burst laughing.
I chatted with him a bit more and he suggested me to go to Okinawa, the “Hawaii of Japan”. I asked a few more things and got excited about some beach time in this trip. So I decided to include it in my plan. I soon left to go to El Cafe Latino since I knew that there will be a busier party there, and there was. A looot of Latinos make me feel home somehow. Shortly later I found “David” entering the cafe to my surprise hehe. We are almost friends now.
Dance, dance, dance.
for my heart mirrors every turn of yours,
Swiftly glide through space,
Spreading elegance and captivating smiles
like charity that makes us poorer
A shining beauty in the shadows of Tokyo,
witnessed by your admiring crowd.
With unmistakable passion,
your presence is clear and loud.
But they all seem to fail,
To see what’s beyond the veil.
I can see and I can tell.
But … well..
