A walk in the park

I finally went sightseeing last Saturday for the first time since my arrival in Japan. I asked Faizly to take me to the Tokyo Mosque, probably one of the largest and ‘proper’ mosques available in Japan. There are a lot of mosques and musollas in Tokyo, but most are located in residential buildings, so they don’t look like a traditional mosque, lacking the domes and minarets. The new Tokyo Mosque (a replacement for the one built in 1938 which was demolished in 1986) is a traditional Ottoman mosque. With its beautiful domes, calligraphy inscriptions, stained glasses and luxurious interior, it’s easily one of the most magnificent building I have came across in Tokyo. We arrived there a few minutes before opening time (10.00 a.m). I was already enthralled with the outer beauty of the white-marble mosque, but my first peek inside the mosque rendered me speechless... I took loads of pictures and once I get them from Faizly, I’ll post them here, insya Allah.

Thinking that autumn is almost over with the drastic temperature drop from 20C to below 10C, I asked Faizly to accompany me to Meiji Jingu, a Shinto Shrine located right behind Harajuku eki. I’d wanted to take some typical autumn picture – trees with a mixture of yellow, red, orange and brown leaves, with lots of fallen leaves on the ground. I’ve been told that there are a lot of gingko trees in Meiji Jingu, which makes it a perfect spot for momiji-gari (viewing autumn leaves). However, it turned out that we were a little bit early since most of the leaves were still green. Nevertheless, there was something refreshing about the crisp autumn weather – the sun was bright, the sky cloudless, and the temperature although a little chilly, was not quite freezing.

In the end, we managed to take some momiji-gari photos with a line of gingko trees somewhere in between Yoyogi and Harajuku eki. We even got to take some interesting photos of cute girls in kimono. Well, I’ve learned from some journals before that many Japanese parents take their small children to Shinto shrine for Shichi-go-san (753) festival sometime near November 15. Since we went there on November 19, there were still some parents and grandparents taking three or seven year old girls and three or five year old boys to Meiji Jingu for some special thanksgiving and prayers ceremony. They - girls in complete kimono costumes and young boys in hakama – made a really pretty sight. We could tell who had finished their prayers by noting the absence of the long packages of chitose-ame (thousand-year candy) on the new arrivals.

While I must admit that the sightseeing was good and I enjoyed it – for a minute or two I felt like I was going through the ultimate test of loneliness. There I was in a park full of people and in the company of a friend who was willing to accompany me despite having to sit for Mid-semester exam two days ahead, yet I felt a gloomy feeling of loneliness. I looked around at kids with their parents and it made me yearned to be with my baby and husband more than ever. In other parts of Tokyo where thousands of people walk and quickly pass by, I never felt quite alone because I was one among those in the stream of always-in-a-hurry-pedestrians. But there in the peaceful Meiji Jingu area, where most people strolled at leisurely pace, seemingly to enjoy the quietness and calmness of the large park surrounding the shrine, I missed my family most.

I drank in the sights of little girls clutching tightly to their mothers' hands as they walked carefully on the pebbly wide path through the woods. I wondered what was inside their minds as the boys in their best traditional costumes ran ahead of the adults after the ceremony was over. And I found myself wishing so badly for my hubby and baby to be with me right there, united as a family, enjoying the serenity so uncommon in Tokyo.

I didn’t dwell on the loneliness for too long though.

As I walked on the small rough pebbles, it dawned on me that by walking upon those pebbles, I learned to appreciate the smoothness of some un-pebbled path better. I guess, being away from my family is one of those pebbly paths I had chosen to take - I’ll appreciate its rewards someday...