5:30PM aka 1:30 AM Seat 35J

Well no Business class, but I got economy plus, in the exit row, so at least I'm not cramped. Not sure if I'll be able to sleep or not, only time will tell.

NRT Terminal 1 Gate 35

Boy the rain today is hard. I chose to skip Ueno park, as I mentioned, but I kind of wish I saw the statue of the samurai walking his dog. Zannen desu.

The propietor woman as I was leaving te hotel was very nice and gave me some tea bags with little US and Japan toothpick flags and a hotel card. Also she gave me a plastic luggage cover. That, and my raincoat and umbrella I got yesterday made the treck to Keisei Ueno terminal fairly dry. I decided to spend Y900 extra for the superliner. I currently have Y21,000 in bills to reconvert when I get back home. I think I spent 60-70K on food and trains and such (not counting hotel bills on credit cards). Not too bad for 10 days, considering I had some fantastic meals. Japan is not cheap but it is not super expensive either.

Anyhow, I got to the airport and checked in. I got tokoyaki to eat, because I could, and I noticed it before the soba/udon place. Oh well, I can get noodles at home, but not takoyaki, as far as i know.

I have 3 hours until my flight boards, assuming I get on. We shall See, we shall see.

Oh, I got duty free daifuku mochi, and a good number puzzle magazine. Too bad I don't have a pencil, or I'd be doing puzzles now.

Andersen Bakery, Ueno Station

Slight disappointment here - no an pan! Maybe an pan is too plebian for this place? I have a muffin and an appl tart and the tea is good.

It is raining hard today. I think I shall not get to see Ueno Koen. Oh well, I'll survive. What this means is that I'll be heading back to Narita early (like 10ish) and I can chill there, I suppose.

It's pretty amazing that the trip is concluding. Months (and years) of planning and here it is, at the end. Was it how I expected? Of course not. Was it good? Of course - er no, it was great. It's so razy to be in a place like this. So homogeneous - I thnk that's the #1 most striking thing to me. Followed only slightly by the sense of history. Places that make New England seem young, let alone IL.

New Izu Hotel

No An Pan at Andersen, but I got An donut, and it was fine. I hope to find An pan tomorrow AM.

Tengu, Ueno

Back at the hotel I took a short (15-20 minute) nap and relaxe a bit, then decided to go out. I went to Shinjuku, taking the Yamamote line, so I've now done the whole circuit of central tokyo. I checked my email at b@gus and tired to find the address of Tengu in Ueno, but failed. On my way I saw a BIG one in ikebukuro, so I figured I could go there if nothing else. (nevermnd the Shinjuku one). After my hour in b@gus I JRed back to Ueno to look for Tengu. I found it. Two things - 1) I didn't go far enough earlier by 1/4 block and 2) they had a sign out in the street now that they were open, so I could have seen it where I was earlier today. So i was right, easier to find at night. I ordered all different things than last time. The fires ame with ketchup, bu about 1/4 the amount htat I would have wanted normally with that volume of fries. This Tengu is less animated than the other one, but still good. Here is what I ate:

• Baked Oysters with mayo, cheese and panko
  
• Pickle assortment
• Sukiyake Nabe
  
• Potato Fries
  
• Chicken Meatball Yaki.

I did not order the shrimp and mayo pizza or whale sashimi.

Cafe Veloce, Ueno

I got a snack at Mistukoshi then headed back to Ueno. On account of the rain I skipped the park, but I'll probably look at it tomororw before I leave for Narita. Instead I visited a toystore, then looked for the Tengu I saw yesterday. I failed, but I hope that it was just hidden because it was closed. I'll try to look it up at the hotel. I then slogged down to Kappabashi Dori o see if I could find a bento box to buy - but nothing I liked for less than 30 bucks. I think i can do better than that at home, and not have to worry about it breaking in transit. Feet sore. I stopped in the cafe to rest a bit before returning to the hotel.

Unagi-ya, Ginza

Joan's directions were spot on for for this one. I hope the food is as gooda s I believe it will be.

Rainin gtoday - sort of sad but oh well. I visisted the east garden of the Imperial Palace. It has neat ruins of Edo Castle in it. On account of the weather, not too many photos. Well, so be it. I strolled around for about an hour, then I hit Mistukoshi's main store. I explored the store pretty thoroughly - funny place. Kind of like you stepped back in time to the 1950s. I bought some Genmaicha.

Ok, I got my food (medium sized ungai donburi and miso soup) and it was delicious. The soup had lots of tofu, mushrooms, and some sort of celery and parsely hybrid. Great on a rainy day lke today. The unagi was tender, mild and delicious. Good pickle too. Probably a bit better than Kyoto eel. I shall finish my tea and get a pastry at mitsukoshi.

Outside Ueno Station

It's very nice out, so i went for a short stroll. Earlier I had gone to Yokohama china town - amusing, and saw Yamashita Park, and the statue given to Yokohama by San Diego. China Town has lots of gates. Then I rode the train back to Shin Yokohama and went to the "Raumen Museum" which I already mentioned. I had spicy miso ramen. It was good, not as good as aoba, but good. I got some fried bread for dessert. Then I headed back to tokyo.

I picked up a Cherry Danish at Andersen bakery in Ueno Station, mostly just to check it out. If I wanted to be scientific and compare it to Andersen in SF, I should have gotten An Pan! Well, maybe tomorrow. Anyhow, I looked for a manga cafe and I found one, but they lied and said they werne't open, despite the 24 hour sign outside. Oh well. I found another Tengu which I might go to tomorrow. And the hotel has a computer to check my email at.

LC gave me the phone number for a friend of her's in Tokyo - I will call him, but it seems likely that he is currently out of Japan. Oh well.

Ramen Museum, Shin-Yokohama

How strange to be here! This place is hilarious. Not so much of a museum, but more of an all ramen food court with an entrance fee. That's fine because it's fun. And I got to order and pay by the ticket machine, finally.

Kodama Shinkansen to Yokohama

I am about to be on my way to go to Yokohama for the RAMEN MUSEUM. Yar!!!!! I will also check out china town. I failed to find Kaitenzushi for lunch, but there was a sheap standing sushi bar I ate at. It was pretty decent, but not as good as Tsukiji breakfast sushi. I went to the Shibuya b@gus to check email. I like the one in Shinjuku better. However I had weird corn soup drink. My hotel in Ueno seems decent enough. My current room has the cutest little door, with cute multi colored numbers on it.

Yamamoto Line to Shibuya

I took JR to Ueno to drop my back of the the New Izu hotel. I have to say again, MAN that Kodansha Atlas is TEH BEST! Anyhow, now I am off to shibuya to see Hachiko and such. In the previous station, Hamamatsucho there was a hilarious statue of a guy peeing. I only saw it from behind, but that is why I am writing this entry.

Room 4211

I just got back from a 1.5 hour walk around nishiki shinjuku. Shinjuku Central park is nice, I was there when they turned on the waterfalls. But really, I like it better east of the Station than here. It takes about as long to get anywhere from here as from hatagaya!

Last night I was too lazy to write, so I'll update on that now. I walked to east shinjuku to get dinner at Tsunihachi tempura. The set that I orderd included delicious conger eel, which was alive and wrigling and shown to me before it was dispatched and fired up deliciosly. The prawns were also alive just prior to eating. The tempura was great - light and crunch. And because I was sitting at the bar, I could watch them fry it all up. It was wonderfully paces, so I got 2 items or so at a time, and I would have new fresh food right around when I finished what I had in front of me. At the end I had the obligatory miso and rice. The miso had about two dozen tiny clams in it. I pulled the yummies out of them with my chopsticks, and then it was sort of like japnese clam chowder, and very good. Dinner with beer was cheaper than breakfast by about Y1000. hah.

Afterewards I went to mistukoshi to look for something for a dessert. - Haha MTV Japan is playing HoIoM which Christian Death Metal or something. Anyway, Mitsuokoshi shinjuku has a sad foodcourt. It's a lot more like a us mall food court than the one at the nihombashi store. But I god an orange passion fruit ice cream mochi, which I ate on my walk back to the hotel. It was pretty tasty.

Back that the hotel I watched No Reservations, then I hit the bar up for a drink. I hung out up there for about an hour, before coming back down to my room and gong to sleep.

I will enjoy the posh room a bit more before I check out. I think I'll go to Shibuya today, and then the yokohama Ramen Museum for dinner.

Oh, I read "A Wrinkle In Time" cover to cover yesterday. It made me a bit sad, and I don't know why. It is a lovely book. I was also bummed that I brought "A Swiftly Tiling Planet", and not "A Wind in the Door". So I started reading "Winter's World" today. I want to reread Heinleins "Time for the Stars" and "Anna to the Infinite Power" Hah.

Room 4211 Park Hyatt Tokyo (Shinjuku)

The room is pretty nice. I just took a bath in a "normal" soaking tub, while reading and drinking green tea. Before coming here I read in a park and ate a take-away sushi bento from a place next to the market for lunch. I plan to go to tempura for dinner later, but first more tea, relaxation and reading.

I am saddened that it is overcast out, but I have a good view of Yoyogi park, at least.

Cafe Doutour, Tsuskiji

I'm going to kill a couple of hours by slacking in Tsukiji before I go to the park hyatt to slack more. MOstly slack today - my feed need it. Besdies, I am starting to get tuckered out. Hah!

So this morning I woke up around 4:40AM to the alarm. I wonder how late I would have slept on my own. I got dressed and headed outisde. I then *shambled* towards tuskihi market. My legs were being retardo. I had the aspirin in my pack, so i took some. I shambled some more and finally found the inner market. I felt recharged upon finding it. I guess the apsirin was kicking in, but also, it was really freaking neat.

So - 1) Weird trucks. They drive htem crazy all around the market. And I've not seen anything like them before. An engine in a barrell that you turn to move the litlte truck. So gnomish looking. But they seem to work out well.

2) The inner market was a trip. Giant tuna carcasses in very states of dissassembly. From the tail lopped off, the head and tail lopped off, to deloined. I watched a large part of the disssasembly of a particlarly huge one I arrived in the middle of the beheading. Next they cut off the finds. And then they began to remove the loins. They used a 6' knife to remove the loin from the spine. It was fascinating.

I also got to see some smaller live fish being atually dispatched. This really creeped out a woman near me. The sheer variety of seafood there is amazing. The quantity equally so. The japapnese really like their fish, don't they? After I weaved my way through the whole inner market, I headed out to the outer market to get some fish to eat. 3400Y later I was filled with oisshii sushi. Chutoro, tamago, aji, amaebi, tako and more. I peaked into the big concrete temple on my way back - prayer was in sesion.

I rested and showered and shaved at the hotel before chekcing out. Sadly I had seen a pharmacy the day before that i could not find today. Oh well. Changing geography makes sense in a place like this. I'll relax more with mu kohi- and an pan before we'll see. 1.5 more hours to kill without much walking.

Ginza Capital Annex, Tsukiji

I am tired an sore. But i had a neat assed morning. Well first the rest of yesterday, as I basically CRASHED at 9:30PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got back to Shinjuku, grabbed my second bag at Tokyo station. It took 15 minutes to find my large suitcase, but that was not so bad. I was in a lot of pain because of the food blisters. I pretty much wussed out on taking the train to my hotel and hired a taxi instead. Hah. So I love how even cabbies can't find places here. He screwed up a bit, admitted it (calling himself Baka!) and then turned the meter off before driving me to the right place. I really wish I spoke more Japanese, but I communicated OK with him.

This hotel is pretty good. Comfortable bread, good AC, TV with 20 channels (8 of them copies of course) Also, great location. 5 blocks from the central fish market. But I'll get to that later.

So as soon as I got ot my room I lanced my giant blister on my right pinky toe. It was actually 2 blisters upon closer examination. It helped a lot. And 30 minutes later I headed out to go to Odaiba.

Yurikamome "new transit" is really cool. A driverless train so if you are in a end car, like I was, you have a fantastic view. I rode all the way to the terminal station, then came back. I stopped first at Daiba to check out that area for sunset. It was beautiful but I felt really happy despite my sore, dumb feet. Food choices were odd, so I just got joe random ebi tempura. Then I went to Aomi. Toyotoland is hilarious. Especially the "ride one" road thingy. THe big stack of test drive cars was crazy. I was pretty bushed at this time, and the thought of paying Y500 to get in to an arcade was not high on my agenda, so I ended up skipping Joyopolis. My video game roots feel betrayed. I headed back to the hotel, stopping to buy an aisan pear at a fruit stand and a convini snack. I ate a bit of snacks, took a shower then fell asleep watching Green Wing, some time around 9:30 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To be continued.

Inside Shinjuku Gyoen

Well the blister on my little toe is the size of a grape. If I can find a pin and a source of flame I am going to lance it at the hotel tonight.

Outside Shinjuku Gyoen

Ok, so the capsule was uhm, an experience. The bed was not uncomfortable. But i woke p to pee and some dude had porno on super loud. Japanese porn actors' "voice acting" is nutso. I wa asleep at 10:30pm. At 4:56AM I woke up again, to loud snoring, several rows away. So i decided to get up and start my day. The shower was fiiine, and I was on my with to B@gus. I had some tea, checked my email and then out to get a snack (mr donut). So I have to say that Kabuki-cho is hilarious. First I was offered a shoer, bj and sex for Y20,000 by what I hope was ap imp, not a male prostitute. Which I quickly declined. Then 10 minues later I was at a shinto shrine. Har!

Still hungry, and with a sore foot, I stopped at a convini. I got what I thought was plum in syrup. But it turned out to be plum in jello. And it was delicous. And now i am sitting outside the garden waiting for more stuff to open. Perhaps the drug store. Or the park.

Cyber Cafe B@gus, Shinjuku

I ended up eating a screwey sandwich with 5x the normal amount of mayonaise from Family Mart. It was not ideal, but it helped me survice. I went to nishiki-dori, which is the big kyoto market. I sampled some delicious pickles, and took some pictures, then I went back to the Sumiya to get my stuff and head to the JR station.

They really are so polite at the ryokan. It's great. Barley tea while waiting for my taxi, along with some an mochi. 3 people bowed to me on the way out. When I got to the station I had about 10 minutes before the next Hikari, so I investigate food options. I found a bento stand that looked ok. Well it was pretty good - I ate it on the train. The only downside was the weird snail. It was sealed shut, so uhm, I didn't eat it. I finished Artemis Fowl book 2 today. Started up on Serve it Forth. The train ride was uneventful. But when I got to Tokyo station I took about 15 minutes looking for the big lockers to stash my luggage for the night. I hope I can find it again tomorrow. Anyhow, I stopped here to check my email before checking out the Capsule hotel across the way. Mmmm free calpis. One of the best features of this cyber cafe is the beverage machine!

Chion-in

Man, Chion-in is impresive. I saw this and Nanzen-ji today. Well, the gate at Nanzen-ji is fantastic, but Chion-in is just wonderful.

I had Japanese breakfast this morning, but no natto (turns out it's a Tokyo/Eastern Japan thing). Well it was good. Miso and grilled fish and rice. I am pretty hungry - I went to a Lawson's earlier, but I wussed out, and didn't get anything. I guess I'll have to try again someplace else later.

I also went to a really small shinto shrine. On my way out an older Japanese woman said Konnichiwa to me. I said Konnichiwa back, and this made me happy.

Sumiya Ryokan

Dinner. So, I got what I thought was a human sized glass of water. And then I realized it had a small lip. It was a pitcher. This amused me. Here is what I had for dinner:

1. Carp Sashimi
2. Snapper, shrimo, kanpachi and "conga" no clue what that least this is, but it tastes pretty good
   
3. Soup with mushroom and conga, along with egg tofu. The latter is for the moon viewing season, which is going on
   
4. Unagi
   
5. Grilled fish and pickles
6. Smoke fish and roe
   
7. mushroom, dried shrimp, and fish dish, and some melon
   
8. more soup with fish
   
9. More sashimi, including some sort of liver and flying fish
   
10. Miso and rice with ume, and more pickles
    
11. Fruit with champagne jello

All of this took about 1.5 hours. It was pretty much all very tasty

Sumiya Ryokan, Kyoto

The shinkansen ride was nice. About 3 hours. A highlight is that i pooed in a Japanese style toilet on the train. I had a choice between floor toilet and regular. And I thought "what the heck".

I got to the Kyoto station and navigated my way to the taxi stand and off to the inn. I dropped off my bags and was greeted with ice mugicha (barley tea) and rice crackers. Yum. I was 90% sure of my stomache, but soon would be the real test. I went to East kyoto, but first I stopped at an unagi restaurant. It was very good, and my gut survived, so I think I am all clear.

After lunch I went to Heian Jingo, which was nice, but there was some event going on at the shrine, and they were seting up lights all over. Oh well, it's still pretty. Afterwards I hiked over to Nanzen-ji. But, arg, it started to rain. Not that hard, but I scrapped the trip to the temple, especially since I left my rain jacet in my luggage.

To be prudent, I decided to go to the post office near Kyoto station to get me some hakagi no kitte. I actualy asked for them in semi-proper japanese - niju mai hagaki no kitte o onegai shimasu. After getting the stamps and mailing some postcards, I went to the TIC at kyoto station to get some internet time. It's a good thing, because I had a deadline for confirming my hotel for the last two nights in Japan. Hah. Anyway, by the time I was done with that it was pouring out, so I made my way back to Sumiya. The map that I had was pretty crappy (oh, did I miss the awesome Tokyo atlas) , and so it was kind of a crap shoot if I was going the right way. In my head I could see a lot of people just giving up and hiding from the rain. But I made it. A bit wet, of course, but that's ok.

I decided to take some pictures of my room, but the rechargeable batteries in my flash were dead. I should have charged them before leaving, but oh well. I went back out to 7-11 just down the street for some AAs. When I got back I took pics, jumped in the shower, changed into the yukata and wrote postcards while waiting for dinner.

Hikari 365 Shinkansen

I feel much better today - not 100%, but probably 90%. Pretty certain. I guess I got bit by stomach virus. Oh well. I am abotu to head to Kyoto. Tonight is one of my fancy nights, in the pimp ryokan. That should be nice

Ok, so the train is now off. Wow, its a pretty nice and smooth ride. Only been underway for 10 minutes but I'm liking this

Sakura Hotel

Guts OK. Mango Yogurt and some awesome blueberry and chery gummy candies was m dinner. YUM.

Sakura Hotel

Ugh, today was well... not a complete waste, but very bad. Some combo of jetlag, food poisoning, I dunno. I woke up and had the hotel breakfast, and then I think I doomed myself with a Wonda After shot. WTF? Ok, so the I went to Shinjuku with the intention of writing out some postcards and check email. Well, I felt like poo. I planned 2 good meals for today, unagi and tempura, but no. So I felt like shit but I thought it would pass. So after sitting at Mister Donut for a bit, I got on a JR train to Harajuku. Well after sitting in the park for a bit I still felt awful, so I headed back to the hotel. Good thing, because soon after I got back I puked up all my pan and co-hi- from the morning. Ugh. I lied down for a bit and then felt a bit better. I decided to go back to Harajuku and the Meiji-jingu - a big shrine in the park dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife - it was quite beatiful. I saw a wedding procession while I was there, which was really neat. Woot. But then the sicks came back. I rested on a bench for a bit, but then I decided I had better get back to the hotel. While I was on teh JR train I was basically hanging from the handhold I felt so crappy. When we got to the Shinjuku Station I was feeling most queazy. I tried to sit down on the platform, but vomit. I felt like a complete birk. I was kind of surprised that no one said "daijobu desu ka" to me. Ahh well, at least it was really watery puke, and not too pungent. So after the vomits, back to the hotel I went. Of course, when I got back, they were cleaning my room. So I went and sat in the park in Hatagaya for 45 minutes. There as some sort of religious event happenign in the square on teh other side of the park. One of those big portable shrine things. It was neat to see and rather random. So now it was 2:15 and I went back to the room. I barely made it back to my room I was so dizzy. I had some unfortunate toilet time, but it wasn't so bad. I was very dizzy, but I managed to get down 1 floor and start some laundry. But when I had to go back between steps I was so drained and dizzy. I figured I was dehydrated so i grabbed a beverage that turned out to be a grapefruit flavored sport drink from the vending machine near the laundry. It felt really good to drink. When I got back to my room with my dry laundry and the bottle, i dropped it all ont he floor and flopped down into bed. I ended up take an hour and a half or so nap.

Next thing I know it is 7pm and I feel not awful. So I ate my last bit of pocky and drank some more water. I figure that if I am feeling ok at 8:30PM I might go get some AMPM. I am watching Doors, a pretty absurd 'danger show'. The toughest transvestite in Japan is on and is being a complete wuss. At most 1/10 of the contestants made it through round 1's obstacle course. It's very video game esque. Speaking of video game, it's funny that Keio is a train that i take, a mall, and also makes games for the DS.

Sakura Hotel

Fuck are my feet sore. Too much sweating and too much walking. Tomorrow I will try to control my walking some - or at least that's the plan. 5km or less is my goal! I don't want to know how many km I walked today. To say dozens would not be a lie.

Ok, so I went to Roppongi, got off the train, and hoofed it to Tokyo Tower. Not a bad walk, but a little hilly near the tower. Oh, yeah, a couple of americans asked me if I knew where the Hardrock Cafe was, while I was still in the station - I didn't but my map did. They were impressed by it. Anyway, I got some postcards at the gift shop at Tokyo Tower, then took the subway back to Roppongi Crossing.

I explored Roppongi Hills, and I am a bit mixed on this place. It's pretty nice, but it's also a bit sterile. It could almost be in the US. But it has an elegant simplicity i can appreciate. On my meanderings I came across Chinese Cafe 8, another place recommended by my friend Joan. I had dinner there which included a complimentary glass of Asahi? Uhh, ok! I had a ginger duck stirfry and welsh onion dumplings. It was very tasty stuff. The restaurants specialty is a whole fried duck, and from where I was sitting I could see them carving this for presentation for the lucky people who ordered it. The cutting was very skilled and neat to see. After I finished dinner I decided it was time to head over to the Mori tower.

I went up the Mori Tower to the Tokyo City View. It was a good time there, and I took some mediocre pictures of the city at night. I also saw the Sky Aquarium, a strange art exhibit with the concept of aquariums as art. This British guy berated the Japanese women he was with for saying that the weird fish (which I thought was pretty creepy) was oishii. That's funny and stereotypical, but I thought that at some other tank, as well. But really, the one that they were pointing to, kowai desu ne! Well after going through the art exhibit based on some architect, I decided it was time for some dessert.

Haha, I ended up at cold stone. It was weird, because the workers are crazy insane happy - and they sing after each order since there is no tipping. The fruit was exceptionally deliscious. I decided to head back at this time as Heartland, a bar I wanted to check out, wasn't open, and I was pretty tired anyway. I soaked my feat, then hit the AMPM and got a 10% off onigiri. It was an ume one, and really, I can only take so much Ume. But the rice and nori were really good. Calpis Melon Cream soda is really good. Now it is time to go to sleep.

Sakura Hotel

Sony was amusing. Then I went to the Mitsukoshi department store. Mmmm. Food courts here are amazingly crazy. I walked around for at least 15 minutes, then I got some crab and shrimp gyoza for 1000Y. Well they came with a packet of sauce but no chopsticks. I thought I would go outside and swipe some from a convenience store - but yeah, there are none in Ginza. Grumble. But I found a secluded area in the shade and ate them with my hands. Delicious. Then, having eaten, I went back to check out the store proper and get a pastry. The store itself is a bit stuffy, but neat. I spent 10 more minutes in the food court before I got a chocolate cone. Oh, and this reminds me, that trash is impossible to throw out in Japan. I had the gyoza trash with me until the hotel. How goofy. I will chill for 15 minutes and then it is off to Roppongi.

Ginza

Hrm, Ginza is pretty pretty amazing. Not a single convenient store on a 4 mile walk. OK, some of that includes a doubleback. But maybe I should back up... here is what happened since last i wrote: asagohan->shower->shinjuku. I checked email there, and got an update on the tempura place from Joan. I then went and found it. Huzzah! Then I came to Gina, and found out that I had 50 minutes until the Sony Building opens, so i decide to go on a walk. I'm on the lookout for a convenience store to get an onigiri, but none. Even vending machines are hidden on back streets here. I lost my kick ass Kodansha map... I put it down to take a picture and I guess I forgot to pick it up. A mile and change later I realize it's missing, and walk back, but alas, it is not where I thought I left it. No fear, I found a bookstore and bought a new copy. Then I resumed my search for an onigiri. I found a restaurant called ONY (Original Natural Yard), where they didn't speak english. But I got an ebi onigiri anyhow, because I'm good like that. I think I like the ones from the convience store better, but it at least the shrimp was good. It's time for Sony to open, so I will go there now.

Sakura Hotel

I woke up POO early (4:30 AM) but sat in bed for an hour. Then got up and looked at all the signts in Hatagaya. Hah. I'm about to grab some hotel breakfast and then shower. Today Ginza. Tonight? Rappongi Hills! and Tokyo tower. I should grab some postcards today.

Sakura Hotel

I'm Pooped. I had Tengu (an izakaya - japanese style pub) for dinner. I tried and failed to find Joan's tempura place, but I found an internet cafe and emailed her to try to get more information. Upon walking out of the internet cafe I saw that the next building over had a Tengu in it, which was recommended as a fairly easy to deal with and tasty enough izakaya.

I talked to a middle aged, Japanese businessman who was 2 seats down from me. He was a really nice guy. He gave me some suggestions of where to go, and we just talked about various things for about an hour as we ate. On my way back to the hotel I stopped at AMPM for some pocky and water. Now I will watch some TV on my iPod and then sleep.

Sakura Hotel, Hatagaya

I dropped my bags of here, as it was too early for check in, then I went back over to Shinjuku to get my JR pass set up. However, I didn't take anything with me besides my voucher and passport, so I got way lost in Shinjuku. But I did manage to burn all the time I needed to before checkin, so that's not so bad. I took a much needed shower and rested a bit. Now I will head back to Shinjuku for dinner.

Makudonarudo

Yes, I've done it. pulled my 1 "get out of jail free" card and went to Mcdonald's. I had the Ebi Filet-o sandwich set... a shrimp sandwich. It's pretty good. Before I went to Mcdonald's I fumbled around in the Asakusa Matsuya's food court. But abundance of choice for the loss. I had an AMPM Onigiri at 10AM - no freaking idea what wa sin it, but it was very good. I walked around Akihabra, good time. Then I went back to Kappabashi Dori and bought some sushi models. Now, I will collect my bags from the hotel and head towards Shinjuku.

Akihabra Mister Donut

At 8AM the tokyo subway is amazingly crazy, just like you'd expect. Luckily half the train got out at Akihabra station with me. I proceeded to get myself nice and lost, but after 15 minutes I found my bearings and found this mr donut.

Outside a 7-11

I woke up at 4:30 AM. Since I was asleep around 9PM instead of my 10PM goal, I said "Eh" and got up, did the typical S & S & S, then walked around outside. I am locked out until 7am, but that's ok. I took some sunrise pics of the "golden sperm" and a statue and the river. I got Boss coffee from a vending machine. Mr. Donut doesn't open until 7:30 am. So i decided to go to 7-11. I got some really yummy cherry yogurt and a madeline.

Ryokan Shigetsu, Asakusa, Tokyo

So, I listened to/watched "Paprika" on the flight, and read through Rainbow's End, and watched "Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer" which was just awful. Brian Posehn was in it, and I feel so bad for him. I had tea bag tea before landing with "breakfast".

Going through immigration and customs was quick and easy. When I got into the main non secure part of the terminal, I was randomly stopped by the Po Po. I gave them my hotel for Friday night as my address in Japan, as I didn't yet have an address for tonight. But I soon fixed that. I went to the Welcome Inn desk and got the hotel in Asakusa. I also got advice to take the Keisei line there. I had to change trains once, but it only cost 1000Y, so not bad. I got money out of the 7Bank ATM in the terminal.

Upon arriving in Asakusa I meanered to my hotel, based on the map I was given by the Welcome Inn people. I stopped on my way and bought a Vitamin C water from a vending machine. I thought it was a decent drink. After only a little bit of extra wandering I found the ryokan, and got my room. I quickly changed out of my heavy cotton shirt, and put on a tshirt and put on sandals. The latter is a mistake - sweaty foot leads to chafing leads to sadness. I sent email to my parents from the lobby, then went out with my camera.

I walked around taking pictures for a while - the pagoda and shrine. Wander around, and found kitchenware town as it was closing down. I will go back there tomorrow. I stop at a vending machine and buy some delicious Pocari Sweat - YUM. I take some pics of the giant chef head and etc. Then I wander down Asakusa Dori and I start to get hungry. I consider getting onigiri at 7-11 but I mentally vetoed it.

After much more wandering I find a typical restaurant with some nice looking models of food out front. I got ebi (shrimp) tempura and it was mighty tasty. After dinner, walking back to the hotel, I got slightly lost and ende dup walking roughly 4 times longer than I should have if I went the right way.

Once I get back to the hotel I decide to use the upstairs bath, which was mighty relaxing. I'm watching TV while writing this journal entry. There is come cooking contest show on. There seemed to have been two themes - purple food, and food cooked with a blowtorch. Now I watch a bit more TV then sleep at 10PM.

SFO

I'm sitting here waiting to see if I'll get on the plane. Well, I got a picture of it anyway. I got to the airport at 8:30AM, and got some food and coffee, andhave been mostly reading. I guess I'll read more until I find out if I get on or not.

later:

23G - Business class, but with an economy meal is the verdict. What's funny is that I appear to be the best dressed person in Business class. Hurray for the dress code policy.