Japan Day 11

Date: April 2, 2013

Tuesday we explored more temples and shrines in Nara. But first, food. =)

I love unagi and the night before, we came across a restaurant that specialized in unagi. Unfortunately they were closing so we couldn’t try it then, but told ourselves we had to try it the next day. At the front of the restaurant was a small tank with a couple of eels in it. The poor things had no idea what’s in store for them.

The food was really good. I had an unagi rice bowl and hubby had unagi rolls and unagi sushi. We both split a fairly large order of tamago with unagi folded into it. My belly was very happy.

I can’t believe how many shrines and temples there are. We didn’t even see half of them during our trip. The first temple we went to was Yakushiji in Nara. When we went to the Nara tourist center the night before, they recommended we visit this place. This week they had special events going on. While we were there we saw a prayer ceremony. 6 or 7 people were chanting to a buddha statue for what seemed like an hour. I had no idea what they were saying but I could tell they were chanting the same thing over and over.

When the ceremony was over, we walked over to the building next door. A play was being performed. Again, I had no idea what was going on but it involved a man in a mask with a bow and arrow. We saw the lady that helped us at the tourist center at the temple. She told us that there will be a fire ceremony Friday night and that we should try to check it out. We told her we’d try to make it.

After visiting Yakushiji, we went over to see Koriyama castle. It was raining so all we had to shield ourselves in the rain was my little froggy umbrella that I bought in Tokyo. It wasn’t big enough for the both of us. Sadly, because of the light rain, the festival around the castle had to end. You could see most of the street food vendors packing up. Some decided to stay open since there were some people walking around. We came across one booth that sold okonomiyaki. I never had it before and hubby wanted to me to try it. Okonomiyaki is like a japanese pancake or a japanese pizza with meat and veggies in it. We ordered one but the lady was nice enough to give us another one on the house. We found a bench to sit on by the castle so we could eat it. I could see why she gave us the other one free. It was cold. The food itself wasn’t good. A few bites in and we didn’t want anymore of it. Felt bad because the lady was nice but her food wasn’t good.

Koriyama castle is beautiful. We didn’t get to go inside but the grounds are just full of lush sakura trees. It was pink everywhere you walked. You could see the lamps at the bottom of the trees. They turn on at night. We didn’t get to see it at night but it must have been really beautiful to see the sakura all lit up.

The rain started to pour down hard so we decided to go back to our hotel to relax. On the way there, inside the train station, there was a pastry store that sold bear shaped bread with chocolate filling! It was so cute and yummy too! We took a nap when we got back to the hotel.

After our nap, we decided to get dinner in Kyoto and look around Kyoto Station. I couldn’t believe how huge this place is! Tokyo station is huge below ground, but Kyoto station has more to offer above ground. Of course you have several floors below ground of train tracks, small food shops and stores, but there’s so much more above ground. more than 10 floors! Above the station is like a big giant outdoor mall. At the very top is a garden. It was pretty so see at night in the rain. There’s a staircase that lights up and animates a sakura tree with petals falling. You could see Kyoto tower from the station.

The 10th floor is nothing but ramen shops and one dessert shop. The floor above it is all restaurants. Fancy ones too. We went to one that was kinda expensive but it was really good. I got shrimp flavored rice with bits of baby shrimp and mushrooms. That was paired with slices of pork that I got to grill on a small burner. I also got several types of pickled veggies. It was pretty good. By the time we finished dinner, all the other restaurants and dessert places were closed. There was nothing else left to do but to go back to the hotel in Nara.

Japan Day 10

Date: Monday April 1, 2013

Monday was our first full day of exploring Nara. We got to a late start and didn’t head out until about 10 or 11am. Our hotel was right next to a Mos Burger so I wanted to try that out for brunch. Mos Burger is a big burger chain in Japan. They serve smaller portions but the food is good. Doesn’t feel greasy.

Afterwards, we went exploring. Nara is much different than Tokyo. The buildings aren’t as tall. There are still tons of people walking around, but not as much as Tokyo. There’s more smaller stores. It’s a nice little town. Similar to Tokyo, you’ll find random shrines surrounded by buildings.

We spent the rest of the day in Nara park. We first reached the pond. The pond was full of turtles. They were so cute. I think I even saw tadpoles. We climbed up the stairs and visited some beautiful pagodas. The temples there were being renovated.

The main path in the park was a big tourist trap. So many gift shops! We got to try Sakura soft cream. What they call soft cream, we call soft serve ice cream. Sakura soft cream tastes more like cherry ice cream. Not a fan of cherry, but this I could eat.

One at the best things I got to do was to meet the deer! One of the things Nara is known for is their deer. There’s so many of them roaming around the park. Some how they know not to go past the park. You can buy thin round crackers to feed the deer with. The deer have been trained to bow their heads to ask for food. Boy they love their food!

All throughout the park was deer, sakura trees, shrines, temples, pagodas, shops and soft cream. I had to have another one. This time I had chocolate and banana while hubby had peach flavor.

I don’t know much about the temples and shrines we saw but they were beautiful. One shrine we came across was dedicated to the god of ice. The big temple we came across was Todai-ji temple. Inside there was a big statue of a buddha. The architecture in these buildings are just amazing. I wish I had a fit bit. We did so much walking just in Nara alone.

We left the park as it was starting to get dark. On the way back we passed by a place called Mister Donut that sold Hello kitty donuts! I had to try one. The one I got basically was a glaze donut with with melon filling. The bow was made of sugar candy and the whole thing was placed in a wrapper in the snappy of Hello Kitty’s face. Super cute!

The one thing that sucks about Nara is that things start to close after 5pm. By 7pm there wasn’t much open. We decided to just pick a restaurant near our hotel that was open. After dinner the only other thing to do was to try pachinko. Pachinko acts like a gambling game but since gambling is illegal in japan, it’s not. I still don’t understand the game, but you have this machine that shoots out metal balls and the balls need to get into certain holes to win more balls….I think. When you’re done you redeem the balls for prizes. If you want money, you exchange those prizes usually next door for money. Weird. Luckily the arcade was still open so we went to play some arcade games. The interesting thing about these arcades is that there’s gambling like games as well. We played the slot machines. The only difference is that you win medal coins to play other coin games. You don’t win any money. It’s like gambling, but not….so weird.

Japan Day 9

Date: March 31, 2013

We packed as much as we could the night before so we didn’t have to get up so early. Sean wanted to sneak in one last Akhihabara trip. I didn’t want to go. There’s only so much geeky stuff I can handle. So while he went off to go buy more gifts, I cleaned up the apartment a bit. When he got back we gathered all our stuff, locked up, put the key in the lock box, and said goodbye to the apartment we called home during the week.

We took the JR line for the last time in Tokyo to Tokyo station. From there, we got on the Shinkansen aka the bullet train. For our final week in Japan we purchased a 7 day Japan Rail pass that’s good for all JR train lines, JR ferries, and on the Shinkansen. For the Shinkansen, you can get on a non reserved car or reserve seats on a reserved car for no extra charge. We reserved seats on the train to Kyoto for fear that the non reserve cars would be full. Unfortunately the only reserve cars that were available were the smoking cars. The two and a half hour train ride was hard on my lungs. I just hate the smell of smoke. At one point Hubby checked out the non reserved cars to see if there were two seats available. They’re weren’t any. I just couldn’t wait to get off this train. The Shinkansen is really fast. We couldn’t believe how fast we were going. Once we arrived on Kyoto, we took a JR line to Nara.

Nara is about an hour south of Kyoto. It’s a small town but bigger than Tsuru. We were lucky that the train station in Nara is right next to our hotel. We stayed at the Lohas Super Hotel. Very nice hotel with friendly staff. The rooms were a lot smaller than our apartment in Tokyo. The bed had unusual pillows. The pillows were made of semi squishy beads. The pillow is supposed to conform to your neck and head which it does, but it’s not too comfortable at first. Luckily in the main lobby you can select other types of pillows with pillowcases to use. The bathrooms are super small and are elevated so you have to take a step when entering and exiting the bathroom.

After relaxing in the room from a long travel day, we decided to go get dinner and explore the town for a bit. As soon as we walked out of the hotel, we got a gust of cold breeze. That was enough for us to not explore and just try one of the restaurants in the station. The restaurant we went to specialized in Udon soup.

Japan has not failed me when it comes to food. After dinner we went to the supermarket across from the restaurant to get drinks and snacks. We returned to the hotel room to relax and enjoyed watching the season premiere of Doctor Who =)

Vacation isn’t all about exploring. It’s about relaxing too =)

Half way there

Sorry it’s taking so long getting these blog posts up. I told you I had a lot to write! I have most of them written up, but I get too busy or lazy to post them. It’s good for me to be writing these because years later I’ll want to reminisce. It was amazing trip.

8 more posts then I can start talking about other stuff! =)

Japan Day 8

Date: March 30, 2013

Our last day in Tokyo. Couldn’t believe how fast time flew! What better way to spend it by going to Tokyo Disney Sea! We’ve been to Anehiem Disneyland so seeing the same stuff in Tokyo Disneyland isn’t something we wanted to do. We wanted to see something different. Tokyo DisneySea is totally different. To get to the Disney resort, we took the Keiyo train line to the resort. Once at the resort, we took the park’s monorail. It was completely decked out in Disney. The windows are Mickey shaped and so are the hand rings.

We got arrived at Disney Sea and it really felt different The globe at the entrance reminded me of Universal Studios. It was really neat. Whole new worlds for us to explore. There’s a Mediterranean land, America Town, Port Discovery, and an area that looks like Cape Cod. Lands that were Disney related were Mermaid Lagoon and Agrabah. They had familiar attractions like the Indiana Jones Ride and Tower of Terror, but most of the stuff was new. The snacks at the park were pretty interesting. Near the Toy Story Mania ride, they were selling mochi in the shape of the alien heads from the movie. Throughout the park they sold different flavors of popcorn. We tried the milk tea popcorn. I’m not a huge fan of milk tea but it was interesting. They also sold black pepper, sea salt, strawberry, and curry flavored popcorn.

We watched an Easter parade since it was the day before Easter. It was cute seeing Mickey Minnie, and gang dance and sing. There was also Duffy the Bear. Duffy the Bear was specifically marketed to Disney Sea. The story is that Mickey had to go far away and Minnie couldn’t go with him. So she made a bear, stuffed it in his duffle bag and named him Duffy. Duffy comes to life and becomes best friends with Mickey. There’s also a female bear named Sallie Mae. Duffy is EVERYWHERE in this park. You can’t escape him. I ended up buying a stuffed keychain of him as remembrance.

We couldn’t ride all the rides because the park was flooded with people. That and the fact we got there around 11am. The big rides like Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indy and Tower were at least 2 hours long. All the fast passes were taken.

We were able to go on the Storm Rider ride after waiting in line for 80 minutes. It was pretty fun. It’s a simulator ride like Star Tours. The idea is you’re on a ship with this shrinking machine that looks exactly like the one in Honey I Shrunk the Kids. The goal is to shrink storms to prevent them from getting worse and harming civilization.

Mermaid Lagoon and Agrabah areas are the best. Mermaid Lagoon really makes you feel like you are under the sea. The show at the lagoon theater was awesome! It was like cirque du soleil.

In Agrabah, Genie was everywhere. He’s in flower heads, he’s in the shape of a tiger, he’s holding duffy. The 3D show was pretty cool too. I had a little tablet that had English subtitles to help me understand what was going on.

The park also had Fantasmic. The basic story is the same but how it’s presented is much different. Mickey is on a platform that lights up different animations and at one point looks like his sorceror’s hat. There’s still some water projection images, but not as much as in Disneyland CA. Here they focus on the platform. Lion King and Stitch are added to this show and Malificent comes out of the magic mirror. It’s pretty cool and in a way I like it better than in CA. Disney Sea’s evening fireworks are pretty lame. For one thing it’s short. About 2 songs long. Second, the fireworks aren’t that big. I guess we are spoiled here in America. We stayed until the park closed at 10 (that’s pretty early for a Saturday night).

When we got home we started packing up as much as we could so we didn’t have to do much in the morning.

I love Disney. They make me feel like a kid all over again.

Japan Day 7

Date: March 29, 2013

Friday was the day trip to Tsuru. Tsuru is the town where Hubby stayed while studying abroad. The trip to Tsuru is about 3 hrs worth of train rides. The trains were much older too. Probably used since the 60’s. the most interesting train was the last train we took to get there. It had a Thomas the Tank theme inside and out.

Tsuru is a really small town. Mostly residential homes. Hubby said a lot of things have changed. There are now more supermarkets and restaurants. We visited the stationary store where he would get school supplies. We also walked over to his old apartment building. It was pretty cool to see where he lived for 4 months.

One of the main things we had to do on this trip was to go to Happo ramen. This is Hubby’s favorite ramen shop while he was there. It’s a small shop that can fit like 10 people at most. The owner is still there and remembered Hubby. Hubby got to talk to him and made good use of his Japanese skills. The food here is amazing and Hubby wasn’t joking that it’s the best ramen he’s ever had. It’s now one of my top choices! The chashu pork is amazing. It really melts in your mouth.

After lunch we walked over to Tsuru University. It was spring break so there weren’t many students on campus. Luckily some teachers were there and I got to meet Takeguchi Sensei. She was one of his teachers. She runs the study abroad program so her English is pretty good. We talked for a bit catching up with one another.

It was getting late and Hubby wanted to take me to one last olace before going back to Tokyo. But first a quick stop at a local bakery to munch on snacks. We hopped on a train that took us to Lake Kawaguchiko. On the way there you could see Mt. Fugi.

It was like a giant cloud in the sky. By the time we got to the lake, everything started or was closed and it was dark. You couldn’t see Mt. Fugi anymore. We thought if we walked around we would find something open but no. Walking all over the town with hunger and no energy made me not a nice person. All I wanted to do was go home. We grabbed some food from 7 and Holdings (aka 7/11 here) and ate on the train home.

Japan Day 6

Date: March 28, 2013

Thursday was more exploring. This time we visited Shinjuku again. Shinjuku is where all the government buildings are. Each building had it’s own unique architecture. There was one building that was short and round. Another was tall and was pointed at the top to look like a bullet. We went over to the Tokyo metropolitan government building. There are two observatory decks at the top and we went to both of them. From the top it’s amazing to see how big this city is. Yes Tokyo has many skyscrapers but the sheer amount of a apartment buildings is mindblowing. I couldn’t believe how many people live in the city. Then again looking back on how many people are all over the train stations, it doesn’t surprise me so much. Hubby said on a clear day you could see Mt Fuji from the observation deck. Sadly we had low clouds so we didn’t get to see it.

Hubby got his watch repaired at Yodobashi Camera so we had to go back to Akihabara to pick it up. Instead of taking the train there, we decided to walk since it wasn’t far from Shinjuku. On the way there we found a Ringer Hut. Ringer Hut is a Japanese restaurant that has a location here in the Bay Area. It’s our favorite restaurant. We couldn’t wait to try this place out thinking that it has to be better than at home. When we got their it was packed and it was all bar style seating. You had to order first before seating. There is ticket machine next to the entrance where you order and pay. The machine prints out a ticket. You give it to the server and they seat you. You get your food, eat it, and go when you are done. You don’t tip servers which I think is nice. The food was good but not the same as home. The menu is completely different except for the champon. I like home better. After lunch we continued to head towards Akihabara and stopped at a KFC. Even though we were full, Hubby was curious to see what KFC in Japan is like. Apparently legend has it that the Japanese believe that Americans get their Christmas dinner at KFC. I have no idea why they think that. He got one pice of chicken. Hubby liked it. It’s different and not greasy.

In Akihabara we got his watch back and did more shopping. Eventually I was getting annoyed and bored. There’s only so much gaming and anime I can handle. I pretty much reached my limit when we entered an airsoft store. I had seen enough Akihabara. Hubby made it up to me by taking me out for some yummy BBQ. This place was awesome. You get to cook your own meats at the table.

It was nearly 10pm and Hubby still wanted to take me on the Yurika Mome train to Odaiba. Apparently Odaiba has this rainbow bridge that takes you to a beach. I agreed to go with him but I had my doubts as the last train to go home leaves at 11:45pm. I didn’t think there was enough time to see it. I was right. The train ride there took longer than he thought and by the time we got there, we only had time to get off and get back on the train going home. No Odaiba for us. Taking last train back home was interesting. Even this late at night the trains were full of people. I guess people work all hours of the day. Some even bring luggage in case they need to crash at a hotel.

Hubby and I argued that night. We argued over time management. Eventually we got over it and went to bed.

Japan Day 5

Date: March 27, 2013

The next day, we originally planned to go to Tokyo Disney Sea. That changed as the rain came down. We thought we could try to go to the Studio Ghibli Musuem but apparently tickets are sold out for the rest of the week. Plan C was the districts. First, Hubby found a place where they only specialize in croissants. It was very buttery and flaky, the way a croisannt is supposed to be. I tell ya, if the Japanese can perfect French pastries, then France must be amazing!

The first district we visited was Harajuku. This area is known for their shopping and craziness. They weren’t kidding. As we exited the Harajuku station, there was a truck pulling these statues and blasting loud music. Weird. I was expecting to see girls dressed up in Lolita fashion but I didn’t see one person like that. Maybe because of the rain. The Main Street in that district is home to all the high end boutiques and global stores like Gucci, Prada etc.

We started walking off the main road and bumped into a shrine. It’s pretty common to see that in Japan. You can walk along a Main Street, an alleyway, or a residential area and randomly there will be a shrine or temple. We also randomly ran into a French Crepery. A French Crepery owned by a French man in the middle of a residential area. I was curious enough to try it and I was glad we did. The menu had English in it so I was able to read it instead of relying on pictures. Hubby and I both had an egg and cheese crepe. His had mushrooms on it while mine had tomatoes and mushrooms. We also had fantastic pea soup and a tasty salad to go with it. The crepe had a buckwheat batter so it was a little more crunchy which is what I like.

After lunch we continued to go down the alleyways. We soon arrived in the heart of Harajuku. This is where all the crazy goodness and affordable stores are. My cousin who loves to dress in lolita would love this place. I got some accessories for my sister-in-law, a shirt for my roommate, and a dress, a top and a purse for me. I still didn’t see any girls wearing crazy outfits. We found a Calbee store in the area. Calbee is a food company that sells chips and crackers. This place actually makes their chips and fries on the spot. Fresh! Tasty too! We had potato chips dipped in chocolate and salad fries (basically seasoned fries). We could have spent more time in Harajuku but I wanted to see other stuff so we left.

There was a shrine Hubby wanted to take me that was nearby. Unfortunately it closed at 5pm and we just missed it. So we decided to walk around the park next to it. Once again, more beautiful cherry blossoms. The rain stopped so there were a bunch of people having a picnic in the park or going for a run.

Next we headed over to Akihabara. I call this place Hubby’s Mecca of geekdom. This is the area where you find all anime, manga, and anything technology and gaming related. There are buildings with each floor as a different store or one store in a building with several floors like Yodobashi Camera. We got a ton of stuff for people back home. Hubby also got a bunch of stuff for himself of course.

For dinner, I wanted sushi. We found a small spot that serves the sushi on a conveyor belt. People in Japan consider this fast food and only so so. I thought it was amazing! The fish was so fresh. If the locals think that this is only ‘okay’, I can’t wait to try a good sushi house restaurant!

For dessert, we got some crepes from across the street that were really good. We ended the night by playing some games at the arcade. The arcades are loud and booming with noises from all the games. Smoking is allowed inside so it was hard for me to breathe in there at times. A few games later and we called it a night

Japan Day 4

Date: March 26, 2013

Tuesday, we decided to visit Yokohama. The train ride there was about 30 minutes. We grabbed some onigiri from Family Mart to eat on the train. Food from convienience stores are pretty good! One thing to note, Japan is so clean and yet it’s hard to find a trash can anywhere. You have to hold on to your trash/recycling until you get home or get to a train station.

When we got there, there was a farmers market in front of the station. So much good stuff that you can’t take back on a plane :-(. We ended up walking towards Bay Quarter which is a shopping and dining area. I found some gifts for friends here and we also had our first ramen meal. It was delicious. Japan really knows food.

We kept walking around town and reached Nissan’s headquarters. Inside was a gallery of their current and concept cars. Japanese card are small. Even the vans are small and you won’t find an SUV here. The streets are simply not wide enough for one. Past the Nissan building are more businesses and apartment buildings.

As we head towards the bay, we find an interesting sculpture. From a distance, I thought it was a rollercoaster. As we get closer it’s a lot smaller and it’s just a twisty sculpture. On the other side of it, a man was performing magic tricks. Hubby told me although it’s a different guy, the routine is the same as when he saw it here 8 years ago.

It was a fun show but I didn’t want to waste time so we left to check out the Nippon Maru. It’s a training ship that was used back in the day. Today, it sits on Yokohama Bay as a museum. I’m not big on boats but it was interesting. There were 5 different panels of the many ways knots are tied. I didn’t even know there were multiple ways! One of them looked like a flower. When we got off the ship, we entered another museum building that showcases more of the ship as well as the bay’s history.

After that we continued along the bay and arrived at the amusement park. This park is known for their gigantic Ferris wheel. From the Ferris wheel, you can see all of Yokohama bay. It was early evening so it was really beautiful to see all the lights up.

After the amusement park, we ended up at worlds mall. It’s another shopping and dining center. We were confused at first at the first floor was dedicated to Hawaii. All the major Hawaiian shops and restaurants were there like Local Motion and Leonard’s. Yes Leonard’s! If you don’t know what Leonard’s is, it’s a shop that sells Malasadas. Malasadas are like filled doughnuts but better. I had to try one. I got the strawberry filling. It wasn’t quite the same but it was pretty close.

Hubby and I were getting hungry. He was looking up reviews of places to eat. There was a McDonalds in the shopping center. He had been bugging me all day to try McD’s while we were here. I hate McD’s at home so what would make him think I would like it here? To get him to shut up about it, I caved in and tried it as a snack. We ordered a shrimp burger and to my surprise, it was not bad. The burger or the fries didn’t taste greasy and disgusting.

Since it was dark out, Hubby wanted to take me up to Yokohama Landmark Tower so we can view the city and it’s lights from the top. Unfortunately they closed at 8pm. Boo!

Still hungry, Hubby found a restaurant in the building next door that had good reviews. So we decided to try it. It was a restaurant that specializes in Tonkatsu. It was super good!! The portions were surprisingly big here.

After dinner it was late and everything started to close so we headed back home

Japan Day 3

Date: March 25, 2013

Exhausted, we went to bed early and woke up early the next day. I don’t think Hubby has ever woken up at 6am on his own without a alarm clock before. Eventually we got up and ready to go out and explore.

We took the train one stop over to the Nihonbashi area. Another quiet area. It was a Monday so most business people were out on their way to work. We found a French bakery called Maison Kayser on the main level of a business building. Actually this main level was nothing but small shops and eateries. Hubby read good reviews about this place online (through a different site as Yelp is not popular here). We couldn’t believe how amazing this place was. We had cheese bread, chocolate croissant and a strawberry pastry. It was so good!

After that we wondered around looking at the amazing architecture. We passed by Tokyo station which looked like a big red mansion. Granted that’s just the main ground level of that station. The main parts of that station are actually well below ground level full of shops and restaurant aside from the trains and platforms.

We also took a look at the outside of Tokyo palace but didn’t have time to go in. We had plans to meet up with a friend. Before meeting up with her, we did have time to take the Yamanote train line that takes us around most of Tokyo above ground. It’s a great way to see pretty much all of Tokyo in an hour. Luckily it was the same train line we needed that had our stop where we would meet our friend.

We met up with our friend, Saori. She was one of Hubby’s tutors when he studied abroad in Japan 8 years ago. She’s so sweet. She gave us a bouquet of flowers. We walked around a shopping center that had so many cute clothes and purses. I wanted to buy stuff but held back on it thinking we could come back later in the week. I wasnt ready to make purchases and didn’t want to carry stuff while out. Alas we never came back. :-(. Afterwards, Saori took us to her favorite cafe. This cafe had so many good tart cakes and drinks. It was strawberry week there so we got a cake with regular and white strawberries. The white strawberries were actually sweeter than the regular red ones. Saori ordered an orange cake that was good too!

We sat and talked for a good 2 hours or so before she had to leave to catch her train home. She actually lives 2 hours away from Tokyo and was only in town because she wanted to see us and attended an event the day before. We said our goodbyes and headed off to Ueno Park.

Ueno Park had a big Sakura (cherry blossom) festival. There were so many Sakura trees!! It was all so beautiful! The best part was the street food. We got to eat and watch someone make takoyaki (octopus dumplings) it was so good!!

It was getting dark and Hubby had been in touch with two of his coworkers that live in Japan. We agreed to meet up with them for dinner in Shinjuku. On the way to dinner we stopped by the famous Shibuya crossing. It’s an intersection where people like to meet up after work or school. It was pretty cool to cross that intersection. After a minute or so the cars stop to let pedestrians walk. You can cross diagonally too. So many people and since it was raining you had to do your best not to crash your umbrella into another! We went went into a Starbucks which was a few floors up in one building to watch people cross. It’s like a mass exidus of people walking all over the place!

After that we took a train over to Shinjuku. That station is crazy. We got lost in the station trying to find the meeting place we agreed on with his coworkers. Eventually they told us to stay put and they would get us. We somehow ended on the opposite side of station. We first met up with Jeff and he took us to a Szechuan restaurant known for its spicy food that he recommended (he’s a foodie too). Luckily there were non spicy things I could eat and it was good. Hubby’s other coworker, Sam, met us at the restaraunt. They were pretty cool guys. I admit I spaced out a bit while they talked about tech and work. They wanted to go play games after dinner but I was trying not to fall asleep at the table. I was so exhausted. We decided to call it a night.