Tuesday, March 22nd: Hungover, but Touring
Morning:
So here I sit on the bed, wishing I'd had more water to drink last night. We shopped til we dropped - I have postcards to send and the first pile of stuff to ship home, assuming we can figure out how to get it shipped.
So I've had my first hangover in Japan. It was fun, but now it sucks.
Evening:
We got the first package shipped - ouch $75.00. But in the end it's better than lugging it all over the place. So I was slow all day long - the result of the hangover and being out of shape. The out of shape will change, the hangover will just not leave me alone. We went to a local 24 hour food joint - Little Spoon. Very clean, simple fare, you purchase the tickets from a vending machine (there are pictures) and then the food is prepared. I had eggs and ham Scott had salmon and eggs. Breakfast seems to come with miso soup pretty much everywhere. It was much cheaper than the hotel's restaurant. We went into Ueno to see the park and the Tokyo National Museum. The weather today is cloudy and rainy. The trains and stations are very warm, I'm worried about getting sick just from the dramatic temperature changes you experience in an hour of commuting. Maybe I'm just exaggerating because I still feel crappy.
On the way we stopped at Shibuya station to see the statue to Hachiko, a dog that used to wait at the station faithfully for his master every day. The dog apparently waited every day, even after his master died. In honor of the dog's faithful loyalty they erected a statue and it is now a primary meeting point for folks in Tokyo. We also found a HIGH end grocery, FoodShow. There were some amazing things in there - competing fish vendors, french cheeses, scandinavian bakers, lots and lots of sweets and specialty items. Yes, we shopped.
His English was great. He talked to us for a long time about how the Japanese youth have lost their manners and respect and how all the want is to be American. In general we'd have to agree. The kids are all wearing American clothing, and they are so very different in personality than the older folks.
We took a taxi to Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. This is a beautiful Shinto temple. Out side the grounds is a long walk of shopping and food. We had lunch at a shabu-shabu place, although we did not have the shabu-shabu we had ginger beef. We shopped, photographed and generally behaved like tourists.
So here I sit on the bed, wishing I'd had more water to drink last night. We shopped til we dropped - I have postcards to send and the first pile of stuff to ship home, assuming we can figure out how to get it shipped.
So I've had my first hangover in Japan. It was fun, but now it sucks.
Evening:
We got the first package shipped - ouch $75.00. But in the end it's better than lugging it all over the place. So I was slow all day long - the result of the hangover and being out of shape. The out of shape will change, the hangover will just not leave me alone. We went to a local 24 hour food joint - Little Spoon. Very clean, simple fare, you purchase the tickets from a vending machine (there are pictures) and then the food is prepared. I had eggs and ham Scott had salmon and eggs. Breakfast seems to come with miso soup pretty much everywhere. It was much cheaper than the hotel's restaurant. We went into Ueno to see the park and the Tokyo National Museum. The weather today is cloudy and rainy. The trains and stations are very warm, I'm worried about getting sick just from the dramatic temperature changes you experience in an hour of commuting. Maybe I'm just exaggerating because I still feel crappy.
On the way we stopped at Shibuya station to see the statue to Hachiko, a dog that used to wait at the station faithfully for his master every day. The dog apparently waited every day, even after his master died. In honor of the dog's faithful loyalty they erected a statue and it is now a primary meeting point for folks in Tokyo. We also found a HIGH end grocery, FoodShow. There were some amazing things in there - competing fish vendors, french cheeses, scandinavian bakers, lots and lots of sweets and specialty items. Yes, we shopped.
 | On to Ueno. So in the park we saw our fist cherry tree in bloom. The park will be stunning in a couple weeks - the main walk is lined with cherry trees. We walked the length of the park to get to the Tokyo Museum only to find it closed. Apparently when there is a holiday the museums are closed the next day. We saw a bunch of folks, older and a little ragged looking sitting on the ground in front of a tent. Turns out it was the local Salvation Army getting ready to have a sermon and hand out food. We were approached by a nice older man - who we ended up talking to for about 30 minutes. |
We took a taxi to Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. This is a beautiful Shinto temple. Out side the grounds is a long walk of shopping and food. We had lunch at a shabu-shabu place, although we did not have the shabu-shabu we had ginger beef. We shopped, photographed and generally behaved like tourists.
| After Senso-ji we went back to the hotel exhausted. We got up and out to meet Eric and Satoko for dinner. We met at Hachiko - just like the locals, and then went off a tried a brand new pork restaurant. Amazing food - all the main dishes were pork or had pork in them. Their sign was all the very cute laughing pigs. We missed getting to Ginza, but we did get to Akihbara. Akihbara is not what Scott remembered, so we didn't do any shopping. Then we bought our Shinkansen tickets and went home to crash. |  |
