6/27
5:50. Arrived hotel (Courtyard Tokyo Ginza). On the elevator, your key card also automatically activates your floor for you!
6/28
Fish market. Went at 6, very few tourists in the market and the shops/restaurants weren't crowded, either. Maybe the earthquake/radiation?
Sze feels bad for the fish.
Band sawing tuna into those sashimi chunks. Cutting small slices into certain areas of the fish - perhaps to check the quality? Giant mussels. Octopodies with their arms cut off and sold separately :(
Lots of dry ice
Carts with one wheel at the front. Some electric, some gas. Horizontal steering wheel on a drum-like cylinder, drivers are quite deft at maneuvering.
Guard with a sign on his chest (same sign as above and around him - restricted area; authorized persons only) at the fish auction area. Saw tuna laid out on the warehouse from a distance. At front gate, a sign about photographs and other media. Perhaps they've got a PR concern?Or some kind of accident lately?
Also a fruit and vegetable market. Not as interesting. Some unknown root/stem plant. No security guard here, though it's also supposed to be a restricted area.
Saw a beef curry thing. Maybe try for dinner or something.
7:30. Back at hotel, figuring out what to do.
Reflecting upon the morning's sushi. Kempachi maguro don - the light colored one is really good. At the time, didn't think it was outstanding, but in retrospect it was quite good. Still remember one particular bite where I wrapped the fish slice around a bit of rice, with a little soy sauce/wasabi on it. Very good texture and taste.
Also, wasabi is really good. Is...volatile tasting? Spicy, but evaporates off the tongue quickly, leaving a fresh taste.
Sea urchin is mediocre.
Ran out of film, but there is what we did see that I couldn't take pictures of:
1. Cormorants drying their wings
2. Cat under bench
3. Lots of ducks
Really really hot, totally drenched.
Restaurant vending machine for tickets for sit-down meals. Ramen for linch. The "hell" one is spicy. "Wild veg" is just an oily collection of spouts and cabbage. Its good.
Digestive issues again.
Going to a cat cafe!
Got ignored by cats for 2000 yen (20+ usd). Sliding door that caused much confusion [it had an arrow pointing to the side, and it wouldn't swing open, so we interpreted the arrow as meaning "go around to the side of the building"].
Anime pariphenalia in Akihabara: Unapologetically naked figurines; boob/butt mousepads; various promotional materials for very young-looking anime girls in suggestive poses.
One store (Akky) had one-way escalators. Once you went in, you had to go all the way to the top floor before you could come back down again.
Tsukomo robot kingdom. Stljapan gearmotors.
Curry with rice? Sze wrote the characters.
Really humid. We are both are very sticky.
Oyako-don [photo at top of page] and curry. Ordered in Japanese (written for the curry)
Spilled tea on myself.
OIOI [turns out they sell bags]
Shinjuku. Northeast area. Sports Land game place. Won a miniature smurr! [smurr = harp seal plush. Shown below with the fish bag (originally holding coffee) we'd bought in Yunnan].
1. Tried for one that was close. Tipped it the wrong way. Also turns out it was tied down. Found out that the claw goes down a lot. Sze walks away disinterested.
2. Went for the next one that was free. Picked up on the far side of CG, claw ended up also getting the one to it's left. This may have helped increase the upward distance traveled before slipping out of the claw's grasp. Tipped both to resting on the wall.
3. Another try. The left one is tipped forward onto a row of mini-smurrs hanging on the wall (tied down), the right one tips back.
4. Use claw (going down) to smush the mini-smurr. This frees it and it falls into the chute! Yay!
In another one, a guy was trying for a bigger emoticon seal pillow thing. Finally got it, then gave it to a nearby gaggle (4) of girls, who were surprised and politely appreciative. Then he walked away without saying anything, or even really looking at them. Perhaps he just likes the game? Practicing?
Nightclub district. Various club promoters. Several black people [the first we'd seen in Japan]. One black club promoter trying to get an older businessman type to go to his club, as we were crossing the street.
In general unexpected arcade / bar / club demographic - older men in business suits.
International restaurant district. Mexican restaurant [the only one we'd seen in Asia]. We went in to look at the menu.
Going back to hotel (Shinjuku New City Hotel). Dark and sketchy. In lighted area lots if sleeping hobos. They have tarps and newspapers down so their mattressses don't get dirty. One of them has a box fort around his mattress. What. Mattresses.
6/29
Shibuya. Tried to find the street crossing, the busy one with the Starbucks overlooking it. In retrospect, I think we found it (and I think we saw the Starbucks in an episode of Ghost in the Shell) but we kept walking.
Breakfast at McDonald's.
Cat street??? Didn't see it, but it was on the map.
Yoyogi Park
Curry lunch with Sze's friend Hiroki at Shinjuku Alta.
Train adventure!!!!!
Misjudged time it would take to retrieve luggage and board, missed train. Reserved tickets for the next train right before though, so still have seats. Sweltering heat and luggage heavy. Now should arrive airport at 4 pm for 5.15pm flight. K tried to think of ways to get there faster but no luck at kiosks and counter girl also didn't have anything faster.
Train now.
This train arrived 3:57. Line at check-in counter, arrived at security line 4:25. Out of security and into immigration line 4:40. Out of that line 4:50, to gate just before boarding starts for 5:25 flight.
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