After getting a very needed good night's sleep I got going at about 6:45am (I love Japan for being early people like I am). I had a very brief breakfast of toast and coffee at the hotel (same as first trip, didn't even bother to take a picture of it). I was the only gaijin in the eating area. Surprisingly my shared table was not shunned. I expected it to be the table no one else would touch while I was there.
After breakfast about about 7:45am my first and most important course of action was to get my JR pass sorted out. I had to get a ride from Hamamatsucho Station to Tokyo Station then fumble my way around until I found the new office where they validate passes based on the voucher. I know it was not in the same place as it was the other two trips. I would probably have a hard time remembering where it is in 2 years time. Technically I should have gotten it done at the airport so I didn't have to pay for the trip to the hotel but I didn't want to lose another half hour getting that done. As it is I got to the hotel at 7:30pm without trying to. The process of getting the pass was really painless though and the man at the desk was very pleasant and very polite even if he spoke little English.
After getting the pass I headed out of the station and towards the Imperial Palace grounds where I wandered for a little bit and took pictures of things I took pictures of before. I then made my way to Hibiya Park which is just on the corner of the grounds (was there before too). This time there were turtles including some huge snapper looking things in the pond in Hibiya Park so it was neat to see them and get some pictures. From Hibiya Park I had to visit the Godzilla statue. Since I know where he is by heart these days I would have been a bad guest not to have stopped by and said hi, and of course taken his picture again. I still find it amazing we had so much difficulty finding him on that first trip, I think it is 5 years ago... Man time flies. After Godzilla I did a brief wander in Ginza then decided to walk back to the hotel following the train tracks so I could drop off the receipts and other bulky stuff I no longer needed from the rail pass. On the way I had to stop in an electronics store because I forgot to bring my phone charger cable. Fortunately the one I found was only a couple bucks and has the special spring loaded roll cable thing going on so it stores in a small space. I think I got back to the hotel by 11am and just basically dropped off the stuff I didn't want, plugged in the phone, put on some sunscreen and headed right back out the door.
I walked up the street to Zojo-ji Temple and visited for a few minutes. This time there was a small ritual of some sort going on involving what looked like a family or at least a series of people that elected to have a right performed on them. I do think it was a family though. I stayed until the monks left the main hall and began chanting out back out of sight and it appeared the rite was over. The next obvious step was to go to Tokyo Tower where I bought a pass for the main observatory and not the special observatory (the sign said the special one was sold out). Honestly when I got there the day had decided to cloud over and I don't think there would have been much value in visiting the high point anyway. I chose first to have lunch as it was basically that time. I went to the very first restaurant we ate at on the first trip to Japan and had the Katsudon set meal. This is fried pork over rice with a loosely fried egg poured over the top of it all. The pork is breaded and cut into pieces. The egg gets mixed in with the rice. There was also some pickles and a bowl of cold soba noodles that would have been way too much food to eat. I ate the pork and rice and drank the cup of cold tea they gave with that. That was 900 yen. It was very filling and tasted very good. I noticed that just about everyone that ate there got the same thing so it must be famous for it or something. No other gaijin came in there while I was there though there were quite a few at the tower. The older woman who sat across from me must have approved of my ability with chopsticks because she smiled and nodded to me during the meal. Or at least that I wasn't eating at the McDonald's.
After eating I rode up the elevator to the observatory and looked around for a little bit. As I said it had gotten overcast now for some reason and the views weren't too spectacular. I did make sure I got a picture of the Sky Tree from the Tower though as that is new to the skyline. I also made sure I walked across the glass floor panels that panic people so much a couple time to see that I could still do it. I noticed the first moment of hesitation I had all the same. I had done this before not just at Tokyo Tower but also at taller places and still I hesitated before I did it the first time. Kind of sad really. In any event I got over it and even encouraged a couple other people to try it. When I had my fill I headed back down and toured the shops quickly before heading back to Hamamatsucho Station. There I rode out to Shinjuku under the mistaken impression I might find a bridge that I had seen in a movie. I realized that I was in the wrong place when I found there was no river in that part of town. In any event I just sort of wandered around Shinjuku which I had seen a few times before and enjoyed the sites. I sort of put the camera away a bit to just see without worrying about pictures for an experience. I looped around the area and ended up back at the train station where I got back on and rode to Shinagawa. I chose to again wander Shinagawa a little bit before getting back on the main road and walking back to Hamamatsucho instead of taking the train. We had done this route when we went to see the Sengakuji Temple on the last trip (this is the temple of the 47 Ronin). I did pass by it but because I wasn't sure of the time and I knew I had to meet Marina in Ebisu and I wanted to relax a little bit it seemed like the best plan. I can visit it again later on down the road. By the time I made it back to the hotel it was 4pm and I caught up on a couple emails and verified timing with Marina before writing to this point and then relaxing a few minutes before heading back out. Since it has been over 33C (and hideously humid) in town the AC in the room felt very nice.
At 5:30 I headed on my way out and found my way to Hamamatsucho Station where I took the Yamanote Line (it is the best line in Tokyo I am sure, at least for me) to Ebisu Station. This is where I was to meet Marina for conveyor belt sushi. She had me wait in front of the flower shop and we both were there by 6:10 so not too bad. The walk to the restaurant was quick and before long we were sitting down and taking sushi off the conveyor. I ordered a beer which was again an Asahi basic which is not the most thrilling beer in the world and we had some green tea to go along with it all. The best of the lot I had was the chotoru which is fatty tuna. It melted in our mouth. All of the sushi I took was basically nigiri so it had rice which meant I ate less than if I was to get sashimi. Still it was very good and fresh for sure. Being piecemeal selection I hope I didn't miss any of the dishes for pictures but I may have. It gets tough to remember to take more pictures in the act of already eating sometimes. One thing I will say is the katsudon from lunch was very filling and I was not as hungry as I could have been even with all the walking I did during the day. This also probably contributed to me getting less than I probably would have. In any event we finished up and paid on the way out. The figure the bill by counting your plates and what pattern they have on them determines the prices. Really clever system when you get down to it.
After dinner we waked around a bit to Yebisu Garden and the Westin Hotel (which is Marina's favorite hotel in Tokyo) where we located some quiet couches and talked for a while. After that we moved on to get some coffee at the Exselsior and talk some more, this time sitting outside away from the smokers. Apparently the various cafes are all smoking inside and everyone fills them up with smoke. So thankfully it was much nicer outdoors. After our coffees we made our way back to Ebisu Station where we parted ways as we were heading in different directions on the Yamanote line. When I got back to Hamamatsucho station I made a quick stop into a Lawson store and bought a couple beers and a bag of potato chips. The chips were standard ridged variety without extra flavors but it tasted like they added some sugar to them as well as the salt. They went quite good with the beer. The first one I tried was a Suntory The Royal Bitter, which touts itself as an all malt beer. I think that means it is not made with rice. In any event it was a bit more bitter than most Japanese beers and I quite liked it. The second was a Sapporo Premium but I chose not to drink it yet as I finished writing this before the first beer was done.
The pictures from today can be found here.
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