Today was a pretty low key day, really.

Before getting to that, a quick recap of last night from where I left off.

Chinedu headed off to an AirBnb close to the airport, leaving Nate and I back in Tokyo for dinner. We headed back to the aforementioned “Piss alley”, which, if you have forgotten (or didn’t read my other post) is a small alley in the Shinjuku area filled with restaurants and bars that serve cheap beer and “yaki”.

We were here earlier in our visit and had a blast. This time was no different. We selected a different restaurant. Don’t think any of them actually have names. Our selection was  based solely on the fact that it was busy, and two seats opened up. It took 3 or 4 laps of the alley to actually find a place that 1) looked good — most important — and 2) had seats.

At this restaurant, there were about 10 seats at the bar, one server, and one chef working the charcoal grill.

To my left was a Japanese guy who spoke no english. On the right, we met a nice couple from Singapore.

The waiter asked what we wanted and we ordered some Kirin beers, and then he asked “is pork okay, thats all we have”. “Sure”. He said, “do you trust me?”. “Yeah”. “Is everything okay? Liver? Hearts?”. “Sure”.

And so it began.

We had quite a few different things.

Pork liver. It was okay.
Pork cheek. Actually really good.
Beef. Good. It was juicy, tasty and fairly normal. Apparently they didn’t have just pork.
Roasted green peppers. AMAZING. In fact we ordered seconds.
Pork intestines. Way, WAY too chewy for me. We ended the meal there.

Apparently I didn’t take any pictures of the food at all last night. Sorry.

A few seats over there were some Germans (zee Germans) that we started talking to. They were in Japan for business but were enjoying the weekend. They ordered a drink called shochu. As it turns out, it is the official spirit of Japan. Shochu is a clear liquor, and the waiter added just a splash of plum flavoring. We had never had shochu, so us and our friends from Singapore all ordered one.

The way they pour shochu and sake in Japan is cool. They always overfill the glass so that it overflows into a dish under it (giving you extra, sometimes a pour or half pour). I just think its cool cause it feels generous. Shochu is 25% alcohol, so we were urged to drink slowly.

Our Singapore friends wrapped up and were told at the end of the meal that they could have some soup. They said oh okay, great, we would love soup. The waiter responded with “you can have soup, but then you have to leave”. I’m not sure why I think that’s such a funny line, but it is.

You can have soup, but then you must leave.

After dinner, we were going to walk to the Hyatt to get drinks at the rooftop bar. However, we picked the wrong Hyatt on Google Maps and ended up deciding to call it a night. We did get some pictures of some cool buildings around the area though.

Of course, no night is complete without a late night visit to the legendary Mister Donut. Open until 2am. Boom! We stopped in for a few donuts before continuing the walk back to the hostel.

So that was that night. I love Japan.

A huge part of the fun on this trip has been hanging out with Chinedu and Nate. One night, we got to talking about dad jokes, and how we all 1) think they are hilarious, and 2) there is no two. So in that spirit…

What kind of jeans does Super Mario wear?

….

….

Wait for it…

….

….

“Denim denim denim”. Heh

So today was a pretty low key day. It started like the previous night ended.

Yes. Mister Donut once again. Good. Cheap. And free coffee refills if you eat there.

After breakfast, we returned to the hostel. Nate did school work and I researched trips to Patagonia and a few other places that I am thinking about for next year. I always like to have at least one big trip on the horizon. This year I had Iceland and Japan. Right now, I have a ski trip and a conference, but nothing overseas.

It was a beautiful day though, so I walked about 30 minutes over to the Tokyo Metro Government building, which has a viewing deck slash observatory on the 45th floor. Its free and open to visitors.

It was, however, located inside so you will have to forgive the poor picture quality. What I thought was cool was the way that Tokyo goes forever in every direction. Its a HUGE city.

I strolled around the area for a while and enjoyed some of the interesting architecture in the area. I really like this building that looks like some sort of giant space capsule that has been deposited on earth.

I strolled around some other parts of Shinjuku as well.

I noticed a lot of carts being pushed around with food and kegs and all kinds of other things. I guess this is the best way to move around the crowded streets. Its not all that interesting to look at, but not many people are going to take the time to write about transporting physical goods in Tokyo… so I figured I would go ahead and take care of that. Always fun to see how people operate their businesses, and lives, in other countries.

This is a good one. When I was walking, I was passed by this guy.

Yes, he is riding a unicycle, and he has a live cat draped over his shoulders. Only in Japan..

There was a market set up (I guess its every Sunday? I don’t know) in the Shinjuku area so we went over there for lunch with Renco (sp?), a guy we met at the hostel who is from Canada. There were all kinds of booths selling crafts and street food.

We got some Takoyaki, Okomiyaki, and some sort of pancake with chocolate (yum).

And then back to the hostel to read and hang out. I can’t recall if I mentioned it but I finished reading Origin, so I started reading Snow Crash.

Then, time for dinner. We headed back to Shibuya (south of Shinjuku) to a sushi restaurant called Uobei Sushi.

 

At this one, you get a seat number assigned. You sit down at the tablet and order whatever you want whenever you want it. And then it gets delivered.

Pretty cool! I made it through 7 plates this time. I still don’t know how any human can eat 20 plates worth…

Conger eel x2. Salmon. Giant Prawn. Shrimp tempura rolls. Scallop. Cucumber rolls. I think that was it. Very good, though.

I wanted to check out the rainbow bridge, which goes from the main part of Tokyo to a man-made island. Its generally well lit and colorful, and there is a pedestrian lane. I figured it would be an easy walk (per google maps) and would give some nice city views.

Unfortunately, the best view we ever really got to the bridge was this sign.

Google failed us. We could have eventually figured it out. But we decided to go ahead and train our way back across the city (about 40 mins plus a 15 minute walk to the hostel). We did get to see the bridge from the train, but I have no pictures.

When we got off the train and left the station in Shinjuku, we happened across these awesome St. Bernards.

When we returned, the market was still going, and the lanterns (?) above the shrine entrance where the market was set up were all a-glow.

I have gotten all packed up and, sadly, my trip will come to an end tomorrow. But, I don’t fly out until 5:30 PM. Barring insane delays from Donald Trumps visit to Japan, I should have some time for a few final adventures in the morning.