Brian: Tokyo, Day 2

Expenditures for today:
¥450 salmon breakfast
¥105 pudding from a convenience store
¥1239 bags, cards, packing from a shop
¥190 fare to Tokyo Station
¥130 fare to Akihabara
¥690 lunch: donburi with sushi
¥160 fare to Harajuku
¥780 sanshoku so-su omuraisu: 3 sauce omelette rice
¥200 Mario Kart
¥100 Sticky pics
¥100 4 player air hockey
¥600 batting cages
¥100 DDR
¥160 fare to Ikebukuro
------------------------
¥5004 total (approx $42)

I slept in the middle of the mattress, between Patrick and Michael, last night. This morning, I was rudely woken up to a loud conversation between them literally OVER me. -_- We got up around 7AM today, then Pat and I grabbed breakfast while Michael stayed behind to program. We ate a set breakfast from a store where you pay a vending machine, but are served by people. We both ordered the salmon set, which was a good deal as you can see from the picture (it comes with rice, salmon, miso soup, seaweed, turnip, and fermented cabbage), costing ¥450. On the way back we bought a cheese bread for Michael at a convenience store (there is at least 1 per street, it seems) and I also bought a delicious pudding for ¥105. Then we saw a paper and gift packaging store and decided to buy materials for the omiyages we are going to give in Kyoto. I bought some nice bags, packing material, and some cards for ¥1239, which should be worth it because Japanese people really care about the appearance of the gift too. The bags are a deep red and the packing straw is white, which I intended so as match Stanford's colors.

At about 10AM we set off for the Imperial Palace, which is right next to the Tokyo Station. If there is any indicator of wealth in Japan, it is without a doubt space, and the palace has it in spades. It stretches further than you can comfortably walk in a city with a ridiculous population density. It is also surrounded by a moat, and the stones used in the walls can be enormous. The best part was the garden, though. The Japanese are masters at harmony with nature, and everything in the garden was not only immaculately manicured but also thoughtfully placed/trimmed/arranged so as to convey the proper aesthetic. I have lots of pictures from the garden, and in many instances I found it so much better than Ueno Park that I'm glad we went to Ueno Park first. Also, admission was free, which was nice.

For lunch, we rode to Akihabara and ate donburi. I had one with just tuna (I have to watch my cholesterol, ne) while Michael and Patrick ordered theirs with salmon roe (oh but I wanted it too). Mine was still delicious though, and only ¥690. I am still in ecstasy that we can find such good food for what seems like a budget price. Of course, the portions for everything in Japan are smaller than in America, so I haven't been completely full even once since arriving, but in terms of taste and presentation, I've been more satisfied than in the States by far. After lunch we explored the various shops in Akihabara, taking in the electronics and model shops, especially. By model shops, we mean serious, "otaku" stuff, where "otaku" is defined as:

A fairly derogatory term used to describe an obsessed fan of something (not necessarily anime). In North America, however, the term is often a badge of honor for hard-core anime fans.

The stores will filled with gundam models and other models from anime, as well as a large section devoted to a certain other category appealing to the young male demographic. Patrick was about to buy a Gundam model but refrained at the last minute from what seemed like indecision between several models. We then hurried to meet an appointment with Yuichiro at 3:30 in front of Harajuku Station, which was across the city.

The train to Harajuku took us about half an hour, including 2 connections in order to ride a line that connected the stations more directly. Yuichiro met us there as promised in his car, a blue Toyota Accent(?), a model not found in the US. It is similar to the Camry, I think. Some of the differences are that the passenger seat has significantly reduced control: you can't access the power locks, and you can't see the dashboard dials (they are blocked by guards so only the driver can see them). Of course, the driver also sits on the right side of the car as well. We proceeded by car to Odaiba, a trip that took over an hour on a not-too-crowded Wednesday afternoon, although accounting for some wrong turns and map checking, we made decent time. It was Yuichiro's first time in Odaiba as well, so finding our way to Odaiba proved nontrivial. In the end, we arrived after 5PM at a place called Venus Fort, which is one of those deluxe indoor malls like the Sunshine City we went to yesterday. There was a shop that sold really interesting things that defy categorization, but in general they were oddities, or gags, or stylish, or old. I have a couple pictures of the store, and you can really see that the store is jam-packed with stuff, literally from floor to ceiling. It was more fun than exploring a museum.

Speaking of which, our next stop was the Toyota Historical Car Garage, which was as expected, although most of the cars inside were not Toyota. The notables were a Nissan Skyline, a Corvette, the Delorian, and various Grand Prix cars made by Toyota. We also got a chance to take some group photos with the cars. For dinner, we decided on omuraisu, or "omelette rice". It is basically rice wrapped in a thin layer of egg, with a sauce poured on top. This one I could probably eat everyday :). I ordered the 3 sauce omelette rice and it cost a reasonable ¥780. Well, parking at the complex was understandably expensive, however, but Yuichiro covered it (¥1000).

Our final stop was the game center adjacent to the Venus Fort. This place was amazing: as you walk in you scoff at the childish carnival games but as you continue to enter you are engulfed in the most eclectic entertainment world you can ever imagine. The type of games you find at Palace Park, like air hockey, bowling, and batting cages, but all improved. The air hockey was 4 player. We didn't try bowling but there was an actual lane instead of the hokey curl up lip that flips your ball into bins that you find at Palace Park. The batting cages had LCD screens which showed the pitcher throwing the ball at you, and various selections for ball placement and speed. I tried it twice, and managed to do much better swinging left handed. We also took some sticky pics there, which was tons of fun both to take the pictures and to decorate them. I took a high-res picture of the sticky pics with my camera, so you should be able to zoom in to get a better view. Alas our night thus ended at about 9PM, whereupon Yuichiro drove us back to the train station and we took the train back to Ikebukuro. The train was more packed than imaginable - I was touching I think 6 other people, guys and girls alike. Everybody there is used to it, obliviously texting on their cell phones with bored expressions or else sleeping. At one point I almost fell over when the train reached a station and people had to push through the crowd to get out at the stop. But I didn't really mind it being crowded at all. It's strange though, even there are so many people, you still feel really lonely in their midst.

All in all, today was the most fun I've had in a really long time. It really took my mind off the stress of traveling, and it was also helpful in another respect: Yuichiro was kind and patient enough to help us (well, especially me because my Japanese is rotten) with our Japanese. He was also a really fun and smooth guide, although apparently he hadn't been to those places before either. I couldn't tell until later, when I read his blog, that when he was texting his friends during the trip it was to get ideas about what to do. It was really amazing when you consider all the stuff we did and that it was purely a spontaneous excursion. We can't thank him enough for making our last day in Tokyo so memorable...

Tokyo Day 2