After breakfast we headed out to shop but it was still a bit early; about 9 AM. Most shops don't open until 11 AM so we just walked and walked. We headed west to a pretty cool temple where an authentic Japanese wedding was taking place. After that the shops started to open so we shopped our way home. Being here is a lot like being in NYC except Tokyo seems a lot larger. One of Katie's favorite things are the vending machines ALL OVER the place. You can buy anything you want to drink or any flavor cigarette. Speaking of smoking; most restaurants allow you to smoke;;; yuck!
In search for lunch we decided to head off the main street and find something more authentic. We ended up finding a great little hibachi where they cook at your own little table. The food was the best we've had in Tokyo so far. We ended up sitting next to another English speaking couple so we got to enjoy good food, good beer and good company. After lunch we continued our way home shopping the whole way. Other than a few gifts for the kids we didn't buy much. Most of the stores are the same as in the US and things cost more here. We got back around 4 PM and took a much needed 3 hour nap.
After nap time we headed back on the street and found a fantastic Sushi restaurant. They had Toro for $2 piece (I've seen it for $17 in the US) and it was as good as I've ever tasted. The Sake they brought over mixed well with the fish. We stuffed our faces and drank our fill all for about $60,,,, not bad. After that we walked around a bit and explored some of the night life. Around 10 we ended up at a dive Karaoke bar which was completely dead. I Googled Karaoke after we left and we ended up being 50 feet from another bar that had great reviews. We went in, $70 for 2 people and the price included 3 drinks each. We ended up hanging out until 3 in the morning. The people were super nice and watching Karaoke in Tokyo is everything everyone said it would be.
Katie and I just returned (Sunday night, about 7 pm) from another entire day of walking. This time we headed east. We started the day with a workout (so far 2 for 2) and the breakfast buffet. We were on the road by about 9 AM. Today started off a lot like yesterday. We walked around enjoying all the sights and sounds of Tokyo. We ended up in the east side high-end district with all the same US stores. We waited too long to eat and ended up settling for some over crowded Japanese restaurant. It was a shame because the food wasn't good and after eating we found an entire row of great authentic restaurants that we wished we could have eaten at.
After lunch we headed south towards thinking we'd turn back to the hotel soon when we stumbled in to a large park right in the middle of downtown. We were walking around enjoying the park when we stumbled in to a boat ferry that takes you anywhere up or down the river. We got some advice and headed north a couple stops to what ended up being an authentic Japanese marketplace. It was great and much needed. We were really getting burnt out on the all the US stores with inflated prices. After walking around an enjoying that area everything started to close up,,, about 5 pm. We decided to take the subway back per Ethan's advice. It was quite an experience,,,, some strange folks but overall clean and efficient.
That's it for today. Katie is already asleep and the alarm is set for 6 AM. Our flight for Hong Kong leaves at 10 AM so we have to be out of here by 7. I uploaded all of today's photos and the GeoTag GPS gizmo worked great so pay attention to the map to see our wandering trail. I hope all is well,,,, God Bless!
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