October 8 – Tokyo, Japan

ahhhhh

Weather

ohayo (good morning) Toyko!

– 22º and RAIN, not torrential, pounding rain,
but all day, misty and a bit more than misty rain.

Steps – 19,236. Should have realized this before I was in bed, could have gotten it over 20,000.

11 hours 31 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Tokyo 35º (Los Angeles is 34º)

Waking up to a notification on my phone telling me I exceeded my sleep goal is the success I need in life! When I said we were beat yesterday, my apple watch agreed! Over 9 hours!!! I don’t think I slept over 8 hours since we’ve been away. It’s hard to say though, the time changes seems to mess with the sleep app.

Tokyo subway

another ohayo Toyko!

The hotel has a handful of options for breakfast. Yesterday, Tatsuki told us the best place to go, so that’s where we went. It was an extensive buffet with Japanese and Western options. I tried as many Japanese options as I could. House made tofu was the star, this was good, but the fact that it was made at the hotel was interesting. One thing about this hotel (and maybe Japan generally, I can’t remember our hotel from last trip, or maybe it’s since covid) is that they provide tons of sterilized tongs for use throughout the buffet. The lounge on our floor has this too. This is an amazing, but simple concept to promote hygiene.

Skittles subway car

packed museum

They also give you little baskets to keep your purse, backpack, or briefcase off the floor. These are kind of like mesh magazine holders I’ve seen at home – brilliant!

Japanese restaurants (or bars where you’re going to eat) also give you a moist towel to ‘freshen up’ with. Sometimes these are cloth, or sometimes they are disposable – the disposable ones can be plush and fancy or thin and simple.

Rodin sculpture

We hung out in the ‘Executive Zen’ lounge for a bit after breakfast planning our day. I had to have another passion fruit and hotel’s signature croissant. Apparently, these croissants are a big deal. They are good,

devotional art

but I’m not really a croissant person, I think it’s the mess that turns me off. These ones are huge, that’s for sure.

We took the 30 min subway to the National Museum of Western Art. There was a Claude Monet exhibit on, plus their permanent collection seemed like a good

checking out the art

idea for a rainy day…we weren’t the only ones with this idea. The Monet exhibit was packed - the rest of the museum

Rodin gate

wasn’t. The restaurant was packed too. We tried to take a coffee break halfway through our visit, but nope, it was PACKED. It wasn’t as charming as museum cafés usually are, so we weren’t too sad to not go.

Subway…easy to use, well signed, machines that can be switched to English.

After the museum it was off to shop for knives. We bought a Japanese knife the last time we were here, and it is one of my prized possessions. I love a souvenir that I use all the time, and I use the knife every day. We tried a few while we were taught a bit about the knives.

random cool building

Tokyo’s kitchenware neighborhood is walking distance from the museum. We went into 4 or 5 different specific shops for knives and ended up buying at 2, one was the shop we bought in last trip. These shops are tiny, and the walls are LINED with knives.

random cool thing

Next, we looked for a place for lunch but couldn’t find much that was open. Plus, it was POURING at this point, so we decided to duck into the subway and make our way back to our neighborhood.

found in the middle of a sidewalk

We got off nearer to the Baseball stadium and wandered there a bit hoping for a shirt for Chris. Nope, no luck. The stadium is about a half hour
walk from our hotel. The Palace is near too, and had it not been after 4:30 (closing time, we could have cut through the grounds. However, we had to walk around. This was fine. Most walking is good. Plus, I wasn’t hot and didn’t need a bathroom.

zoom for menu items esp rectum

We had hopped for lunch out someplace, but it is just so easy to go to the hotel lounge for a bite. Really, there are enough interesting new Japanese things to eat here, that I don’t feel I’m not getting a Japan food experience. Plus, the service is just so, so wonderful.

We met a server from Brazil. I’m not sure how he made his way to Japanese, but his grandmother

Isakaya

was Japanese, so there’s some connection. He suggested a drink made with sake and Japanese cherry syrup – Sakura…very delicious.

We were torn between going back out for some evening time or going to the hotel’s ‘sky bar’. We have a 100USD hotel food and bev credit that we are having a hard time spending. Breakfast is included, as is unlimited food and drink in our lounge. By this time, it was about 8:00 and the bar closed at 9, so we went out instead.

It was still raining, but I had my hood and Chris - we were good. BTW…no one in Tokyo seems to wear hats or raincoats – normal clothes and an umbrella is the choice. I find umbrellas such a pain. Everywhere has umbrella stands/racks outside of the business and some bigger buildings have umbrella dryers or

7-11 snacks

umbrella condoms!

museum tix

We found an Izakaya – a small casual bar serving snacks and drinks. We passed ton his place at first and then doubled back. Their menu was posted outside in English and Japanese. We just wanted a beer. Good thing we weren’t going to eat, because while I can be an adventurous eater, I draw the line at pork rectum!

Picasso

This very small place had open sides, and because

Rodin

it was on a corner had two open sides. Open sides despite the rain was good, because these places in Japan allow smoking. This wasn’t a place you lingered…it was standup, cash only and almost dudes only.

We finished the very long day at the Mermaid Bar – a typical British pub. We ended up sitting outside under an awning because of the smoke. It’s hard to believe sitting inside with smoking being allowed at home way back when.