Wednesday (3/5)

Well, yesterday was a little slower. I think I like alternating my days between busy days and days where I don't do as much. The first thing I did in the morning was head just down the block to the town hall building called Tokyo Tocho. It has 2 twin towers and each has an observation deck with souvenirs and such.









Some of the pictures I took up there should be stitchable .. I'll have to do that later.

After looking around, I had to do some shopping (I was out of socks). So I went to a Japanese department store called Odakyu. It was interesting, customer service is so fantastic in Japan. Just walking around looking at stuff employees were constantly smiling at me and repeating the ever present "Irrasshaimase!" (Welcome). Then when I found some socks, I got a few pairs of large socks, and I accidentally picked up a medium sized one. When I was ready to pay, the cashier noticed the medium one mixed in, pointed it out, asked if I wanted the large size, then ran (well .. jogged, but still, she was wearing a skirt and heels) over to get the large pair of the same socks. Then when I finished paying, she walked out from behind the counter to hand me my bag and bow while humbly thanking me for coming to the store ... to buy a few pairs of socks! Amazing.

I called Tina, and she was busy, so instead we're going to meet up on Thursday. So then I walked around Shinjuku for a while (north west of the station), and went back over by my hotel. At this point my left shin was really starting to hurt. I stopped at an izakaya called Hanachan. It was a bit more authentic than the Kirin City, but it's also a chain, so it still had that chain-restaurant feel to it. The lady that waited on me realized that I wanted to practice speaking Japanese, so she didn't immediately switch to rudimentary English like most people do here. So I actually got a little practice. I wanted some sake, but I didn't know one from another, so I asked her if she recommended one, and she asked me what type I wanted, and whether I wanted hot or cold sake. She said that my Japanese was great, and asked if I had a job here in Tokyo. It was pretty fun.

Then when I left my leg was still hurting. By the time I got back to the hotel, I was nearly limping. It's still sore this morning, but hopefully it can last through the day. I'm going to the Ghibli museum, and then I'm meeting up with Erina's friend Tina for the afternoon.