Japan: Day 1 or 2, I don't know... Tuesday

Good news everyone! I've decided to blog again about today's events in Tokyo, Japan!

Tuesday

Today was all about getting my bearings. Honestly, my goals today were modest. I needed to find snacks, bottled water, starbucks, and food options. In addition to finding these things, I wanted to get a better feel for where I actually was in Tokyo, speak the language a bit, and just go exploring.

I woke up early with Leah and saw her off to work with her coworkers. When she left, the first thing I did was walk through the garden next to our hotel. It is a really beautiful garden with gorgeous trees, rock paths, waterfalls, ponds with giant fish, and Japanese-style houses. There is a reservation-only tea house that I definitely want to check out later. After meandering through the garden, I hit the streets of Tokyo.

The path down from the hotel is fairly steep and windy. From there, I took a left, heading away from Shinagawa station (the station near the hotel that we arrived from Narita). I immediately found a coffee place called Tully's (a chain here) and ordered a small coffee. Starbucks, check. I honestly didn't find much going this way after that though, mostly a couple of convenience stores. After walking out a couple of miles, I headed back, but on the other side of the street. As I got closer to the train station, I found an intoxicating smell leading to and Indian restaurant. Go figure, right? (Leah is going to freak out, man!). I stopped in a 7/11, yes, a 7/11 and got some bottled water. Two things down, onto Shingawa station....

At this point I haven't eaten anything, so I'm getting pretty hungry, so I stopped by a food joint in the station. I had an awesome panini with meat, onions, and peppers. It definitely hit the spot. I made sure to tell the cook that it was delicious (in Japanese, of course!). From there I explored the station some more and found a food mart, mall, and a multitude of restaurants from American to Japanese (of course) to Italian to Tapas! I bought some snacks at the food mart's sweets section, got some gellato, then headed back to the hotel from a nap. I guess the jet lag caught up with me pretty early.

After an extensive nap, I hung out in the hotel room, practiced a little, and met up with Leah. We caught a cab with her coworkers to a Japanese restaurant. On the way there, we went the exact same way that I walked earlier today. There were some pretty cool looking shops down that street. Guess I should have stayed the course and gone on a little longer.

When we got there, we went down a spiral staircase and entered a small doorway to this authentic Japanese restaurant. When we got to the sliding door, we slid off our shoes, went in, and sat down at the table (which was just a little higher than floor level). We weren't sitting Indian-style because there was a hole for us to hang our feet under the table. The food was amazing. It was something like 5 or 6 courses. It was a slow feast of delicious fish, soup, vegetables, and copious amounts of biru and sake!

All in all, not an ambitious day by any means, but definitely fun and relaxing.

Good night!

Nick