Japan 2023

 11/10. Weather: 64 degrees and showery. I would say we were very lucky on the weather.  Shopping day. Again?!  We had to buy another suitcase just to get all our gifts and souvenirs home.😬 Department stores here are so nice. Carrie has said this a few times and another random American mentioned it to me too, all Americans should be forced to visit Japan to learn how they do things here in all ways. Clean!  Respectful!  Happy!  Efficient!  Service!  Etc!  Amazing pork cutlet and tempura shrimp in a department store restaurant - we will MISS the quality of the food and service here.  Grind up your own sesame for your pork sauce… Just perfection Even technology in the pay lots…..go in reverse over this this thing and park….. Yellow thing pops up so you can’t leave until you pay.   One last manhole cover Tokyo has two major airports but one is nearly 100 kilometers from Ellen’s. That is Narita. We took the Narita Express train (not qu...

 11/9 Weather:  71 degrees and sunny Last full day in Japan. 😢😢😢 Spent it wandering around Kichijoji as we slept in after the fun night in Golden Gai.  Found our friends at Garage 50 pizza place in Kichijoji…..we’ve said this for years when passing a mirror….. Went out for the most AMAZING sushi Look at this paper thin sashimi - you can see through it.  Fish intestine - creamy delish! Octopus suckers that the master cuts off individually. I think I’ve mentioned that “teeth feel” (texture) is just as important as tongue taste, spiciness, temperature, etc.  The teeth feel on these was interesting- they like popped when you bit down on them…… The fish that went into our soup  Fresh ground wasabi for every order! Crab custard?  Yes please! Somehow missed taking the pic of the wagyu beef sashimi but it was amazing!  Many other dishes we tried also and lots of sake and Sapporo.  This pic doesn’t do the hunk of toro (tuna) justice….I bet it was 1...

 11/8 Weather: 70 degrees, sunny and perfect Been excited to come to Shinjuku (one of Tokyo’s many “downtown” areas) since we got here and it did not disappoint! Shinjuku is a few stops from Ellen’s.  Roughly halfway between her place and downtown Tokyo  Shinjuku is the busiest train station in the world with over 3.5 million people moving through it per day!!! 😳 It took us 10 minutes to figure out how to leave the place, lol   But we figured it out…… We found it interesting the stacks of foreign money at the money exchange place on a normal street Great lunch in Omoide Yokocho area of Shinjuku.    Pork tongue and yakitori Decided against the pork womb.  But did have a couple of beers with big head  Sticker wall. Bummed we brought no Corner Taphouse stickers.  Cocoon building  Tokyo Metropolitan building south tower.  View from the 45th floor of one of the two towers of Tokyo Metropolitan building  Some perspective on the size...