Tuesday: Tokyo Day 4

I woke up today, and I'm definitely sick.  It's mostly a cold, but also partially kind of bronchitis.  Again.  Woo, lungs!  At least it's not super bad like it has been before, it's mostly just annoying.  I probably should have bought one of those mask things, but those always fog up my glasses.  I went with "maybe making people sick" above "stumbling blindly through Tokyo."  This is selfish, but I do not want to fall onto a subway track.  That's not fun.

Odd thing: Monday Night Football on the east coast is Tuesday Morning Football in Tokyo.

I cannot find Boss in Hawaii.  I have no idea why.  It is the superior chilled canned coffee, and is the proper start to any morning.  I'll really need to look again when I get back home.  Maybe Don Quijote has it.

I went with a different breakfast option today, partially because I got bored of the breakfast set at Cafe Baron, and partially because I slept in and missed it.  French toast.  A bit eggy, but it came with real syrup and a cup of very good coffee.  I don't know why, but Japan has had universally tasty coffee.  No burnt starbucks shit.

 Off to see the palace.

Wait...I have no memory of this place.

 Tokyo station, like many other train stations here, is huge.  Super giant huge.  Shinjuku is sufficiently large that I can get from my hotel to the train station completely underground in a variety of pseudo-malls.  The other side of this is that if you go out the wrong exit, you're completely lost.

I eventually found it.

And it's open today.

Ota-mon.

According to the signs, pretty much all the stone work has been redone in the past decade.  All the stones are from the same place, but the lighter ones are the new replacements.  They simply haven't had 500+ years of weathering to match the original ones.

Despite being in the middle of the city, you really can't hear any traffic or noise. 

The gardens are therefore quite peaceful.

Fishies!

I was aware of them, and left them alone.  I suspect they were sleeping since it was a bit chilly today.

If I understand correctly, this entire area was once covered in buildings and corridors and whatnot.

I now understand why the Castlevania games had crows as enemies.  These things are huge.  I'm talking something like 18" from beak to tail.  They also tend to congregate in vast murders that make you think they're just moments away from attacking.

You have to go up high to see most of the city.

On the way out.

Japanese ducks have different colored beaks.

 Back to the station, two stops later:

Akihabara!

My thought: "huh, don't we have Gyu-Kaku in Hawaii?  I suspect they're not above a maid cafe there, though."

More different Akihabara!

To be honest, I didn't do much in Akihabara.  I went into a number of shops, noticed that I could buy a tiny Pikachu for ¥300, a big fancy one for ¥1600, a tiny giant fighting robot for ¥2000, or tiny naked dolls for ¥2100-¥12000.  Yes, a hundred dollar, ~24" fully posable naked doll.  Bathing, or standing, or pretty much whatever pose you want for a hundred freaking dollars.

While walking back to the station, I noticed this giant crowd outside of the AKB48 themed cafe.  If you don't know who they are, let's just quote the first wikipedia paragraph: "As of November 2013, the group has 89 members. The girls range in age from early teens to mid-20s. Produced by Yasushi Akimoto, it is one of the highest-earning musical acts in the world, with 2012 record sales of over US$226 million in Japan."  Yep.

 So I went inside.  No, not there.  Next door, see it there?

Gundam Cafe.

 Clearly not as popular as it once was, it seemed to be filled with kids smoking and drinking after school.  And that lady in the corner who was totally sleeping.

Yes, it's a $7 cupcake, but to be fair, it wasn't very good either.  Still, I'm happy to support Gundam, and it reminds me that I should rewatch Gundam Wing.

Zoom!

 I didn't completely skip out of Akihabara.  Capsule toys are a big thing.  It's like gambling, where you win something useless everytime.  Since I didn't feel like trying to explain to customs why I have tiny naked ladies in plastic balls, I went with the "cute animal" one.

"Clearly Concerned Rabbit" isn't a bad option, but compared to "Giant Cheeks Squirrel" and "Fuck You, I'm Sleeping Squirrel," not the best in the set.

Sumo was on TV when I got back.

Red loses.

 For dinner, I went with the "holy fuck, my feet and legs hurt so far up my body that sneezing makes my back hurt" option of the hotel restaurant on the top floor.

Partially to satisfy the loss of the Skytree yesterday.

Terrine.  This would have paired wonderfully with an arugula salad instead of this mixed greens.  I picked out the few sprigs it contained, and that fatty terrine with the spicy greens?  Great combo.

Purple potato soup.  A bit monotone, and not just in color.  Maybe a bit of onion to make it like a vichyssoise?  It definitely could have used a bit more salt.

Chef's fish dish.  No clue as to the type.  She said it twice, and I couldn't bring myself to have her say it a third time.  Mild flavor, matched well by the beurre blanc and veggies.

Salad.  Fairly generic, but it did lead me to this thought: I think if you took an onion (like the red ones here), and grated it, you could use the juice and some vinegar (and a dash of oil) to make a very nice vinaigrette. 

Sirloin.  The pitcher contains soy sauce (? he said.  It wasn't very soy-y if it was) and the dot on the bottom right is some sort of spice paste.  I want to say it was a concentrated chimichurri, but I'm not totally sure.  

Hot tea.

Raspberry sorbet; coffee creme brule(?).  Pleasant finish.

Anyway, this has taken way longer than I thought, and I need to get up and go to the airport tomorrow.  I'm going with the lazy option and booked the bus back to leave the hotel at noon.  Two hours of travel on the bus, and I'm assuming at least an hour of check in and security leaves me with way more airport time than I need, but I'm too paranoid to go with the "leave luggage with the concierge, and then go do something real all day and hope I get back and to the airport in time."  I think leaving a few things undone provides good incentive to make sure to schedule a return trip.  I remembered today that red pandas are super cute, and Japan has some in the Ueno zoo.  Since I was in the Ueno station like three times this trip, I probably should have added that to the list.  Tokyo Tower never got done either, but their webpage noted that the upper observation deck was closed for elevator repairs anyway.  I now know of at least two art museums that would be nice to see next time, as well.