Day 1: Shinjuku (November 11th)

Housing in Japan is a bit different from what I'm used to; much smaller units, no centralized air, and very drafty. After a night of sleeping on the cold hard floor, we went out for lunch (I was still jet lagged at this point) at McDonalds. Despite months of studying Japanese in preparation for this trip, I had a difficult time ordering my lunch:

Teriyaki Big Mac

After leaving McDonalds we spotted the Japanese equivalent of Walmart (they even had Walmart bags). I bought a relatively cheap futon, pillow, and blanket and we took them back to the apartment. Having nearly exhausted my cash (card transactions are rare in Japan), I had to find an ATM.

Sake, Tabako, Ginko ATM

お金

So after obtaining some money, we set out for Shinjuku to explore to find some arcades and a cafe.

Shinjuku (after exiting the station)

The Cafe that we were looking for, by the time we found it, it had just closed.

Giant Pringles cans in a crane machine at the arcade.

My success at testing my hand strength.

(Apparently averaging 66 kilos per hand, I need to get back to bouldering)

After exploring arcades and cafes in Shinjuku, we headed back to Chofu around 7 pm. We decided to grab curry for dinner.

Cheese Burger Curry

Still a bit tired from Jet lag, I decided to turn in early.