Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Day 2: Shibuya + Shinjuku (November 12th)

Sleeping on my futon was much more restful than sleeping on a spring mattress. Troy and I woke up around 7 am walked to the 7/11 around the corner for breakfast.


Obviously the most recognizable thing I had was the boss coffee, but two of the snacks I got are themed around very obscure Japanese media.

After breakfast, we waited on a package from Amazon. In Japan, Amazon delivers usually on the same day that something is ordered, usually it is cash on delivery. After Jay got his package, we headed to a ramen house for lunch.


Jay's Chashu Ramen


My Shio Ramen


Troy's Gyoza

My ramen was delicious, magnitudes better than any of the ramen I consumed back in college. The shio ramen, had noodles, bamboo shoots, pork cutlets, scallions, nori, a salt based broth, and possibly a few other things that I didn't notice in it. My only complaint about Japanese food so far, would be that there are not enough vegetables in the meals. After lunch we we went to Shibuya, to see the shopping district and park.


In the middle of Shibuya Crossing (on a very quiet day).



Hachiko's statue is the popular meeting place outside of the train station.


Lots of neat buildings, that seemed out of place in an area with skyscrappers.






We found a famicom in the Book Off



Outside Yoyogi Park

Unfortunately, by the time we made it to Yoyogi Park, the sun was about to set. We got to walk through the park for about 30 minutes, before it was closed. Our short-lived stay wasn't uneventful, as Troy and I were filmed by some college students doing a project. Their project involved asking foreigners "one question," so our questions were "Do you like Japan?" and "Why do you like Japan?" After we left the park, we left to meet our friend Matt in Shinjuku.


Shinjuku from the station exit.

Shinjuku is much more lively and certain parts are much more sketchy at night. In lieu of Kabukicho, we headed to some more arcades, while we waited on Matt.




Fish keychains to be won out of a crane machine...
(I'm very open-minded, but this is too weird.)




At least the chairs look very comfortable...

We went to the Izakaya resturant. I only took one picture of dinner (and that was of my drink). Dinner was very unique, we ordered food from a virtual menu, we drank water out of fancy wine glasses (they were free), we ate french fries with chop sticks, and I finally got a salad that didn't feature iceberg lettuce.


By the way cow piss is better than coca cola.

After dinner, we headed back to the apartment in Chofu. The train we took was very packed, despite it being around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the train's windows had condensation fogging them up. When we got back to the apartment, we played several games of Mahjong before finally crashing. 


Mahjong is really easy, when you learn the rules.


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