April 14 Tokyo
Bleep bleep bleep....we missed the baseball game at the Tokyo Dome that I had purchased tickets for. When I had bought them, was annoyed that I had not thought to purchase the tickets earlier, because at that point, all that were left, were the cheapest tickets in the outfield. So, if I had to screw up (AGAIN), at least didn't throw out too much money. It's just that we were in so much of a daze.....even more out of it, than usual. Just starting to know which day it is. It's Wednesday, right?
My traveling days are surely numbered. Can't handle the confusion reigning supreme in my head.
After breakfast, we headed out somewhere new for us, Yanaka Ginza st., in an area of town, that we have not visited before.
Nibbled our way down the street and then made our way back to an area popular with both tourists and locals, Shinjuku. At this point, Google maps misinformed us. Apparently, even Google can get confused. There are 3 separate subway companies running in Tokyo and I don't know how many above the street train lines, all of which have their own payment system. But we finally got to where we wanted to go after, again, having locals almost take us in hand, to where we needed to go, without any balking or hesitation.
We had to stop to rest, conveniently at a craft beer restaurant. Little did we know that we would be drinking more later. My intention had been to find a yakitori (grilled meat) chicken place, in a small area of narrow streets, called Golden Gai. Amazingly difficult to find if you don't know how to read Google maps. But I'm starting to feel a little better about my map reading inadequacies, because an astonishing number of other people, also have a problem with the pedestrian portion . How are you supposed to head south, when you can't see the sun to know which way south is. And the language on the app insisted on switching to Japanese despite the number of times I switched it back to English. Finally found a young man who was comfortable with the app, and took 10 minutes to walk us to where we needed to go . I was so grateful and had to hug him for his troubles.
Apparently Golden Gai is an area , that people go to after to work, mainly to drink. Screwed up again, because there's not much in the way of food here. We had just begun to explore when a voice called out to us, " where in Canada are you from (discerned from Michael's hat's maple Leaf)?". It was a young man from Vancouver, sitting in one of these bars, along with a couple of Aussies, and a couple of Americans from L.A. So of course, we stopped to chat, and then we were roped in, to join them. Such nice kids. Hope I still pass my covid test tomorrow after a bevy of hugs and kisses.
(people wait patiently in line for subway)
(packed like sardines)
We finally did find a yakitori joint and it reminded me of Decarie Hot Dog....hope we pass that covid test tomorrow.
Just like any big city, Tokyo sure looks different at night.
(can you find Godzilla?)
The lights and the crowds!
I enjoyed the 3D billboard of a calico cat and the Starship Enterprise.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XxkdXqxNpV8Beuw4A for 3D Videos.
Shoppers would never want to leave this neighborhood.
One of the (few) things Michael and I agree on, most people are so much better dressed, than people at home.
We haven't seen that many people that are dressed shlumpy like us.
Even the area that we are staying at, feels so much more alive at night.
Tomorrow, another busy day. Hope to get our PCR test and then tackle taking the train to the country to visit someone we had met on last cruise. She offered to come into the city, but for some dumb reason, we thought it might be fun to take the train to her. Yikes!
