April 16 Tokyo
As evidenced by this map, we spent the day, going around in circles.
En route, I received a notification that my PCR covid test results were available. The long and the short of it is, that I couldn't access the results. I should have been able to, but it just wasn't happening. I had several people trying to help but they just made it worse, and my access was denied. We would have to go back to the clinic, which was in another area of town. But we couldn't leave just yet, because we had tickets to go up to the rooftop of a new tower . So killed some time at a small local rooftop park, and then ran into a food court for a quick snack. One minute we're hearing firetruck sirens, and then the next minute, we have firemen charging into a fast food restaurant next to where we were sitting (which confirms, never eat at a Panda Express), but the emergency was soon over.
From the park, we could see the tower that we were going to and you can see the people up on the roof . Before going up, we still had time to visit the statue of the famous dog Hachiko , and Michael went over to pose, but not realizing(and neither did I ), that there was a whole line of people waiting to have their picture taken next to the beloved dog. He just cut in front. Oddly, nobody yelled at us.
And then up we went, to get in line for the roof of the Shibuya Tower.But we were STILL early, and they made us wait about a half hour. At the allotted time, we went over again, only to be told, that the roof was now closed because of bad weather. However, we were free to come back, later in the day or evening. At that point, we decided to shlep back to the clinic. We'd already had people try on the phone without any success.
The clinic was very nice, and we had two people working on it, but still took some time, probably about 20 minutes before they were able to resend to me, with access. Cue much anxiety because the entire time, I still didn't know the results. But when I finally saw negative for first me and then Michael, I could have cried with relief. I expected to be crying with happiness. Normally, I would have been sobbing buckets by this point, but I was dry eyed, although still filled with gratitude for everyone's perseverance.
So we were free to go back to the tower. It had rained, but now it was blue skies, but again, we were told that the tower was still closed because of lightening.
Grrrr. Alright then, we figured will have an early supper. For a change, I was able to follow the pedestrian directions on Google maps, to a restaurant I wanted to try. Not known for haute cuisine but more for fun, Japan has thousands of these conveyor belt restaurants. You can either sit around where the chefs are cooking or at tables for 2. In either case, there is a conveyor track that goes past and if you see something you like, you grab the plate. You can also order additional items from a menu. If you're sitting in front of the chef, he just hands it to you, but if you're sitting at a table for 2, there is another conveyor track, and the chef sends it directly to you. It is zapped right to your table. Fun.https://photos.app.goo.gl/bgf99gSePpPFZh8S7
Done with supper, we hurried back to the tower for the third time, because again, we could see people on the roof.
And they were still handing out the free beer the entire time.
And you can see Mount Fuji in the distance.