Japan

[thatguy]

Everything is smaller in Tokyo including serving size. Meals are running about $10 (dollar > yen rn) and the food quality has been excellent. Those $1.50 egg sandwiches @ 7/11 are good. I a few hours I’m going to get a few of them maybe. 7/11 rocks here!

Do they have hot dogs warming in the perpetual rolling machines there?

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

No, they are prepackaged. They even have sauce on them already

Just checked out the official ghibli store. Kawai! We’re in the shadow of the Tokyo tree, world’s largest radio tower where there’s a massive shopping mall. We are catching our breath.

We did the samurai ninja museum which we assumed was a tourist trap. It was but a good one. It was an informative presentation with a cute fun tour guide. Between Tara & I we answered almost all her questions and I got in the top 3 in the shuriken throwing contest.

Went to some obscure teeny pastry shop called the Banana Factory - I had the banana custard pie and banana oat smoothie. Tara had the banana crepe. We needed the potassium. 

It’s not as sweltering today. Some breezes. Rain tonight maybe.

[Drunk Monk]

10.7 miles
Samurai ninja museum
Banana factory
Tokyo Tree
Ghinli store
Train to imperial palace but it was closed.
Saw the budokan instead 
Yakusuni Jinja shrine
Gonzalez district
Afuri vegan ramen 
Muji flagship store
Loft store
Tokyo Adidas 
Train to Asakusa on the edge of rush hour 
We live on pocari sweat

[Greg]

Live at Budokan!

[Drunk Monk]

Indeed. Took a martial photo in front of it after a young lady tourist doing the same thing. It’s an impressive building; Japanese architecture is impressive over all, both the ancient and the modern. I’m toying with an article about it, perhaps for YMAA (although I was wearing a Kfm shirt yesterday.) 

10.7 miles today
Samurai ninja museum was better than we expected for a tourist trap

Banana factory was a cute tiny place that served banana pastries crepes & drinks

Tokyo Tree is dizzyingly tall. We went because the Ghibli store was there which was fun. 

We took the train to imperial palace but it was closed.

Saw the budokan instead and the Yakusuni Jinja shrine which was beautiful.

The we went to the ginza district for Afuri vegan ramen which was delicious

Hit some major stores that Tara knew: 
Muji flagship store
Loft store
Tokyo Adidas 

We took the train back to Asakusa on the edge of rush hour which was crowded. 

We live on pocari sweat (an electrolyte drink). Still hot but it sprinkled a tiny bit which was a welcome relief.

[thatguy]

Gonna get some Onitsuka Tigers while you're there?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...suka-tiger

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

Tara got a pair. She’s had her eye on some for a few years now. In the USA = $300+. Here = $90. I thought about the Bruce Lee pair for a moment but they’re a bit narrow for my wide feet. Tara may get more.

What really blew us out was adidas Tokyo. So many cool exclusive styles. Very tempting.

Tara can be quite the fashionista after working a buck mason. She’s got a solid eye for trends and knows the kinda chic stores here (I am totally ignorant about this but I know the Budokan). 

We’re taking a break at the hotel, psyching up for our commute to our next place. It’s only 6 miles away but that’s 40 mins via train (or car). Tokyo is so dense that it takes a lot of time to get anywhere. Plus it’s vertical. The Muji flagship store was 6 stories of cool offerings (we only knew them for their art pens).

[Drunk Monk]

I’ve gotta get out of the G store
Too much cool stuff

---

Shinjuku is overload

We are staying in a hotel with a life size Godzilla head on it and it hardly stands out. This place is like Hong Kong meets blade runner on PEDs. Glad we did Asakusa first to ease us in.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Shinjuku is something else. Overwhelming.

I have the jellies about your trip!

[Drunk Monk]

I told Stacy Shinjuku was overwhelming. She texted back ‘for you?’ in disbelief 
. But it is. It rained and the hood went total blade runner

[Drunk Monk]

So we had 2 typhoons & 3 major earthquakes in the last 24 hours here in Tokyo. 

The rain was actually a relief. Warm, not blistering. The hotel provided umbrellas. Got wet but dried quickly. Every store has places to wipe off your umbrella or wrap it in cellophane to not drip everywhere and the staff worked to mop the floors dry. 

The quake was a 5.9 about 50 miles from us. An alarm woke us and it was a lot of swaying (we’re on the 25th floor) but being Cali, we just brushed it off and went back to sleep.

Last night we hit the onitzuka tiger store which was packed with customers. This brand only came to my attention because their popular yellow & black design was modeled after Bruce Lee’s game of death tracksuit. I thought I might pick up a pair here. But there are many different styles of that ranging from $100-300. The store here is 3 stories with clothes, backpacks, and an insane amount of shoes ranging from sneakers to hiking boots to dress heels (at $400+). I never knew. Tara already bought a pair at our last stop but will likely buy another here. They’re crazy trendy in the USA now with her demographic ?mine too with the Bruce Lee style - although they don’t say Lee on it anywhere). I did see a amazing pair of hiking boots for $200 that I thought about for a moment, and a nice embroidered shirt for like $45 (I don’t need any more shirts plus I already bought a King Ghidorah Hokusai wave shirt at the Godzilla store). But I’d be pretty damn cool with the onitzuka tiger shirt…

We went to dinner at this Italian place that offered many vegan options. Lots of vegan here. Tara had the beef  bolonaise and I had the sea urchin & roe pasta. Both were astoundingly good but it left Tara questioning my judgement as I said the roe was convincing so she tried one and decided it was like the popping boba but savory which is kinda spot on, kinda chic.

[Drunk Monk]

I just had the best unagi don ever from a restaurant that only sold that.

I could not figure out how to flush a toilet. Too many damn buttons. I pressed them all.

Now I’m in harajuku waiting for Tara to finish making her own custom pair of daruma jeans.

It’s hot again. I’ll need my pocari sweat bump next.

[Drunk Monk]

Breaky at 711
Navigated Shinjuku subway train station which is a labyrinth of epic proportions
Went to Shimo-Kitazawa for a major deep cut in Ghibli fandom
Shiro-Hige’s Cream Puff Factory
Went to Harajuku - a world fashion capital - it did not disappoint in the least.
Kobonshan @ vegan bistro for lunch
Checked out Harajuku which is an insane shopping district - so over the top
Tara made jeans at Daruma Jeans while I had the best unagi don of my life at a restaurant that only served 6 dishes - all unagi - 3 sizes by 2 varieties (Japan raised or SE Asia raised)
Went to a very Harajuku shopping mall that was staggeringly awesome. It was a covert plan of Tara’s to find a sunglasses customizing store where you add your own bling. She made some cool shades for herself
We found a sailor moon store
Visited Meiji shrine - a serene refuge despite all the tourists
Had an iced coffee break before picking up Tara’s finished jeans (they do the final hemming)
Walked to Shibuya stopping in the adidas & puma stores plus tower records
Had dinner at yet another vegan place Tara found - a Chinese style restaurant. We had Ma po tofu and two kings of kareage
Crossed Shibuya crossing - the world’s densest crossing - so dense that crowds gather to make it even more dense because it’s a tourist thing. remember how I said sdcc & OSL were more packed with people than ever? That was just training for Shibuya crossing. 
Found a Star Wars Marvel pop up. Bought some tenugui
Navigated Shibuya station - yet another labyrinth of epic proportions
Came home to Godzilla 
Tara promptly passed out
I’m still tweaking on my iced coffee so I took a hot bath to sooth my aching lower appendages.
10.3 miles

---

Despite yesterday’s typhoons, it only rained a tiny sprinkle today, kinda like the day before yesterday. Today was sweltering mostly but had its cooler moments and by cooler I mean not sweltering, just hot.

[thatguy]

I forgot they still had a Tower there...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

7 stories of Tower records with a floor dedicated to K-pop, another to J-pop, one to events and a handprint from Michael Jackson. We tried to find some limited Japanese editions of our fav artists but they were all just added sleeves under the cellophane.

Forgot to mention the Harry Potter store. None of my pix capture the magnitude of the shopping districts.