Late wake up at 09:00, I think all the walking and climbing stairs has caught up with us.
Decided to hang around till 10:30 to do the online check in, then walked out of the hotel into a crowd of people – tourists and locals. The street was full of food vendors and restaurants. There was the smell of lots of different foods being cooked on outdoor stoves, people eating skewers and sushi walking around. We were right next to the Tokyo fish market – but I saw on the news just before we left that it had moved. Looks like the restaurants didn’t get the memo.
It was now lunchtime so picked one of the many restaurants – most only did sashimi, but I really didn’t fancy it again, so found a place that did tempura (fried fish and vegetables in batter).
Walked to the main shopping area, popped into UNIQLO but it was all winter clothes.
Lots of the top end shops like Louis Vuitton, Prada etc but we didn’t bother.
Headed off towards the Imperial Palace, took a wrong turn so had to turn around and backtrack – the Google maps app wouldn’t update due to the tall buildings, so it wasn’t very accurate.
Walked through a park where there was a flower show, lots of elaborate displays, stopped there for an ice cream and checked information about the palace and it turned out it isn’t actually open, just part of the gardens. Decided it wasn’t worth another 20 minute walk so went back to the hotel.
Watched some TV then went out for dinner. 9 out of 10 restaurants are sushi ones, so if, like me, all you’ve mostly eaten for 2 weeks has been raw fish you’d probably want something different. Managed to find a place that also did beef so tried that. It was a small place down a narrow staircase. Also ordered a caesar salad, some sashimi (just for a change) and a fish that was actually cooked. I thought they’d get thrown out of the sushi restaurant association for that.
They still allow smoking in restaurants in Japan, and so far we’ve been lucky and avoided it, but there was a guy at a table near us virtually chain smoking and it was very annoying – amazing how they allow it.
The beef dish came last, and was unusual – the beef was wrapped around some pickled vegetables, like California rolls, and had been marinaded – very nice.
Cost about $75 – a bit steep but it was a good meal.
By the time we left the place was packed, all the restaurants we’ve been to have been busy. Not sure if it’s because we’ve picked good ones or if any where will fill up.
Walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow is some shopping, although there’s nothing we can think of to buy. Going to Akihabara where all the gadget shops are, and to the crossing at Shibuya – it’s the one TV always shows when there is a story about Tokyo.
