Turkish treasures, walking solo, and fine finish

I slept better but still not quite right.  My mistake was not grabbing 2 blankets the night before which left me chilly.  Tonight I`ve corrected that and taken 2 ahead of time before they run out.  I`m back at Popeye again.

I woke up at 8ish and spent a good chunk of my morning drinking carmel lattes from the vending machine, organizing my stuff, and browsing the net.  I had decided to do a couple things which were: check out Roppongi Hills, cross the Rainbow Bridge, go to the Tokyo Tower, and ride the Odaiba big ferris wheel.

I started off by checking out at around 10:50, and then went straight downstairs to GoGo Curry for breakfast/lunch.  Good filling gorilla curry...mmmm.  I decided to take the train down because I already knew this was going to be a long haul day.  I could have planned certain parts better, but it worked out in the end.

First I went to Tokyo Tower.  Its way cooler looking in my opinion than sky tree, its classic, and has Sakura Trees around making for some excellent photo ops.  Inside the Tower is a mini theme park for the anime series One Piece (like Camp Snoopy or the Nickelodeon moa w/e except smaller and no actual rides).  You have to pay to go and they have character actors do stage shows and mingle with the audience, and various themed games and stuff.  They also have a cafe like the pokemon one that serves food with designs from the show.  I checked out the gift shop but didn`t want to go do that (although I do like One Piece).  I poked around in the gift shop and headed out.  I decided not to go for the view of the tower since I was going to the ferris wheel later, and no point getting both views.

Next I went to Roppongi Hills.  Its know for its art museums and upscale neighborhoods and restaurants.  I decided to stop by the Tokyo Internation Art Museum.  I paid about 15 bucks for the special exhibit, which I knew nothing about.  

It turns out it was Turkish treasures and was "The Treasures and the Tradition of Lale in the Ottoman Empire".  Lale means tulip and when spelled in the arabic alphabet uses the same letters as "Allah".  Additionally they were seen as symbolic because tulips only have 1 flower, and there`s only 1 god in Islam, so it was used in a lot of iconography.  The exhibit was in 3 parts:  Royal Treasures, Tulip Iconography, and the Japanese connection.  

The Royal Treasures were easily the neatest because it was insane amounts of Gold, Emerald, and Rubies.  The throne of the sultan was there and it had 3 Emeralds hanging above it, each the size of my palm.  A dagger in a golden sheath encrusted with rubies, and the handle of the dagger was an emerald.  Just 1 emerald, as a handle...There were helmets studded with emeralds and diamonds, and a necklace coated with rubies.  Just very amazing things.  They loved their encrusted jewels so much that there were Chinese dishes they imported, instead of leaving them as plainish with blue artwork on the inside, they covered the outside with gold studs with mounted rubies and emerald, just because.

Link for the exhibit, shows some items:   http://www.nact.jp/english/exhibitions/2019/turkey2019/

It took a while to get through but was very interesting.  Afterwards I tried to go into another exhibit, but that`s when I found out the pass I got was only for that exhibit.  No biggy, the timing was such that it would have delayed my plans bigtime if I had done another one.

I headed back towards Tokyo Tower, past it, and towards the Rainbow bridge.  So this is where I could have planned a little better and saved myself a little walking by going to Roppongi first.  Not a lot though.  I made a stop just after Tokyo Tower to Zojo-ji temple.  It must be pretty popular earlier in the day as there were some tents with food stuffs starting to wrap up.  Tokyo Tower looms up right behind the temple and makes for a great shot too, complete with Sakura in it.  There are also monument statues of children with knit red caps and pinwheels next to them.  I`m not sure of the significance but hears someone say it was for children who died in labor or miscarriages.  Total hearsay.  I bought a stick of sweet sticky rice balls from one of the stands just as a boost for the journey to come.  They were oook.  Texture was like if someone mashed up sticky rice and added some sugar into the paste and reformed it into a ball (that may be exactly what it is), and then it had a syrup on it that was still soy based but a little sweeter, like if you took out the saltiness and added a little honey maybe.  Either way, ok but not great.  

The Rainbow Bridge is a suspension bridge on the northern part of Tokyo Bay connecting the mainland to Odaiba, a large artificial island home to a few interesting things.  It has a road, a trainline, and a walking path.  I had underestimated the distance because Google Maps told me, an hour and 20 minutes.  Well as it turned out Google wanted me to swim through Tokyo Bay to get there apparently as the line went straight through it to the middle of the bridge.  Instead I headed right for it guessing I`d figure it out when I got there.

The bridge turned out to be another amazing place I`m not sure why there weren`t more people there.  I was about the only person walking that bridge at close to sunset.  The view was spectacular.  The entry to the bridge has a nice break area with drinks and a restroom and it was just completely deserted.  I took some pictures on the way across and after 30 minutes or so made it past the bay.

I could see the ferris wheel further down the road, but took a break to sit and watch the sunset some more.  I`ll just have to show photos if I got some good ones.  Quite a few other folks were out taking pictures in the area as well.  There was a small beach with a flock of ducks? I think?  

Kept walking, and got the ferris wheel after making a few wrong turns and backtracking.  Its part of a shopping complex called Palette Town.  It also houses a Toyota showroom that contains concept cars and some produced cell powered cars.  Pretty neat, took a few photos.  I waited just a little bit for the sun to go down some more and bought a ticket at the wheel.

The Daikanransha, which I think just means big ferris wheel, was formerly the worlds largest ferris wheel.  Not sure which ones hold it now, but its pretty big.  Entry fee was 1000\, 9ish bucks, and I got on.  The view was fantastic, lights were starting coming on in the city but the sun was still setting in the distance.  That@s when I notices one of the clouds wasn`t a cloud, but was in fact the silhouette of Mt Fuji.  I finally got to see the peak even if it was a silhouette.  Absolutely gorgeous, I could see Tokyo Tower lit up, I could see the Sky Tree to the right which has some light patters that play on it.  

One last picture I needed...In the anime Inuyasha, in the end credits the main character Kagome is riding a ferris wheel and looking longingly out of the window.  This is that same ferris wheel, it shows it zoomed out.  So naturally I had to do my own Kagome pose of me looking longingly out of the ferris wheel window.  

I limped out of and checked google maps.  By walking directly to the internet cafe it would be 5 miles, no thank you.  Took a couple trains, cost about 5 bucks and got back.  Now I wanted food kinda of quick but I also wanted to sit down.  I thought about just getting curry again, but decided against it.  I found a ramen place with a lot of reviews near by and 4.2 stars so I headed that way.  I found a line waiting for me about 10 long, not too bad, and a sign that said "ticket first then get on line".  I now knew how this worked, I`m pretty pro.  I went to the machine, ordered their premium ramen for 11 bucks and got back in line.  

This ramen was spectacular and is kind of what I had imagined it could be.  It was spicy, had garlic pieces around in it, packed with flavor.  The noodles were thick, there were 2 hunks of meat that seemed to be slowcooked pork with stripes of fat on them, a cooked egg where the yolk was just not cooked all the way so it was almost gelatinous.  Super delicious, I don`t need to try more ramen here, this one made me extra happy.

On a full stomach I headed back to my favorite Popeye.  Was greeted by the same super friendly guy at the desk and got a new spot.  Since I got through so much today I might try a day trip to Kamakura tomorrow.  I don`t want to waste a day and I think its doable.

I have a couple more food to-do`s:

Melon Bread:  There`s one down the road so I`m thinking breakfast tomorrow

A5 Wagyu Beef:  One of my many readers had a question on this, I`m sure who can`t guess who.  Wagyu is just the name of beef raised in Japan.  If it was raised in Japan, it is Wagyu.  Kobe beef if still Wagyu, but is specifically from the region of Kobe, and just has a reputation of having a more consistent high quality.  Then there are grades they give beef based on the fat marbelization (distribution and amount).  A5 is the highest grade.  It can be served raw by itself, raw on rice, or lightly seared on each side.  The fat has a waxiness to and it melts just from the heat of touching it.  Thanks youtube!

More sushi:  Probably another conveyor belt sushi.  That was easy, laid back, and tasty.

Food & Pokemon, the Trip Winds Down

After today the trip will really be in its last leg, with 3 full days before I fly out on Saturday.  As such there`s not a lot of things I really need to do, and I`ll probably be taking things a little slow.  I have about 340 bucks in cash left as I started putting charges on my card here and there to make sure that cash would last the trip.  If I spend the entire 340 in cash I`ll probably be over my initial budget estimate by about 350-500 if I had to guess.  Not a big deal, I`m fine going over budget as I`m not skimping on things I want to do, but just keeps me in line a bit from overspending.

Today I had one thing I had to center my day around because it was the only other thing I had a strict reservation for:  The Pokemon Cafe!  While not as hard to get as the Ghibli Ticket, they require a reservation a month in advance and they sell out as well.  I waited a couple days and all the afternoon slots were gone so I had one set at 4:55 to 6:25.

From reading other reviews of it, their food is not good and overpriced, but the ambiance makes it worth it.

With time to kill before then, I wanted to get as much good food as I can before I leave, so I headed further south to Tsukiji Fish Market.  The fish market is/was famous for its early morning fish auctions.  Large fish can fetch thousands of dollars here.  Circa 2018 though the auctionhouse was moved as overtourism was causing serious problems.  The new place is further north I think?..and has viewing decks special areas just to watch it.  I didn`t care about that though, Tsukiji is still a bustling market with super fresh fish and food stands.  One place I read about was where I was headed.  Maguroya is a place known for its Tuna and it serves various bowls and also rice balls (onigiri) and sushi rolls.  It was a small stand with a couple women in the back slicing up dishes, and one at the register.  There were premade items you could get.  I saw one with 6 very large tuna rolls for a mere 380, and went for it.

They were huge and fantastic.  Freshest tuna I`ve had, biggest tuna rolls, and was super tasty.  For less than the cost of a Big Mac.  While I was pretty full after that, I needed a tasty palette cleanser and got a Sakura soft serve ice cream.  It had mochi chunks in it to add some extra texture.  The flavor is like...almost honey flavored sweetness with a little cherry in it?  Hard to describe, but really good and not super strong.

After wandering around the market and seeing everything else, I decided to head to Ginza.  Its an area of Tokyo known for upscale shopping.  Too upscale for me.  This is the high high end stuff like Louis Vuitton show buildings where they have clothes straight off the runway available.  Givenchy, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Gucci, Burberry.  I was a little tempted to go into Com Des Garconnes because they`re a Japanese label as well like Bape, but similar to Bape, they`re trash.  You hear me James, if you`re reading this, CDG and Bape are trash.  Another really well known Japanese high fashion brand I didn`t come across: Yohji Yamamoto.  I would have probably gone in had I found it, and walked away with some socks maybe?  I think I can afford a pair of Yohji socks.

Anyway...

After Ginza I was headed to Hibiya Park, but it`s kind of boring.  I took a picture of the outside and its closer to a western styled park, and is missing the Sakura trees that are dropping blossoms like crazy.  There are random streets now that just look beautiful because they`re lined with the trees, and a breeze will come by and blow some petals off, and they spin as they fall like those helicopter seeds.

So instead of that I went across the street to the Emperor`s palace in Tokyo.  Now for those who didn`t hear the news, the new Japanese Era was named yesterday.  Its Reiwa, meaning Order & Peace.  They name a new era when an emperor dies, but Emperor Akihito announced his abdication of the throne to his eldest son.  It hasn`t taken effect yet, but its closer now that they`ve chosen a new name for the era.  He`s doing it because he`s old and doesn`t want to empire any more.

Because of this the grounds were packed.  Normally I think there`s joggers running around the grounds, and some people line up for the tour of the grounds which I hear is pretty boring.  I got in the line and it was moving along pretty quick, but after about 15 minutes I saw a bag check up ahead, and wanting to avoid getting my uncleaned undies and socks checked again I circled backwards and started heading for the pokemon center and pokemon cafe.

After a while I got to the pokemon center, this one being Pokemon Center DX, a new extra large Pokemon Center.  Just filled with merchandise and games for kids and statues and stuff.  I looked around and found out where the cafe was.  Looked around for a bit then went to kill time at the starbucks right on that road with the Sakura I mentioned.

After a bit I headed back up to the cafe about 15 minutes before my reservation.  At this point I decided, what the heck, I`ll get a full meal, my budgets fine, where before I was thinking of just getting a coffee.  I was pretty hungry again.

I got inside and was ushered inside by one of the uniformed workers who found my name.  Most inside spoke English as well.  The cafe was about 50% little kids with parents, and 49% couples and couple tourists, and 1% 30 year old me in a dark corner mumbling and taking pictures of people: "huh huh I shure love pokemon, huh huh huh..."

No actually I was in the middle of the brightly lit room, and they seemed to sit those without kids away from the kid section which was wonderful.  The menu was super easy to order from everyone had an ipad with a touchpad menu.  I ordered the Lizardon (Charizard) Roast Beef Volcano.  It was between that and the Pikachu curry, but I know with my other curry experiences I would have been disappointed.  I got the roast beef volcano, and it was pretty cute with a little cracker cutout of Charizards head breathing fire next to it.  You pour the sauce over the "volcano" and it drips down the sides.  In the end it was lettuce and sprouts around the site, with a mound of rice covered in roast beef slices (like sandwich roast beef) and had an extra ketchupy tasting sauce on it.  It wasn`t terrible and I ate it all and it was filling.  Definitely not 13 dollars good though.  It was at this point that Chef Pikachu came out from the kitchen!

One of the girls working there came out with him and introduced him and they started playing music.  She gave various instructions in Japanese on how to cheer him on presumably.  He walked around by the kids section and they had a blast.  Then it was our turn!  Pikachu walked up and struck a pose after a chef pikachu theme song, he even shook my hand.  It was actually very fun, it had an almost Lego Movie, everything is awesome sort of excitement to it.  While he was going around my 2nd order came around.  I got a Jigglypuff pudding plate with a special Latte.  The lattes you can order with foam art of any of the first 151 Pokemon.  I ordered Lickitung, who is my favorite.

30 year old me was very happy at that moment.  I had just met the real Pikachu, and I had a Lickitung Latte, highlight of the trip along with the Pogs.  Might as well call the blog,  Japan for 21 Days:  Latte and Pogs

The pudding was actually really good.  Someone else said it tasted cheap, which sure, its pudding and had the Jello type bounce to it, not the soft kind.  But the berry sauce, whip cream, and fruit on the side, plus the awesomeness of the presentation made it worth it.  Would recommend to anyone else.  The latte was not hot, it was on the warmer side of warm, and tasted normal.  But that didn`t matter.  Its like the speed of the light, you can`t go any faster.  So if it had tasted better, it wouldn`t have made a difference basically it was already the best it could be.

At about the 45 minute marker the Pikachu show had ended a while ago, people were grabbing their bills and heading up.  They had a shop just for the cafe, but that stuff was not particularly neat and was expensive.  I have great ideas for them they should make Pokemon cuttlery (like Scyther because he has blade hands), and Pokemon whisks, and like basters and stuff not like the stuff they have which is stuffed chef pikachu, plastic folders, plastic cups, t-shirts.  I`d by the heck out of pokemon cookware if you could only get it there.

Well that`s my story.  I headed back to popeyes and got here just 5 minutes after they started their 7pm-11am deal for 16 bucks.  Which reminds me, last night didn`t have a great sleep.  They ran out of blankets by the time I checked, and I swear someone had a basketball at 2 in the morning or that`s what it sounded like.  I shouldv`e put in my earplugs right from the get go.  I`ll be smarter tonight.  I got a blanket nice and early, and my early checkin time got me a spot on the third floor well away from the entrance where everyone leaves.  Same great polite host from the first night here.

Also one last thing I forgot about until I was uploading photos.  I found another magical Japanese toilet.  It had a privacy button where you press it and it plays loud waterfall/running water noise.  You can change the volume too, but its for when you`re being a little noisy and are feeling self conscious about it.

My vague to-do list for the rest of the trip:
See sumo practice: this involves waking up very very early, like 4:30, and then walking an hour, and then not guaranteed so not sure if I care that much

Go to Tokyo Tower: this I will make happen.  I for sure want to get there and I will go up.  Its cheaper than the skytree and to me has more fun history having been destroyed by Godzilla several times at least, and just being an icon in general.

Have A5 Wagyu beef: they had some at Tsukiji and its not too bad if you get small quantities.  Maybe Fri I`ll see how my budget is and do a nicer dinner somewhere

Go to the Rainbow Bridge and Giant Ferris Wheel:  These are further south than I went today by another hour or so.  Maybe I`ll try for that Thursday.  That area also has the giant Gundam Robot.

Shop for souvenirs and buy a luggage thing to check.  This`ll be on the last day.  I don`t really care what form the luggage takes, just need something to check.  I`ll probably be getting a bunch of KitKats and stuff in wacky Japanese only flavors.