Tokyo Day 4: Saturday on Ginza

Breakfast with Wayne & Kevin at Milano cafe in the food court in the hotel plaza.  Servings were just right and I should have stopped with the breakfast sandwich but the French toast looked so good.  Japanese coffee is nice and strong but not bitter.

Kevin went off to meet his friend while we three took the train for Shibuya.  It was just as I remember it.  Crazy with crowds.  Saturday everyone goes out shopping, especially young adults.  Thanks again to Susan's memory, I got music CDs for Noah and Nicole at Tsutaya.

Lunch was Chinese at Parco.  No time to shop there, wanted to go to Tokyu Hands.  Seven floors of all kinds of stuff, two hours there was not enough time.

With Kevin waiting at Hachiko, we decided to got Ginza Itoya by subway.  Got lucky! Chuo dori was closed to cars today!  It made walking to Uniqlo so much more pleasant.  Uniqlo is not for us--sizes are too small!

Itoya kept its promise and did not disappoint.  Got some new rubber stamps and neck coolers there.  Dinner at G-Zone Gonpachi in the building right across Seiyo Ginza Hotel.

So tired tonight, I left my backpack full of gifts in the cab.  We spend a tense hour working with two hotel staff to try to reach the cab driver.  Yokatta!  He came back and I had my precious bag within an hour!  It made me realize always keep your important docs and money on your person.  My backpack was full of purchases but they were just that, stuff.  And could have been replaced if necessary.

I always wear my purse cross-body.  It has my passport, wallet, room key etc. in it.  This, I make sure is with me at all times.  Doesn't come off my body even when I sit down for meals.  Can't afford to lose this in a foreign country.  There is no back-tracking in a huge city like Tokyo.

What a relief when Guest Relations Agent Bando-san called and came up to deliver my backpack. 


Resolve:  never leave anything on the floor of a cab.  Never fall asleep in a cab.  Put bright color straps or reflectors on this backpack so it never gets forgotten.
Midnight now and suitcases are in Wayne's tiny room, ready to be sent by takkyubin-delivery service to Hiroshima.

We travel by early Shinkansen to Kyoto tomorrow.

Tokyo Day 3... more to follow...

Got back on the subway and followed instructions to a new trendy area called Jiyugaoka.  As with most things in this country, even the weather report is accurate.  A light drizzle was predicted so I needed a new 500 yen pink plastic polk-dot umbrella.
Jiyugaoka is another neighborhood that is becoming gentrified and yuppi-fied.  Susan was first here three years ago and remarked on how much more built up and refined it has become.  Similar to my reaction to memories of Yurakucho.

Street after street after cross streets of homestyle and lifestyle shops fill this area around the train station.  By this time of day we needed a respite.  The rain had stopped so we walked into Afternoon Tea, which we had hoped had a care.  It did not but it did have a Marimekko shop next door.  It continues to astound me how everyone stays in business.  The demographic is very young--very young pre-school children with mothers, all well-dressed and spending the day meeting other young mothers and playing, shopping and eating in the cafes and street fair atmosphere of this mostly pedestrian-only enclave.  Jiyugaoka is new money; young people of affluence.  Here the almost total absence of "things Japanese" is noticeable.  This is an area that is trying to be white, rich and trendy.  Young toddlers with moms shopping at the "right stores" for  baby clothes, scrapbooking, kitchen ware and generally channeling Martha Stewart.

Hurried back to Shinagawa Prince to meet Wayne and Kevin for dinner.  They had arrived this afternoon from Honolulu.  A fabulous dinner at Cha Cha Shirokanedai.  This izakaya is down steep, rail-less stairs in an apartment building.  Beautiful food.  Small dishes, beer and sake!  Yum!



Wall is gold leaf