Day 5
I set off for Shinjuku to grab lunch. fanta[Rn] has been raving about this one restaurant for as long as I can remember, so I figured that I'd try it out. I had pretty good directions to the restaurant written down, and I had scouted out the general area via google Maps before setting off. All for naught, however, because I didn't know Shinjuku had billions of different exits, and I had no idea which one to take. I remember just standing at a busy intersection within the station and staring at a sign that pointed towards like six different exits, then choosing one randomly. Definitely did not work in my favor. My attempts at asking the locals usually ended up in them shaking their heads furiously and going 'No no no, I don't know.' After wandering around for 20 minutes, I finally found a police officer who knew both the area and English well enough to get me to my destination.

Fucking Shinjuku station.

Lunch was glorious lemon steak and rice with curry. The staff was ridiculously nice and kept bringing me salad (written 'sarad' on their menu) refills while saying 'ok? ok?'

Lemon steak!

The restaurant was on the east side of the station, which, I think, is better known for its nightlife and the fashionable people walking around. It was still early afternoon, so it wasn't exceptionally interesting. With that I decided to head over to the west side of the station. When I crossed the railroad, I felt like i had stepped into a completely different city. The young men and women dressed in trendy clothing had all disappeared and businessmen and women had replaced them. The shopping malls and outlets were replaced with huge skyscrapers filled with offices.

West side represent.

Still disoriented with the sudden change in atmosphere, I made my way over to the Pentax Forum, where I got to mess around with fancy cameras and lenses that I will own. Afterwards, I headed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building's observation decks. Buildings as far a the eye can see. I noted that you could barely make out Mt. Fuji in the labeled panorama diagram, so there was no chance in hell I would be able to make it out.

I think Mt. Fuji is supposed to be in this frame somewhere.

I headed over to the Shinjuku NS Building next, and as impressed with the internal architecture but disappointed with the views over the town. I was going to head up the Government Building again, but decided against it when I saw the length of the line. Probably for the better, since my camera's battery decided to give out at that time.

On a side note, I'm writing this on paper while sitting at Mister Donut in Akihabara. Second floor, in the seats overlooking the street. There are two girls on the opposite sidewalk: one dressed as a shrine maiden, and another as a schoolgirl with a huge stuffed bunny that's almost as big as the person holding it. They've been standing there for what must be hours now, handing out flyers for their themed cafes. Another schoolgirl just showed up and dismissed the one with the huge stuffed bunny. Seems like a pain-in-the-ass job.

Anyways, after dinner, I met up with Cambium in Ebisu and had a few beers while the two of us reminesced about the older days of Teamliquid. Our drinking session was cut short by the fact that I had to catch the last train home (we ran, and barely made it). Curse the Japanese rail for not running later.

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more pictures in my ever-growing japan 2011 flickr set

Hyde

Australia14568 Posts

September 13 2011 16:06 GMT

Oh how I miss Mister Donut, it has just the right sweetness for my liking (I normally hate sweets).
Yeah there are a lot of jobs where people hand out flyers or tissues, and then there are the ones where they just stand there with a sign the entire night, they have their head phones on and a vacant look on their face. I don't know how they do it, guess they have to earn a living somehow.

More pictures of the food you eat :D

Grettin

42381 Posts

September 13 2011 16:09 GMT

Definitely more pictures of various dishes! I really don't have anything else to say. I've said it dozen of times already, but great blog and have fun!

Heyoka

Katowice25012 Posts

September 13 2011 16:10 GMT

Dudes who hand out flyers are everywhere in NYC too, every time I leave my apartment I see a new batch of them and it's always for different places.

I am glad you are hanging out with TLers, nice blog

XCetron

5226 Posts

September 13 2011 16:22 GMT

You're too good for IRC now or what?

Zlasher

United States9129 Posts

September 13 2011 16:23 GMT

The streets of akihabara look epic lol, take more pictures of food yeah, those are some amazing shots.

ThaZenith

Canada3116 Posts

September 13 2011 16:51 GMT

Thanks for all the blogging, I went through all the other parts after seeing this as well. Keep the awesome pics coming.

fanta[Rn]

Japan2465 Posts

September 13 2011 17:18 GMT

I told you that place in Shinjuku is awesome!
Didn't you take any pics from the izakaya Cambium took you to? :O

mrmin123

Korea (South)2971 Posts

September 13 2011 17:40 GMT

lol I honestly don't think I have many more pictures of food I've eaten. Usually I'm so hungry that I completely forget to take photos and dig in right away. I'll try to remember to take food photos during the reminder of my time here. At bars I tend to focus on drinking. :p

On September 14 2011 01:22 XCetron wrote:
You're too good for IRC now or what?

Too lazy for irc, don't hate ;o

josemb40

Peru611 Posts

September 13 2011 17:52 GMT

#10

seems legit, awesome trip

Dice17

United States520 Posts

September 13 2011 18:21 GMT

#11

reading all your blogs and looking at every picutre is making me the most jealous man there is I can't wait to get my chance at touring japan

gostunv

Japan1178 Posts

September 13 2011 18:24 GMT

#12

WTF theres more people in Japan now? this place is a shiet hole right now with the humidity... but i guess its not that different from korea?

gillon

Sweden1578 Posts

September 13 2011 18:33 GMT

#13

I'm getting so hungry looking at some of these pictures. Looks so delicious. T_T

BradwMD

United States43 Posts

September 13 2011 18:39 GMT

#14

That food looks so good.
Great pictures.

Taekwon

United States8155 Posts

September 13 2011 18:58 GMT

#15

Incredible. Always waiting for the next one.

FoieGras

Canada270 Posts

September 13 2011 19:15 GMT

#16

5/5 can't wait for the next one

Vansetsu

United States1454 Posts

September 13 2011 19:45 GMT

#17

From your blog posts, it looks like you are spending a lot of time in Tokyo. You should take a train ride to Ueno, visit the park and then head to The Warrior Celt, it's right off the sky bridge that takes you to the park. It's very geijin friendly, and the guy that owns the place (Andy) is a really interesting fellow, and a great host.

Edit: Haha, I just realized I ate from that McDonald's so many times when I was in Shinjuku, in fact my hotel was to the left just right down that street haha.

Manifesto7

Osaka27149 Posts

September 13 2011 22:41 GMT

#18

Running late to catch the last train? Drinking is supposed to last until the first train the next morning. Combine that with the cafe fliers and your night is set.

I'm still disappointed I didn't know you were coming until after you arrived. I could have at least picked you up from the airport. Regardless, sounds like you are having a good time. The pictures are great!