Anyways, the bed in my dorm is significantly more comfortable than the one in China. A major part of today was figuring out the public transoprtation system. After class and lunch (I went to the nearby 100yen plaza and bought a counter), we went to the Meiji Shrine, which I liked very much.
BTW, I forgot my camera in my room this morning, so all photos are credited to Kong.
After that we did a repeat of the Mystery Beijing trip, but instead with various locations around Tokyo. Kong and I were a two man group and we were given a slip of paper that only said アメ横.
With a city atlas and train map it was relatively easy to find (we could look it up easily because we knew off the bat how to pronounce アメ (ame), other groups weren't as lucky (they got locations beginning with weird stuff)).
It turns out that アメ横 (ameyoko) was just an abbreviation for アメヤ横丁 (ameyayokochou), which is the last remnant of the black market, open air markets that formed in early post war Japan (the ame stands for America). Most of the stores were relatively cheap, though we didn't buy anything, and it is apparently one of the only places you can haggle over prices in Tokyo. The inside of the center building (you can't see it in the picture) has much more high-class expentive shops (jewelry, etc...). One good that could be found at any part of アメ横 was shoes. I have never seen more shoe shops in one place than there.
After that, we went back to the shrine to meet up with everyone else for dinner. We went to an Okonomiyaki place in Harajuku which was oddly decorated, but really good. We had an all you can eat meal, so I had three courses, two okonomiyaki (one with beef, one with salami) and one yakisoba (with bacon). I also was drinking large amounts of water. I believe the waiters got fed up with me because they eventually just left a full pitcher next to me. After dinner we went back to the dorm.
SIDE NOTE!
WHILEWEWEREONTHEWAYTOAMEYOKOWEWEREINAKIHABARASTATIONANDICANTWAITTOGOTOAKIHABARAIMSOEXCITEDOMGOMGOMG.
I have a trip to Akihabara planned for saturday. For those of you who don't know, it's kinda lika an anime/videogame nerd Mecca.
Just thought you ought to know.
*collapse*
Shoes. Ohmigod, shoes. Let's get some shoes.
ReplyDeleteAAaaanyway... sounds like you're thoroughly enjoying Japan. I almost kinda wish I could go to Japan, but I'll have to live vicariously through you, because I get the distinct impression that I would seriously dislike Tokyo. People EVERYWHERE. *hides*
Incidentally, yakisoba and okonomiyaki are frickin' amazing. I didn't think I would like the okonomiyaki because cooked cabbage generally has a funny texture, but it was good. I learned of the amazingness of both of these foods last interim.
I'm excited for your Akihabara post~
ReplyDeleteThis stuff's good, but I noticed something
http://imgur.com/vrizq.png
YOUR HAIR LENGTHENS.
It wasn't always that way, Jeff.
ReplyDeletehttp://assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23017
But Jeffffffff did you meet Manager-san yet? Are you even in Dormy Barakinakayama again this year? George and I are waiting with bated breath. (Okay, well, I am, anyway.)
ReplyDeleteAlso yakisoba with bacon? Where did you get this wondrous delicacy?