Day 5, September 29, A Free Day in Tokyo
Today was a free day, but it proved to be both unique and interesting. We were awakened about 4:45-4:50 this morning by a low intensity earthquake, 4.9 on the Richter scale.
The building swayed and it felt as though the bed was rolling. However, there was no apparent damage to any buildings. The Gate City Bar Association (GCBA) group had established a chat stream in WhatsApp at the beginning of the tour. Needless to say, the chats came to life and came streaming in.
There was no announcement over the hotel intercom and no screaming in the hallways or outside. So, taking our cue from the locals, we did not panic. I sent a text message to several family and friends, to inform them that we were okay, in the event they heard about or read about an earthquake in Tokyo, Japan.
After the excitement of the earthquake, Patrise and I lay in bed talking; then we worked on the New York Times Wordle puzzle for the day. This has become a daily ritual we enjoy: working together to solve the Wordle puzzle. We have worked on an solved well in excess of 1100 of them. However, our record for continuous days solved has been 78 days in a row. Inevitably, events of a day overtake us and we forget to do the daily puzzle. Or like this time, the day we left Atlanta, with the time change, we missed a day and had to begin anew once we were in Tokyo. Still, it is a ritual we enjoy as a couple.
About 7:30, we got going for the day. Instead of eating breakfast at the hotel buffet, we opted to walk the neighborhood and have breakfast somewhere else. The restaurant we initially went to, Sakura Café & Bakery, did not live up to its advertising. It had very little in the way of a breakfast menu, so we left and wondered into another nearby store, the Café St. Marc. Its menu proved to be as advertised, and so we had breakfast sandwiches. Eating at Café St. Marc reminded us of eating at a local neighborhood café in Paris when we were there in June. Our seats gave us a window view by which we could see people passing by in their normal lives, on the way to and from work, school, or other destinations. The difference with Paris – other than being a completely difference country and culture – was the weather. It was rainy and continued to be all day. Not drizzling, nor pouring, but a steady, ubiquitous rain that provides constant small puddles in the streets and along the curbs. Tokyo’s infrastructure is very good, however, such that the rain drained properly everywhere we walked. No large ponding, no stopped up storm grates, no backed up sewers. A civil engineer’s “wet dream,” so to speak (LOL).
Row 1: Sign for Sakura Cafe & Bakery, front door of Sakura, view of St. Marc's cafe.
Row 2: Patrise's breakfast sandwich, my breakfast sandwich, Australian family in St. Marc's.
Having left St. Marc’s, Patrise wanted to head to the Ikebukuro train station. In Tokyo – and I assume this is true for train stations in other cities in the country – the train stations are enormous and host hundreds of retail shops and restaurants underneath the surface streets. One does not have to enter in the train travel area, in order to access these shops and their various offerings. We went to Starbuck’s in the Ikebukuro, ordered our standard drinks – grande, white chocolate mocha, soy, no whip – and two glazed donuts. We sat in the Starbuck’s window seats facing the interior of the station, soe we could people watch, as we were enjoying our coffee and doughnuts.
Row 1: Seen from Cafe St. Marc while eating breakfast
Row 2: Rainy day street scenes, local post office
Row 3: Seen in the from the Starbuck's window in the Ikebukuro train station
We made our way back to the hotel, roughly a seven-minute walk, and when we returned to the room, Doug immediately crashed. While he took a long nap, Patrise gathered herself and went out and about. She took an Uber to the other side of town, to a shop she had found for some special souvenirs. (We will not say what the souvenirs are nor for whom they are intended, so as not to spoil the surprises when we return home.) As Patrise made her way back to the hotel, Doug was just awaking, some three hours of napping. Much needed after he had only slept for 5-1/2 hours last night.
As soon as Patrise arrived, we left the hotel again, this time headed to the Anime Tokyo Museum, in order to find some special gifts for the three youngest grandkids. They are seriously into anime and manga, both art forms originating in Japan, but now popular worldwide. We found some of, but not all of what we were looking for. And so, from the museum, we were heading to an anime store to procure the rest of the items.
In between, we stopped to get sushi at a local restaurant. The first place we entered was not officially open; they directed us across the street to another store. We made our way there and they allowed us in, even though they were officially closed for lunch. We ordered an assorted sushi (fish with rice) dish and an assorted sashimi (fish without rice). We did not realize with the amount of food that would be plated with each of these. One of them would have been sufficient. We left a lot of food on our plates. We thanked the wait staff and the sushi chef for their kindness, paid the bill, and left. We had left a significant tip for them which surprised them. In fact, one waiter came running out of the store to catch us to give the money (cash), not realizing that it was a tip intended for them to share. Despite our lack of language skill, we conveyed to him the point that the money was “extra” for the three of them to split. One thing is clearly true in Japan, most places and most service people do not expect tips. In fact many of the credit card receipts do not have a tip line for you to add onto the bill.
Lunch items at the sushi/sashimi restaurant.
Scenes approaching and in the Animate store, shopping for souvenirs for the youngest grandkids.
Having walked around most of day in the rain, Doug pitched a small fit and insisted on catching a taxi back to the hotel, even though it was only a 15-minute walk. After some miscommunication between the two of us, and some confusion as to where we were headed to get to a pickup point, we managed to get a taxi and return to the hotel. (The taxis are coordinated with Uber, so when you order an Uber ride, your first, least expensive option in the app is a taxi.
Having returned to the hotel, Patrise arranged for individual massages for the two us and offered Doug some jasmine tea, mostly to calm him down and reduce his stress level. We settled in for the evening and we packed our luggages. Tomorrow morning, we head for Mt. Fuji and the Hakone region; however, our primary luggage will be taken ahead to our Kyoto hotel, while we are visiting Mt. Fuji. So we had to pack a small piece of luggage for an overnight stay, complete with toiletries, sleepwear, and one change of clothing for the day after the Mt. Fuji visit.
Tomorrow, the entourage will be on the move!
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