Tokyo First Impressions & Toilet Tales

Well it took 30 hours of travel, our first vending machine stop, and some friends at the konbini (the convenient store – they pulled out a phone book of maps (?) and got us on the right path) to get to the apartment.

Sarah and Matt were already asleep and we were exhausted, trying to be quiet and keep it dark – so I thought I was dreaming when I discovered the toilet.

No soap or anything, so what is that sink for?! Still haven’t figured it out. But that first night I stood in there for what felt like forever, trying to figure out how to turn it off.

Our sleep was all wonky, so we woke up at six am and hit our local 7-11 for some fried chicken and green juice for breakfast. (It’s a thing here!)

We walked around for a bit, went to exchange a little cash at tourist information and WE MET A ROBOT. It’s name was Happy.

Shortly after that, I got trapped in a bidet. Yeah, you heard me. I’m in a public restroom, checking out all the buttons when I find the sprayer. I’m already giggling when I realized I can’t find the off button and start to panic. I can’t stand up because the water will spray everywhere. Sarah is outside the stall, asking me what’s wrong but I can’t really hear her over the sound of the bidet and my laughter. So she starts laughing, then I laugh harder and snort, then a Japanese lady starts laughing and I can’t even see the buttons anymore and the whole thing was ridiculous. I escaped, relatively dry.

We walked around Shinjuku, which had huge buildings and loud billboards everywhere, some with …. interesting translations.

Then we walked around the outside of the Imperial Grounds, the old palace and gardens surrounded by a moat, right in the middle of the city. Quite the contrast!

Time for another pit stop. We were near the Palace Tokyo Hotel so I share my top secret tip for using hotel lobby amenities: act like you’re supposed to be there and nobody will question you. We played it cool as we located what turned out to be the fanciest toilets ever! So many buttons and I used them all – a seat warmer, bidet varieties and options, a blow dryer! Being a fancy hotel for tourists, the off button was clearly marked on this toilet. :)

Lunchtime: We went looking for a yakatori (grilled things on sticks!) restaurant nearby in a multi-level food court, but couldn’t find it. What we did find was a tiny shop with about five or six stools filled with suited men leaned over steaming bowls slurping in front of a guy dishing out ramen – we gave up the yakatori search pretty easily after seeing that. Delicious! I got the classic, John got the spicy and some dumplings. All very good. The place only sat 16 people (6 tables – we had to split up the crew just to fit) plus the counter. The table was pre-set with a pitcher of some sort of tea – we’re still not sure what flavor it was but it was great. We were asked noodle firmness preference – she recommended al dente, and it was the right choice for sure. The egg yolk was bright orange, the broth creamy but not overly fatty, the strange condiments plentiful and men in suits sporting lobster-eating kind of bibs.

Full after lunch, we tried to find the “scramble,” this crazy pedestrian intersection in the Shibuya area. We ended up walking around a commercial area, just soaking it all in. We happened upon a network of these small alley-like streets with tiny little restaurant, tucked in less than a block away from giant buildings and shopping centers.

After wandering for a while, we tried to find a place to grab a drink, fire up the wifi and regroup. Where we ended up served us a round of drinks and an amuse bouche of cold potato salad with chopsticks in a smoky, low ceilinged place. Wasn’t quite the place we had in mind, but it was strange and weird and very Tokyo-esque.

Oh yeah, and we spotted Godzilla.

After that, we went to the top of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No. 1 to check out the view. Sadly, it was too foggy to see any of the mountains but very awe inspiring to see the scope of the city.

Since we got up so early, we went back to our apartment to rest at about 5 pm – and all slept right through dinner!