I returned to Tokyo from Yokohama and proceeded to continue to explore the city.  First stop was Shibuya crossing because the train from yokohama dropped me off close by.  I was wandering around the crossing when a group of people asked me if i wanted a free one hour walking tour.  They were promoting a new app which linked local people with tourists who want to get the local experience rather than a tour guide.  In order to promote this service they were offering hour long introductory tours which I accepted.  They brought me up to this mall viewing are which allowed you to see the crossing from above.  I forgot to write a review of their app or include a plug in any of my posts, so I guess i will do that now.  The app is called Huber and more information can be found here: https://huber-japan.com/

The crossing wasn’t that busy at the time because it was in the middle of the day, but apparently it gets suuupper busy.  Regardless it was still pretty impressive how many people there are crossing the street at any one time .  They then took me to a shrine that was located in the middle of the city which i wouldn’t have noticed if they hadn’t pointed it out.

And then they took me to a cafe where a robot prepares the coffee.  It was a little cheesy as the robot arm just pushed the buttons on the coffee machine, which easily could have been done yourself and it would be pretty easy to program as most robot arms have a learn function.  It was still very Japanese and therefore enjoyable to see.

After getting some beverages served by the robot, my guides said their goodbyes and headed off and I headed towards Shinjuku to get a proper look around.

It was also close to my next hostel which is where I needed to go to check in.  After checking in at the hostel, I headed over to a beer bar called Popeyes to meet a friend who was in town on vacation visiting from California.  We had a few beers and caught up a bit.

I then headed back to Shinjuku to check out the night life with a guy i had met a few days before.  We wandered around the red light district and a really cool alleyway with a bunch of bars lining it.  We went to a few shops in the area and generally messed around.  It’s a really cool area and is for sure one of the more lively areas of Tokyo.

The next day was a general wander day as there were a few places in the city I still wanted to see and so I used the day to see them.  I arbitrarily decided I wasn’t going to drink anything that day, which is silly because one of the places I had on my list was the Asahi beer headquarters which of course had a bar on site.  Although I mainly just want to see the cool building.  If you look closely the golden building is shaped like a beer glass with the head on the top.

It was cool to walk around and check out the buildings and the walk along the river was also pretty nice.

Nearby the beer building was another temple called Sensoji which was completed in 645 and is Tokyo;s oldest.  They had a bunch of shrines and shops and what not nearby and was generally a very old area.  It was interesting to wander around.

I got my fortune and it was pretty negative.  I apparently didn’t take a picture of my fortune, so i don’t remember exactly what it said, but i remember thinking to myself that it was oddly applicable and not a good fortune.

I continued to walk through the markets and then decided to head towards a food recommendation for lunch.  My friend Alex is a fantastic person for food recommendations and I have always loved every suggestion he has given and therefore when he recommends something I always almost make a major attempt to go.  In this case it was to experience a deep fried steak done in a similar style to schnitzel but containing beef instead.  It was called Ichinisan and as predicted there was about a 30 minute wait.

The cutlet comes done rare and they give you a little hot stone with a flame underneath to finish cooking the meat to your preference.

It was some of the best meat I have had and was well worth the wait.  Alex really came through on this recommendation once again.  When I come back to run the Tokyo Marathon, I will be headed back to this place for sure.

I continued to wander around and eventually it was time to eat again.  I didn’t really know what I wanted so decided to adventure walk in a random direction until i founds something to eat.  I ended up somewhere near Tokyo station were there was a cheap noodle place that was open late as it had become decently late.  I might have taken a nap in the afternoon but I can’t remember.

My last full day in Japan started off with a run around the imperial palace.  It is a pretty decent sized area in the centre of town and is actually closed to the public except for very special occasions, so the run around was as close as I was going to get.

It was a great start to the day, but about halfway through it started to rain and would be the beginning of  a pretty rain filled day.

After my run, I decided to follow up on one more of Alex’s recommendations for food and so I went on a journey to locate another Japanese food staple.

Once again, I was warned that there would be a lineup and again there was indeed a lineup, but since this was the last thing I really had to do in the day, I joined the line and waited.

The place was called Fuunji and they are famous for their Tsukemen ramen (dipping noodles).  It is what I ordered and to be honest it was a neat experience, but I prefer normal ramen better.

The idea is that you dip your noodles in the broth which is much more concentrated than normal broth.  They do have hot water available for you to water it down a little bit but the general idea is to dip it in the concentrated stuff.

It was still very delicious and was well worth the wait once again!  Thanks Alex!!!

After eating yummy yummy Ramen, I wandered back over to Shinjuku where there was a municipal tower that you could go to the top of for free.  Unfortunately the rain made the view less than ideal, but I did get a decent view of the city all things considering.

They said if you look hard enough on clear days, that you can see Fuji, but that was not the case today.  They did have a cool Olympics display set up which has the flag, and a bit of information about the preparations for the 2020 Olympics.

The coolest thing was that they had a recycling program which asked the residents to donate old electronics for recycling which they would use the precious metals in those electronics to make the medals for the games.  I thought that this was really cool and smart.

After checking out the exhibit and the view, I needed to make my way towards the Toyko dome for the baseball game I had got tickets for.  I was disappointed that my Korean baseball experience was rained out, but was happy to see that the Tokyo dome was a dome and would not be cancelled due to weather!

I made my way over to the dome and got a few pre game roadies.  Beside the dome they have a small amusement park although on this rainy day, it was not very popular although I am sure it is pretty popular before gametime on a nicer day.

I Got there a decent ammount early since I didn’t really have a lot to do and the rain made wandering less appealing.  They didn’t let people in until an hour before gametime, but had several vendors outside selling merchandise, food and beer!  When it was finally time to go in, I was surprised to learn that it was Tokyo Giant replica jersey day, so i got a free Jersey and it looks very very similar to the SF giants ones.

I was also very surprised to learn that people were allowed to bring in their own beer!!!!  The stadium required that you pour them into cups but they were provided and they even gave carrying trays!!!  This blew my mind and I was a little upset I didn’t know this before spending money on stadium beer.

The tickets I got were high up and at the time I didn’t know that in Japanese baseball the fans from each team sit together and you are forbidden from wearing the jersey of an opposing team when you are sitting in the home team section.  However, because of the popularity of the Giants, they only have a small opposing team section, so had no issues.

The food was actually pretty good, but I opted for a cheap and fairly “Baseball” option.  Chilli dog anda beer!

Speaking of beer, the sellers that sell things in the stands were not your run of the mill sellers.  The pictures below will speak for themselves on who is selected to do the important job of beer sales person.  If you notice as well, it’s draft beer as they carry the beer on their backs in tanks.

After spending a decent ammount of time in my section, I noticed that there was a much louder livelier section in the bleachers that seemed more fun.  So I decided to try my luck at finding a seat in the lower, more fun section.  At that time I also realized that not only could you bring in your own beer, but you could also have in and out privilages so you could leave and get MORE beer if you run out.  Privileges stop in the 7th inning but that is plenty of time.  I opted for a quick run to the nearest supermarket to get a few cheaper beers.  Upon returning to the stadium with a new stash of beer, I went to the bleachers and realized that they were more or less full and that the only space was standing room at the back, which was ok but for sure not ideal.  I managed to find a single seat, but unfortunately I stand out like a soar thumb and an usher came down to ask me if i needed help.  He was so trusting that he didn’t even look at the section number and only the row and seat and so he said i was in the wrong seat and that mine was actually down there.  I didn’t push my luck and moved to another section on the third base line.

Seats were better and there were actually a few empty ones as it was later in the game.  Overall it was a fun experience and the Giants won 3-1 (I couldn’t remember honestly and had to look it up)  It also marked my last night in Japan as I was leaving for Ottawa the next day.  I headed to the train and made my way back to the Hostel.

My flight was not until the evening, and so I had the morning for activities.  I opted to go to the Tsukiji fish market where you hear people getting there at 5am in order to see the auctions.  I was told that tourists are not invited into the auctions anyways, so I took my time and got there when they were cleaning up from cleaning the fish and packing and what not.  I really should have gone a little bit earlier, but it was still a cool experience.

The market was pretty cool and was generally split into two parts.  It had the working fish market that allowed visitors to wander around but stay out of the way.  I think when it is really busy in the morning, it is closed to visitors as I am sure it get’s really busy.  The other part is more for the tourists as you can buy smaller quantities of sushi, fish and other snacking foods.  It was cool to wander and I was tempted to try some stuff, but I was saving myself for the last Alex suggestion of the trip.  He recommended a sushi joint near the market that is off the beaten path and has the same super fresh fish at a third of the price.  It was called Motodane and it was another fantastic Alex suggestion as the sushi was amazing and at a very reasonable price.

After finishing up my sushi, I jumped on the train and headed towards the airport.

I was flying direct to Montreal and then heading to Ottawa for my cousins wedding.  I got to the airport and spent a few hours in the KAL lounge which had one of those automatic beer dispensers!

See you again Japan.  This will not be my last time experiencing your awesomeness.  I will be back for sure!!!!