Right, while I figured we would take a little walk and go to the Tokyo Oedo Museum afterwards, we walked from Takadanobaba, all the way to Shinjuku (which is about 3km in a straight line, but since our path was primarily formed through the "oooh, what's that over there"-method, we ended up taking about three hours to walk that distance), visited Kinokuniya bookstore for a special soccer magazine Ruud wanted to buy for a friend, we visited the Tokyo Government Building and got a good view of the city over there.
Well, kind of, as it was a bit foggy, and thus, a lot of landmarks were obscured by clouds.
Later on, we grabbed lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, went to Shibuya for some odds and sods and headed home well in time for me to inform
WMT-staff of the ETA for the second group, and about the arrival of the missing bloke from the first group, who will arrive some time today (it's Sunday morning as I'm writing this). I also gave them a small gift of three porcelain windmills.
When the second group arrived, we went for dinner at Saizeria; a place which combines Italian and Japanese food to something very tasty, and they're quite cheap as well.
So ultimately, the original plan for the day was thrown away. However, it did give us a peek in how people in the neighbourhood start their day:
This shop opens at 10:00, but this picture was taken around 8:30.
A group of school girls, probably heading for summer school, as the summer vacation (for lack of a better word) is still in full effect at this time.
What's interesting is that while the new school year in Holland starts at the end of the summer in September, the Japanese school year starts on April 1, so these girls already have a few months of the current school year under their bellies.
We also discovered that there are a bunch of schools in this neighbourhood, some even exclusively for girls and/or women.
These guys are basically security guards, tending to everyone who needs to park in the garage they're standing in front of.
If you want to park, it's their job to guide you in and to make sure that no pedestrians will be hit by accident.
The view from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices over Tokyo itself. On a clear day, you can easily see Mount Fuji, and even Landmark Tower in Yokohama is visible. Alas, not today, as you can see on the picture above.
That's about it for now. The jet lag is clearing, but my lack of sleep continues, as my room mate is snoring very loudly.
I got some ear plugs from Matijs, but I figured that since I had a few beers and fact that the long day wore me out so that alone should be enough to last me until 7 the next morning without needing the plugs after all. True, I was already snoozing when he came in yesterday evening.
However, at 5:00 I was woken yet again by his snoring and couldn't get to sleep any more, so that's why this entry is quite long. ;)
Tonight, I'll definitely plug my ears.
Around 10:00, some of us will assemble downstairs and head out to have another shot at visiting the Tokyo Oedo Museum in Ryougoku.
Cheers, K.