Staying in Tokyo

- is awesome! I’m staying with Reiko-san’s friend from university, and in her block there’s this flat that the residents are free to book (I believe); and guess what – I’m staying in just that! I practically have my own flat equipped with a shower, toilet, tv-room and kitchen. I don’t really use the kitchen (and the fridge is broken). Haven’t tried using the gas cooker, but I usually eat with Junko-san and her husband anyways ^^ She makes me delicious traditional Japanese food with lots of small dishes. Hope I’ll be able to do that when I get home… there’s something nice about it ^^

Anyways, enough about that; let’s talk about the last few days in Tokyo!
I arrived yesterday, and Junko-san is, as all the other people I’ve met, extremely nice! We talk quite a lot about this and that – at least when I’m there.

Today I spent most of the day exploring Ikebukuro. Went to Sunshine City where they have the famous ICE CREAM LAND. They have bizarre types of ice cream there… really. I wanted to try different really strange ones, but they were preeeetty expensive, so I thought it would be a waste of money. Unfortunately, the one I chose wasn’t as bad as I thought (lol). Let me name a few of the flavours:
Squid, octopus, squid ink, shark fin noodles, fried noodles, garlic, garlic + mint, natto, viper, curry, cheese risotto, eel, chicken wings, ox tongue, salt, corn, rice, white and black sesame, miso soup, seaweed, deep sea water (I really should have gone with that…). And that’s not even all! -Of course there were more regular ones like fruits, caramel, chocolate etc.

After that, I went out and walked the streets. As you’ve seen, my shoes are worn out, so I ended up buying a pair of new ones. A nice pair of Nike sneakers for 7000yen (466kr), so that really wasn’t bad. I like them; they look and feel good, have a soft sole and are very light!

That’s pretty much what I did today… Today went by fast! I’ll have to visit two places tomorrow, or I’ll never make it to see everything!
Think I’ll take Harajuku and Shibuya tomorrow, cos those two are pretty close.
I also have to pay Odaiba, Shinjuku and Akihabara a visit too… at the least!

I’d probably better go to bed soon, but I’ll throw in a few pictures first.

Today’s brekkie. From left, miso soup with tofu and agedofu, a salad, nattou with spring onion and nori (seaweed), in the back, oden (fish cakes and konnyaku boiled in a broth; something Tokyo’s famous for. Had it for the first time, and it’s pretty good) and lastly, cooked rice. I think I’ll have to make a video on natto some time, just to let you see what it’s like.

Finished it off with pear and ocha (hot green tea, which I’ve come to actually like!)

Arrived at Sunshine City; a city within Ikebukuro. It’s huge! Think Herning Centret times… 7 or 8, I’m not sure…

I mean, they have a friggin planetarium!

Namja Town! Housing a gyoza town (chinese dumplings), ice cream land, ghost city, gaming archade and a whole lot of other things! Spent about two hours there.

Went to a music shop to look for prices on trumpets for my sis. In the music shops I’ve been to, none of them have sold trumpets; it’s usually just drums annd guitars. This is just a small corner of their guitar selection.

The Japanese really do like Neon Genesis Evangelion. I found the Evangelion 2.2 (You Can Not Advance) on Blu-ray, and was close to buying it for a friend, but he hasn’t seen the prequels yet, so I didn’t. Anyways, I’m gonna search for something in Akihabara, THE place for electrical stuff!

My new shoes! Nice and discrete, and not least: comfy!

Tomorrow’s plans are as follows:
Get up for brekkie at 8, leave around 9. Destination: From Ikebukuro going to Ueno, from there taking the Asakusa line to Akihabara to see what they have, move on to Shimbashi from where I’ll go to Yurikamome and Odaiba. We’ll see if I make it! I’m leaving Tokyo on the 16th, so I have to cram everything!

Well, that’s it! Going to bed; meeting up with the English guy some time tomorrow, so I have to hurry and find some place to check my mail so I know when and where to meet him.

Nighty!