jitle you, jitle me, jitle.us

Amazing stuff so far

First, I have a mess of photos to upload, but Google is killing me right now.  Basically their batch uploader is on the fritz, so till that works, sumi-masen (sorry).

Last night I finally got all situated and checked in around 6 and felt I could either plan for the next hour or just get myself out there and hope for the best.  I knew my hotel was close to things I was hoping to see, so I literally just stepped out the front door and hoped for the best, no guide, no map, just let’s see where the night takes me.

In typical fashion I wandered my way right into the main strip of Ginza, one of the great shopping areas of Tokyo.  I just walked around stairing and listening to people’s conversations.  I somehow had a conception that it would be easy to get aroud not knowing any Japanese, that…was a misconception.  I now have dozens of Japanese sayings in my head, with absolutely no clarificaion of a definition.  Still they bubble around in cheery politness as I enter or exit their meticulously arranged stores.

I somehow finally got the courage to go into a restaurant and attempt ordering, pointing at the prettiest picture, and hoping for the best.  In return I was treated to a shabu shabu meal for a king.  Some of the most beautifully marbled meat, prawns, crab leg, veggies, “squid ball”, dumplings, and a good mess of other greatness that all was cooked with in seconds of placing it in my steaming hot pot in front of me.  After that I did a few more laps and realized it was a good idea to get some rest since I had probably slept 8 hours in the last 2.5 days and wanted to have a full day of exploring my first full day in Tokyo.