55 Days in Tokyo

February 17th, 2007

Got a decent nights sleep save for the strange dreams. Got up and out of the house in a somewhat timely manner by 3pm. Walked to Otsuka and took the train to Ueno. Wanted to explore the park and see if I could find the trees that were already blossoming. Also wanted to go walking Eastward from Ueno to see what I can find up in that area. Got to Ueno and after having a mini pizza (I like how here they randomly put other things onto your food without saying anything on the menu, like onions) started walking around. One odd thing did happen while I was eating my pizza though. The dining room was packed so I had to share a table with this strange guy who was talking to himself the entire time. It seemed like he was having an arguement and both sides were losing. Weird. Found one of the trees that was already in bloom. Very pretty, but the day was so overcast that it wasn't spectacular. Also spotted one of the guys I had dinner with the friday before in Akihabara. I wasn't going to bug him or do anything since I don't know him and, more importantly, he was walking along with a girl.

Also wandered down to the lake area and got a hot dog on a stick. Wasn't that bad. Walked along the lake side and saw all the feral cats. They only wanted to deal with us if we had food. No other way to get close to them. One group of cats were in force in this one square of trees. Every now and then a kid or two would come running into their area, trying to pet the cats. They didn't really run away, just moved far enough that the kids couldn't touch them. After that I started to walk towards the east. Stopped into a cafe to have some tea and figure out where I was going to wind up. Turns out that if I walk to the east from Ueno (actually, its more east by north east) I'll find Asakusa. I headed out and walked along this street that had all these stores selling funeral stones and shrine setups. Store after store. I wonder how one chooses a store when they're all right next to each other like that. These things aren't cheap either.

I wanted to continue walking until I reached the river but I started to feel drops of water coming down. I had known that it was going to rain today but I had hoped it would wait a little bit longer and let me walk some more but alas, I was denied. So I pulled out my umbrella and started walking towards Akihabara. After more walking I arrived on the other side of the train station. Originally I was going to explore this side but all I found were a few resturants and not much else. Walked through the Yodobashi before heading back to the other side of the tracks. Played some games until I got dinner. Again at dinner I ended up sitting next to another crazy person that kept talking to himself. This time it was an old man who kept trying to order something that wasn't on the menu. Whenever the waiter would tell him that they didn't have that, he'd get really pissed off. Eventually he got so pissed off (after placing his order) that he randomly got up, yelled at the waiter for almost a minute and then stormed out. It was pretty damned annoying and if it had gone on much longer (it was right behind my back) I would have told him to shut up and leave. I was trying to enjoy my beer in peace and he was annoying me. Food also took forever to arrive. Usually that never happens. I wonder what was going on in the kitchen.

Finished my meal and headed back for some more gaming before realizing it was almost 11pm so I headed back. I was glad to note that I wasn't the only foreigner in the arcade at HEY for once who was playing games (aside from the tourists who come in, laugh at things and leave). This guy actually knew how to play shooters though, compared to my poor skill level. Couldn't help but wonder if he was one of the guys from Insomnia.ac. Headed back home and managed to get to sleep at about 3am.

Photos for February 17th, 2007