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Tokyo: Day 3

Tip: If you're traveling light, make sure that your hotel is equipped with coin laundry. "Laundry service" is not the same thing.

Unfortunately, our hotel (name to be revealed at the end of my trip) only had laundry service. The closest coin laundry facility was a 10-minute walk away, which was conveniently located near to Tsukiji, so we turned the chore of doing laundry into a breakfast activity. We started the washer, walked to the outer market and sampled some food, then moved the clothes into the dryer, sampled more food, then walked back to the hotel with clean clothes and full bellies. Woohoo!

With Tsukiji eats off the checklist, we headed to Asakusa. Since both of us had already explored the Sensoji temple, we targeted Kappabashi Street - the neighborhood for kitchen supplies. Along the way, we picked up some nectarine peach cream frappuccinos from Starbucks (with jelly!) which helped us keep cool in the fluctuating Tokyo temperature. Once on Kappabashi, we saw lots of culinary knives, Japanese cooking utensils, and random shops in between. It seems tourism is driving a lot of shop owners to popular areas, which has its advantages and disadvantages. We also saw this in Tokyo Skytree once we made it over there.

At Tokyo Skytree, it's almost as if they've gathered Tokyo's most popular exports within the shopping mall underneath the tower. This ended up being very helpful because we found a Ghibli store! With Ghibli museum tickets being an impossible item to obtain (at a fair price), this was the next best thing. At least I was able to purchase a few souvenirs, even if I didn't get to experience watching a Ghibli film at the museum. Apart from the Ghibli store, the other vendors within the mall have gone through some churn - with the most unique/profitable stores surviving. After all the walking, it was almost dinnertime - which meant taking the train to Azabu-juban.

We returned to the exceptional restaurant, Ryu No Suke - and met up with a friend to enjoy another delicious meal of Japanese specialities. This time, we got to try fugu (puffer fish) and hamo (another "autumn" fish), among other yummy dishes artfully plated. The difference was definitely the ability to communicate - since our friend was Japanese, language was no longer a barrier. I really appreciated the opportunity to try things I would never otherwise be able to order myself. (Also, as an added bonus, the people at the restaurant recognized me from 2 years ago - incredible!!)

Tomorrow is our last full day in Tokyo!

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