A glass of sake and back to Tokyo

---

Rusty made it back to Fukushima after spending a week travelling around Japan with his rail pass. I'm really jealous that I don't qualify for one wiht my work visa, but if you ever visit Japan, a rail pass is a great investment since domestic travel is so expensive- it's actually cheaper to fly from say, Fukushima to Hiroshima then it is to take the train (something I am planning on doing in September before I head home).

Eve, Rusty, and I decided to try sake for the first time at an izakaya (local bar) owned by an acquaintence of ours. The atmosphere of the bar was great- traditional seating on the tatami-matted floor and along bar lined with bottles of sake and other Japanese alcohol. The sake was served in a double glass: a shot glass is placed inside a wooden box glass, the bartender pours the sake into the shot-sized glass, letting it overflow into the wooden cup until both glasses are filled to the brim. It was more fun to look at it than it was to drink it. Sake comes in three varieties- rice, potato, or wheat. We had a rice-based sake. It was okay, but it reminded me of rubbing alcohol flavoured water more than anything. It has been unbearably hot here the past few days so any place that has a fan or air conditioning is better than our apartment.

Friday, Rusty and I were off to Tokyo again for the weekend. We had a trip to Tokyo Disneylnad planned with Eve and our friend and neighbour Jason for Saturday, but decided to stay in the city an extra day and get in some more sightseeing. We went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to the observatory on the 45th floor since the views would be better than those form Tokyo Tower, and it was free, which is always a plus, especially since I don't have a full-time job. We were lucky that it was a clear day so we were able to see the city and all the way to Mt. Fuji which was barely visible in the clouds and a rainstorm approaching in the distance. The building is in Shinujku, the business area of town, surrounded by skyscrapers.

Before leaving Fukushima I had managed to find the location of one of the few Greek restaurants in Tokyo (there are maybe 3 in total and one was a "Greek French" restaurant). I had been craving Greek food so it was well worth the trouble of hunting it down in the back streets of the Omote-Sando area of the city. The food was pretty good and I plan on returning next time I'm in Tokyo to curb my Greek cravings. After some rummaging around in a vintage clothing shop, we made it outside again in time to see fireworks in the distance over the Tokyo Bay area. After that, it was back to the hotel. My favourite part of staying in a hotel in Tokyo is that there is cable TV and occasionally you'll catch something in Enlgish. It's been weird not to be able to turn on the TV and find out about the weather or hear the news. We made it back to the hotel in time to catch the only thing on TV in English: the movie "Daylight" starring Sylvester Stallone. After over 2 months without a TV, even bad movies are fun to watch.

---

Photos

Izakaya
Rusty and I trying to keep cool in the bar.

Sake!
My double glass of sake.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
There are two observatories in the building in both the north and south towers.

decoration
The welcoming decoration on the wall of the lobby.

The lay of the land
Mt. Fuji is in the range of mountains on the horizon- it didn't turn out too clearly in my pictures.

Another view
You can see the rain coming into the city.

Omote-Sando
The view from the entrance to the Greek restaurant of the back streets of the Omote-Sando shopping area.

Greek food!
I finally get my hands on some delicious Greek food....