The typhoon passed in the middle of the night and I woke up to a beautiful morning. I had another clear view of Mt. Fuji. But like the day before the typhoon, it was also ended up being kind of hot and humid.

I thought it would be a good day to hit the laundry room again, since I saw so many people leaving yesterday. Sure enough, it was completely empty when I first went down and I was able to hit the road around 10:30AM. I decided to start with Tokyo Station.

Today was the grand re-opening of the Tokyo Station. I expected it to be a bit crowded, and it was, but I’m not sure if it’s any more or less crowded than I remember Tokyo Station being in the past.

With the grand re-opening there were news crews from most of the Tokyo stations.

Lots of people were taking pictures of the newly rebuilt parts of the of the old station, inside and out.

And, of course, there were lots of signs that are easily read (hah). As a rail terminus, there are lots of trains.

I have to say it is pretty.

The outside is also well done.

   

I didn’t explore the whole station because, well, it is a rail station and it’s probably just full of rail offices.

 

I think these guys are mascots of the station and not just crazy people.

And yet another news team.

Some panorama pictures that looked better when I was taking them.

I have to figure out how to get a good panorama out of the iPhone.

After that I went walking through the business district. I felt like I didn’t belong, mainly because I didn’t belong. Everyone was way richer than I am and the stores weren’t anywhere I’d shop.

Looks like Mitsubishi was having some sort of press event.

And another news crew.

And the old mansion of the guy who started the Mitsubishi conglomerate. It’s a museum and there’s a nice courtyard inside.

On the other side of the financial district from Tokyo station is the Imperial residence. That meant lots of walking in the direct sun, but it was pretty once you got off the streets.

 

I sat down on a bench in the park and had my lunch, more Calorie Mate.

The actual view wasn’t just an empty parking lot and trees, but a bunch of unmarked police cars as well. I was in the shade with a nice breeze, but it was so bright I was getting a headache.

After you pass the guard houses of the Imperial residence, you reach another business district in Chiyoda-ku.

But it also had a Starbucks and I had yet to get my obligatory Matcha Latte. This was the other half of my lunch and I hope it counts as hydration.

I also took a picture of a dessert shop for my sister (under construction, or destruction).

After that I went to the various shopping areas of Chiyoda City. There is the Second-hand books area and, according to the city map signs, a sporting goods area (which just looked like several of the same golf store), a musical instruments area (lots of guitar stores full of guitars), and Nicholai-do built by St. Nicholai of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Nicholai-do is very close to the Ochanomizu station.

The city maps that sent me to the boring sporting good area also mentioned some “old established stores” and I think it may be some of these.

Or maybe this old-looking soba shop.

        

Across from the soba shop was a large post office, and my sister wanted me to buy her some postcard stamps. There are post offices everywhere because they also have bank accounts and sell insurance.

After that I went to Akihabara again and bought another iPhone charger. I don’t think it works the way I thought it did. Ah well. I’ll experiment with it after I get home.

Afterwards I walked to the Kanda Myojin Shrine and saw some of the famous Tokyo stairs.

Kanda Myojin Shrine was quite colorful and was supposed to be established in 730.

The back of the gate. I take pictures of the backs of the gates because they always seem to be lit better by the sunlight.

Here’s a picture of the shrine on the right.

For some reason there was a tiny horse there, too.

I headed back and hit the workout room for the first time since I got here. I’m still coughing and so it wasn’t the most fun. My sister keeps reminding me to properly hydrate and I may not be doing a good job because I was cramping up in my warmup. I kept it short.

Then it was time for dinner. My sister sent me the names of two places I asked about, Daiwa Sushi at Tsukiji and  Steak House Satou in Kichijoji. The reviews for Daiwa sushi suggest that you start lining up at 7:30AM and I’m not that kind of guy. Steak house Satou is only a few stops away from my hotel on the Chuo line but the steak dinner starts at  ¥10,000. For ¥10,000 I think I can wait for a steak at Ringside.

I thought it might be back down to Tesco for a prepared dinner but somehow I finally found my way to Freshness Burger. Fatz’s is closed on Mondays or I would have gone there. I had a blue cheese burger, onion rings, karaage chicken, and limeade. The limeade was freshly made and was the best part of dinner. The burger was OK, but not great. I was craving karaage chicken and that wasn’t that great either.

I ended up buying potato chips (since I was also craving more salt) and a beer on the way home, so in total dinner was ¥2,000. At least it wasn’t ¥10,000. In comparison, my dinner last night was ¥300.

I just watched a show where a bunch of actors tried to figure out what the top 10 items at two restaurants were. One team (who lost) were at a sushi restaurant. The other team was at a family restaurant called Bikkuri Donkey that had hamburger steaks. They had to order the item and eat it before they were able to ask if it was in the top 10. The sushi guys were hosed from the beginning because there were way more items on their menu, including sushi combinations.

Man, after watching that show I’m craving Bikkuri Donkey.