Japan Day 22: Niigata

Today I planned to do a whole lot of nothing, and I think I succeeded. There were some really ominous clouds this morning but they burned off and I wandered around town for a bit. But first back to Coffee Club for another morning set.

After that it was off to the, well, I can’t remember what the travel bureau is called but I went to the place to get my next 3-week rail pass. The guy told me he could get me my tickets for the rest of my trip but after he found out what a pain it was to go where I wanted to go he gave up after two stops. Even then it was pretty difficult. He didn’t have the special Japan Railways computer at the counter so he had to do everything with a schedule book first. It took a while.

After that it was just wandering around town for a while. I went to Loft to buy another set of nail clippers since the ones I packed are kind of ass. They’re “travel” clippers though and are in a case. Anyway, I bought another cheap “travel” clipper that worked OK. I saw some Snow Peak tents next to the river so I had to see what’s that’s about. I think it’s more of an evening thing because there were only about a half-dozen customers for three or four restaurants in trailers, but I had lunch there. Of course it got really windy just when I was having lunch.

I walked around the waterfront for a while and even made it back to the Toki Messe that we tried to go to Monday (there was no parking available that day). It’s much easier on a weekday and when you’re walking. There’s a free observatory on the 31st floor with a great view.

There’s a small restaurant on the 31st floor and I had a soft ice cream cone. Looked a little puny but it was tasty and it was also the only way to get a seat.

I went back to the hotel and watched some more Netflix before meeting Dr. Takashi Kawasaki and family for dinner. He took me for steak at the Hotel Okura! Fancy! The first course is a potato soup, by the way.