To skip to the info on Shibuya Crossing, see day 65 below.

Travel Log: Day 63 (8/29), Tokyo Japan

This is being written two days after the fact, so I may be missing some details.

The school day was shortened today to remove social studies from the regular timeline. We instead wanted to go to the sumo museum for social studies, but it was closed due to a tournament. Instead we walked around a garden pond area. It’s a zen area carved out of a busy city and has path to walk. The pond has turtles and fish that come rushing toward you, probably because people feed them even though they aren’t supposed to. Right next to that was the sword museum that cost something like $13 total to go view. I liked the cool and dim ambience of the room, but the overall display was a tad boring. The whole exhibit was glass cases with swords. It had info on the craftsman (and women), but nothing I wanted to see such as a sword cut through pig carcasses.

FAC activities proceeded as normally as they could. We bought some random drinks from Lawson and they were all pretty good, giving a decent buzz. We watched Rocky IV and the kids seemed to love it.

Travel Log: Day 64 (8/30), Tokyo Japan

It was extremely hot today, around 97F. JC and I did a lot of early morning walking to avoid the heat. We went back to the Oasis cafe that we ate previously, this time without the kids. The kids were insisting on eating Lawson, and show a general aversion to eating out. I can relate to that because it does feel like work to figure out if places have english menus and can accommodate four people. They aren’t having to do any of that though so I don’t know what their problem is.

JC and I went to a slightly bigger convenience store that had some different selections. They had larger bags of mixed nuts, protein drinks, and frozen vegetables. Those whole foods are a welcome addition to our diet. It otherwise feels like a lot of prepared and processed food.

After walking to find the amazon lockers we saw previously, I placed a small order on my Amazon Japan account to see if I can successfully get it at the lockers. If so that will be a great supplemental shopping tool to get things we need.

Travel Log: Day 65 (8/31), Tokyo Japan

Today we woke up inspired to do something, so we decided to check out Shibuya Crossing. Sunday is a crazy day for that crossing, and we were not seeking crazy. Sunday mornings are pretty manageable though. We got out the door around 8am, and took the JR system to the crossing. The trip was easy and not very crowded, and it only cost about $3.50 round trip per person.

The crossing was pretty quiet when we got there. We made our way across and just walked around to check things out. We ducked into a couple stores, and walked thoroughly around the MEGA Don Quijote. AC bought some fake nails. BC wanted to buy a phone recording tripod but we talked him out of it.

After that we went to a conveyor belt sushi place. I wish every time I ate sushi it was at this place. They give you a bar coded seat assignment, and then you have a screen in front of you for ordering. You can pick up to four items at a time to order, and they come out pretty rapidly for sushi. Some of the items come out almost instantly if it’s something like cheesecake that is already prepared. You can turn around and order more things right after, and they just keep coming. I felt like we ordered a lot of stuff and the total was only $38.

We bailed out of the area at around noon to avoid the trains getting crazy. The rest of the day we just did Lawson dinner, and then went to the bigger convenience store to get breakfast and other stuff for tomorrow. There was a long line at that store, I guess because people were stocking up for the work week.