Japan Day 2 - cont

Caught one cherry blossom, took a rest before taking kids to a "Capybara Cafe." These are essentially petting zoos inside buildings. It's pretty strange. You go up to what feels like an apartment, but inside is a little business with 3 capybaras just hanging out. This was in the neighborhood of Shinjuku, a bit livelier and more social than ours. We met up with an old friend at the cafe, who then took us to a chicken restaurant. Fun to reminisce about old times - the restaurant had a few interesting dishes - a chicken soup stew type, a cold chicken skin dish, and sides that felt like Korean banchan. Drank some Asahi.

Day 3

Found a local origami museum. Kids enjoyed, bought a book each, along with some paper. An observation about Japan - within 2-3 days, you immediately become "more Japanese" - suddenly conscious of litter, noise, tidiness, and all the kids (and I) wanted to make origami. I've never had an urge before. What can explain this?

Late morning at the Tsukiji Fish Market. Waded through the crowds, tried A5 level Waygu, melons, mochi, and finally, the tuna. Sure, the fish was delicious. But could my tongue discern something "more special" than good sushi in the US? Not really. But the price was right. 

After sushi, we explored Ginza. Felt like the Beverly Hills of Tokyo. Onisuka Tiger off the charts crowded. All the adults bought shoes. Price point is significantly lower than in the US. Around $113, which amounts to 2/3 of the price. Went into the Grand Seiko store, wanted to check out the watches, but immediately felt out of place. Quite fancy Seiko watches...

Made our way into a Don Quijote, perhaps the most unusual store I've ever visited. Part Costco, part Temu, part Ikea, part Daiso. I don't even know how to explain the place. I hated it. But that's just because I hate those sorts of things.

By this evening, we were exhausted and wanted to eat locally. Found the best-rated ramen shop under the idea that every neighborhood in Tokyo probably has a good ramen spot. I was not disappointed. Chuka Soba Mugiwara - I had the spicy one. You order at a vending machine, hand over the ticket, sit down, and they bring you the ramen.  

Drank Sapporo at home.

Day 4

In the morning, we got lost. Tried to get to one park, ended up in Kinchi park instead. Kids ran around. I stumbled upon a men's league baseball game playing at around 10:30am in the morning. They weren't wearing helmets and seemed to be playing with a hardball. Interesting that Japan feels a ton less safety conscious/neurotic than America. I joked with a friend that if things went sideways in my life, I could come live in Japan and play rec baseball and eat ramen and sushi all day. Not a bad option. 

For lunch, we wanted to try a pizza spot. Rumor has it that Japan makes some of the best pizza in the world. Tried a place called Pizzeria L'INSIEME. It was as good as something like Pizzeria Mozza in LA. 

A bit of rest before our big night at Tokyo Dome for a preseason baseball game. Prior, we ventured to a baseball store called Baseman. I nerded out, splurging for a Japanese-made baseball mitt. The last few years, with little league, the Dodgers being in the World Series, and baseball being huge in our Southern California area, I've been playing and re-falling in love with the game. So this felt like a fun thing to do. I've been playing with the same mitt I used in high school. I love it, but it's 30 years old. Will it last the rest of my life? I've started noting this thing lately - a product of getting old - there are things I'm thinking about buying that feel like the "last one of those" I'll ever get. Like - this might be my last pair of ski boots, or my last baseball mitt, or my last fill-in-the-blank. Afterwards, we went to Tokyo Dome, had terrific seats. The Yomiuri Giants played the Yakult Swallows and won 3-2 in a comeback in the bottom of the 8th. Maybe others have said the same thing, but something about the Japanese game seems more eclectic and weird than MLB. On the Giants, they had a shortstop that looked about 5'6" with an unusual batting stance. They had 2-3 American players who I later looked up. They played some MLB, but obviously weren't able to start or have significant impact in MLB.