I got up fairly early today, still with the cough but feeling much, much better. I went downstairs to do my laundry and what I found out was that after THREE-AND-A-HALF FRIGGING HOURS the magic washer/dryer still hadn’t finished. I started at 7:30 and at 11AM my shirts were still damp. Now I know better than to wait for it to finish.

I still figured I’m on the mend and it was windy as so I thought I’d go to see the Sky Tree, or, at the very least, Solamachi (sky city).

Solamachi is a giant mall at the base of the Sky Tree and it’s popular as hell. It’s just Thursday, not a holiday, and there were long lines in front of the popular restaurants which were most of the restaurants. I could have gotten into some of the chains, like Mickey D’s, KFC, or Starbucks but where would the fun be there?

The only longer line was to go up the Sky Tree itself. The sign said it was about a half-hour wait, but I didn’t wait.

I remembered that one of the few things someone wanted was a postcard from Japan. I found out last year that post cards pre pretty hard to find in Japan unless you hit a tourist spot. Since I was close to Asakusa, I headed back to find a postcard. I went through a lot of tourist shops before I found any. The picture is pretty funny and has cars that are older than the person who is getting the card.

I think this is the same view from a few days ago, but I didn’t realize how close the Sky Tree really was. No more pictures of the gate today. Instead of stopping at a restaurant, I ended up buying rice balls at the Lawson convenience store and ate them by the river. I took a random walk back through Asakusa to get to the train I’d rode in a few days back. On the way I think I saw a celebrity (but I’m not sure).

These two next guys are definitely celebrities and are located just outside the Bandai headquarters.

I also saw some firemen practicing outside of their firehouse.

When I got to the subway I found the sign of the day:

I’ve been eating kind of cheaply because I seem to spend money on weird things. Lunch yesterday was half a box of Calorie Mate (the driest biscuits on the planet) and a bottle of tea from a vending machine plus an afternoon scone at Dream Pocket. Dinner was a cheap pre-made bento from the supermarket downstairs. Today lunch was the other half of the box of Calorie Mate and the rice balls from Lawson. I figured I should go out to dinner and not just to one of the same two places downstairs. There’s an expensive looking tonkatsu place across the street, and lots of Italian-ish food, but I found a place with an inviting-looking sign that had a couple of people inside. I’m not sure if it was the best soba I’ve had, but it was definitely worth the ¥800 and better than what I can get in the US.

Now I’m back in my room listening to the wind rattle the vents and wondering why my cough is back. If the wind is this bad today, the typhoons are probably getting fairly close. I may be stuck in the hotel again!