Linda & Rip Take On Japan! Day 7: Tokyo

Hey-o!  Are you still hanging with me after this major trip re-cap?  Well, this one will be a lot shorter since I actually didn't go exploring with the group.  I went to work instead. I know!  Where are my priorities?!  Well, unfortunately, the other ENT was out that week as well so one of us had to go in and represent!  I had an interesting clinic and got a new id card.  I was dreading getting a new id card since the process has been a big hassle in the past.  I dislike getting heckled about how I'm a bad officer for losing my id card.  As if I wanted to lose my id, you know, just that little piece of plastic with a bad picture, my name and my social security number.  You know, no big deal in this age of identity theft. *eyeroll*  Anyway, enough about traumas in the past because this experience was actually fairly smooth with not a heckle to be found.  I have my new id!  Different picture although same level of bad-pictureness.

Tokyo Tower (SMS)

SMS and crew did an impressive one day tour of Tokyo.  First, they went to Tsukiji Market.  They didn't want to wake up at 0300 for the auction but they got to see the morning bustle.  Then they toured the Hamariku Gardens before heading to the dock within the park to take the Asakusa River Cruise.  They toured Asakusa, which included a close-up of the "Golden Poo" sculpture on top of the Asahi Beer Building.  Then they went up the Nakamise shopping street leading to the Sensoji temple. This was followed by a sushi lunch, trip up the Tokyo Tower and a walk through Roppongi back to the hotel.

La Butero, a wonderful fallback option (SMS)

We met up for dinner and after the sad discovery that Pizzeria Sol y Luna was now closed (to be replaced by a Little Pie Co store- dessert pies, not pizza pies), we somewhat recovered and went to La Butero Restaurant.  It was a lovely Italian place in a converted greenhouse.  The atmosphere was lovely and we had a great dinner.  We shared a bottle of the house Chianti, had delicious salads and had a few delicious main courses.  I had pappardelle with rabbit ragu, SMS had a gorgonzola sauce pasta dish and Rip & Linda shared a lasagna dish.  They were all really good and my pasta craving was satisfied.

These facial expressions should ease your mind if you were worried that any of the above
people might turn into a Pachinko addict.

We left the restaurant and passed a Pachinko parlor.  I had never been and we all decided to try it out. It was loud, smoky and visually overwhelming- sagoy!  But it was really cool to be in there.  An attendant kept his eye on us and gave us a English "How-To" guide which was nice but not completely helpful since there seem to be different buttons on different consoles.  We played for a bit and then collected our winnings.  We had a Y600 credit (down from a Y1000 start) so SMS bought us waters and snacks.  It was definitely an interesting experience and probably an OTO (one time only).