Chicken

Last night we didn't make it to Shinjuku but we did go out for yakitori. I had read that this was a popular Japanese food and wanted to try it out. There was a place in our neighborhood that was apparently good so we went there. Our appetizer was a cold raw quail egg poured over what seemed to be cold radish mush. We tried to be sports and gave the dish a try. Neither of us liked it but we didn't say anything. Even more fun, we didn't realize that the particular yakitori style we ordered was partially grilled chicken. Neither of us was super excited to eat semi-raw chicken but hey- you know what they say about when in Rome. I got to the end of the skewer before I started thinking too hard about what it was that I was eating. Then the gag reflex kicked in.

When we decided to go on this trip I was fully committed to the idea that I'd try eating pretty much any food I ended up with. I knew that there would be situations like last night. I've already accidentally ordered what I thought was vegetable noodle soup and ended up with pork strip stew. I just ate around the pork. I can't read the menu most of the time and do a lot of pointing at pictures or plastic representations of food on display to get what I want.

I made the mistake of drinking coffee last night because I thought we were going to go to Shinjuku. We never made it because we didn't want to miss our 11 pm ryokan curfew and get locked out. I ended up tossing and turning all night. Jet lag is really rough. My body is really taking a beating this week with all the endless walking, strange foods, and sleeping schedule being flipped upside down. By the time my body gets adjusted to this new schedule I'll be back on the plane home to Milwaukee. SIGH. Lesson learned- don't drink coffee any time other than the morning if you're fighting jet lag.

Speaking of morning- we spent ours in the the Asakusa neighborhood. This area is home to Tokyo's largest Buddhist temple and several Shinto shrines. The architecture was beautiful and impressive. I have to be honest with you though. I never know how to react when I visit these religious sites. I want to check them out and take photographs, but I don't want to be a tacky disrespectful tourist. I try and be quiet and stand back and photograph inconspicuously. What would Miss Manners say?

We also visited the Ueno Zoo, saw some street performers in Ueno Park, and visited Ameyoko Market. I'll blog more about later. Right now it's time to get back on the train and visit Shinjuku.