Earlier this week we left Toyama and made our way by train back to
Tokyo. We left just in time too - a ton of snow arrived in Toyama on
the day that we left. It started snowing in the morning and did it ever
come down! I have never in my life seen snowflakes that large. We
heard today that approximately 3 ft of snow has accumulated since we the
day we left. Apparently though, that is nothing compared to the amount
of snow that recently fell in Regina.
Being back in Tokyo again is great. Things are a bit cramped here compared to what it is like in North America but the city is truly world-class. The best part though is the fact that Tokyo is relatively safe compared to most large cities. Even in some of the sketchy areas, I just don't feel very insecure. That's more than I can say for even a lot of smaller cities in North America.
During the last leg of our trip we've decided to simply spend our time relaxing and doing the occasional shopping trip. Of course, Hana is focused on clothing - she can actually find articles here that fit here. I was sent on a special mission to Akihabara to find some camera equipment / supplies for some friends in Regina. The thought being that most of these items would be in plentiful supply and be relatively cheap. This was a reasonable assumption given that this equipment is usually made in Japan. The reality was quite different - all of the requested accessories were quite expensive and some had to be special ordered. Retailing in Japan is an interesting contrast to that in North America - you can usually find just about anything that you want but due to built in inefficiencies in the retailing / wholesaling system, you usually end up paying more.
One of the things that I wanted to do in Tokyo before we left was to have supper at a jazz pub. We looked around but ended up ditching this idea in favor of having supper and a few drinks at a quiet pub called Old/New. This is a great place in Ikebukuro - quiet with lots of atmosphere and the service is superb. It was a bit expensive but the experience was well worth it. We believe that this place might actually be a Yakuza bar although we're obviously not 100% sure. Regardless, if this is the case the Yakuza sure know how to treat their customers!
In a car-geek sort of way, I have made a bit of a pilgrimage of the Toyota Amlux showroom in Ikebukuro. We always stop in to see what might be new with respect to Toyota automobiles. This year was frankly a bit of a disappointment as they seem to be heavily promoting a new car called the IQ which is an extremely small four-seater about the size of a Smart Car. In North America we would probably refer to this thing as a "death trap" but it would certainly be very practical (not to mention fuel-efficient) in the cramped streets of Tokyo. The other highlight was a new version of Toyota's flagship Crown sedan. This car is not sold in North America although it may be re-badged here as a Lexus. Nice car....
We rounded out our last day by making another trek to Yokohama to visit with Hana's sister and our nieces / nephew. Before we got there though we fulfilled one of our basic missions on this trip - to get a Mr. Donut mug by collecting enough points on their rewards card! Sad? Yes. Fun? You bet. We had to spend about $50 and down tons of donuts in order to get this $1.50 mug but we were not going to be denied! Luckily we had three kids to help us eat the donuts. Spending an evening with the kids again was a lot of fun - at least for me. For some reason I am extremely popular with my nieces/nephew. I'm not sure why - perhaps it is because I am a bit different. Regardless, I really enjoy spending time with them. It was a great way to spend our last night in the country.
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