Japan Day 2: Breakfast, a boat and not getting lost

We had heard that the "combini" - the convenience store, most likely 7-11 or an am-pm store - were great for cheap breakfast. We tried a 7-11, but in our sleepy state couldn't identify what exactly was in those packages. With nothing labeled in English or even Romanji, we gave up and wandered down the street. We found a place near our hotel called Jonathans that had a picture menu. Picture menus are an important find for Robin since it makes it easier to avoid fish (though it's hardly foolproof). I, on the other hand, eat anything, so in a pinch, I'll just point at something on the menu. In this case, we found a mix of Asian and Western breakfasts, including savory curries with rice, and a good selection of Japanese teas.

After a shower to try and wash some of the jet-lag off, we went to see the concierge to get some help with planning our stay - tickets to a kabuki show, a tea ceremony, possibly a acupressure massage (never did get that last one). She was extremely helpful and called us several times with updates or questions. She arranged a tea ceremony for us, and got us information about the kabuki show so we could buy tickets, printed out directions, and labeled everything carefully. You got the sense she'd spend hours to solve an insignificant request, and you don't even tip here in Japan.

With plans for the day, we headed back to the subway to go sightseeing. The Tokyo subway is a destination just on its own. There are hundreds and thousands of people of all ages and all types - businessmen in suits, women in highly impractical shoes for commuting, schoolgirls and schoolboys in uniforms, teens and young adults in wildly colorful outfits where it looks like they may simply have reached in to their closet blindfolded (but it works for them somehow). People who are sick with a cold or flu also commonly wear masks (not because they're afraid of getting sick - so they don't get you sick!), so you see that a lot.

We made it to our destination without even getting all that lost. There are some street signs in Tokyo, but with the exception of major streets, most signs were hard to find, and often in Kanji, meaning we couldn't read them. With some guessing, we found Hama Rikyu Gardens - where we wanted to find the river cruise boat. The only way to catch the boat was to pay the entrance fee to the garden first, which seemed like a good money-making scheme for the garden. The garden itself wasn't very elaborate, but it sported:

• Feral cats living the high life in a huge garden
• Great views of Tokyo
• The boat cruise up the Sumida River to the Asakusa neighborhood

A view from the garden towards Tokyo Bay:

The cruise on the Sumida took us past many of the city's bridges. Most of the architecture was very modern, the city having been largely rebuilt after World War II, but there was one interesting building at the end:

It looks like a giant gold turnip. I have no idea why it's there.

We got off the boat at Asakusa and ate at Sansado, a great tempura place where we sat upstairs in a room with tatami mats, on cushions at a low table. A lot of restaurants have both regular seating and tatami seating, where you always take off your shoes and sit on a cushion. The servers are often dressed in kimonos, so it has a very traditional feel. It looks like this:

You may (or may not, as the case was at Sansado) have an indentation under the table for your feet. Most people in the restaurant seem perfectly comfortable sitting on the cushions rather than on a chair. After filling up on some tasty tempura, we were ready to see more sights...