Footsore (Tokyo, Pt 2)

Our second day, Nick and Jen were off to Tokyo Disneyland. Aaron and I decided to return to the Ueno museums, and check out the Sword Museum and the Ukiyo-e [woodblock print] Museum. Heh. Weeellll, miles upon miles and hours later, it was determined that not 1, not 2, but all 4 museums were shut down for the New Year holiday. I had been warned that Tokyo shuts down at year-end, but desperately didn't want to believe it. Disappointing, yes. But we saw a lot of Tokyo, and we ran over to the Senso-ji Shrine in Asakusa. The way up to the shrine is lined with booths selling souvenirs and traditional crafts. We picked up a lot of gifts, saw a lot of pigeons [you could buy little sweets in the shape of pigeons], and generally had a great time. The pic to the right is a kasto ira [cast-iron] press. You can see the batter being poured near the girl, then a tiny slab of red bean paste is put in, then the mold is sealed, and finally it's all cooked to make yummy, whimsically-shaped treats.

For dinner we attempted to track down the only Greek restuarant owned by a Greek in all of Tokyo. We found it, but after we'd given up and had so-so Mexican instead. The Greek place was ridiculously pricey [28,000 yen for the gyros plate], so we probably wouldn't have shelled out anyway [being the kind of cheapskates that we are].