Japan day 12 - karuizawa, shinjuku

closed up the house in karuizawa this morning and drove home.  satoru-san took pity on us motion sick types and took the new (straighter) road out of town.  stopped by a rest stop again - had to take a picture of the squid on a stick. 

got home, tony went for a run in 86 degree heat with about that humidity, then we headed out for Shinjuku.  well, tony, kaitlyn and i did.  matt was tired and opted to stay home with obachan and satoru-san.  this is an old shrine we pass on the way to the kanamachi train station, I've been meaning to take some pictures. 

came across these - aromatic wood chips.  selling for 1000 yen/small bag ($10) thought about getting some for dad - but tony thought he has plenty of wood. 

only our second ramen stop!!  it was great.  Kaitlyn and I shared a bowl (though they weren't as huge this time).  this one was shoyu ramen - we had no interpreter, but they had an English menu, so I was able to get shoyu rather than pork bone broth.  but still came with slab of pork on top that I quickly handed off to tony!  Kaitlyn got her own bowl to put some broth in so she could add seaweed!

stopped into a family mart - apparently I can't have these pocky?  we also went into a hello kitty store that had a men's line of hello kitty shirts!  tony said no.

the robot restaurant was a very, very loud affair in a narrow street with several people hawking it lots of bright flashing lights and loud noises.  if the inside was anything like the outside, i'm glad we didn't go in!

kitty!  it's ear tipped - wondering if they do TNR here as well? (trap, neuter, release - they tip the ear so people can tell at a distance that they have been spayed/neutered)

this pretty, more old fashioned restaurant was right across the street from the robot restaurant. 

a car elevator!!for tight parking garages (see - fast and furious 3 - Tokyo drift)

it's fun to try new foods, but sometimes it's fun to find your usual favorites in another country!

wasn't sure what a chococro was, but figured it was a safe gamble - chocolate croissant!!

gearing up for 2020 Olympics. 

found the Tokyo metropolitan building - free elevator ride to the 45th floor and the observatory!! the view was impressive - city as far as you can see in any direction. 

stopped in a department store food court and had some pineapple raspberry joice and pastries and found these - square and heart shaped watermelons!  yes, that square one is $100! - the heart shaped didn't even have a price.  tony and I got the train there with two transfers and the train home with two transfers with no interpreter and no mishaps!!