Standing next to Hachiko statue

Sean and I don't get out too much in the big city partly because transport is super expensive and also because a day in the downtown can be pretty overwhelming.  But spending a whole day taking in the sights and crowds was one our list during our Tokyo staycation so off we went armed with daypacks and a long to-do list.

We left pretty early in the morning to make my appointment at the U.S. Embassy to get more pages added to my passport.  Fortunately, we got there just in time for me to go through the most intense security check I've ever gone through in my life.  I was glad I had gotten there early because just entering the embassy compound, not even the American Citizen Services building took about 45 minutes.  Sean wasn't allowed in and neither was anything electronic, so he stayed outside on the street holding our phones and our computer that we had brought for a check-up at the Apple store later that day.  After multiple lines, fees and forms, I was sent off with the promise of my passport in the mail within a day or two.

Crowds in Harajuku

Beers at Baird Brewing

After that, we headed to Shibuya station which has said to have the busiest crosswalk in the world - it's truly a sight to behold because as soon as the light changes, there are hordes of people walking in every direction.  I've never seen anything like it and it's a popular tourist spot.  We also stopped to get a picture by the Hachiko dog statue, another popular tourist spot.  If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. Hachi is a famous dog in Japan because of his loyalty to his owner by waiting for him in that same spot every day after work, even after his owner had died.  If you're a cryer like I am, be prepared for some major tears in the film.

Shibuya crossing

We then preceded to one of the larger electronic stores to find Sean a headset that he could use for some of the online English classes that he's teaching and then it was off to a big bank branch in the hopes that we could open him an account which is required by some of the jobs he's applying for (they don't do joint checking in Japan, apparently).  This plan was put on pause because we found out that there was absolutely no way to open an account without your own personal ink stamp (more on that later).  We found out where to get one for Sean as I never had to go through that - Rotary provided us each a stamp of our own upon arrival.


After that we checked out some of the bigger outdoor and sports stores that Sean wanted to wander around in and I got a swim cap in preparation for joining the ICU swim club next semester with the goal of helping me relax a bit and stretch out other muscles besides those used for running.  We had lunch at a nice restaurant in the city center and then ventured to Harajuku which was chaotic with crowds of people.  Fortunately, the weather is beautiful - winter in Japan is sunny which never ceases to surprise me after many a gray Michigan winter - and we had a nice time walking around and enjoying the sights along with thousands of others with the same idea.

Our local station's "illuminations"

We stopped to take a break at a small cafe for coffee and dessert while waiting for a popular small craft brewery called Baird Brewing to open.  We enjoyed a couple of ridiculsouly large beers while doing some crosswords and then headed to the Apple store to get our computer checked out.  Even though I just got it with some of the Rotary funds, the batter was only lasting about 2 hours instead of the promised 10.  We found out that it was just a settings issue and got that fixed up in no time.


Our last stop of the night took us to some local "illuminations" (what they call them here) or Christmas lights to the rest of us and then finally to a fancy grocery store where we splurged on some fun supplies to make New Years Eve special including meats, cheeses, olives, crackers, shrimp, wine and champagne.  We're looking forward to a late-night bike ride to a nearby temple to watch some of the celebrations throughout the night tomorrow.

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