[Tourist] Day 22: One last day in Tokyo

For my last day in Tokyo I had a few goals. There were a couple of things I still want to buy (successfully). There were a bunch of Kit Kat flavors I wanted to try (unsuccessfully). And I wanted one more sushi meal. Let's see how it went, shall we?

My first target was the basement of Tokyo station which supposedly contained a store with many varieties of kit kats. I did not find that store, but I did find a shop selling mochi ice cream. I *love* mochi ice cream but in the US you can just about get three or four flavors if you are lucky. This place had a score of them at least. I could see myself gaining ten pounds at that place alone. Delicious!

Sure, we can vitamin again.

Mmm, mochi ice cream. As long as you're not old. If you are, this stuff is deadly.

Honey cranberry

One of my favorite comfort foods, introduced to me as a kid by my Egyptian best friend, is pita with honey and sour cream. This was just like that except with raspberry jam thrown in too. Needless to say, I thought it delicious.

I then headed to the market of Ameyayokocho, again fruitlessly in search of kit kats. It was still very cool to see!

Absolutely no one coming but we all wait for the light to change because this is Japan

I am just totally smitten by this area under the train tracks. Reminds me of a song from Donald Fagen's vastly underrated Kamakiriad album called Teahouse On The Tracks

Will you have my kit kats?

Gaijin!

What the hellass?

Sure, why not a shrine here?

At that point I wasn't too far away from Kappabashi Street, famed for selling kitchenware and, more interestingly, all of those little plastic food models seen throughout Tokyo. That made for much more interesting window shopping than walking around Ginza.

Even the small pieces were like 8 bucks

This might have been the only Pepsi-themed vending machine I saw in all of Tokyo

Cat on a leash? That just seems so wrong.

It's a small, unused alley that leads nowhere. So of course it has a vending machine because we are in Tokyo.

I am sure I don't want to know anything that's happened in that hotel.

Possessive?

This is one pigeon that no one in Hong Kong is eating

Truly, it is Best Town

Tokyo is the kind of place where there are whole culinary establishments based around a single ingredient. But you know what? If you wanted anything to do with a banana this is exactly where you'd go for it.

On the way back to the hotel I decided to stop at the nicer sushi restaurant in Ikspiari. Sure, it would be like going to Downtown Disney and expecting fine dining, but I'm virtually certain that even the average sushi in Tokyo is better than most of the stuff I'm likely to get in the US. And, sure enough, this was completely fantastic and may have been one of the best meals I've ever had:

This got refilled at least four times. Finally, somewhere that will help me with hydration.

Delicious with a layer of egg-like custard.

This was absolutely fantastic. I immediately regretted not having more sushi in Tokyo.

Here are some final thoughts on Tokyo. Actually, it's just one final thought: this is my new favorite place in the world and, health and good luck permitting, I will be back again within two years. I'd really like to see the rest of Japan but I feel like I could spend another month in Tokyo alone and still not see half of the things I want to. It is the most welcoming place I've ever been in which I don't speak the language. Frankly it was more welcoming than many of the places where I do speak the language (looking in your direction Philadelphia, Manchester Vermont and really all of West Virginia).