Tokyo so far

My first full day I spent I Tokyo I walked over to Asukusa temple. The good thing about my hostel(besides having ac) is that's very close to everything. The temple is pretty cool but I didn't get to explore much because as soon as I sat down next to it a crazy old Japanese man came and talked to me for what had to be 30 minutes. He spoke broken English and every other word was "you know you know" or "you understand" and he had incredibly thick hands and the worst looking toenails. But he was a nice guy and told me about how you shouldn't look at Japanese in the eyes and various other aspects of Japanese culture. He kept telling me about some place I had to go on the edge of Tokyo where I could stand in front of a tv station and pick up Japanese girls. He thought this was a good thing, mentioning several times that the US was open and international and that Japan was becoming more international. I told him I already met a Japanese girl and he kept asking how a Japanese man could pick up a western lady. Toe nail clippers would be a good start. Nice guy though, and I actually learned a lot. I had to meet Dai San and his mother though so I stopped back at the hostel and hopped on the train to Shinigawa where I met them at the train station. There we had udon and tempura. Dai is looking good but his his mother tells me that his blindness is getting worse. I also found out that the reason they didn't offer me a place to stay was that they had just moved into a new house and have yet to unpack.

We talked about the Earthquake a bit and I found out that not only was Dai san in the bathroom at an underground barbershop when the Earthquake hit, but that he had gone alone by Taxi. Cell phones didn't work after the quake and it took 4 hours for him to get home when usually it takes a half hour by train. Michi San was understandably worried. Was good to see they were both ok though.

Got back home walked around a bit and crashed. Next morning went to Akihabara, which is the electronics district in Tokyo and they have tons of anime, arcades, and girls in little maids outfits with short skirts and long stockings passing out fliers for businesses. (Note to self - that marketing problem at bar, might have solution). Looked around for a cd for a friend and found a few games I might want to get next year when the budget allows for it.

Talked to Mari last might by phone. Took forever to figure out how to get the phone to work so I kept walking back and forth to the pay phone until I finally just used the hostel phone and a calling card. Sat in the hostel common area with my iPad in hand to translate but it turns out I didn't need it much. We chatted some more online using Facebook and I crashed out shortly after.

Today I'm meeting Dai again and we're going to The Ginza district. Not entirely sure what is there but I'll find out.

More to come, home on Friday