Friday, 9/26/08 4:28 PM, Ikebukuro
I decided to take the daytime portion of Friday easy. I made a phone call back home and then went to get some katsudon. Unfortunately, the place I went to last week was closed so I was left walking around the neighborhood looking for something good to eat. I wound up finding another restaurant with plastic food out front. Rather than dragging the waitress outside to take my order, I simply took a picture of what I wanted and showed it to her once I got inside. I chose the ramen set with pickled vegetables and pork fried rice. This place also had pitchers of ice water on the counter. The ramen inspired me to write a haiku:
Big bite of ramen
Unexpected bamboo chute
I regurgitate 
Actually, the ramen was quite tasty – green veggies that looked like clovers, a slice of pork, a piece of nori and, of course, the bamboo chutes floated happily in a delicious, warm broth with noodles that were neither too limp nor too firm. The pork fried rice is so far the best rice that I’ve had in Japan – topping even yesterday’s curry rice. I wasn’t a big fan of the pickled vegetables but I ate a few in between bites of ramen. And as far as the water goes, I drained the well and asked for more. Maybe it had something to do with the cayenne pepper I added to the ramen.
After lunch, I walked around for a while, hunting the anime shop, Liberty. I finally concluded that it once resided in a building that has since been demolished. So I gave up and went to the internet café. Finally, on my way back to the room, I stopped by the AMPM and bought an entire frickin’ box of Pumpkin Tarts to take back home – plenty to share with anyone who asks.
Friday, 9/26/08 11:17 PM, Ikebukuro
Naoko came to my ryokan around 6:00 and gave me the new Perfume CD as a gift. We made our way to Ginza to see Takeshi Kitano’s new movie, the critically acclaimed Achilles to Kame. It was a really wonderful film about the life of an artist and his struggles. It was funny, sad and sweet – really a great movie! The theater itself was similar to American ones, only smaller (no surprise there) and all the seats were assigned, much like the higher class theaters in America. At the end of the film, everyone sat completely still until all the credits had rolled – very respectful.
After the movie, we met up with a folk singer named Tetsuou. A small film crew was on hand to film his performance. While he was restringing his guitar, we chatted with him and he gave us one of his CDs as a gift.
For dinner, we ate at a small restaurant named Tokyo Katsudon where I had a miso glazed katsudon with pickled vegetables, rice, and clam soup. This katsudon still wasn’t as thin as the katsudon in Takadanobaba, but it was absolutely delicious and melted in my mouth. Thin or not, this was great katsudon!
Saturday, 9/27/08 11:14 AM, Akihabara
Right now I’m sitting in the back of a nameless card shop in the 6th floor of a nameless building in Akihabara. This morning I wanted to get here by 11:00 AM. All of my usual eating spots (except Denny’s) were still closed so I ate at a small restaurant near Ikebukuro Station that had plastic katsudon in the window. The katsudon came on top of a bowl of rice with a mostly cooked, scrambled egg covering the whole thing. On the side was a bowl of cold noodles, a small dish of scallions with wasabi and a small dish of delicious pickles. The katsudon wasn’t bad at all and the cold noodles were refreshing. I bought a JR Yamanote Line ticket to Akihabara for ¥190 and was off.
I assumed that like most places, the card shop would be open at 11:00 and the Shards of Alara pre-release would start shortly thereafter. I found my target building and went to the sixth floor with five minutes to spare. When I stepped off the elevator, a small waiting room already held several people. After a short wait, the doors opened and everyone filtered inside. I sat my bag down on a table in the back and then asked an attendant when the tournament would start to which he replied, “Twenty o’clock.” So I bought a few packs of older Magic cards and a few packs of Lycee. So now, I wait until noon (or twenty o’clock apparently).
Saturday, 9/27/08 10:26 AM, Ikebukuro
Well the Magic tournament was a no-go. It turned out that you had to pre-register. If they would’ve told me that last week when I asked about it, then I would have. It’s just another case of Japan making things available to you but not making it obvious. I didn’t mind too much because I met an American there who told me about their cheap card prices in general so I shopped around for a while and bought a few singles.
When I left the card shop, there were two girls dressed in maid costumes, each bearing a basket of Umaibou. This has to be a good thing. A guy noticed my interest and asked if I speak Japanese. I told him that I did a little bit, so he ushered me over to one of the maids. He wanted me to fill out a form, written in Japanese. Luckily it was just a series of check boxes so I answered “hai” to most of them. When I was through, the maid rewarded me with one fresh, shrimp flavored umaibou.
Next, I went to Animate and picked up two Kitaro games – one for me and one for a friend, along with a Gurren Lagann phone strap and a Gurren Lagann wristband, earning me two more special edition cards and thus completing my set!
On the way back to the hotel, I picked up a bottle of LG21 because I saw a commercial with Takeshi Kitano advertising it. I also bought a mystery muffin from the AMPM. The LG21 was a liquid yogurt drink that tasted like, well, liquid yogurt. The mystery muffin had a cream filling and overall it wasn’t bad. 
It wasn’t long before the gentle breeze outside carried the flute and drum sounds of a festival up to my fourth floor hotel room window, beckoning me forth. There was a small parade of children marching the streets and carrying a small shrine to a pair of tents at the end of the street. This was a small version of the impending real festival at the Tokyo Metropolitan Arts Plaza.
I stopped by the restaurant where I got the ramen set yesterday, this time ordering a large bowl of the pork fried rice. It came with a bowl of miso soup. Very tasty.
At the festival, about a dozen tents surrounded a large stage area where performers were singing and dancing.
Apparently, I am now a supporter of the Yakult Swallows baseball team. I noticed an obaa-chan (grandma) holding a sack full of something and advertising for her tent. Inside, there was a wheel with ten numbers on it. An attendant would spin the wheel and the contestant would shoot a gun loaded with a suction cup tipped dart at it. If you got a 1, 2 or 3, you win! I looked inside the lady’s bag and saw what appeared to be candy bars so I thought, “What the heck?” I paid my ¥350 and gave it a try. I hit a 2 so I won something. The obaa-chan directed me to a basket with toy plastic robots in it. I thought my niece might like it. But then the obaa-chan pointed out a Hello Kitty Yakult Swallows fan also in the basket so I chose that. As I turned to leave, the obaa-chan hooked her bag of treats around my fingers. Apparently I had won that too. 
As I watched the proceedings of the festival, I decided to check out the bag of goodies. Not candy bars. Instead, there were two packages of tiny bottles of a milky substance – 10 bottles in total. When I got back to the hotel room, I popped one open and drank it – not bad. I think it’s supposed to be good for me. I just hope it doesn’t make me need to poop on the plane tomorrow. Speaking of which, it’s time to pack.
Sunday, 9/28/08 7:36 PM, Americana
Well, another trip to Tokyo has come to an end. Again I have mixed emotions. I really did have a great time in Japan, with a couple of perfect days which I will always take with me. But, I also missed being able to drive places, understanding what people were saying, watching American TV and knowing exactly what I was eating.
At the airport in Japan, I had to unpack my luggage at the check-in because I had packed too much stuff in it. Eventually I got everything worked out so that my luggage was legal and I had two carry-on pieces. The flight itself was pretty boring. I just watched a few movies and relaxed.
I’m taking back so much with me – both physically and emotionally. I swear; I bought souvenirs for almost everyone in North America. And for myself, a ton of doujinshis and memories. So what’s next? Where do I go from here? Maybe next time I should only go for about 4 or 5 days. Maybe I can get a bunch of friends and/or readers together to go. Hell, we could rent out an entire ryokan and rename it Hotel Otaku! Ah, perchance to dream.