An Evening in the Big City -Anthony Lynn

After our long day, we were faced with an evening devoid of scheduled events.  In other words, an evening to do what we wanted.  Some people went out to eat, some went to sing karaoke, and others just walked around.  Me? Some friends and I went to the Pokemon Center.

Pokeballs!

After successfully navigating the subway system for about an hour, we arrived at the Pokemon Center.  The Pokemon Center, named after a building of the same name in the video game and animated series, is basically a store in which you can buy anything you can think of, except with Pokemon on it.

Pikachu Cookware

  They have plush dolls, action figures, pens, folders, clothing, mugs, board games, chopsticks, pots, pans, silverware, you name it, it’s there.  We had a good time looking at all the cool merchandise, and purchasing souvenirs with our favorite Pokemon on them.    After that, we decided to find a place to eat.  We started walking down the street, looking for a bite to eat.  Eventually, we came across a diner that said it had an English menu, so we decided to give it a shot.

The diner had a very homey feel about it, and the people running it were extremely hospitable.  Even so, the language barrier made ordering a little interesting, but after much pointing and other gesturing, we had our orders.

Chicken Kabobs

Yakisoba Noodles

The food was spectacular.  We sampled each each other’s food, and shared our huge orders of noodles with all of us.  We couldn’t even finish it all, there was so much.  We all left the diner quite happy  with the fruits of our adventures.  We then navigated the subway system back to the hotel, so that we could recharge for the next day.

Looking back, I think that it is a good thing that we decided to stop and eat at this diner.  We were a bit scared of not being able to order, or of looking stupid, and maybe we still did.  What I know we did do, however, was learn more about the culture in that hour than could ever be simply explained.  While the food was not fancy, the taste was unbelievably good. This diner also gave us our first look into how Japanese people look and act when they go out to eat. We also had the opportunity to eat perhaps one of the most authentic Japanese meals we will have this entire tour.  It was an experience we will not soon forget.

Enjoying the Food

Anthony Lynn