The place for people who cannot go home

It turns out that the Emperor's garden is not open to the public. But American tourist that I am, I had no idea and purposely set out to find the oasis after checking into my hotel. I wandered around the green area on my map for about an hour. There were nice trees and a lot of signs I couldn't read, but not any sort of entrance to a garden, no trickling streams lined with exotic flowers. However, I did take a really awesome photograph:

Interestingly, one map had some English translations and called this park surrounding the palace the "Place for people who cannot go home". And there were some of Japan's only homeless people sleeping on the grass with their trash bags and worn packs. It sort of warmed me, reading that.

Tokyo at night is... exhilarating. There are flashing lights and sounds everywhere, hundreds of people cross at giant "scrambles" or crosswalks that don't just go across each street but also cross in an X in the middle, so at one turn, all the cars stop and all the people start scrambling in every direction. We were staying in Ginza, which is one of the ritzy shopping districts with Channel and Gucci that looks much like any city.

But beneath the elevated train that runs through the middle of downtown is a winding alley of hundreds of tiny restaurants. It is dark, smoky, and loud but filled with tantalizing smells of barbeque, fried dumplings, and steaming miso. The store fronts have their meals displayed in perfect plastic replica, so all you have to do is point. And inside are masses of black-suited businessmen, ending their workday with a meal after emerging from the subway.

Dr. G and I ate at one of these places last Friday night, a barbeque joint serving up meat on a stick like an assembly line. It looked and smelled delicious, but my heart yearned for the raw selections on the other side of menu. So I finally had my first meal of SUSHI!!!!

The chef's platter for only 1300 yen ($13), offering a selection of tuna, salmon, octopus, and an irresistable silvery fish that I have never tasted before. In that moment, Tokyo won me over.