Shinjuku

Yesterday we spent the day in Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo to the north west of the city center.
While looking for a bank that had foreign exchange we wandered into this series of back streets that were full of electronic stores and tiny restaurants full of business men in suits. Peter found a fabulous tripod (much better than the silly one from Canada). We finally found a money exchange (only because it was the only bank that didn't have a sign out front saying "no foreign exchange") We wandered for a long while, getting semi lost several times. At one point we ended up in a very western mall where all the ads showed only white people. It was mildly creepy.
The food here is fabulous. We tried the crazy drinks from the vending machines and ended up stopping to get more all day. As we were coming home we found a vending machine that sold ice cream. It was amazing ice cream. Vending machine companies in North America should take a lesson from the Japanese!! We also had lunch at this little sushi place in the back streets of Shinjuku. Luckily we could just point to the picture we wanted and say arigato!! On the way home we were transferring between trains and we found one of those little hole in the wall restaurants that are in larger metro stations. Outside of them is a menu, and you press the button below the item you want, pay the machine, and get your ticket. You take your ticket and hand it to the chef behind the counter inside, he makes your meal on the spot and you go and stand over a small counter and eat it. Well, the place we went to was all in Japanese, with no pictures. We decided to just get the two things on the menu that were 410 yen. Both had soba noodles, one hot and one cold. They were amazingly good and totally filling. You'd be hard pressed to find such a yummy meal at home for around 4.50$. This morning we decided to go to a grocery store we had seen around the corner to get something for breakfast. Everything in the store was 100 yen. We got soba, soup stock, mushrooms, shrimp tempura, bok choy, and tamago (egg) for 600 yen (about 6.50$). That's a fabulous breakfast for $3 each!!!! I also got some really good strawberry milk.
Today we are off to Akihabara for a dose of crazy electronic Japan, and then perhaps off to the Imperial Gardens to chill out for the afternoon...