Tokyo, Japan - day 2

I forgot to mention in my last post that we went with friends we've met to have dinner away from the ship last night. We took a cab from the port to a restaurant that our tour guide had recommended to us yesterday. Of course the entire menu was in Japanese but was thankfully the menu items were accompanied by photos so we managed to order some things we loved, others not so much. haha! 

The Kobe beef (as you can see from the photo) was sliced extremely thin. We cooked it at the table in a boiling broth in the copper pot (called shabu-shabu). It is similar to fondue, in that each item is cooked right at the table. There were a number of dipping sauces, although it wasn't clear what we were supposed to dip in what? I'm not much of a meat eater these days (especially beef) but it was absolutely delicious and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Our waitress also cooked some vegetables which we didn't recognize and also some clear, thin noodles (glass noodles) which I learned are made from mung bean flour.

thinly slices of Kobe beef

dipping broth into cup (+ green onion & noodles)

 

pre shabu-shabu (no bibs)

 

Of course the entire meal was eaten with chopsticks (no flatware in sight) and we were each given bibs to wear, which came in really handy as I "dripped" a few times. lol After dinner, we walked around in the area for a bit. The streets were even busier than in the day time! However, we felt perfectly safe.

city streets are crowded at night

 

Since we had another day in port today, we decided to try to learn the Tokyo Metro system in case we get to come back. We walked to the nearest train station (thankfully not far), bought tickets and rode the train. Afterwards we rode back to a huge shopping area near the port, walked around and ate lunch, then caught the shuttle back to the ship. We were fortunate to have great weather while in Tokyo. I'm posting some random photos from last night and today.

 

Japanese food trucks service office workers

inside the Tokyo Metro- modern, fast, clean

cute twin passengers

It seems like EVERYTHING in Japan is about anime!

 

 

 

From wikipedia: In Japanese, the term anime is used to refer to all animated works, regardless of style or origin. English-language dictionaries typically define anime as "a style of Japanese animation" or as "a style of animation originating in Japan". Other definitions are based on origin, making production in Japan a requisite for a work to be considered "anime."

 

umbrellas are everywhere; majority of people wear masks

Gundam, a Japanese fictional military robot (see people in background?)

teens getting photo made in front of giant Gundam robot

cotton candy/ice cream combo

adding an ice cream cone to the middle of cotton candy

a very happy customer!

A ship? No, a hotel built to resemble a ship across from where we docked

Tokyo International Cruise Terminal

GOODBYE, TOKYO! Thanks for your hospitality!