• Higher view
• Tue. Mar, 1^st 2005

Thanks to the long and healthy night I had the day before (eating sushis didn't last eternally: they were delicious), March 1st was a very interesting day. It started with the definition of the day's objectives, i.e. exchanging the JR Railpass (for the day after) and finding the Japanese rugby union shirt. These two aims set, the best place to achieve the mission appeared to be しんじゅく新宿, especially with Times Square shopping centre around. Nevertheless a quick tour at the very close あさくさ浅草 also appeared as mandatory, in order to be as much complete as possible this year again (and also being full of hopes for finding おみやげお土産 ). This first task achieved (but unsuccessfully: I had neither rugby shirt nor おみやげお土産 ...), I was able to move towards しんじゅく新宿 until 5pm, giving me some time to reach あかばねばし赤羽橋 station and the とうきょうタワー東京タワー where rendez-vous was set with Ayako at 6pm.
Arrived at しんじゅく新宿 JR station, I hopefully found nobody at the JR travel office and getting my precious 2weeks railpass was far quickly than expected. So, it gave me extra time... Where could I spend it? I went to Times Square after a quick walk in しんじゅく新宿 district and there, I remember the big HMV... So, I spent there hours listening to French music (the choice was a kind of astonishing), discovering some talents (and some, well, singers -?- not worth being exported). Then, I started my exploration to find my rugby shirt and, as well, some gifts to bing back to Europe. A few hours later (and visited many shops around), I was still empty-armed but when I decided to give up and head to あかばねばし赤羽橋, I saw an Irish bar (The Dubliners) and remembered that Ireland-France was planned ten days after, the week-end I would be back to とうきょう東京... So, I climbed up the stairs and, a Guinness in one hand, asked the waitress whether they would show the match. She answered by the negative but gave me a good address (I would better say indications) of a pub where matches were usually shown. My Guinness emptied, I packed up and ran to the designated area... After some shortcuts never found and a few kilometers turning in circle, I found the famous Club House, on the second floor (I mean Japanese 3F). I was welcomed by a giant Stella Artois logo which made me immediately feel comfortable. I pulled the door and found the staff preparing everything for the opening. And, finally, after a year of disappointements, the waitress told me that the match would be shown on March 12th. Allelujah! My day was definitely enlightened! So, I was then able to reach あかばねばし赤羽橋 with serenity and delightment.
Despite the kilometers of tunnels under しんじゅく新宿 for all the subway lines, I arrived at あかばねばし赤羽橋before 6pm. However being there at 5pm prevented me from visiting the templs close to there, ぞうじょうじ増上寺 (not enough time to go there and come back on time for Ayako). So, I simply had a quick tour around, playing with my camera, before spending the last 10 minutes reading the latest headlines of local newspapers. Fortunately, Ayako arrived at exactely 6pm so I hadn't to buy the newspaper to read the second page... We went immediately at the とうきょうタワー東京タワー and asked for the full access in order to get the highest view as possible. On both levels, the show offered was really nice (when I did it it was night time) and the smooth atmosphere makes the place the perfect one for dates (it was just a matter of looking around to be confirmed in such an opinion). Once we enough enjoyed the electrilcal landscape of とうきょう東京 (and giving up playing with cameras in order to get a correct picture of the panorama), we decided to go to restaurant for a little dinner (in order to "celebrate " this unfrequent opportunity to see each other) in いけぶくろ池袋. After a few hesitations about the place to enter in, we finally removed our shoes in a very nice Japanese restaurant close to the JR station. And we didn't regret it because we really had a good dinner (and cheap -less than 500えん円 for two- as often in Japan) base on さしみ刺身, ゆば湯葉, とうふ豆腐 and green tea ice cream.
Then, came the time to say goodbye and come back to the hotel not too late in order to pack for the day after. Yes, it was already my last night before going to きょうと京都, meeting Makoto and Kaori....