Day 4

Day 4 (May 10) Temple Trip:
Today we took a trip into Asakusa to a famous temple Senso-ji and had Sukiyaki for lunch in a traditional Japanese eatery complete with on the floor cushions (tatami mat) and chop sticks.

The temple was amazing, we had to cleanse ourselves in incense smoke before entering. It is supposed to have healing properties but I couldn't stink my feet in the air to have the smoke waft over my sore ankles, so I just kinda pushed the smoke downward. I unfortunately inhaled a bit too deeply and took a small coughing fit. The locals seemed amused at my idiot tourist behavior.

The Sukiyaki meal was great. We all sat down around a large low table and the 2 ladies dressed in these gorgeous kimonos cooked the food for us on this skillet that was built into the middle of the table and fueled by natural gas. I did try everything, though I must admit the shrimp wrapped in squid was quickly followed by a mouthful of Sapporo beer. The eel wasn't pleasing either, but I had to at least try it out of politeness (gasp!).

We did a little more shopping and then returned to the hotel to check in Hiromi and Chikako (Hidemi's girlfriends) room. Hiromi scored her dad's minivan for a couple days so we actually got to experience downtown traffic. She wouldn't let me drive :-(
That evening we chilled in the hotel rooms, drank lots of beer and watched the fireworks over Disney.