We were out the door of Sun Route Hotel at 8:15. We go to Eggslut and Bolange, a combo food joint a block from our hotel. The Gees stand in a line at Eggslut while Mike and I opt for lighter fare and grab a tray and a tong and grab some pastries from Bolange. We grab high seats and sit at long, high counters. The wooden stools were backless, with footrests not made for short people, so they were uncomfortable, but we felt fortunate to have been able to grab seats, otherwise it would have meant stepping outside and eating while standing or sitting on low, concrete steps. Mike and I find open seats next to two couples who are sitting across from each other and are meeting each other for the first time. I can't help but overhear as they carry on a conversation that revolves around their visit to Tokyo. One young man is here to give a talk, He's a foodie and the first thing they did in Tokyo was wait in a line to eat at Nagi's Ramen. I stick that bit of info in my head.
At the Shinjuku train station we bought a 72 hr Tokyo metro pass for 1500 yen to travel within the Tokyo prefecture.
We take a train to Asakusa Station. We walk through a throng of visitors at the Asakusa Shrine, past the multitude of little shops without stopping to browse. Our destination is not the Shrine and the shops, but Kappabashi Street which is known as Kitchen town, a district that has supplied the local restaurant trade for a century. If you love to cook, bake or entertain, you will love visiting Kappabashi where there's a mind boggling amount of food related products.
The giant chef's head on top of the Nimi building tells you that you have arrived at the kitchen district. We are walking on the shady side of the street and the first shop we encounter is across from the large head. It is overflowing with ceramics. The aisles are tight so only one person can browse through an aisle at one time. I am looking for a Japanese made teacup for nephew Kevin and have spotted some potentials ones, but will check other shops before making a purchase. 
Some storefronts are decorated with larger than life replicas of their product. 
Although the one with a huge beetle leaves me puzzled. 
Signs, streetlights and store fronts have little ladies with what appears to be tortoise shells on their back. They appear to be swimming in air. 
I think they are tortoise shells because there are other decorations featuring turtles, among them a gold statue of a being that resembles a man frog/turtle and manhole covers with turtles. There a folklore about this impish looking "man turtle" 
Many stores sell realistic fake plastic food which restaurants buy and display to lure diners. 
For the next couple of hours Shirley and I go in and out of stores, up and down aisles, up and down stairs. 
Shirley found a small bread loaf pan to replicate the tiny bread we enjoyed at breakfast in Osaka. 
At Kamata Knives we head over to the vegetable knives. I love my vegetable knife that Doug found during our trip to Japan last year. We bought it at Y Knives in Kyoto. I want to buy vegetable knives for my kids at Kamata's. A staff member tells us that the most expensive one is superior in strength so we decide to get that one. 
“Do not use this for cutting bone and do not put this in the dishwasher” he says. We ask to engrave the Chinese character for Fong on two of the knives and the Kanji character for “Vang” on the other. 
"Vang" Character
Unlike Y Knives, we only wait fifteen minutes for the chisel engraving which is done by hand. The Gees bought a knife suitable for carving, and a Santoku knife for Tyler. 
We were given a tax refund form and walked three stoplights to the refund counter. 
Heading back the way we came I returned to the first shop we encountered at the beginning and bought two teacups. 
Next stop was a hop back on the train going one stop to Ueno for a Hard Rock Tokyo City shirt. 
It’s 1:00 and I am thirsty and hungry. Lunch is on second floor Restaurant Atre and most of the restaurants have people sitting and waiting to dine. 
Schmatz does not have a line outside. 
There’s a lunch special with choice of five entrees. My lasagna choice is sold out and I opt for the same as Mike; pasta of the day, spinach and oysters. Norman orders chicken breast and Shirley orders grilled pork. The salad dressing is very light with a hint of citrus. 
I really like Japanese salad dressings. My pasta is tasty with an abundance of oysters. I eat a few oysters and give the rest to Mike. 
The bread is simple with a crunchy crust. Our dessert that came with the set was a pound cake instead of ice cream. They must have run out of ice cream. 
We usually have to refill our water as they don’t fill your cup up in Japan and their cups are small. I expect it’s so they don’t have to waste their water. We stop in an Ownday optical to see about ordering glasses for myself and Norman. They don’t stock our rx and it will take three days. We’ll go to the optical closer to our hotel to order then. We take a metro train to get more of Cameron’s soy sauce at the location given to us by the store in Osaka. But today is Sunday and they are closed. 
Well another day then. Fortunately we find that the route is one we can get to at the train entrance adjacent to our hotel. That’s convenient for lugging the bottles of soy sauce back to our room before going somewhere else. We go to the Omotesando district, the fashion, luxury district, one stop from Shibuya. Some of the stores are so popular, shoppers queue up outside to wait to be allowed inside. The Gees get in the line for Polene, a luxury handbag boutique. This store in Japan is only the third Polene boutique in the world 
Guards are stationed nearby at street corners. Mike and I go across the street and are about to sit on a raised retaining wall to wait for the Gees but are shooed away by a guard. We find a coffee shop, Doutor nearby to sip tea and wait. Shirley is looking for a graduation present for Heather’s graduation from nursing which is approaching in May. The stores in this ritzy area have unique architecture. 
After about half an hour we meet up with the Gees. They have two Polene bags. One is for Shirley and the other for Heather. 
The next shop was Diptyque, so Shirley could look for a Diptyque Tokyo City Candle. She was very surprised to see a queue in the front of the store and decided that she would go to another less crowded location another day. 
We rest a bit at the hotel and head to the close by Lumine 1 to see if Jin’s optical has our rx in stock. My rx would take two weeks. Norm’s is available only in standard lenses. At the east exit of the Shinjuku station, (one of the world's busiest station) is a huge 3D curved outdoor screen. There is a tri-colored cat that look like it's about to pop out of the screen. The 3 dimensional effect looks astonishingly real. 
We go to Ownsday nearby. Norman and I order two pairs of glasses apiece. It will be ready in 3 days. 
We have dinner at a pasta restaurant on the fifth floor of the same Alta building that Ownsday is in.
We eat late at 8:30. We had to wave the server over as she helped a few tables who sat down after us. My broccoli, cabbage and bacon with cream sauce was very tasty. Norm’s mushroom and garlic pasta was very garlicky. Mike and Shirley had pasta with meat sauce. Mike finished his pasta and belatedly noticed a table that had hot sauce which he likes in his pasta. 
Heading back to our hotel, we join the throng of people crossing the street near the Shinjuku station. 
This featured blog entry was written by Helen K. from the blog Japan Trip 2024.
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