September 19 2012 - Day 13

First time ever getting caught in a Tokyo shower. Fortunately I had bought an umbrella the day before, but it didn't help my plans for today. Well to be honest it didn't really have much of an effect, I just switched day plans around.

First thing I did today was to track down the office where I will be working. After finding my way through the worlds longest tube station EVER, I managed to find it no problem, and in only a little over 30 minutes. Even I didn't think I was making such good time, but the routine will need to set in quickly I feel.

After that, I went on a proper excursion, going down to Shinagawa - one of the 23 districts of Tokyo, and almost the furthest south one can get while still within city limits. I headed down that way looking to find 1) an old, secluded temple with a cool statue of buddha and a fish. And 2) a street area that according to the guide book, is part of the old Tokaido road (an old road from Tokyo/Edo to the rest of Japan). I was expecting a string of houses that were the same architecture as when they were first built. But it turns out that the bit in the book about the street being 'the same width as when it was built' was literally all it meant. Still it was a pleasant walk down a old feeling street, plus I got to see a less city-ish area of Tokyo.

All this only took me a morning to get through, and so I came back by about lunch time. On the way back I found a soba shop round the corner from my apartment - Japan has many shop like restaurants that are the Japanese answer to fast food. Instead of sitting at a table and waiting for an order etc as you would in a normal restaurant, you stand at a counter, give your order, it turns up in a nano second, then you eat and leave. The ultimate combo of fast food and Japanese food.

My Afternoon was spent trying to figure out how to get my TV to work - in Japan there are several different types of TV channels on Offer. There are basic channels that you don't need a license to watch, and really awesome shows and channels that require a license. I have no TV license, so guess what I was working towards. I ended up having to go back to the shop where I bought the TV and trying to get help. After 30 minutes of broken english and Japanese, They understood the problem, and told me to get a signal booster from the landlord. That was worth it.

Evening was very relaxed, just planning next couple of weeks, making supper and more Lord of the Rings = I never feel at home until I've watched all 3 films.