We were back in Shinjuku from Mt. Takao at 2PM, and the first order of business was to figure out what was by now an already pretty late lunch. We ducked into a Saboten restaurant at Keio Mall Shinjuku Station, which – coincindetally was exactly the same Saboten restaurant we dined at during our 2019 trip. The missus still is a little undecided about which Tonkatsu restaurant chain serves up the best tonkatsus: Katsukura in Kyoto, or Saboten. For me, it’s no contest: Saboten is everywhere in Japan, and there’s consistent food quality served at every restaurant in their chain.
Our planned itinerary for Day 07 included a visit to the Tokyo Station area to go up the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building’s Observation Towers for a bird’s eye view of Tokyo, but that would had meant more traveling albeit within Tokyo city itself. We’d already each clocked in 15,000 steps and decided to give our collective feet a break! So we remained in the Shinjuku area to explore Yodobashi Camera Shinjuku West Main Store is.
It still amazes me that there are camera stores in Japan where you’re free to check and try out all kinds of gear. Back in Singapore, gear is kept behind the counters in most stores, and only brought out upon request, with and there’s always that subtle expectation that if you’re asking to see the item, you’d a serious buyer and not just browsing. Like the Yodobashi Store I frequented in Osaka during my September trip, there is an entire section of the store that has many digital pianos from different manufacturers on display. It’s just not something one can find at home.
We finished the day’s itinerary with an exploration of the streets around Suidobashi Station and the numerous small eateries and restaurants there. For dinner, we found a restaurant in Tokyo Dome City – Pietro Tokyo Dome LaQua – that whipped up fabulous and affordable plates of pastas. To finish the long day, it was hot beverages and more blogging at Starbucks Tokyo Dome City.
Day 08 continues tomorrow with visits to TeamLab Planets in the morning, and Small Worlds Tokyo in the afternoon!