Greetings from Tokyo! From the Future!
Our day started like several others. Hotel breakfast (Angie went with the Japanese and I with the Western [which was really mostly Japanese dishes in a western style, which is fine, just kinda funny])! Overall, it was fine. No major stand-outs on my side of the table. (Angie: I was complimented many times by this morning's server who said I enjoy rice like a Japanese person and that we both use our chopsticks well and treat them with respect. As we were leaving she said she was very happy and grateful to see us enjoying the food. That made me feel good and like I unlocked an achievement!)
After checking out, we headed up to Rinnoji Shrine (the one *next* to the one we went to yesterday) and let me tell you: we picked the wrong shrine yesterday. This one was much prettier and more serene. Angie acquired some more Temple Stamps and I got a small random fortune charm. Upon checking, it was Ebisu - the fortune of luck and success in business. (Angie: We got a ticket that let us into the garden, the treasure museum, and the temple itself, and it was great! I honestly liked this temple better than Toshogu because it was peaceful and not overrun with tourists. Plus, I feel like we often gravitate towards the Buddhist temples and enjoy them more than the Shinto shrines. They are usually peaceful, dark, with warm wood tones and gold statues and decorations, but pretty minimal. This Buddhist temple had really neat large statues of Fujin and Raijin, and I was able to get the goshuin with them on it. They didn't let you take photos in the temple or the treasure room, so no pics. But the temple had 3 really big statues of two Kannons and a Buddha (Senju Kannon, Amida Nyorai, and Bato Kannon). They were huge and intricate and very inspiring!)
After the shrine and a quick snack at the kombini, we were back at our accommodation to pick up our stored luggage and buy a few small souvenirs. (Angie: Of all the bus stops, the one in front of the Lawsons was gaijin central and boy did we have some interesting ones. First off was a cute Chinese grandma that I tried to offer a seat to but she kindly dismissed it. I swear I tried the "offer 3x rule" but no dice. In the seat next to me at the bus stop was a lady who was watching something loudly on her phone and was muttering to herself in Japanese, while she herself was definitely not Japanese. When we got on the bus she refused to speak the Japanese we knew she knew to the bus driver who was trying to tell her that her Nikko World Heritage Day Pass didn't cover this bus line or this stop. She argued back in.... not Italian but French. Because of course she would and of course she is. The second hold up were two American dude-bros who tried to bring on ice cream that was opened and they were eating. The bus driver made them go into the Lawsons and throw it away before he would allow them on. Anyway, just some interesting people-watching at that bus stop.) We also bought souvenirs of some grape tea Angie really liked and shoyu salt that was delicious on our wagyu. We checked out and said our thank-yous and goodbyes. We took up our luggage and walked to the bus stop. As we were waiting, we noticed the concierge speed-walking after us. When he finally caught up, he had me hold out my hand and dropped in three 100 yen coins. He profusely apologized, as they had overcharged us on one of the souvenirs. We were a bit too flabbergasted to give him anything more than an apology of our own and were left to wonder about the Abraham Lincoln-esq drive for honesty. I can't think of a single American business I've visited in the last 25 years that would have chased me down to return $1.89 that they owed me.
On to a bus, to the train station!
The train from Nikko to Utsunomia was quiet and arrived on time. We pondered a bit as to whether to take the local train (which would take about an hour and fifteen minutes, for about $15/each) or the Shinkansen (which would take about 35 minutes for about $40/each). I made the executive decision to save time instead of saving money, so we got our Shinkansen tickets (via the live actual human, because I refuse to take another chance with a machine for something as complicated as train tickets in a foreign country) and headed to the train (Angie: Jeff made the right choice! Good job honey!).
No sooner than Shinkansen left the station, I received a notification that the *other* train we were looking to take had been delayed for over half an hour due to track issues along its route. I'm gonna chalk that one up to the Ebisu charm. (Or the frog I held to ward away evil. So thank you to all the deities we invoked in Nikko!)
The Shinkansen ride was uneventful, though we weren't able to sit together due to how crowded it was. We pulled into Ueno station and made our way to the best loop route in the known world: Tokyo's Yamanote Line. It's no secret that I enjoy trains over basically any other form of medium-distance travel. They don't have the inconsistency of busses, they don't have the security theater of airplanes, and they don't have the "I have to pay attention the entire time or everyone will die" of cars. Sadly, I live in a country where we can't have nice trains, because Henry Ford ruined those in most cities during the early part of the last century in order to make more money for himself.
We got to the Hotel Metropolitan Ikebukuro, our lodging for the remainder of our trip. Check in was a breeze, our luggage arrived on schedule, and we headed up to our room. Through some amount of bananas luck, we had booked the Superior King Room via Agoda for the price of a Standard Twin Room (the cost for a single night in this room costs more, on average, than the amount of money we paid for all six nights we're here). A side-effect of this fancy room is that we were on the 24th floor. Not great for me, but Angie enjoyed the view. (Angie: I'm telling you, Agoda gets me some amazing deals! When I went to look up and show Jeff the room we had booked while on the train there, it showed current nightly prices. The price right now to book the room for one night is equal to the amount I'm paying for all 6 nights!!! I think I'm gonna thank Ebisu for this one.)
A quick shower, a change of clothes, and we were back out into the city to go to Angie's birthday dinner at Ginza Vampire Cafe. Our host greeted us at the door and lead us through a red-curtained hallway (with glowing red floors, like a disco floor, with red blood platelets LOL) into a private booth. We had pre-ordered a set menu, so all that was left to choose on the night-of was drinks. Angie got the Carmilla (calpis, milk, and red grape simple syrup and a glowing ice cube) and I got a ginger ale.
Our first second course was Ritual of Resurrection to Awaken the Dark Ones (a Caesar Salad, dressed up like a grave site). The host performed a ritual in Japanese, as a call and response with the other workers, that basically translated to something like "Oh Spirits, I ask your help!" "It is evil to do that!" "Oh Spirits, bring them back!" "It is evil to do that!" "Oh Spirits, bring them back!". Very moody. Very evil. The salad was one of the highlights of the food for me, which is something I never thought I would write.
Following that, Rose Cups Handed Down In The Family (shrimp and scallops over jelly). For me, this was a miss, but that's basically because I don't like shrimp. If you like whole shrimp (tail and head and leggies and all) then this will probably be a good time for you. (Even Angie doesn't like whole shrimp)
Next, we were treated to Rose Emblem Carved On The Neck (deep fried ham and cheese balls). This was definitely the best course in the meal. Simple and savory. (It was basically fried cheese sticks with a thin ham in them.)
Our soup course was called Fragrant Rose Flowers (a sea bream soup with clams, muscles, vegetables, and a tomato cut and arranged into the shape of a flower). The good news here is that Angie discovered that she didn't hate clams. The bad news is, I continue to dislike clams. The vegetables and the bream were nice, the tomato was thinly sliced and complemented the other ingredients. (I found out they are a food I can politely eat but I don't really enjoy or seek them out. It was a very bland dish and the weakest of the meal.)
The follow-up was Dark Butterflies of Grief That Cause Fear (gnocci with ragu sauce). These were very lovely. Tender gnocci with a reasonably flavored ragu meat sauce that had a slightly odd scent that we couldn't quite place at the time. Upon further research, it was Truffle.
Our final non-dessert course was Flame Execution Platform to Burn Down Sinful Rebels (thinly sliced roast beef with sea urchin, served flambé-style with a dipping sauce). This was also rather nice. The sauce had a mild barbecue flavor and the beef was tender. (I ate Jeff's portion of the uni.)
[Video of flaming meat would be posted here if GOOGLE WOULD UPDATE BLOGGER TO ALLOW IT!]
Dessert was The Eyeball of a Cursed Vampire (a chocolate cake cup with raspberry and blueberry sauce, topped with mousse, and accented with a marshmallow eyeball and a tiny chocolate top hat filled with marzipan or nougat). A rich dessert, for sure, but a nice way to cap off the meal. Ha. Cap. Because it had a hat on. Good times. (I loved it! Yummy!)
By the time we left, the rain had started. Thankfully, I came prepared with a big ol' umbrella we picked up in Sendai. Back on the train to our hotel to luxuriate before heading to bed.
Angie, anything else to add?
Just these extra pictures! I also promised my tatoo artist James I would get them a healed pic of my vampire fangs tattoo while at the vampire cafe. It healed nicely! Also, as you can see, I made sure to dress on-theme!
Also also, I guess I'm 40 now! I'm going to be using the excuse "it's my birthday" for the next week, so expect that.
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