First night in Shinjuku

So, once I got to the hotel and settled in, it was time to search for dinner.  I leave the hotel, and I notice two things almost right away.  First, there is a Starbuck's right next door to the hotel.  It shouldn't surprise me that I find a Starbuck's so early in the trip, I suppose.  What did surprise me is this.

That's right, folks.  I found a Denny's.  And no, Katy, I did not eat there.

However, as it turns out, there is a park right near the hotel, so I decide to take a look.  I had heard that socializing and picnicking (spelling?) in the park was sort of big in Japan, but I wasn't ready for the huge numbers of people that were all sitting around at the part.  At first I thought I'd stumbled into some sort of business social event, but I think now it was just that many people organizing their own friends into a get-together at the park.  I would have taken a picture, but I wasn't entirely certain I would have been rude by doing so.

In the end, I settle for a picture of where I ate in the park.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of my food, but it was yakisoba and yakitori.  Basically chicken and fried noodles.

After that, I just wandered around for over an hour, trying not to get into any trouble.  I had passed this place as I tried to find the hotel, so I made sure to backtrack to it.

The place is called Joenji Temple, and it's just right smack in the middle of the urban sprawl.  In the next hour, I took these pictures.

 This was a picture in a side street of a restaurant.

 Another restaurant on the same side street.

This is the outside of one of the bigger Pachinko parlors I saw.  Pachinko is something like a combination of pinball and a slot machine.  I walk into the place, and I'm almost blown over by the sounds.

Walking around Shinjuku for over an hour, I lost track of how many restaurants I've seen.  The number is enormous.  They're everywhere, and they're generally small.  Besides restaurants and Pachinko parlors, I found karaoke places, pawn shops, and at least one street vendor selling suits.  That last one seemed a bit odd, but who am I to judge.

One thing I learned last night, which I probably should have expected, is that as an outsider I'm easy to spot.  I was approached by two different men speaking English, with what seemed to be African accents, wanting to talk to me.  I just kept walking, but it reminded me to stay aware.

I was on my way back to the hotel, and I stopped at Joenji Temple to make a note when two bike cops stopped someone on a bike.  They seemed to be citing him, although my Japanese isn't nearly good enough to make out what was being said.  However, I got the impression it had something to do with the fact that it was night and the kid didn't have a light on the front of his bike.  They cited him a ticket, and I made a note not to rent a bike at night without a light on it.

Tomorrow is my first full day in Japan, and I'll be meeting my tour group.  Later!