Last Night in Tokyo

Travis and I got into Tokyo at 5 PM today. We then checked into the Tokyo Green Hotel. There, I took a much-needed shower and hot bath. It was wonderful. Afterwards, Travis and I split ways so he could visit a friend and I could go shopping. I went to a place that had a pretty good shopping district, but everything was closing by the time I got there.

So, I sat down for dinner at an order-by-vending-machine place and jumped on the subway. From there, I went into a very residential district, looking for St. Mary's Cathedral. I found it, but it was closed. Also, it did not look nearly as pretty as the pictures in the Wikipedia article show, since it has some kind of reconstruction going on. What the article doesn't mention is a little cave-like structure that has a statue of Mary and Joseph along with a setup for candles and prayer. I don't fully know what's going on with that, and would have thought there would be information in the Wikipedia page about it. Oh well. I am just a bit disappointed that it wasn't open for a holy hour or something tonight.

I then walked back to the subway and took a different route back to Akihabara. I am currently sitting in a very cramped internet cafe. It has a smaller footprint than the others I have been to, as well as worse service. It has multiple levels, and only private rooms. The chairs are nice, however, as I am currently reclining comfortably. I don't think it is smoke-free, either. My eyes are stinging just the slightest bit. Also, I cannot figure out how to work the drink machine.

Tomorrow, I fly back to the states. My vacation to Japan has been a successful one, as I got in everything I wanted to do that the season and my wallet allowed. It's too cold to climb Mt. Fuji, and skiing isn't really an option even after the cost due to my timeframe and the difficulty of hauling my skis. I guess I will just have to come back some time. Hokkaido University looked nice, I wonder if they would want to do some research with me? Quite a few of their professors are into Algebraic Geometry...

Anyway, I shall be putting my pictures online as soon as I can. I will also put a detailed list of everything I did, and annotate a map accordingly. Travis and I want to find out exactly how much all of our Shinkansen tickets would have cost without the JR Pass. I am sure the $300 was easily worth it.