Adventures in Japan

Plus I had a yummy crépe

The rooftop ferris wheel that serves as our somewhat unreliable landmark is situated atop a trendy shopping complex known as HEP 5. Today we went inside. Yeah, we could dig it. Until one of the greeters belted out a "Howdy, folks!" That was somehow less hep.

The top couple of floors of the HEP 5 are taken up by Sega Joypolis. It's got a lot of the usual Japanese arcade fare (some video games, a lot of UFO catcher machines) but it's also got a fair number of actual theme-park-type rides. If I remember correctly (I make no guarantees) there was a Jurassic Park ride that may or may not have had something to do with shooting dinosaurs, a Terminator 3 ride, a Wild River something-or-other, and a 3D Adventure of some sort. There were others, but they didn't make much of an impression, seeing as how we didn't ride them. I think one of these days we'll go back and buy an unlimited ride pass. Once we're rolling in dough, that is. And that, my friends, is only a matter of time.

We've only been here a week, and already I've experienced a wee bit of a craving for Western food (meaning something that doesn't involve rice or noodles). I was thinking we'd have to get something from Subway (bonus for eating vegetables) but then I saw a commercial for Pizza Hut. As horrid as I find their "pizza" back home, today I just had to have one. Maybe because they looked crispy, not greasy in the commercial. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) we couldn't find a Pizza Hut. Or any pizza place, for that matter. We ended up in a 6th floor pub called The Blarney Stone. It was very small, at least compared to what we're used to, but we were able to get a pizza. It was also small, expensive, and not at all what I was looking for, but the beer was relatively cheap, and I rather enjoyed the shepherd's pie. Not a total waste, but I don't feel the need to go back.