J1: Gyumeshi, Natalie, Macha and World Trade Center

First day in Japan! We were all very excited. But, we were even hungrier when we all woke up. So Remi, who lived in Japan for a few months a one point (and speaks Japanese deceptively well) decided to take us to eat Gyumeshi. Basically a delicious beef-topped rice with yummy sauce!

Gyumeshi

After our apetites were satiated, we headed over to Shinjuku station to meet with Natalie, a half-Japanese friend of Remi's from Lausanne who was currently studying in Tokyo. But since we had an hour and a half or so, we explored a little first!

The first place we explored was one of Japan's giant arcades. Inside, we found this machine, which allowed one to play the crane game to try to wrangle a giant package of chewing gum!

So, once we met up with Natalie, we headed over to a cafe. She suggested that we try matcha, which is a type of iced green tea that is mixed with soy milk. Very interesting!

Matcha


Natalie and Remi

So, after a nice conversation with Natalie (who couldn't stay too long due to an afternoon class) we decided to visit the World Trade Center, which has an observatory at the top. Here are some pictures!

Finally, we spent the rest of the day wandering around, further exploring this vibrant new city!

Picture taken in a random alley near Shinjuku.

Oh, we played cards that night also (Belote... interesting game...)