Intro to Tokyo

• Woke up at 6:45 and left room by 7:15.
• Went to ask the concierge for directions to the Shinagawa Station (they weren't there, but reception helped me). I also asked them to call and confirm my tour, but when they dialed the number nobody picked up. I set out at 7:30 (Google said it would take 30m, and I needed to make it by 8:20).
• Made it to Shinjuku Station by 8:00, and had some trouble finding the right exit to take, but my gps helped me figure out where I was and compare that with my map of where I should be.
• I also had trouble getting out of the gates from the train...it was saying my 170-yen ticket was invalid for some reason (that's the fare I was quoted from the kiosk when I had come in the morning), but on the second attempt I happened to walk fast enough that I made it through the doors, so I just left...
• When I got to the LOVE Monument, I saw a large bus with 2 ladies standing outside. I went up to them and said "I'm looking for a Tokyo tour I should be scheduled for," and they asked for my name. I told them and they said I was on their list. Phew! I found the right place (and with about 5 minutes to spare)!
• I was the third person on, the other 2 being Adrian (a corrections officer) and Junior (an Integrated Circuits engineer) from the Phoenix area.
• Our tour guide, Levin, came on. Apparently the 2 ladies were just there to check names off the list.
• We had to wait about another 10 minutes for the last 2 (Kelvin and Peter, recent graduates from Australia) to make it, but then we left. Kelvin gave us audioguide players to hook on our ears, but throughout the day he was usually saying something at the same time so I didn't get much from the audioguide when it came on to say things. A lot of the times he was saying the same thing.
• Our first stop was the Imperial Palace's inner-garden. The emperor still lived in the palace, so unlike Beijing we were not allowed to go into the royal living area.
• The imperial garden wasn't that exciting, but you can see where the cherry blossoms WILL be in about a month. (all the trees are dormant now).
• Most of the original was destroyed in WWII, but it has been rebuilt in the same way (so they say).
• When we got back to the bus, the last 2 people (Bankers Alexandro & Rosaria from Mexico City, who had pre-arranged to meet up with us late) were already on.
• Next, we drove to Asakusa and stopped at the Senso-ji shrine, which has been around for about 1400 years.
• Levin told us that to distinguish a temple (Buddhist) from a shrine (Shinto), look for the gate out front - only the shrines will have them.
• He said the process at a shrine is to smell burning incense (cleanse your mind), wash your hands in the pool of water (cleanse your body), approach the altar, throw your money in (only 5 and 50 denomination coins ok because they have a hole in the middle and that's helpful for some reason), make a wish, bow 2 times. The only difference for doing it at a non-main shrine (there was one next to the big one because the big one gets too crowded) is that you have to ring a bell after the money and before the bell (because the spirit is already 'close to you' at the big place, but for the smaller ones you need to draw their attention). I did not do this, but watched as several others did.
• There is also a building (actually a few buildings) with what looks like little mail slots. You're supposed to put 100 yen in, then pick a box and open it. If the fortune inside is good, you keep it with you. If it's bad, they have a place for you to tie it (and later all the tied fortunes will be torched so they will not come true)
• We were left to run around this place for 40 mins, so I first went to the nearby Kaminari-mon Gate, which leads up to the shrine.
• Nakamise Shopping Avenue lies between the gate and the shrine, and was packed. Levin gave us 35 mins to walk around, and said it would take 15 to walk through the crowd to the gate (distance-wise it should be just 3-5 mins away).
• Next stop: Tsukiji Fish Market
• There are 2 parts, inner and outer. Inner is the wholesale part for shop owners to come negotiate (more like yell about) prices on fresh fish (tuna go for ~1500 USD, and it goes bad after a day so now I understand why they make sushi so expensive especially if it's a place that makes it fresh. The outer part is what we saw, which is basically just hundreds of vendors and thousands of locals & tourists. There are tons of free samples as you walk along, so I tried a bunch of stuff (and will probably go back to buy some on my free day).
• The city said they would be moving the inner part to the Koto area in November, with the outer part to follow, but it was delayed for some unknown reason. This is apparently how it always goes in Tokyo when the government says they're moving something.
• Adrian, Junior, and I all apparently misunderstood Levin's directions, because we ended up at the end of the large street with nobody else. The narrow side-streets is where all the action was, so we went down those together trying samples.
• Levin had recommended that we try the scrambled eggs, so we did. It was a thick hunk served on a Popsicle stick with what tasted like sauerkraut. It's made in these tall square pans, and to the Japanese it is weird to use salt with eggs because they prefer them with sugar. So the eggs were actually kinda sweet, which I thought was weird but not bad.
• Back to the bus, and we crossed the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba to eat lunch at Aqua City. Odaiba was originally used for military purposes as protection for Tokyo harbor, but now has some futuristic buildings like an observatory, some residential areas, and a theme park (I think)
• There's a big robot sculpture that is famous for something. It looked kinda like the combined power rangers guy.
• Tokyo's Statue of Liberty is also over there, with a nice background of the Rainbow Bridge (which, by the way, is all-white but gets lit up with rainbow colors at night).
• Aqua City is like a mall, and on the first floor there's a human robot that speaks (but her language was set to Chinese, so I'm not sure what she said). There's also a hologram menu that was kinda cool to swipe through.
• We are lunch at "The Oven," which said it was an American Buffet. Levin assured us that it used to be a Japanese buffet but too many tourist clients were passing it up in lieu of something  that reminded them of home, so they rebranded and added some American things (which really is just a smash of many cultures' foods). The Japanese section was tiny though (some corn salad thing, potato tempera, and one kind of sushi roll that was meh), so it was basically an American buffet...(think french fries, fried chicken, pizza, scalloped potatoes, pork tenderloin, plus tacos and Thai curry and lo mein).
• Levin said we had to try melon soda, which tasted like carbonated Midori
• There was a really extensive dessert bar that we tried most of. It included some pink & clear jello, mochi, pumpkin/strawberry/mango puddings, cheesecakes, brownies, and fondue
• We met back up with the Arizonans, who had not included lunch with their tour, and hot on a "cruise" that crossed from Odaiba to *** (more like a ferry).
• After that, the tour was done, the bus had a few drop off points (Ginza, Tokyo Tower, Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku). All but the Arizonians got off at Shibuya and went up to the Starbucks to watch the Shibuya Crossing.
• Other than the crossing, the only thing in Shibuya is malls which are famous for attracting foreign celebrities. I tried to find the main one but made a wrong turn, so I gave up and walked north to Harajuku
• Got to the Main Street in Harajuku, Takeshita Street (Yeah, I laughed a little too). It's famous for all the cosplayers that walk up and down in full costume, but I only saw 2 (it's apparently more popular on the weekends). Along the street there were plenty of shops selling outfits like the crazy ones I have seen online
• There's a New Zealand Cookie Time there! I stopped in and the staff were all Kiwis. No fresh hokey pokey cookies though :(
• Wound my way through what I guess was some residential area to get up to Shinjuku. I was trying to follow the train tracks to make sure I didn't get lost, but apparently the main roads beer off other directions.
• It was about 6:20, and I knew the Godzilla at Hotel Gracery was going to roar at 7pm so I went there first. I actually found it a lot sooner than I thought I would, so I strolled through the nearby Don Quixote shop, where Levin said I could find the best souvenirs.
• There were lots of snacks and underwear and some Halloween costumes, but nothing really appealing. I also found a corner of the store that was only dildos, lube, hentai, sketchy pills, and lingerie...k
• Left and walked up to the hotel to get a closer look at the Godzilla 
• I was asked by one guy on the way if I wanted a massage, and when I said no he said ok. It felt so good to be listened to!
• A sign said that the Godzilla was on the 8th floor, so I went up. When I got there I walked to the patio outside and passed a sign saying "hotel and cafe guests only," but nobody stopped me.
• There was a guard out on the patio, and I used Google Translate to ask him if it would be better to watch the roar from up here or on the street. He said up, so I hung around for 20 mins to see it.
• Lots of people came and went, but nobody else seemed to be there for the roar. Maybe they thought it was too cold to wait (and that's why the rules were lax?).
• When I went back down, there was a hotel security guard at the elevator that had not been there before. Maybe I just got lucky.
• While leaving the hotel I saw a sushi place with a sampler for 1500 yen, so I stopped in. It was nice, but they eventually got 2300 yen out of me because there was a hidden 'table fee' (Levin had said they didn't do that within Tokyo...), and I ordered shochu (tasted like flavored water, by the waiter said it had 15% apv).
• Apparently there's a cafe near there that has robots come up and perform by your table. I didn't go see it (was full from dinner, my feet were starting to hurt, and it was already 8pm), but I read about it and saw it in passing. Not sure how cool it really is, but if it's anything like the robot from the mall in Odaiba it might be kinda creepy and cool to see.
• Tried to pass by a capsule hotel to see what I looked like
• Not exciting at all...just looks like an office building. The one I have seen in pictures looked much cooler but it's out by the airport.
• Walked back to Shinjuku station. These ticket kiosks didn't have English as an option so I went to the ticket sales booth.
• The lady here said the ticket was 200 yen, so I asked why it had only been 170 in the other direction. Apparently it was also supposed to be 200, so we just awkwardly laughed about it and I left with my new ticket. This one gave me no problems when I got out at Shinagawa station.
• Got back to hotel and got my 500 yen voucher from the receptionist (part of their "green cleaning" program - if you elect to not have the maid service then they give you 500 yen each time you don't use it). I also signed up for the next day.
• Tried to write bullets, but fell asleep (which was probably for the best because I had to be up early for the Mt. Fuji tour the next morning)