Day 2, Art Museums and...

 Today was a much quieter day than yesterday.


Most of the morning was spent in art museums, so I actually don’t have many pictures from the itinerary itself since I wanted to be respectful of the galleries. Instead, I mostly came away with random thoughts scribbled into my notes app while wandering around.


Things like:


“The impermanence of life”

“Did this artist suddenly get happier after 1980?”

“Was blue paint historically easier to make or something?”


Completely normal museum thoughts.


We saw works by Andrew Wyeth and some really famous Japanese prints like The Great Wave off Kanagawa, which was very cool to see in person.


Afterward, we split off for lunch, and honestly I expected to just wander around by myself for a bit so I could look for waterproof shoes.


Instead, a few people asked:

“Mind if we come with you?”


Which was really nice.




So we wandered through a little street market while some people looked for souvenirs, collectively rejected a couple restaurant options near the train station, and eventually ended up at McDonald's.




And honestly? Japanese McDonald’s kind of good. Though the chicken nuggets were ...sweet. We compared the breading to donuts if that tells you how it tasted. 


I got the Samurai Burger, which has teriyaki sauce on it, plus a delicious vanilla shake despite the rain because rainy weather and ice cream are a fantastic combination and I will not be taking criticism at this time.


Then everyone came with me to the shoe store, where the staff helped me find waterproof loafers that:


actually fit,

have traction,

and kept my socks dry.


Life-changing experience, no joke.


After we got back to the hotel and rested for a while, eight of us went together to Harry Asakusa because apparently several people overheard me mentioning it yesterday and immediately decided:

“Yes. Otters.”


And they were absolutely correct.


The otters were SO cute.


There was one especially chonky otter named Rice Cakes, which is possibly one of the greatest names anyone has ever given an animal.











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