Not a Russian Captain

My employer rejoices and my father laments.

It is the Friday of my very first weekend, and a long weekend at that! With nary a care in the world… nor a plan…  nor a map… (but plenty of snacks!) I packed a weekend bag, bought a rail pass, and hopped on a train to Tokyo.

Had to hit the snack aisle.

I must admit, I did eventually yield to my practical side and buy a map, but mostly so I didn’t wind up outside of my pass area.

The nice choo-choos.

Vending machine coffee verdict: it’ll do in a pinch.

(I’m still a little behind schedule between the time change and the three AM drunken-karaoke alarm clock. Staying awake on the train was a challenge.)

Whilst I wandered weak (with hunger) and weary (of idly waiting for the next train), I followed my nose to this delectable dessert stand!

Mr. Waffles. Not pictured: line of uniformed high school girls out and around the corner.

I went for the fig and raisin, which ranks a solid 11/10.

There’s a surprising number of sweet shops in the train station, which is unfair because it all smells amazing.

I wandered into a barbeque place, which was particularly exciting since I speak approximately no Japanese. (“Hello” and “I understand” don’t get you very far, especially when you do not, in fact, understand.)

I can tell my meat from my veggies, but that’s about it.

Fortunately for me, I word-vomited while trying to count in Japanese and discovered that the waitress also spoke mandarin. She was able to explain what each option was.

Most people understand troll (the ‘point and grunt’ method), but it can be a little rude. She has my eternal gratitude, especially after the first barbeque joint I stepped into kicked me out for not speaking Japanese.

She even let me cook my own ox tongue!

I settled on ox tongue, lettuce, and something I’m still not sure about which we’ll call ‘mushroom-seafood delight.’

I spent the end of the meal exchanging google translates with the waitress-in-training, who is from Vietnam and also doesn’t speak Japanese.

It was splendid.