After waking up I surfed on the internet, reading news articles. Since some months, reddit has helped me a lot to quickly find the most important articles (subreddits worldnews and science). The fee-free checkout closes at 10am, and I managed to check out 10 minutes earlier. They didn’t allow me to store my backpack, because I didn’t have a booking for the following night. So I had to carry it around all day long.
Tripadvisor led me to Ichiran Shinjuku Central East Entrance, number 2 of 8143 in Shinjuku. I asked an employee at the entrance whether I could get sth vegetarian. She said yes, and that I have to wait approximately 30 minutes. Then I saw stairs to the basement floor, with a line of people. When I entered the door after 10 minutes, I saw more people waiting inside. I bought a ticket for ramen and some tofu dish from the vending machine.
Some minutes later the next person in the queue gave me a form, where I had to choose my preferences for strengh, noodle texture, and amount of oil, garlic, onion and spices. Soon I entered the room with two lines of bar stools. A folding wooden panel separated the seats. The waiter opened a window in front of my seat and asked for my form and the ticket. In the meantime the girls left to me asked me for a picture. The soup arrived, and it tasted so delicious! If you ever visit Shinjuku, and you have enough time, try that restaurant! The waiter gave me a kind of buzzer, which I had to press for the tofu. The tofu had a green sauce on top, and after tasting it, I realized why they gave me the buzzer: the tofu was for the dessert!
Afterwards I went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, which offers a free observatory floor. On the way two old ladies from the Tokyo volunteers helped me to find the way. In front of the elevator, a police officer “checked” my backpack, i.e., I opened it, and he said I can enter. He had no clue what I had inside, as he could only see my second backpack which I put on top of my stuff. Additionally I didn’t shave for two weeks, so I must almost look like a terrorist. On the observatory deck I had a nice view over Tokyo. I asked one of the guides, and she explained me the view. She also told me that she had visited Germany as a child.
In the afternoon I mainly walked around. In a nearby park, where I heard a glockenspiel (the tower bells’ chime). Then back to Shinjuku station, and on the way three women approached me, asking me why I took a picture of the street. I just wanted to document what I’ve done, and also the atmosphere (lot of people, shops and signs). Then I asked them where I could get some touristic postcards, but they didn’t know. I guess as a local you rarely send postcards.
I took the train to Tokyo station, where the next bus would depart. I decided to try another sushi restaurant. The sushi tasted ok, but not as good as the one in Toyama. I played with my mobile phone while waiting for the bus to Himeji.