Woke up after a sleep that featured some anxiety dreams, probably from the down day I had on Tuesday (<>). Ate a light breakfast, then walked over to Ueno Park for a run. It was significantly warmer on this day, so I ran in a long-sleeved shirt and shorts. Got a fairly fast start, then I improved on each subsequent mile up to mile 5, where I slowed down some. I picked a route around the park that was about 1.5 miles and ran it 3 times, continuing on after that until I got to 5. I believe this was easily my fastest 5 miles in many years, weather was close to ideal and route was flat.
Avg pace = 7:16/mi
Total distance =5.01 mi
Elapsed running time = 36:27
Avg heartrate = 154 bpm (Coospo)
Relative Effort = 62
https://www.strava.com/activities/13727908843
The shoes helped cushion a lot of the pounding, so my legs didn't ache at the end, although I was temporarily light-headed (got over it quickly). I then walked/jogged over to Café Veloce to meet Ann for a coffee and a waffle, both very good. We walked from there back to the Airbnb and took a little break before heading over to Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan, a little museum, shop, and paper-dyeing house that was a great find, close to where we were staying. We went upstairs to the gift shop and got a real treat. One of the ladies made some origami figures for us while another translated. It was excellent! I bought some more paper and a wooden smoothing knife for Ross. Some of the origami creations were beyond belief, quite fabulous and intricate. All in all, a very fun visit. On the way back, we stopped at the Kanda Myoujin Shrine, which was much more spectacular that I thought it was from my brief visit on Saturday night. So, also fun. Got some money and egg salad sandwiches from a 7-Eleven nearby and ate them at the flat, quite tasty. Another little break before heading back out. This afternoon trip started with an attempt to fix our Suica cards at Tokyo Station. The underground tunnels connecting different subways down in the business district are amazing. It was easy to get lost, and we didn't really know where to go for the fix. We talked to a rep on the intercom, but that wasn't helpful. I finally remembered to look for the location of a JR office, then used Google Maps to direct us there. Success, helped by using Google Translate to explain our issue to the agent, who fixed the cards right away. From Tokyo Station, said to be modeled after Amsterdam Centraal, we walked over to the Imperial Palace grounds, but entrance to the gardens was closed for the day. We tried to walk around to get the Imperial Palace in full view but ran out of time and a little patience. I found a little restaurant in the underground tunnels by the business, it was the only one open for dinner, and the food was decent and not too expensive. They left the pork out of my dish and added extra eggplant, the blend of flavors was quite good. We walked from there to the subway station and took the subway to the one nearest the Digital Art Museum, where we experienced TeamLab Borderless, and collection of light-inspired digital installations with a variety of themes, many of which were connected to each other. Many of the installations were interactive, including one where sea creatures that Ann and I colored in were scanned and displayed swimming around it a room. There were processions of animals and crazy-looking people characters that were fun to watch. The main central room constantly changed, and we sat in there a couple of times. They were also playing ethereal music throughout the venue and blowing in some pretty strong floral scents. We were there for a couple of hours, and time passed very quickly. Took the subway back afterwards, no issues, but it was surprisingly full of people coming from work after 9:00. Another full day, the best one so far for me.
The shoes helped cushion a lot of the pounding, so my legs didn't ache at the end, although I was temporarily light-headed (got over it quickly). I then walked/jogged over to Café Veloce to meet Ann for a coffee and a waffle, both very good. We walked from there back to the Airbnb and took a little break before heading over to Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan, a little museum, shop, and paper-dyeing house that was a great find, close to where we were staying. We went upstairs to the gift shop and got a real treat. One of the ladies made some origami figures for us while another translated. It was excellent! I bought some more paper and a wooden smoothing knife for Ross. Some of the origami creations were beyond belief, quite fabulous and intricate. All in all, a very fun visit. On the way back, we stopped at the Kanda Myoujin Shrine, which was much more spectacular that I thought it was from my brief visit on Saturday night. So, also fun. Got some money and egg salad sandwiches from a 7-Eleven nearby and ate them at the flat, quite tasty. Another little break before heading back out. This afternoon trip started with an attempt to fix our Suica cards at Tokyo Station. The underground tunnels connecting different subways down in the business district are amazing. It was easy to get lost, and we didn't really know where to go for the fix. We talked to a rep on the intercom, but that wasn't helpful. I finally remembered to look for the location of a JR office, then used Google Maps to direct us there. Success, helped by using Google Translate to explain our issue to the agent, who fixed the cards right away. From Tokyo Station, said to be modeled after Amsterdam Centraal, we walked over to the Imperial Palace grounds, but entrance to the gardens was closed for the day. We tried to walk around to get the Imperial Palace in full view but ran out of time and a little patience. I found a little restaurant in the underground tunnels by the business, it was the only one open for dinner, and the food was decent and not too expensive. They left the pork out of my dish and added extra eggplant, the blend of flavors was quite good. We walked from there to the subway station and took the subway to the one nearest the Digital Art Museum, where we experienced TeamLab Borderless, and collection of light-inspired digital installations with a variety of themes, many of which were connected to each other. Many of the installations were interactive, including one where sea creatures that Ann and I colored in were scanned and displayed swimming around it a room. There were processions of animals and crazy-looking people characters that were fun to watch. The main central room constantly changed, and we sat in there a couple of times. They were also playing ethereal music throughout the venue and blowing in some pretty strong floral scents. We were there for a couple of hours, and time passed very quickly. Took the subway back afterwards, no issues, but it was surprisingly full of people coming from work after 9:00. Another full day, the best one so far for me.
A update on my reading. I finished A Gentleman in Moscow. It was a good read, something of a modern fairy tale where mainly good things happen to the lead characters, including a storybook ending. Still, it was well written and the characters were interesting. Better for me than the other Amor Towles book I read. I started an anthology of Ursula K. LeGuin with The Lathe of Heaven. It didn't take me long to recognize this book as one I've recently read, so I skipped to the next one, The Eye of the Heron. It takes place in the future on another planet with several groups of people from Earth who relocated there. One group consists of city-dwellers, who attempt to subjugate the second group, who model themselves after Gandhi and King. The narrative was good at the beginning, but I was let down by the climactic clash between them and the resigned tone af the village survivors. Not sure what the moral of this story was supposed to be. I've just started The Beginning Place, which features another parallel world that can be selectively accessed by individuals coming from a humdrum existence.
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