wow. so many memories rushing back reminding me why i love tokyo. the only city i’ve been to that compares is New York. the mcdonalds on takeshita dori is a good place to grab an iced coffee and a fries (they taste pretty much the same no matter where you order them: Japan, Hong Kong, East Coast, Mexico…same fries) and watch the freak show pass by. another funny thing we discovered was catching the morning rush hour train the next day (we went on a sunday) and seeing a bunch of young workers on their way to the office with their three piece suits, ties and blue hair. or some other small detail that indicated that they were part of the walking insanity the day before.

since you like stationary, there’s a very cool stationary store in Ginza (so says my wife…I was in the coffee shop on the corner (in the circular building on the corner under the Ricoh sign in your night time Ginza pic). it’s a couple of doors down to the left as you face the circular building.

regarding the cabbage katsu thing (I used to work for a japanese lady at a small restaurant in college): cabbage soaks up the excess grease in your stomach so you don’t feel so leaden after eating deep fried foods. that’s why they serve shredded cabbage salad with tonkatsu.