Day 5 - Coffee and Monja (Ginza)

4th February, 2003 - After a long day, we leave the Kabuki-za and head back into Ginza. It's been a very long day and we enjoy watching the street-life from Doutor Coffee. Ginza is (if you don't know) the premier up-market shopping area (at least as far as our budget would allow us to know).

And no... I'm not married to miss smiley face :-) .... it's just that we prefer if she remain mysterious... and that we maintain some privacy in our on-line life. That's why she's called T-chan in my blog. If you're also wondering if she's been trying out for a role as Winston Churchill ("we will fight them on the beaches, we will fight them..." you know... cigar in one hand, the sign V for victory with the other) - Japanese people love to take photos making the peace sign. Don't ask me why as I've long since got used to, and indeed indulge in a bit of "V-ing" myself these days. Quite liberating really.


After an afternoon of Ginza-viewing, we started off on a search for the Godzilla memorial which is supposedly around there... somewhere. After 30 mins of getting lost - and what better place to get lost in - we decided to have dinner. Ginza has a number of smallish streets with inconspicuous cafes, restaurants and izakaya (Japanese pub-cafe). We found a nice little place that had a monjayaki (or just monja). Monja is a cabbage/flour based pancake... similiar to okonomiyaki but more watery. It's a specialty of the Kanto region around Tokyo. In Japan, there's a fair bit of cook at your own table kind of cuisine... and this is one example. It's yummy... and did I mention the all-you-can-drink-beer-offer? I put that to the test - and found that I just about did drink all that I could. In fact, I was pretty well wasted by the end of the evenings eating and drinking. I remember getting on the train, but didn't really know or care where we were going.

I never did find that Godzilla statue.