We had Thursday morning off before heading to any meetings in the afternoon, so I spent the morning getting caught up on a few things back at the hotel then headed out for a little adventure. My first quest was for lunch. I’d heard rumors of there being a Kua’Aina burger place in Tokyo, and I wanted to find it. Kua’Aina started in Hawaii and we visited the Honolulu store back in August, fantastic food. I’ve been using one of their stickers as a bookmark for a while now that lists “Oahu and Tokyo”, so I really wanted to try to find their store in Tokyo.
Getting there is pretty easy. Take the subway to Omete-sando and go out exit B2. Head straight down the road (southwest), and it will be on the left at the next major intersection. You can’t miss it. The food was great, even if it was a little expensive; $15US for burger, fries, and a Coke! A good find, and a nice infusion of cheese into my bloodstream.
After our meeting, JF and John and I were walking to a subway station when they stopped to get a Yakitori stick. I was trying to get the woman sitting behind a video rental counter to throw away my water bottle, but that turned in to filling it up (they’re very courteous here). The owner of the video store was there and asked what country I was from. When I said America he immediately responded:
“Ah yes! Howard Dean, very good! Bush, very bad!”
We had a broken conversation about politics back in the states. “Bush violent, dangerous. Al Gore, real president.” It was fantastic.
After we said goodbye, JF explained that in Japan people are very informed on politics. People on the street here will know who the prime minister is for random countries on the other side of the world, understand the issues facing not only them but many other international regions, and stay up on campaigns for major elections in other big countries.
VERY refreshing change from the common ignorance found in America!
