- Early morning photo walk to Okachimachi, then out to the far side of Ueno Park. I’ll be visiting this area a few more times this trip for unexpected reasons.
- MBW had prawn tempura soba for lunch, while I tried fried steak cutlets for the first time. I’d remembered seeing a giant queue of people for this dish last year while we were here, so I was excited to see what the fuss was about. Honestly – was pretty average to my tastebuds.
- Went to Shinjuku – MBW to visit Sekkaido for some stationary, myself to browse second-hand camera stores. I saw MBW safely to her destination and had just reached Map Camera when she messaged, needing something that I had with me in my backpack. A quick walk back, handing over the goods, and a quick walk back and I was back up and hunting!
- Saw two lenses I had on my mental checklist – a Sigma 24mm f/3.5 for my S9, and a GF100-200mm for my medium format kit back home. Buying the GFX lens would represent a significant chunk of my trip spending money, so I confirmed they had them in stock, for decent prices and in good condition. Mental note made for later in the trip.
- (I later regretted not jumping on the Sigma 24mm lens – after today, I couldn’t find another copy for the entire rest of the trip, so I just had to do without. S9 and Sigma 45mm f/2.8 would have to do!
- …except maybe not. Managed to pick up a new camera while out and about, one I’d had my eye on for quite a while, a Ricoh GRIII. Very well regarded as a street photography classic, I was hoping to also use it’s 28mm f/2.8 lens for all sorts of everyday shooting scenarios where a larger mirrorless system wouldn’t work (such as snapping food shots and selfies).
- After a full day of window shopping for me and serious stationary acquisition for MBW, we made it back to the hotel in Ueno worn out. Ended up ordering Uber Eats for dinner and called it a day.
