I got up at 6:45 even though I had been awake for awhile. We agreed to meet at 7:30 for breakfast each morning. So I showered and dressed. We met Sue in the hall, and Judy was already seated in the restaurant. I ate an omelet and two sunny side up eggs (in addition to some fruit, and yogurt). We talked over breakfast, then went upstairs to pack, etc. We left about 9:15 for the subway. After one transfer, our tickets stopped working, so we had to go to the adjuster for help. He gave us special tickets, and they worked. We did not have to pay more. When we got to the Tokyo dome stop, we took a different exit than last year - not that I know which exit it was. But we came out at a different place. We got in line with the tickets we each purchased online and printed out. The man scanned our print-outs and kept them. There was also a bag check, but it wasn't very thorough. As we walked past lockers (which I don't remember seeing last year), we stopped to store our coats and stuff. I kept my back pack for any purchases I might make. When we got to the main floor, we agreed on a meeting place and time, and then we were on our own. Last year I viewed the quilts first, and then the vendor section. So I decided this year to do the reverse - since most people were viewing the quilts and the vendors were wide open. 
I bought a small Japanese cake to take home for Michele. Then nature called and I had trouble asking for the restroom. The only one I could find was up at the top and around the other side. It was quite a jog. Then I went back to shopping. There was so much to look at, but I concentrated on charm squares so I could keep moving. I bought a bag of scraps that looked big enough to get 4 charm squares out of each one. Later I found two bundles of squares, but they had repeats. Still, it was a reasonable price, so I bought them and have some to share. We all met again at noon. We met Mary's friend Barbie. She came from Okinawa. Her group is having a quilting retreat over President's Day in Feb, and she invited us. The others seemed to like the idea, but I was not sure about going away again. Judy and Sue then went to eat at a small restaurant on the floor. I had snacks in my backpack, and Mary went to get some chicken. She and I were going to eat together, but couldn't find each other again. I went back to finish shopping. I found someone selling fruit fabrics. The price was outrageous, so I only got 4 fat quarters. Further on, a vendor asked me "Where from?". I replied "South Korea". She was speechless until I added that I was American. Having finished scouting the vendor areas, I turned to look at quilts. I didn't take pictures because there were so many people in the way. 
There was an Amish display and 3 Amish women from Indiana were demonstrating their quilting technique. No pics were allowed of their quilts. I wanted to speak to them, but they were always surrounded by a crowd. For some reason I got out my glasses. I thought this would help me see better, but the extra details actually were more confusing. I got a better overall sense of each quilt without them. When I thought I had seen all the quilts, and it wasn't yet time to meet the others, I sat in the stands for a break. The people near me were very quiet. That is because they were signing to each other. I tried to a get a bit of it on video. I was also scanning the crowd for Americans. There were very very few. Occasionally I would see the back of someone's head with light curly hair, and think 'there's one'. But invariably she'd turn around and be Asian. Just before our meeting time of 4pm, two American ladies came and sat near me. I couldn't resist striking up a conversation. I told them about Nippori, and then took them down to meet my friends. I was surprised to learn that they are staying at our hotel. So we invited them to come with us to Nippori tomorrow. They went on their way, and we discovered that the crowd had thinned out.
So I was able to take pics this time. Judy and Sue had found a good deal on obi (belt for kimonos) so they showed us where to find them, and I got one for Michele. They also got good deals on pink grab bags. Most of the vendors had them, but I didn't know what they were, so didn't pay them any attention. Each vendor fills hers with whatever she wants to get rid of, and sells it for a reduced price. Some vendors will let you look in before you buy, and some won't. We left about 6 even though the closing time was 6:30. It was very cold outside. We walked around trying to choose a restaurant. Finally we settled on an Indian one. I ordered the salad for two. The other ladies gave me whatever they didn't want from their dinners. That was nice of them. Then we stopped at several stores including "Treasure Island". Mary bought a special lunch container for her daughter. I took a pic of a character from one of Michele's favorite movies at the same place. Then we searched out the subway, and made our way home. We had a bit of trouble with our tickets again, but nothing the adjuster couldn't handle. We were very tired, but not too tired to have show-and-tell. Afterwards, I recorded all this in my notebook and went to bed.
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