Adventures in Tokyo

The Shangri-La

After we left our cruise buddies, we walked to our hotel, the Shangri-La.  It seemed to be very centrally located & I must say...it was fancy-schmancy! The lobbies were exquisite...

...& our bedroom was so elegant...& huge!

But the most amazing thing about our room was this spectacular view of Tokyo through the gigantic picture windows - including the New Tokyo Tower, The Tokyo Skytree Tower!

At night, the Skytree was an intricate light show as it changed colors & the lights danced up, down, & around the Tower!  It was beautiful!

We have seen matching robes before, but never matching kimonos!  They were very comfortable, too!

I have to admit, I was most fascinated by their "magic toilet!"  Seriously, this thing was down right amazing!  You walk up to it & the lid opens without touching it.  You walk away from it & it not only flushes automatically, but the lid closes automatically as well!

And if that wasn't enough...on the wall above the toilet paper, you had all of these options to choose from!!!  I have never seen anything like it!

Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens

The next day we made arrangements to meet "the kids," Valerie & Aaron Sessions, whose office is near Paul's at home.  We call them "the kids" because most of our kids are older than them...they'd fit right in!  We decided to share our research & taxis & ended up combining our itineraries & touring together - great people to hang out with!

1st stop was Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens.  We loved how simplistic their ticketing system was - it certainly took out a lot of guess work & calculating money conversions for us!

We did NOT love that it was a down pour most of the day!  But what better place to tour a Japanese garden than Tokyo?  It was gorgeous, but the rain kept steaming up my lens & I was worried about soaking my camera...

We were extremely "lucky" inspite of the rain...in fact, TWICE as lucky!  We came across a bride AND a baby blessing at the Meiji Jinju Shrine.

The rain did not discourage the faithful (nor the tourists)...

I do think it is interesting that so many religions "write" their prayers & add them to a prayer list or a prayer roll.

Sake barrels for the Gods & Bourgogne Wine, a gift from France in hopes that they will enjoy many fruitful years of friendship.

Shibuya

Lunch with "the kids" at Kyusyu Jangara Ramen near Harajuku Station...delicious!  Perfect thing to warm us up after all that running around in the rain.

We had hoped to catch some of these crazy costumed teens on the streets near Harajuku Station in Shibuya...but the rain drove them away.  I did see a few random ones here & there, but they are usually all over the place & have become quite the tourist attraction themselves!

Google Images - tokyofashion.com

Shibuya Crossing is totally crazy!  When the pedestrian light turns green, they just cross the street any which direction they need to go!  It was extra fun to see the sea of umbrellas crossing!  My photos did not turn out well, the windows of the Starbucks we were in were too fogged up to get a good shot.

Google Image

 Their subway was so clean & relatively easy to navigate.  A friend told us not to let the "ramen like" maps discourage us...you can see that the subway lines are scattered about like a bowl of ramen noodles.

When we went to get our tickets we were concerned until we saw the blue  "English" button on the top right!

Just like magic, all that Japanese disappeared!  Very tourist friendly system!  I was delighted to be riding on their dry subway instead of running through the rain...I was soaked to the bone & couldn't wait to get back to the Shangri-La!

Mt Fuji

The next day we decided to go see Mt Fuji!  We took a bus & we were stuck in some traffic!

I got a kick out of the truck driver I saw out my bus window...he was actually reading a novel as he was driving in the traffic!

Our little tour guide did her best to keep us occupied in the traffic.  She gave us an oragami lesson!

Cute little sailor hat, don't you think?

Then she taught us some basic Japanese...

We finally made it as far as the bus could go up to the 5th station where the trail to the peak begins.  Of course the trail was closed this time of year & there was a little bit of a weather system hiding the peak of the volcano...

But over looking the valley below, we appeared to be above the clouds...it was gorgeous!

Our lunch stop...can you guess which lunch is Paul's & which lunch is mine?

After lunch we hopped on the Hakone Ropeway on our way into the mists of Owakudani, the "Great Boiling Valley."

Looking Up, where we were headed...then back, where we had come from...the mists gave it a very eerie feeling...

Owakudani is a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents & hot springs, spewing & bubbling sulphur & thermal smoke.  The entire area is hazy & smells of sulphur & egg - charming!  Around the crater, you will find the "Egg of Life."  It is known locally as kurotamago or black-egg - they are cooked in the sulphur & the chemical reaction turns the eggs black.  According to legend, if you eat one it will prolong your life by 7 years!  I couldn't bring myself to eat it, but I did have some black peanuts...next best thing, right?

"Are you sure this water's sanitary?  It looks questionable to me!"

On our way back, we sailed across Lake Ashi on a pirate ship (does anyone else think this is random?).  On a clear day, this crater lake is supposed to offer a great view of Mt Fuji & its numerous hot springs...it was not a clear day...

Our final part of the tour was our return to Tokyo on the Shinkansen, Japan's famous bullet train.  While waiting for our train, another bullet train came barreling through the terminal & I jumped a few feet back, startled by its thunderous speed...180 mph...very impressive!

Tsukiji Fish Market

Our last day we got up early to tour the Tsukiji Fish Market.  It is the largest wholesale fish market in the world, handling over 2000 tons of sea products a day!  The tuna fish auction is quite the spectacle & these sushi grade tunas are insanely expensive!  Quite the hustle & bustle as venders were buying, packing, & shipping fish all over the world!

Guess who had fresh sushi for breakfast?

The Imperial Palace

We spent our last couple of hours walking around the Imperial Palace, home of the Emperor of Japan.  It is a huge complex & this is as close as we could get...

See it?  The roof line right there behind the bridge, above the trees on the right?  Yeah, I couldn't either so I used my zoom lens to get a better view...I guess the Emperor deserves a little privacy.

Sayonara Tokyo!  You are very clean & tourist friendly & I enjoyed learning more about you.