Taking Tokyo by Storm....sort of

Daniel and I set out from our hotel shortly before 10am (thank goodness for sleeping in!) and took our first ride on the JR which appears to be an above ground subway.  Thankfully I have this handy app on my iPhone called METRO that told us how to get from point A to point B, where to change stations, and what line (name and color) to take.  Unfortunately, the app does NOT tell you which side of tracks to board the train on so we asked a nice man for help.  He didn't speak a word of English, but thankfully was able to point us in the right direction.  Fifteen minutes later, we arrived and eventually met up with Chihiro.  Our first stop was the Rikugien Gardens, which is, as you can imagine, a traditional Japanese garden:).  We wandered about, admiring the signs of spring that are slowly beginning to emerge.  Some of the trees have already flowered (although not the much anticipated cherry blossoms as of this post) and the garden was peaceful and serene.  The pathways lead us around a pond, up and down a hill, and passed a waterfall and a cool stone Japanese lantern.  Here are a few pictures I snapped along the way...

After exploring the garden, we walked back to the subway and headed on to Ginza.  We walked over to see the Imperial Palace which is the home of the current emperor and his family.  Japan is ruled by a Prime Minister and parliament, so the Emperor is really just a figurehead for the country to represent Japan's imperialistic history.  Much like the White House, the Imperial Palace is guarded quite well.  Daniel thought about trying to make a break for it over one of the barricades, but thankfully was convinced otherwise.  Heavy winds pushed us along back to the main shopping streets of Ginza and we soon found ourselves on the lower level of a department store surrounded by lots of yummy pastries!  We picked out several to have as a midafternoon snack, then took a bus a few blocks to the Tsukiji Fish Market so Daniel could have his first taste of sushi.  The market was different than I expected.  I thought we'd be surrounded by stalls of fishermen selling their fresh catch, with millions of eyeballs staring back from fish on ice...what I found were small stalls selling fish products and tiny restaurants tucked into a maze of alleys.  Chihiro expertly guided us to a small sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt of raw, and cooked, delicacies.  I'd had sushi during my last visit to Japan, but today's options were much "fresher". It's a good thing that Daniel is adventurous when it comes to food and tried several different types of sushi.  He sampled cook shrimp over rice with wasabi, crab salad rolls, California roll, and raw tuna sushi.  I should note that it is now Tuesday and Daniel is still alive.  I had to document this momentous occasion...

Bellies full of Tokyo's freshest seafood, we moved on to Shiodome to take a trip up Tokyo Tower.  At first glance it looks like an orange and white version of the Eiffel Tower.  We joined many other tourists on our elevator ascent to the top, then spent a bit of time admiring the 360 degree panorama.  It absolutely blows your mind to look out over a city of ten plus million people (yep, more than Seoul) and to see nothing but a sea of buildings in every direction.  Chihiro pointed out some of the city's landmark buildings and a cluster of mountains, one of which was Mt. Fuji.  Despite being a cloudy day, the air quality in Tokyo is pretty darn good and we could actually see for miles!  Before going down, we checked out the viewing window and freaked ourselves out looking down at the ground below as we stood on the glass surface.

The line for the elevator down was really long, so we hiked down all 633 stairs to the base of the tower.  At the bottom we were met with a surprise and Daniel attempted to make a new friend...

Daniel quickly learned that the monkey was  not interested in being friendly, so we were content to take his photo and wave good-bye.  I found it fascinating that the monkey understands Japanese as he reacted to the commands of his Japanese trainer.  I caught one last glimpse of the Tokyo Tower on our walk back to the subway.

Our time with Chihiro flew by and we were prepared to say good-bye to her on the subway but we were able to extend our day by picking up her adorable son Takuto from his bilingual pre-school.  At first, Takuto was very shy and didn't even want to look at Daniel or me but he slowly warmed up to us and before long he was putting on a show for us.  Little Takuto sure has a lot of energy and I'm certain he keeps his mommy on her toes!  He ran along the waterfront walkway, climbed embankments, and hurried away from us when we tried to chase him down.  Eventually we made it to the train station where we took a ride over to Odaiba on an unmanned train--one of Takuto's favorite things to do! 

We were lucky enough to see the sun begin to set over the city and later, we saw the lights of the city come on a little at a time as we enjoyed yakisoba noodles, soup, and dumplings with our Japanese friends.  One of the highlights of the evening was seeing the Rainbow Bridge bathed in light.  I should also add Daniel's highlight--when we said good-bye in the subway station, little Takuto walked up and gave Daniel a great big hug then waved bye bye to us.  I hope we see them again soon!  Here are the photos I took at the conclusion of our evening.

We barely had enough energy to stop at Starbucks to refuel with blended beverages and walk back to our hotel.  I'm pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and didn't wake up for a good 8 hours or more.  Overall, our first full day in Tokyo was incredible and we are so thankful that Chihiro, and her helper Takuto, were willing to show us around!!