Mrs. de Leon's Great Adventure: Sightseeing in Tokyo

After waking up very early on Sunday, I got ready and headed out to see if I could catch a seat on the Hato Bus for the Tokyo Morning Tour. I am still having a little difficulty trying to figure out the best entry point to the subway, but I'm giving it my best. After finding the terminal office for the bus tour, they informed me that there were 5 seats left and that I was able to get on. Yippee! The majority of the bus were Americans and it was great to hear about where everyone was from. Our first stop on the tour was Tokyo Tower. It's the sister tower to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but taller. I am afraid of heights and surely didn't expect to go up to the top of the observatory deck in a glass elevator. I guess this is what Charlie, his Grandpa, and Willy Wonka must have felt like. I wish I was as excited as they were, but instead, I faced the front and tried not to look down. Once at the top, it was wonderful to see all of Tokyo. I walked around, took some pictures and before I knew it, it was time to leave.

The next stop took us to the Imperial Palace grounds. There's only two times out of the year where the inside is open to the public, December 23rd for the Emperor's birthday, and January 2nd to mark the new year. The grounds of the palace are meticulously kept and it's amazing to think of how long the castle has been there. There is a moat that surrounds the palace grounds for protection.

Our last and final stop was Senso-ji Temple.

Tokyo is different in many ways, however it is even more so apparent when you visit an ancient landmark such as Senso-ji. There are all these huge skyscrapers everywhere and then all of a sudden, you can turn the corner and be in a sacred place of worship. Our tour guide explained proper temple behavior and also showed us how to pull a fortune from a box. I have those pictures on my camera, so I'll try to upload them when I get a chance. There is a market right outside the temple and it's stall after stall of food and goodies. I decided to try some apple-sweet potato pastry and it was pretty good.

We concluded our tour by stopping at Akihabara, which is also known as Electric Town, but I decided not to stop there.

I got off with everyone else at the Tokyo Station and decided to head to Harajuku. Sundays are a big deal in Harajuku.

A lot of teenagers walk through Takeshita-Dori (street) in Harajuku fashion, which is whey they're called Harajuku Girls. It reminds me of the Gwen Stefani song, Harajuku Girls (and now I know why). I walked around Harajuku, stopped for lunch, and then walked through Shibuya, which is a popular shopping area.

I ended up finding Kiddy Land, which is a four story toy store, and spent an hour inside. It was filled with all sorts of toys and fun stuff - definitely a child's dream!

This whole wall and area of one of the floors was filled with Totoro toys. Manon, this picture is for you!

After an afternoon on my feet, I decided it was time to eat an early dinner so that I could go back to my hotel room to pack for the 4 days I won't be in Tokyo and to get some much needed sleep. I had read about a sushi restaurant named Numazukou, which is sushi served on a conveyer belt.

After following the directions online, I found it! I waited for about 15 minutes and then was directed to sit down at the counter. It was interesting to see all the different types of sushi. My first choice was tuna and it was SO fresh! I could tell a difference immediately. And Jack, if you're reading this, I have to say that I think your sensitive pallette would have approved. I almost tried a raw white sardine sushi, but couldn't quite muster up the courage to do so. I was afraid to insult the chef if for some reason I didnt like it. It certainly looked interesting though! I ended up with 6 plates (2 pieces on each plate) before calling it a night.

I've taken so many pictures on my camera, however I haven't been able to upload them yet. The pictures I'm posting now are from my phone. Hopefully I can find a way to upload my camera pictures into an album so you can see them all. I can't believe that I didn't take any pictures from the Imperial Palace grounds on my phone. Oops!

Before I wrap up this post, here are some random pictures I took while walking around yesterday:

Billy Joel was playing on the jumbo tv outside of my hotel. Everyone loves Billy Joel

This is a pic of the subway car I was on headed to catch the Tokyo Morning Tour.

Green tea in a bottle. I've actually had this once before (in Hawaii) and in Japan, it's the drink of choice. It's actually pretty good, however I wish it was sweeter. :)

This is a publice telephone in Japan. Just like in the USA, nobody seems to use them anymore.

My lunch in Harajuku. I stopped at an Udon restaurant and once again, it was delicious! I'm not sure why, but I've gravitated towards their soups here. Yum!