Day 5
With yesterday having been my favorite day so far, I had high hopes for the day's events. What I didn't have high hopes for was the weather improving. The typhoon had either blown through, was here, or was still coming. All I know is it was raining and windy.
The day started with a morning tour, just like in Kyoto. Our first stop was the Tokyo tower. The tower is orange and was built to resemble the Eifell tower. They had an aquarium and a wax museum and I'm sure they had a restaurant in there somewhere. They shuttled us up 40 or 50 floors and led us to the windows to view mostly clouds and rain. We saw some interesting stuff (lots of cemeteries) but I was disappointed with the weather and how far we actually got up the tower (only about half way). There was, however, the promise of a floor that was see-through. But even this (too small, way too many safety precautions blocking the view, and the incessant need for random children to jump up and down on) couldn't save the day. Time to move on.
The next stop was the Imperial Palace. Well, kind of. You see, people aren't allowed inside the gates except for twice a year. And with the weather being what it was we just drove through the grounds. We would end up driving through the grounds several more times this day. Not much to say really.
Next was the Asakusa temple and shopping arcade. This place was very cool. In Kyoto, the temples were usually empty but here, there was a lot of people. Sure, it's not as relaxing but for some reason, I liked it better crowded. Got some great photos here and were finally able to take some inside. The shopping center that lead up to the temple was a lot of fun. Many tiny little shops selling lots of Japanese souvenirs and tasty food stuffs. My dad and I got some little doughnut things that had a delicious center. I also found my coolest buy in Japan: a t-shirt that has a one-foot high holographic patch portraying some anime character. Alas, the shirt is in english but there are some fun translation errors.
Last on the list was, gasp, an opportunity to shop! This time it was a pearl factory. The how-to-make a pearl demonstration was actually quite fascinating. There are many steps and somehow involve a shellfish from the Mississippi river. In the end, it turned out to be 30 minutes of "what should I do?" before we got back on the bus and headed for our hotel.
We were dropped off and headed for Shinagawa station. Along the way, we stopped off for lunch in a food court. This was neat. You bought your meal from a vending machine and brought the receipt to a worker. He then gave you a pager to call you when your food was ready. I had more udon. Oh, and I believe it had quit raining for the moment.
This afternoon was dedicated to the crazy scene that is Shibuya. I'm not sure if this is a neighborhood, street, or what but it is absolutely mental (in a good way, I promise.) The first thing you see when you get off the train is a humongous train station (go figure). We made our way to the Hachiko (don't really know the correct spelling) exit and came out into a zoo. Standing before us was Shibya crossing which I've been told is the world's busiest crosswalk. And the buildings! So many tvs and billboards. It was awesome. We walked for awhile and found a neat store called Tokyo Hands. It's kind of like an urban hardware store. They had the coolest clocks! If you are ever in Tokyo Hands, buy a clock! I promise you'll love it more when you bring it home. I wasn't smart enough to follow this advice. Again, if you are ever in Tokyo Hands, buy a clock and please, please, please buy one for me, too! :-) (The vibrating alarm clock was fun for all.) And starring in the electronics section: tube amps!
After Tokyo hands, my dad spotted a music store. I believe it was called Beam but it may just have been in a building called Beam. I was a little hesitant to go (no shop on vacation!) but went anyway. This is why father knows best. The place was literally crammed with cool instruments. Any kind of weird thing you may have wanted they had. Organs, Rhodes, electronic accordians, trumpets, 10-string basses. It was cool. And unlike in the states, people leave you alone to check things out. Very nice.
With our feet getting weary, we headed back to Shibuya crossing. We took some photos to try and capture the amount of people there but I don't think the moment could truly be put to photograph. We even went up to the starbucks (the fastest one I have ever been in. Less than a minute!) and took some pics out their window. Then it was off to get my picture taken with Hachiko and back on the train. Please enjoy (if you look at the top of the crossing pics you can get a little idea of how crammed people are.)
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