Typical sights from Tokyo

2/3/08
Here are some typical sights from Japan:Night lights of Tokyo. Street musicians. Mt. Fuji from bullet train. Bullet train leaving station. The ubiquitous pachinko parlor

Snow in Tokyo

2/3/08
Today we woke up to snow flakes falling over Tokyo. Luckily we brought along extra socks, gloves, and umbrellas, so the cold weather didn't keep us from following our sightseeing plan for the day. We had hoped to see some of the crazy Harajuku girls hanging out at the park, but I guess the very cold temps kept them inside. We did catch a glimpse of two though. They look like anime characters! We then walked through a lovely park to get to Meiji Shrine. It was so beautiful with all the snow falling around and collecting on the roofs and trees. And it was the first shrine we've been to where they don't charge an entry fee! There was even a wedding going on, so I caught a shot of the bride being escorted into the shrine (everybody was shooting pitures of her). After walking around in the snow and getting cold, we hoped on the train (there is a JR train that goes to pretty much all the sightseeing places, so we don't have to pay for tickets since we can just show our pass) and got off in Ginza, the Beverly Hills-like shopping district of Tokyo. We didn't have shopping in mind though - trying to travel light, you know, but we did find the Apple Ginza store. That was amazing. It's a cube with five floors, four of which visitors have access to. They have staff available who can help you out in 10 different languages. Anyway, Zach had fun looking at everything, especially the new MacBook Air, and I had fun warming up a bit. Now we're warming up some more in our spacious hotel room before we head back out into the cold to meet up with a friend in Ginza for dinner. Zach is actually doing some math homework while slurping noodle soup - which he just spilled all over the carpet. Shit! Gotta go.

Tokyo Accommodations

2/2/08
Thought I'd give you a look at our lovely accommodations in Tokyo. We booked our hotel, which is a five minute walk from Ueno Station, for a mere 107 dollars per night. That includes breakfast though. Attached are some photos of the place. the outside of the building is quite presentable and we really like how they tried to match the interior wall color to the outside color. I've never been in a hotel with cranberry red/pink corridor walls before! Our room is very spacious, as you can see; we do have to be careful at night, though, not to stumble over our bags on the way to the toilet. And the view out our window is oh so Tokyo! The bathroom is a plastic modular unit which makes it very easy for the maids to clean: they just hose it down. Zach's favorite part is the breakfast and the desk with free internet hook up. So that's what $107 a day gets you in Tokyo!It's snowing today (Sunday), so we're going to go out to Meiji Shrine and see if we can find some of those crazy dressed up Harajuku girls. Until next time, Linnea