I will keep this one brief, if only because I need to get some sleep tonight. I promise more pictures and details for those who can stomach it when we get back to Delhi. But here's a run down of our trip to Tokyo and the excitement of today.
First off... here is the gigantic apples photo I promised. I honestly have never seen an apple even close to this size. 
When we checked out of the Kanto Lodge on base, we hiked about 20 minutes to the Fussa Rail Station where we picked up the first of three trains we needed to take to Tokyo and the New Sanno Hotel. The Japan Railways and the Tokyo Metro system are awesome! It's amazing to me how efficient this system is. You've all seen the reports of people cramming onto the train like sardines? Well, it's for real... it wasn't the entire trip that way, but definitely as we neared Tokyo the trains became more and more crowded. What was amazing to me, however, was that even with the cramming, everyone still stood in line, and no one ever touched you! I was also surprised that one child, maybe 7 years old, boarded the metro by himself, and got off by himself. WOW! Japan is a safe country.
When we finally exited the magnificent metro system almost 2 hours later, we hiked with our bags a few blocks to the New Sanno Hotel, which is a fabulous hotel run by the Navy as a benefit to service members. Highly recommended! We ate a wonderful tempura dinner in their Japanese restaurant, and soaked in the hot tub to relax from the journey. It was a very exciting birthday for Dave.
The next morning we ended up sleeping later than we thought, ate an early lunch and headed out for another metro adventure. 2 trains, several stops and about 45 minutes later we ended up at the Imperial Palace East Gardens. Wow! What a lush and beautiful area. This used to be a castle, a long, long time ago, but now is just walls and mote and beautiful grounds. We were hoping for a glimpse of the Imperial Palace itself, but were disappointed. So we headed over to the other section of the park and were able to catch a very minor glimpse of what appears to be a magnificent building--everything else was off limits. However, as we were walking we heard someone blowing a whistle with a purpose and sought out the source. Much to our surprise and delight, a policeman was beeline-ing several 100 yards to the middle of the park where an elderly Japanese man was relieving himself. The man finished his business, and continued on his way long before the policeman got close. The policeman continued blowing his whistle. The offender, finally turned and then waved the policeman off and continued on his merry way. There are not even close to enough policemen to enforce that law in India, in fact, you'd have to ticket the policemen themselves to change that aspect of Indian culture. We had a good chuckle over that episode.
We then headed back underground to find our way to Shinjuku--the heart and soul of modern Tokyo. This is often referred to as the Times Square of Toyko. There are massive jumbotrons advertising everything under the sun, and neon lights as far as the eye can see. The massive monuments to consumerism is a whole other subject in itself, but we really enjoyed seeing it, and being able to say we were there.
By this time, we were feeling our new, older ages, and decided to head back to the hotel and get some dinner. We were now confident in our metro skills and were able to find our own way back without trouble. It was off to dinner, and another soak in the hot tub, foregoing the suggested massage, due to the INSANE prices Tokyo demands. Yikes!
When we checked out of the Kanto Lodge on base, we hiked about 20 minutes to the Fussa Rail Station where we picked up the first of three trains we needed to take to Tokyo and the New Sanno Hotel. The Japan Railways and the Tokyo Metro system are awesome! It's amazing to me how efficient this system is. You've all seen the reports of people cramming onto the train like sardines? Well, it's for real... it wasn't the entire trip that way, but definitely as we neared Tokyo the trains became more and more crowded. What was amazing to me, however, was that even with the cramming, everyone still stood in line, and no one ever touched you! I was also surprised that one child, maybe 7 years old, boarded the metro by himself, and got off by himself. WOW! Japan is a safe country.When we finally exited the magnificent metro system almost 2 hours later, we hiked with our bags a few blocks to the New Sanno Hotel, which is a fabulous hotel run by the Navy as a benefit to service members. Highly recommended! We ate a wonderful tempura dinner in their Japanese restaurant, and soaked in the hot tub to relax from the journey. It was a very exciting birthday for Dave.The next morning we ended up sleeping later than we thought, ate an early lunch and headed out for another metro adventure. 2 trains, several stops and about 45 minutes later we ended up at the Imperial Palace East Gardens. Wow! What a lush and beautiful area. This used to be a castle, a long, long time ago, but now is just walls and mote and beautiful grounds. We were hoping for a glimpse of the Imperial Palace itself, but were disappointed. So we headed over to the other section of the park and were able to catch a very minor glimpse of what appears to be a magnificent building--everything else was off limits. However, as we were walking we heard someone blowing a whistle with a purpose and sought out the source. Much to our surprise and delight, a policeman was beeline-ing several 100 yards to the middle of the park where an elderly Japanese man was relieving himself. The man finished his business, and continued on his way long before the policeman got close. The policeman continued blowing his whistle. The offender, finally turned and then waved the policeman off and continued on his merry way. There are not even close to enough policemen to enforce that law in India, in fact, you'd have to ticket the policemen themselves to change that aspect of Indian culture. We had a good chuckle over that episode.
We then headed back underground to find our way to Shinjuku--the heart and soul of modern Tokyo. This is often referred to as the Times Square of Toyko. There are massive jumbotrons advertising everything under the sun, and neon lights as far as the eye can see. The massive monuments to consumerism is a whole other subject in itself, but we really enjoyed seeing it, and being able to say we were there. By this time, we were feeling our new, older ages, and decided to head back to the hotel and get some dinner. We were now confident in our metro skills and were able to find our own way back without trouble. It was off to dinner, and another soak in the hot tub, foregoing the suggested massage, due to the INSANE prices Tokyo demands. Yikes!
Imperial Palace
We just finished watching Memiors of a Geisha in our room to continue with the spirit of Japan we've enjoyed today. Tokyo is a fantastic place, and Dave and I have enjoyed many interesting discussions relating to historical significance of Japanese culture and relations with America... should prove even more interesting as we visit Hiroshima on Saturday.
2 comments:
So cool! Looks like you 2 are having a great time.
Times Square...the big apple...What country did you say you were in? Have a great time together!
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