We stayed in an area called Akasaka. Its the equivalent of Rockerfeller Center in NYC. There were tons of stores, a big xmas tree and even a skating rink.
 |
| Tokyo Tower |
 |
| Observatory View |
Unfortunately, the tower's height is not enough to support digital broadcasting. Therefore, Tokyo Sky Tower will take over sometime in 2012. Yes, its taller.
 |
| Sky Tower |
Afterwards we strolled through the Imperial Palace Plaza where the emperor and empress currently live. The plaza is a little less than 3 miles long and is made up of several buildings including the main palace, museums, offices and Edo Castle.
 |
| Edo Castle |
Edo Castle was built in 1947 and is where the shogun lived. It also served as the military capital during the Edo period.
Lastly, we headed to Asakusa to see Tokyo's oldest and most famous Buddist temple, Asakusa Kannon Temple followed by some shopping in Nakamise Shopping Arcade. Below are pictures of the shopping area and temple.
 |
| Nakamise Shopping Arcade |
 |
Asakusa Kannon Temple (Entrance)
During a child's life, parents bring them to temples to pray for their well being and a healthy life growing up. They take children as babies, 3 year olds and 6 (or 7) year olds. They dress them up in what they call "costume". Below is a picture of a 3 year old and her mother and baby sister.
Below is a picture I was able to quickly take. Its a fan shop that I was amazed with. They had to many different kinds - very fancy but expensive as hell! I got yelled at (in Japanese of course) because no pictures were allowed.
|
Everywhere we walked, all you smelled and saw were vendors selling goodies. We decided on some ICE CREAM! They had so many flavors to pick from. I chose the traditional Japanese soy bean and vanilla one. It was delicious!
 |
| Soy Bean & Vanilla Ice Cream |
Later that night we decided to unwind with some cold sake and 7 Eleven precooked food. My mother wasn't a big fan of the sake so she decided on some beer instead (which we conveniently purchased from the vending machine at our hotel). Oh well, more sake for me!
 |
| Precooked Chicken & Rice |
 |
| Sake Time |
Special thanks to our Tokyo tour guide Tomiko (not Tomato as she would say) for showing us around. She was great!
0 comments:
Post a Comment