Tokyo

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After the initial worry about our flight being overbooked, it turned out that it wasn't problem. Having been contacted twice by the airline to change to an earlier or later flight, I stuck to my guns and stayed with the same flight. There were about 150 Japanese school children returning to Japan on the flight, and we thought it was going to be very loud. As it turns out, they were all really well behaved and most of them just went to sleep after dinner

Our arrival into Tokyo was pretty much on time, and the decision to take the Limousine bus was great. I chose a hotel that the bus dropped us at without having to take a train and then walk and get lost. Seriously, it was soooo easy! When the bus left each stop, the personnel working at the bus stop bowed as the bus drove out…. It was our first experience of watching the Japanese bow.

After we left our bags at the hotel, we headed out to Tokyo Tower. We bought a Pasmo pass which was so convenient and easy to use, I'd recommend it to anyone that is doing any travel in Tokyo to get one. The vending machine has an English option, so it couldn't be easier!

Shinjuku Station is an amazing place. There are 2 Toei lines, one metro line and 5 JR lines, plus many department stores and other shops! It is very easy to get lost, but thankfully the signage is in English as well as Japanese, and the lines are all colour-coded. If you are game to try it out, it's quite easy really.

We took the Toei Odeo line to Akabanebashi station from Shinjuku, which took about 15 minutes. It was really easy, as we didn't have to change. The walk up to Tokyo tower was quite pretty, and we had our lunch in a garden at the base of the tower. I had picked up a tuna salad at a little convenience store on the way to the station, and realised that the meal was served with chopsticks. I'm glad I was taught when I was younger how to use them, as I was able to pick up the corn without spilling it!

Tokyo tower is modelled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, however, it is 13m taller! It is seemingly the worlds tallest self-supporting tower. We took the lift to the intermediate floor and the views were spectacular. Unfortunately, it was too hazy to see Mt Fuji, but we got to see most of the Tokyo area. We took the second lift up to the very top for an additional fee, and it was well worth it. At the base of the tower was a rock garden with statues of dogs, and several of them reminded me of my dog at home.

When we were up the tower we looked down to Zojoji Temple, so that is where we headed next. It is a beautiful temple, and well worth the visit, and only a 10 minute walk along a beautiful street lined with trees that were turning colour in the Autumn. The entrance gate to the temple was built in 1605, and is an amazing piece of architecture, and the temple itself was built in 1393 and moved to this location in 1598. It is made from wood, and is spectacularly designed. In the gardens are lots of Jizo dolls, which we worked out are probably prayer dolls for those that have passed on.

We caught the metro from Daimon to Asakusa, where we had the best sushi freshly made in front of us in a little sushi house. They even provided us with our own English menu! We just pointed to the photos and used our fingers to let them know how many. There were two men making the sushi, and one lady who was the waitress. There were only about 10 seats in the little place, but the people were friendly. Whenever someone walked into the shop, the staff would call out to them, I guess welcoming them. When people left, they did the same thing! I love wasabi on my sushi, but I had been warned that Japanese wasabi is much hotter and spicier than Australian Wasabi, and the warnings were correct! It was nice and fresh though, so it was great.

After our afternoon snack, we headed to the Kaminarion (Kaminari Gate) and along Nakamise street. Kaminarion was built about 1000 years ago, and has a massive lantern hanging from the centre. Nakamise street is something else…. It is about 250m long, lined with markets and is incredibly busy! I had my first sighting of a lady in her Kimono, and saw some really wonderful things in the little shops.

At the end of the street is the Sensoji Temple, which is Tokyo's oldest temple. It was built in 628 and was refurbished just this year. It is incredibly busy. There is also the Asakusa shrine and a 5-storied pagoda in the grounds. The smell of incense was overwhelming but really gave the air a fragrant smell.

By this stage our feet were sore and we were tired….. We decided to skip the cruise down the river and head back to the hotel. To get back to Asakusa station, we wandered down the river and then took the Tokyo metro Marunouchi Line back to Shinjuku. Unfortunately this took us to a different part of the station from where we were in the morning, and we kind of got a little lost. We ended up out on the street and were amazed by all the flashing lights. I knew it would be bright from the photos I'd seen, but this was different!

Eventually we found our hotel (with the help of a very friendly local), and checked in. We got a room upgrade because they didn't have any twin rooms on the women's floor, so we got a triple. I was expecting a room that was tiny, but this was quite large really. I've stayed in smaller rooms in Sydney.

I slept like a log that night and woke up about 6am.

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