Sayonara

On our last night we were keen to have a special meal as we had loved all the food we had eaten in Japan. We went to 9th floor in the Ikebukuro Station where we had eaten before and knew there were many restaurants. Penny had very high standards and wouldn't let us stop until we had reached the 13th floor where we found a buffet for 1600 yen (about $20) each. We had wanted to try a buffet but had only seen very expensive ones. This was delicious. Our neighbours at the table were so friendly and could both speak some English. There was even an icecream show! All in all a wonderful experience.

Some of the main course offerings and Dessert!

We also had a lovely view and beautiful sunset.

At Haneda Airport.

The end of a wonderful holiday. Japan is a great place to visit. Penny's small amount of Japanese was very helpful. The culture is very different and interesting. There is a huge variety of delicious and interesting food. The people are so helpful and friendly. The scenery is lovely. The weather was good but very hot - 27 degrees celsius overnight and 34 to 38 in the daytime and very humid. Next time I'd like to visit in the Spring or Autumn as the gardens would be especially lovely then. Sayonara!

Traversing Tokyo

Over several days we visited many areas of Tokyo.

In Shibuja we were amazed at the number of people and the crazy shops and fashions we saw in Takeshita Street. In contrast to Takeshita St but only on the otherside of the railway station is Yoyogi Park which is next to the Meiji Shrine.

This is the entrance to Meiji Shrine which honours Emperor Meiji who led Japan through political, social, and industrial revolution in the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century to change it from an isolated, feudal country to one of  the world powers.

We visited the Origami Centre. It is amazing what can be made out of paper. 

There are many huge Anime shops. It is very popular in Japan.

Penny chosing her lunch and then buying a ticket for her choice which you take

 into the shop to get your food.

We hired bikes for 200 yen and rode all round Tokyo.

The Tokyo Skytree. The tallest tower in the world.

We visited the Sumo Stadium at Ryogoku and the little museum there.

Traffic in Ryogoku.

Near the Imperial Palace.

Riding in Tokyo.

It was so hot the Baskin and Robbins icecreams were very welcome.

The Tokyo Metro Map and ticket machines.

A close up of the map and ticket machines.

Some of the millions of vending machines we saw in Japan.

The night view from the Metropolitan Building.

Honey Toast - literally half a loaf of bread warmed with honey and maple syrup in the middle. Delicious!

Snack shopping in Ikebukuro after midnight.

Visiting Tsukiji Fish Market. It is the largest seafood market in the world. Remarkably didn't have a fish smell. It was massive with a huge range of fish and other seafood.

Buying more food tickets.

At a 100 yen shop in Ikebukuro.

Where is Mt Fuji?

The likelihood of seeing Mt Fuji in July is 3 days out of the whole month. So our chances of seeing it were not high. Neverless we set off on the train hopeful as it was a bright sunny day. It was an interesting trip starting with a train to Hakone for 1 and a half hours. Amazingly Penny was sitting next to a Canadian so had  nice chat on the way up. Next we had to change to a bus, then boat, then several cable cars, then cog train and finally back on the train to Tokyo. As we travelled closer to Mt Fuji the mist and fog appeared so sadly we didn't see Mt Fuji.

We went on a pirate ship!

Mt Fuji is behind Penny.

Do you like our hats?

This is what we should have seen.

We ended the day with a Teppanyaki meal which is where the food is cooked on an iron plate while you watch. Pen had her favourite yakisoba. 

People, People, People Everywhere

We have been in Toyko 3 days and our overwhelming impression is the number of people everywhere especially in the railway stations. We have to regularly travel to Shinjuku station which is the busiest station in the world with 2 million people passing through it each day! And we believe it! Despite this people stand in orderly queues and are still very polite and helpful. A fellow jumped off his train to help us.

Last night we joined with thousands to go to a festival to see fireworks over the Sumida River. We were squeezed onto the train by railway staff pushing people in. We couldn't move an inch in the train! It turned out to be an amazing experience in crowd organisation. As police moved the crowd forward in sections to see the fireworks over the river. As we could not understand what the police were saying over their megaphones we didn't realise this at first so didn't get into the river of people. This actually worked out to our advantage as we were on the bridge when the finale fireworks went off.

Outside Shinjuku Station

Inside the station

Coming into the station

On the train

Street near our hotel in Ikebukuro

View from Government Metropolitan Offices

Shinjuku

The three of us at the fireworks

The fireworks

Fireworks over Komagata Bridge

People at the Fireworks

After the fireworks with the menus. Handy they had an English menu.

All 3 of us had this traditional Japanese dish which was delicious. We were very hungry as we didn't get to eat till 10pm. Pork, tofu, potato, snow peas, carrot and a few unknown things.

 Outside the restaurant.

Bilingual Buzz

For those of you who have watched Toy Story 3 you will know that Buzz Lightyear can speak Spanish. Well today we found out that Buzz can also speak Japanese! We went to Tokyo Disney for the day and had a fabulous time! We were joined by half of Japan and so had many long waits. But it was a really fun experience to go on all the rides and see the characters singing and speaking Japanese! They had the most amazing parades. One was in the afternoon with great Disney floats and dancing characters. The other was at night and had extremely impressive lit up floats. The Japanese people are so organised and respectful and made sure that everyone was sitting down during the whole parade so that everyone could see.

It was very hot! So we enjoyed many Mickey shaped icecreams!

Dad was wiped out from the Space Mountain ride and needed to hold onto Mum for support!

We enjoyed the 'It's a Small World' ride with the singing in different languages!

A slightly more tame rollercoaster for the parents! (Aimed at little kids!)

Outside Minnie's house

Splash Mountain! Aaaaaaah, that's a big drop!

The Tokyo Disney castle

The elaborate afternoon parade. Tigger was so cool - he jumped from his perch there onto a trampoline below still holding on to the tree by his tail!

The incredible night time lights parade! The Cheshire Cat with Alice riding on top.

 The genie changed colours and characters - here he is as Tigger!

We got fastpasses for Splash Mountain and went on it at the end of the day. It was nice to get splashed on Splash Mountain to cool down from the hot day.