We were met in the lobby after having our sweet potato smoothie by Coco our guide for the day. We headed out first thing to Miiji Shrine. Wrote down my prayer on the wood plaque that will be taken to the Shinto Shrine. We threw a coin into the collection area and bowed 2 times and then clapped very loudly to wake up the Gods and call attention to yourself. I asked for protection of my family and gave thanks for all the world's beautiful creations. We all took turns clapping, and bowing. The forest surrounding the Shrine, where the emperor and empress were buried. They say that during high holidays nearly 3 million people come to the shrine. They come with their children. It is a tradition to bring children to the shrine and bring babies to Shinto shrines and there are also weddings performed there. At Buddhist shrines they do more funerals.
We wandered along the paths and then into the Harrajuku Distrist,...Gwen Stefani sings about the Harrjuku Girls It like full of Cindy Laupers and girls with bobby socks and pink heels and hair, lots of 80s at its best or worst ;) Our guide told us we had to take fashion photos. We went down into a booth where we could take "glamor shots" in a photo booth that distorts the photos to give us perfectly clear complexions and large eyes - hahaha. So fun - full photo shoot. We found a crepe place that looked like it fell from Disney Land. Boys had a crepe and we headed to Nike Town. Sam was dying to try on this super fly blue high tops-$259- tried them on, didn't buy....
We headed off to Tokyo Tower for a great view and reminded me of the time I lost Kendall there years ago! Saw all of Tokyo. Such a huge city!! I swear more high rises than NYC and so spread out.
For lunch, Sam had been dying to go to a conveyor belt sushi bar. Coco took us to a place near the Tsukijii Marketplace. There was a bit of a line and the guy outside was telling us to que up. It felt a Jonny Rockets of Japan. The belt went around and we would pick off plates of different colors that had different kinds of sushi. I stayed pretty conservative and only went for shrimp, unagi and one other sushi that was on a gold plate- meant pricy number ;) At the end they have a wand that they pass over the stack of plates and the plates have a RF ID that count the plates and tally the cost. Fun lunch. Sam loved it too- he ate lots of gold plate sushi:)
We wandered around the back streets and then went to Ginza. Ginza is like being in NYC in the shopping district. The big fancy malls-the Nordstrom and Macy's of Japan, have fancy food courts in the basements. They sell specialty sweets and had a whole floor of different kinds of fancy sweets. Sam and I both got some cracker cookies dipped in chocolate and mine were sprinkled with tasty toppings.
We decided we can see fancy shops anywhere and it really did look like NYC so we asked Coco if she could take us to a high tech center- a place with tons of electronic gadgets- something Sam loves. Coco took us to the Akinahabara area and we went into a 10 story all electronics store called Yodobashi.It was a tech store on STEROIDS. Millions of signs throughout the store....literal circuit overload. We watched 3D TVs and messed with all kinds of different phones. Thankfully we got out of there with nothing but a small headache.
To relax I asked Coco about her favorite Japanese Garden in the city. Different than a normal park, it always has water and bridges and beautiful landscaping. She took us to one that had belonged to a wealthy mercha in the Shogun era. It was a fairly large garden that wasn't crowded and beautifully maintained. There were turtles sunning themselves and tons of huge koi. We strolled and hung out and found a couple beautiful full bloom cherry blossom trees.
After a day filled with a variety of sights and experiences, we went back to the hotel to meet Uncle Al. He had just arrived and the boys went down to the relaxation pool- mens tub downstairs-where Al joined them. We had all been traveling all day and so decided to eat at the Shabu Shabu restaurant off the gardens by the hotel. I had never had Shabu Shabu-which is an oxymoron for what the meat sounds like swirling through the boiling water at the table. We ordered the standard for all four of us. A large copper bowl of boiling water is brought to the table with the largest pile of thinly sliced vegetables- enough for 20 people it seems. Our server puts all of it into the bowl on the table and brings 2 individual bowls of dipping sauces for each person. You wait a minute and then grab out these long strips of vegetables and dip them into sauce and eat. Then he brings a huge plate of thinly sliced meats and you put them into the water and swirl them around and then pull out after about 8 seconds and dip into sauce. Just when you finish off more food than you have eaten in your life he puts noodles into the bowl and then serves up those and then puts rice in! Now we have some hearty soup happening. My, I have never been so full. We switch tables and enjoyed some grapefruit sorbet. Refreshing.
We wandered and then headed back in a taxi to pack up and then catch our 10 a.m. bullet train to Koto. Riding on train now and looking out the window- Mt Fuji!!!! Nate spotted it first. The time when I went with the girls we had no idea we would see it and looked out window and couldn't believe it! It rises up out of a flat landscape- snow covered volcano. Amazing.
We wandered along the paths and then into the Harrajuku Distrist,...Gwen Stefani sings about the Harrjuku Girls It like full of Cindy Laupers and girls with bobby socks and pink heels and hair, lots of 80s at its best or worst ;) Our guide told us we had to take fashion photos. We went down into a booth where we could take "glamor shots" in a photo booth that distorts the photos to give us perfectly clear complexions and large eyes - hahaha. So fun - full photo shoot. We found a crepe place that looked like it fell from Disney Land. Boys had a crepe and we headed to Nike Town. Sam was dying to try on this super fly blue high tops-$259- tried them on, didn't buy....
We headed off to Tokyo Tower for a great view and reminded me of the time I lost Kendall there years ago! Saw all of Tokyo. Such a huge city!! I swear more high rises than NYC and so spread out.
For lunch, Sam had been dying to go to a conveyor belt sushi bar. Coco took us to a place near the Tsukijii Marketplace. There was a bit of a line and the guy outside was telling us to que up. It felt a Jonny Rockets of Japan. The belt went around and we would pick off plates of different colors that had different kinds of sushi. I stayed pretty conservative and only went for shrimp, unagi and one other sushi that was on a gold plate- meant pricy number ;) At the end they have a wand that they pass over the stack of plates and the plates have a RF ID that count the plates and tally the cost. Fun lunch. Sam loved it too- he ate lots of gold plate sushi:)
We wandered around the back streets and then went to Ginza. Ginza is like being in NYC in the shopping district. The big fancy malls-the Nordstrom and Macy's of Japan, have fancy food courts in the basements. They sell specialty sweets and had a whole floor of different kinds of fancy sweets. Sam and I both got some cracker cookies dipped in chocolate and mine were sprinkled with tasty toppings.
We decided we can see fancy shops anywhere and it really did look like NYC so we asked Coco if she could take us to a high tech center- a place with tons of electronic gadgets- something Sam loves. Coco took us to the Akinahabara area and we went into a 10 story all electronics store called Yodobashi.It was a tech store on STEROIDS. Millions of signs throughout the store....literal circuit overload. We watched 3D TVs and messed with all kinds of different phones. Thankfully we got out of there with nothing but a small headache.
To relax I asked Coco about her favorite Japanese Garden in the city. Different than a normal park, it always has water and bridges and beautiful landscaping. She took us to one that had belonged to a wealthy mercha in the Shogun era. It was a fairly large garden that wasn't crowded and beautifully maintained. There were turtles sunning themselves and tons of huge koi. We strolled and hung out and found a couple beautiful full bloom cherry blossom trees.
After a day filled with a variety of sights and experiences, we went back to the hotel to meet Uncle Al. He had just arrived and the boys went down to the relaxation pool- mens tub downstairs-where Al joined them. We had all been traveling all day and so decided to eat at the Shabu Shabu restaurant off the gardens by the hotel. I had never had Shabu Shabu-which is an oxymoron for what the meat sounds like swirling through the boiling water at the table. We ordered the standard for all four of us. A large copper bowl of boiling water is brought to the table with the largest pile of thinly sliced vegetables- enough for 20 people it seems. Our server puts all of it into the bowl on the table and brings 2 individual bowls of dipping sauces for each person. You wait a minute and then grab out these long strips of vegetables and dip them into sauce and eat. Then he brings a huge plate of thinly sliced meats and you put them into the water and swirl them around and then pull out after about 8 seconds and dip into sauce. Just when you finish off more food than you have eaten in your life he puts noodles into the bowl and then serves up those and then puts rice in! Now we have some hearty soup happening. My, I have never been so full. We switch tables and enjoyed some grapefruit sorbet. Refreshing.
We wandered and then headed back in a taxi to pack up and then catch our 10 a.m. bullet train to Koto. Riding on train now and looking out the window- Mt Fuji!!!! Nate spotted it first. The time when I went with the girls we had no idea we would see it and looked out window and couldn't believe it! It rises up out of a flat landscape- snow covered volcano. Amazing.
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