Tokyo II

First thing on our list is beautiful Shinjuku Gyo-en park .

This is very big park, with different gardens and first park ever that we paid to get in to.

This was love at the first sight.

Very popular among tourists and locals, I saw school kids and families relaxing and playing.

What we search for is traditional Japanese garden, mom and dad promised that I will love it.

I had to rest few times as we walked a lot to find our Japanese garden. This park also has a French formal garden, an English landscape garden, a maple hill, an azalea hill, several ponds, and a Taiwan Pavilion.

It must be really beautiful in the spring when cherry blossoms,  even now is probably the most beautiful park I’ve been to.

It is  very hot today. And we still have to find our garden.

We might be close to it now.

Yes…

We are there!

Wow, I love the shape of trees!

They are all beautiful.

Exploring this part of park was exciting.

We found this on our way – traditional tea house, called Rakuutei.

This looks mesmerizing.

An with all this green i feel like a fairy.

Very tired fairy, searching for some shade.

This feels good.

Next stop is Yoyogi park, great place for jogging, picnicking and other outdoor activities.

Today we won’t explore entire park because I am already tired, so we gonna search for the shrine that must be somewhere around here.

And yes! Torii gate means that we are entering Meiji Shrine , one of Japan’s most popular shrines.

There is a wall of sake barrels lines the approach to the shrine.

They are called kazaridaru in Japanese and are a decorative display. Sake traditionally has been a connection between the gods and people in Japan.

And this is my first time to see Japanese traditional wedding ceremony.

Visitors here can take part in typical Shinto activities here, such as making offerings at the main hall, buying charms and amulets…

…or writing out one’s wish on an ema.

On our way back to hotel we met Pepper, the world’s first social humanoid robot. How exciting!  My brother explained me that next year for Olympic games Pepper is gonna help tourists answering their questions and showing  them directions.

This was strange. I think I had crush on Pepper.  <3

Same night we went to Asakusa, the traditional downtown area of Tokyo. Here an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades survived.

We are hungry, so we are searching for some typical and authentic food around.

This street looks promising.

It is not that common to have street food in Japan, and this is first time we see street like this here.

And great thing that there are mostly local people eating here, and that means that we are in the right place.

So, we are waiting for the table here. As no one speaks English here it is good to have my brother with us.

Finally, after more than 30 minutes we got table. And wi-fi.

Now, about the food. We ordered Okonomiyaki – means ‘grilled as you like it’. Is a Japanese pancake, made with flour, eggs, shredded cabbage, meat… Should look like this.

Problem is that they left us to do it by ourself. And we made this. I didn’t eat it.

After this strange dinner we went to visit Sensō-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple and Tokyo’s oldest temple.

Mom choose to do it in the evening because it gets really busy during day.

It is really special place!

Entrance is amazing!

Inside we made some wishes. When answer is good, you keep it with you, when it is not so good, you need to leave it here like my brother did, so they burn it after.

Leaving it I wished to come back again.

On the way to hotel we adopted Japanese style…

Sleeping in every train.

Next day we are going to the Maxell Aquarium.

Not the biggest one in Tokyo but it is gonna be fine.

We came for the dolphin show. Mom doesn’t approve animals shows, but I wanted to see one.

Best thing around was this room with jelly fishes.

At the way out we felt sorry for this little guy performing outside aquarium.

Just before getting to hotel we remembered to take photo with Hachikō dog. You must know his story!

After all this walk rest is needed.

Ginza is next stop, the city’s top shopping districts.

On weekends, main drag Chuo Dori becomes a pedestrian promenade.

This place is full of restaurants so we had some real Japanese food.

Searching for the place to sit and relax a bit, we found this amazing rooftop.

Located on the top of Ginza Six shopping complex, this was all we needed!

Last important place to see is Tsukiji Outer Market.

The inner section of Tsukiji Market, famous for fish auctions, moved to other place, and anyway mom and dad thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it, as it is full of big dead bloody tunas.

This part is famous for food and fresh sushi and it is full of tourists.

It was interesting to see all this strange food here.

And there it is. It doesn’t look nice at all.

Mom attended this matcha tea preparation, as she loves it.

And I had some fruits, this food here is not for me.

Busy place with many hungry people.

Hmmm, no.

Still no.

This yes.

So, if yesterday we spent hole day on market, doing things that I didn’t like at all, today is my day.

I don’t mind a cue at all, because it is…

Disneyland day!

I can’t tell you how much I liked it, even though my parents didn’t so much…

…too many people, to much time waiting for rides, but it was nice to see all these happy faces.

I had fun at the end and that is most important.

And that was our last night in this big and shiny city. I really hope we will get back soon.