11.11.2010

A little more Japan

We started our Saturday morning in Shinjuku and made our way to the Imperial Palace. 

 The walk leading up to the Imperial Palace is beautiful. This was our first glimpse of the leaves changing, so I just couldn't get enough of. There is no leaf changing in Hong Kong. (Our trees have been replaced with skyscrapers.) 




 The Palace is home to Japan's royal family. The Palace was destroyed during WWII, but was re-built afterwards in the original style. 
 I wanted to run through this field of trees. 
 Standing on the grass was forbidden. 
 This seems to be somewhat typical in Asia. I'm not a fan of this rule. 





We hopped back on the subway and made our way to Ginza. 
 Michael wasn't feeling so hot, we made a pit-stop at the Pharmacy. The pharmacist gave him some yummy powder that seemed to do the trick. The man was super nice, but spoke no English, so MP pointed out his symptoms on a nice chart. Brillant. 
 Ginza is an up-scale area of Tokyo. It has loads of department stores, small boutiques, and coffee houses. 
Shopping was amazing in Tokyo. What wasn't amazing was the exchange rate. 
 Therefore, very little shopping was done by the Phipps family. 
We did see a protest. It was free of charge. 
 We ended our day in Shibuya-ku. 
 And stopped for a drink after dinner. These drink machines are everywhere in Tokyo. The machines will spit out hot and cold drinks. MP's choice was a coffee. Literally, there are drink machines on every corner. 

 *******
It's Sunday morning, and we're making our way to Shibuya Crossing. 
All traffic stops for pedestrians and they cross at the same time. It's kinda cool. 
 Look at this sweet little Japanese woman beside MP. 





 MP really liked all the drinks. 
 We stopped by Takeshita Street on the way to the Meji Shrine. 
 This is Takeshita Street, and it's literally a playground for teens. The street is sprinkled with arcades, shops, crepe stands, and piercing galleries. 
 The Meji Shrine is one of Tokyo's must-sees. 
 It's set in a huge park and you must walk deep into the trees to get to the Shrine.


 We saw a wedding. 
The family and guests were marching behind the bride and groom. Everyone was silent. Not a peep was made. I don't think they were making their way to the reception. 

When we were exiting the Meji Shrine, we came across a bike rally. 



 This is what a Japanese biker babe looks like. 




 While wandering through Harajuku, we saw some really interesting sights. 
 I must put a stoller for Dudley on my Christmas list! (This is a joke)

 We made our way back to the hotel, just in time to see Mt. Fuji in the background. 
We have an early morning tomorrow. The alarm goes off at 4:30 am. Ahh!
xx,
Lauren

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow! Way to pack in a lot of sightseeing in 2 days, girl! Tokyo looks like a city where you could spend weeks touring around. Glad you got a sneak peek! Especially for the trees. The leaves are gorgeous here, but will probably be gone by Thanksgiving. :-(

xoxo Anne

Amanda said...

I have been tuning in everyday to see if the Japan pics had been posted yet! Imagine my excitement when I cam in this morning and found the blog updated! Awesome- Japan looks very large. I am so glad that you guys had fun- it looks like Michael was a real sport in the photo taking department- one day you are going to look back and ask..hmm, was Lauren there? I was happy to see your head pop up in some of the museum shots- miss seeing that pretty face!

Natasha said...

I love the pictures from the wedding--the little girl's kimono is incredible. And the bride is so serious! Wow. The Japanese can be so serious. Glad you were able to see so much.