If you're ever in Tokyo with a free day, I highly recommend the "Dynamic Tokyo" Bus Tour in English. This was such an awesome tour, and Jess & I learned so much cool stuff about Japan and its capital city!
First, we started off at the Tokyo Tower. You can see our yellow bus and many of the 333 koi carp banners in celebration of Boy's Day.
Here is our helpful tour guide, Mina, and her assistant on the end of the stick, Picichu (from Pokemon).
Kerri inside Tokyo Tower.
Here is Roppongi Hills shopping on the right and condominiums on the left. Thank goodness the weather is much clearer today!!
View of the city
View from the bottom of the tower. Total height is 333 meters. We did not go all of the way up. We went to the observatory in the middle of the tower. It is the large square deck protruding from the tower.
Just another reason why Tokyo Tower is so cool... they were playing non-stop Michael Jackson inside and out. It is a special MJ Lifetime Collection radio station!!
I learned what the Japanese flag means! The red circle represents the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan got its nickname because it is the eastern most Asian country, so everyone else says the sun rises from Japan!!
Second, we went to Happo-en Garden and participated in a tea ceremony. Here is our kimono-clad tea master serving sugar treats. We should eat the sugar treat first in order to get your mouth prepared for the bitter taste of the green powder tea.
Our tea master is preparing one cup of tea. Each step is very precise, and it takes decades of training to become a tea master. Generally no photos are permitted at tea ceremonies, but it was allowed this time since we were special guests.
The freshly made cup of tea went to one special guest which turned out to be... Jess! She was sitting in the guest of honor spot!!
Then our tea master brought out additional cups of tea from the back, so we could all enjoy a cup.
Kerri shows off a miniature bonsai tree. The sign says this tiny tree is over 500 years old!
As we walked around the Happo-en Garden, we looked for the five elements that are present in every Japanese Garden:
1. Pond
2. Bridge
3. Stone Lantern
4. Stones
5. Waterfall
This awesome structure is a Christian cathedral (I would have never guessed that!) and from the aerial view it is the shape of a cross!
We passed through another garden (Chisanzo) on the way to lunch, and this one had all 5 required features of a Japanese garden and a beautiful pagoda.
Kerri and Jess enjoy their ishi-yaki lunch. Ishi-yaki literally means "lava stone". Our lunch was cooked on the lava stone in front of us, and the lava came from Mt. Fuji!
Fourth stop on the tour was the Imperial Palace, and I learned that the streets of Tokyo were all designed in a spiderweb pattern toward the palace in order to confuse any attackers and slow down enemies coming in to ambush. That makes complete sense now! And it's a totally effective technique! I get turned around, lost, and confused all of the time in Tokyo, and at least I know I'm not a moron. It's supposed to do that! Now I really appreciate NYC, with its numbered blocks and straight streets!!
The fifth item on the bus tour was the Sumida River Boat Cruise.
Here is a picture of the man-made entertainment island, Odaiba.
Rainbow Bridge which connects Odaiba to Tokyo mainland.
One of many cool bridges we went under on the way to Asakusa.
Jess enjoys her "Ice Cream Burger" while shopping on Nakamise Street.
I knew it was a totally safe snack... it's ice cream smashed between 2 thin rice cakes... yummy! I even got sakura (cherry blossom) flavored ice cream!
Also on Nakamise Street, people were picking out their new pets: goldfish or mini turtles.
Many types of masks and paper lanterns for sale.
Kerri demonstrates how to easily use an Asian toilet!
After the bus tour we had a cool time at the IceBar Tokyo... details to come tomorrow :)
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