Bus Tour in Tokyo

On Thursday my parents and I took the shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo and went on an English-speaking bus tour of the city.

The toughest part was just finding the exit in Tokyo Station!  The ticket wicket kept beeping at us, and there was lots of construction, so I was confused about where to go.  Finally, we made it outside and here I am in the taxi talking to the driver.

See how fancy taxis are in Japan... The seats are all covered in white doilies, and each one is very clean and equipped with a GPS.  The GPS is so that you can provide a phone number of your destination to the driver and directions will pop up.  Streets are often unlabelled and even more curious, occassionally unnamed in Japan!  Better bring a Japanese map with you unless it's a super common place!

We made it to the bus station, and here is our tour guide, Mori-san.  Mom had problems understanding his English, and it was like he ran out of things to say because he repeated everything 3 times so I kinda wanted to punch him.  But a guided tour bus is still better than Kerri, Vance, and Pam wandering around Tokyo on our own and arguing about which direction to head in...

Dad and Mom on the tour bus.

First stop was the World Trade Center Observatory: Seaside Top on the 40th Floor.  Here is a view of Tokyo Bay.

A park whose name I do not know.

Tokyo Tower and Zjyoji Temple right in front of it.

All I could think was: "I get my lunch... out of a VAN... down by the RIVER!!"  LOL.  So classy and the van was so tiny, about a third of the size of Dad's van back home!

Mom and Kerri in front of the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace.  This is the entrance to the emperor's house, and is only open to the public two days per year.  (Jan 2nd and the emperor's birthday Dec 23rd; both are also national holidays.)

Dad and the infamous "Poo Building".  We thought it was quite appropriate, and he must have too. 

Don't you love his peace sign :)

The skinny building on the left is the still-under-construction Tokyo Sky Tree.  Planned to be complete in Decemeber 2011.  When completed, it will surpass the Tokyo Tower and be the highest structure in Tokyo.

The original tour included a boat ride on the Sumida River, but it was too busy, so we went sakura (cherry blossom) viewing in the Sumida Park instead.

Dad and Mom stand by the giant red lantern at Asakusa.

Shopping on the busy Nakamise Street, which is the main approach to Senso-ji Temple.

Beautiful spring weather!

The Senso-ji Temple is being renovated, so it was completed covered up!

My parents in front of the 5-story pagoda. 

I think my peace sign addiction is starting to rub off on them!!

Washing up to go into the temple.

Breathing in the incense with healing powers.  (Dad needs a lot of healing!)

Kabuki-za Theater in Ginza built in 1603. 

The pic just doesn't do it justice!  It was so detailed and awesome and over 400 years old!

Kerri & Mom in front of the Hachiko statue outside of Shibuya Station. 

(I recommend the recent Richard Gere movie Hachi: A Dog's Tale if you are unfamiliar with the story.  It's about a dog who follows his master to the train station every day and then waits outside for him.  One day the master dies, never returning to the train station, but Hachiko is devoted and goes there every day and waits for him anyway.)

Shibuya Crossing: the busiest intersection in the world!!

Another pic at night time!!  Pure craziness.  The crosswalks go every which way and diagonal.  People just pour out onto the street. 

We found a Disney Store in Tokyo and had to check it out for Aunt Martha!

Kerri is running out of time for this blog, just like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland!

Nagoya Castle

Another full day with the parents!  We started off at the Nagoya JR Towers, which is the worlds largest train station by square footage and is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year.

Kerri and Mom enjoy the pretty flowers in honor of the station's anniversary.

Mom and Dad are on the train to see some traditional Japanese cultural stuff today!

I ride trains all of the time, but I wanted to get in on the picture action!!

Mom and Kerri at the approach to the Atsuta Shrine.

Mom watches as Dad cleans himself as a Shinto ritual and prepares to approach the shrine.

Dad and Mom threw their yen and pray to the Shinto spirits. 

Mom is probably praying for better food for the rest of the week, and Dad is probably praying to not bump his head on the low doorways!

Some times if they are really nice to me, I let them take breaks in the subway station.  I try not to push them to the brink!

Let's go check out the Nagoya Castle! 

Nagoya's unofficial symbol is the golden dolphins perched on top of the roof of the castle!

P.S. Can you guess who is playing peek-a-boo in the pic below?

Not to the castle yet.  This is one of the original turrets guarding the castle. 

The castle and most of the grounds were destroyed during WWII, but we got to go in this turret built in 1612!

Dad and Mom on the castle grounds.  Cherry blossoms make a beautiful backdrop!

The rebuilt Nagoya Castle! 

The building is 9 amazing stories of glory and history!  See the golden dolphins?!

This is the actual size of the golden dolphins on the roof!  They are HUGE!! 

The records indicate that the dolphins were removed and melted down three times in the past 400 years due to wars and economic crisis when there was a need for precious metals!  But many years later once the city could afford to rebuild, they would put them back up!

There were deer in the moat around the castle! 

We were so excited about it you would have never guessed that we see deer quite often in America or that we were just at the zoo yesterday to see way more exotic animals!

Even without water this moat is crazy deep, and I'm pretty sure no one is getting in to attack the castle!

View of the cherry blossoms and Nagoya.

Dad and Kerri

Leaving the castle grounds.  Another turret is on the corner of the grounds.

View of the castle from outside the gates!

Dad and Kerri enjoy a beer at the foreigner bar. 

(Mom just enjoyed her Western-style food for dinner!  Maybe all of that praying to the Shinto spirits actually worked...)

Higashiyama Zoo

This has been a busy week with my first visitors to Japan!  Mom and Dad arrived on Saturday, and we've been on the go ever since. 

First stop was the Higashiyama Zoo. 

It's a great place for viewing the ever-popular sakura (cherry blossoms).  Many people say the week they are in bloom is the best week in Japan, so Mom and Dad timed their trip perfectly!

Since it was Easter Sunday, I like to think that this was the Easter bunny :)

Fun with the giraffees.

Moving on to a silly turtle exhibit... If the Japanese didn't think Americans were freak shows before, they do now!!

A line up of kangaroos.  We couldn't see any joeys in the pouches :(  But they were still cute.

A koala bear!

View of the Higashiyama Pond from the Sky Tower.  The paddle boats down below were helicopters, swans, and other cool characters!

These are some random riding toys scattered around the zoo.  You hop on, put in 100 yen, and then steer it around it runs out of juice!  LOL.

Moving on to a different part of Nagoya -- Sakae with the floating pond and TV tower.

The whole family at Central Park.

Mom and Dad enjoy the park.

Cherry blossoms!

Mom and Kerri look like they are at one with nature.  Do not be fooled... we are still indoors-type people!

Dad and Kerri in the park.

Yummy Easter Dinner

Their first Japanese restaurant experience: Yamachan for chicken wings and other treats on a stick.

Mom and Dad look really thrilled to be sitting on the floor eating dinner.

At least they enjoyed the Japanese soda ramune.  You have to pop the top and then push a marble in it in order to start pouring.