Quick Notes:
Weather: Cloudy, cool, and some rain.
Zojo-Ji Temple
Tokyo Tower
Senso-Ji Temple
Ginza
All Photos
Well, Seth and I had to go to the immigration office again to drop off applications for our wives’ certificate of eligibility. So like the other times we made a whole day out of it. This time around we decided to try the highway bus out instead of the train. The bus takes a little longer but at least you are guaranteed a seat.
Some sleep before the long day.
After going to the immigration office for an hour or so we headed back to Shinagawa to have lunch. Found some restaurant down a small street that was a soba place (Soba are Japanese noodles). We then departed for the Tokyo Tower which is similar to the Eiffel Tower but taller. It is actually 333 m and since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high. As we were walking to the tower we kind of ran into the Zojo-Ji Temple. The Zojo-Ji Temple is the main temple of Jodo shu of Buddhism, don’t ask me what that means. For more on the temple click here. Below is a picture of the Tokyo Tower. See the person on the left bottom with an umbrella (it’s raining) then note the person on the top right washing the windows, doesn’t make sense to me.
The Tokyo Tower. (See the guy washing windows, it is currently raining)
Zojo-ji Temple. I’m at the top of the steps.
The tree was planted by President George H. W. Bush in 1982 when he was vice president.
This bell was casted in 1673 and weighs 15 tons.
We finally made our way to the Tokyo Tower but couldn’t really see the top of it because of the clouds. Hopefully the next time we go it will be clear and we can go to the top. Next on the agenda was to see the Senso-Ji Temple in Asakusa. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo and one of the most significant (wikipedia). The temple itself is being remodeled, or something, so it was completely covered up. It seemed very large and I’m sure it is beautiful. Below is a picture of the gate to the temple.
Gate to the Senso-Ji Temple
Once done at the temple we saw a strange building in the distance and decided to go check it out. This large black building with only a few portal windows had now markings or signs. We didn’t find out what it was until the next day at work when they told us that it is the Asahi (beer co.) building. Besides who owned the building they didn’t know if there were offices or what exactly was inside.
Walking to the mysterious black building.
Well, now it’s close to dinner time and we need to find a place to eat. But first, I had read in the Tokyo book about Ginza which is a district famous for the clothing shops and the electronics, so of course I wanted to go there. We took a train to the subway then took the Ginza subway to the Ginza station. First stop was the Sony store, a six story building of toys. I’m not sure how large the Ginza station is but it is underground and at least spans 4 blocks in all directions. We just followed the signs underground to the Sony store and was directed right to the door. Problem was that it was 7:15pm and they closed at 7:00pm, so I guess next time. With the store closed it was finally time to eat. So where to eat in Ginza? I found this in the book:
“Lion Beer Hall. Sapporo’s Lion, Ginza’s biggest beer hall, is a good place to slosh into Japanese beer-hall culture. The restaurant upstairs serves German comfort food such as sausage and fried onions. But you can also just park yourself in front of the 1930s mural downstairs and enjoy a beer with the convivial atmosphere”
Sold! We descended back underground and found our way to the Lion Beer Hall. I had something like a flat-iron steak with garlic rice, and it was wonderful. After eating and relaxing we hit the streets of Ginza to see what we could find. As we walked out and looked right I saw this, a five story Mac store. Well, you know what happened next.
Five story Mac store.
Seth updating Facebook at the Mac store.
After the Mac store we went wondering around to find some where to get a drink and with no luck we decided we better go find the station where our bus home would pick us. After finding a map and realizing that we were completely turned around, the station ended up being just one block away. Once we discovered the station we still had another hour and a half before our bus so again we set out to find a place to get an end-of-the-day-drink. With success we found an English pub and had a couple of drinks before heading home. It was a great close to our fun/long day in Tokyo.
Seth thought it was funny to take pictures of me reading the guide book, someone needs to have a plan.
Weather: Cloudy, cool, and some rain.
Zojo-Ji Temple
Tokyo Tower
Senso-Ji Temple
Ginza
All Photos
Well, Seth and I had to go to the immigration office again to drop off applications for our wives’ certificate of eligibility. So like the other times we made a whole day out of it. This time around we decided to try the highway bus out instead of the train. The bus takes a little longer but at least you are guaranteed a seat.
Some sleep before the long day.
After going to the immigration office for an hour or so we headed back to Shinagawa to have lunch. Found some restaurant down a small street that was a soba place (Soba are Japanese noodles). We then departed for the Tokyo Tower which is similar to the Eiffel Tower but taller. It is actually 333 m and since its opening in 1958, the Tokyo Tower has been the world's tallest self-supporting steel tower. The Eiffel Tower in Paris is 320 m high. As we were walking to the tower we kind of ran into the Zojo-Ji Temple. The Zojo-Ji Temple is the main temple of Jodo shu of Buddhism, don’t ask me what that means. For more on the temple click here. Below is a picture of the Tokyo Tower. See the person on the left bottom with an umbrella (it’s raining) then note the person on the top right washing the windows, doesn’t make sense to me.
The Tokyo Tower. (See the guy washing windows, it is currently raining)
Zojo-ji Temple. I’m at the top of the steps.
The tree was planted by President George H. W. Bush in 1982 when he was vice president.
This bell was casted in 1673 and weighs 15 tons.
We finally made our way to the Tokyo Tower but couldn’t really see the top of it because of the clouds. Hopefully the next time we go it will be clear and we can go to the top. Next on the agenda was to see the Senso-Ji Temple in Asakusa. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo and one of the most significant (wikipedia). The temple itself is being remodeled, or something, so it was completely covered up. It seemed very large and I’m sure it is beautiful. Below is a picture of the gate to the temple.
Gate to the Senso-Ji Temple
Once done at the temple we saw a strange building in the distance and decided to go check it out. This large black building with only a few portal windows had now markings or signs. We didn’t find out what it was until the next day at work when they told us that it is the Asahi (beer co.) building. Besides who owned the building they didn’t know if there were offices or what exactly was inside.
Walking to the mysterious black building.
Well, now it’s close to dinner time and we need to find a place to eat. But first, I had read in the Tokyo book about Ginza which is a district famous for the clothing shops and the electronics, so of course I wanted to go there. We took a train to the subway then took the Ginza subway to the Ginza station. First stop was the Sony store, a six story building of toys. I’m not sure how large the Ginza station is but it is underground and at least spans 4 blocks in all directions. We just followed the signs underground to the Sony store and was directed right to the door. Problem was that it was 7:15pm and they closed at 7:00pm, so I guess next time. With the store closed it was finally time to eat. So where to eat in Ginza? I found this in the book:
“Lion Beer Hall. Sapporo’s Lion, Ginza’s biggest beer hall, is a good place to slosh into Japanese beer-hall culture. The restaurant upstairs serves German comfort food such as sausage and fried onions. But you can also just park yourself in front of the 1930s mural downstairs and enjoy a beer with the convivial atmosphere”
Sold! We descended back underground and found our way to the Lion Beer Hall. I had something like a flat-iron steak with garlic rice, and it was wonderful. After eating and relaxing we hit the streets of Ginza to see what we could find. As we walked out and looked right I saw this, a five story Mac store. Well, you know what happened next.
Five story Mac store.
Seth updating Facebook at the Mac store.
After the Mac store we went wondering around to find some where to get a drink and with no luck we decided we better go find the station where our bus home would pick us. After finding a map and realizing that we were completely turned around, the station ended up being just one block away. Once we discovered the station we still had another hour and a half before our bus so again we set out to find a place to get an end-of-the-day-drink. With success we found an English pub and had a couple of drinks before heading home. It was a great close to our fun/long day in Tokyo.
Seth thought it was funny to take pictures of me reading the guide book, someone needs to have a plan.
2:45 AM |
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