Tokyo Day One « Organized Chaos

Tokyo Day One July 27, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — natalieday @ 10:56 am

Well, as expected, Tokyo was a blast. I took close to 400 pictures with my new camera (my birthday present). That being said…..it may take me a while to pick and choose which ones to upload to the site, so please be patient. (you know who you are)

We left Okinawa early and arrived in Tokyo at 10:35am. After we checked into the New Sanno Hotel (highly recommend this place) we set out to conquer the subway system and find lunch. Everyone we spoke to about the subway said “no worries, it’s so simple, anyone can do it” – Anyone but us apparently. Even after a quick lesson from an seasoned subway passenger, we still had issues, many issues. Let’s just say that it was an experience and leave it at that. Once we had filled our tummies at the Hard Rock Cafe we were all in a better mood and ready to explore the area. Our first stop was the Tsukiji Fish Market. I was really excited to see this place but we apparently went at the wrong time of day because it was a ghost town. A really smelly ghost town. Trading goes on in the early morning hours and by the time we got there all that was left to see were buckets of fish heads and other unidentifiable fish parts. So we had to resort to plan B, which turned out to be an impromptu visit to the historic Hama-rikyu Gardens, located around the corner. I enjoyed this more that Danny and the kids but that is to be expected I suppose. The park/garden was very pretty and the trees were very unusual and unlike any I have ever seen before.

When we finished up at the gardens we attacked the subway again and headed to Tokyo Tower. The tower is the worlds tallest self-supporting steel tower. It is 333m tall; the Eiffel Tower is 320m tall. I got into the tower for free because it was my birthday. They also gave me a birthday card and cake! The view was amazing but my knees got a little wobbly when we approached a section of the floor that was made of glass. Well it probably wasn’t glass but you could see the ground under you. Way, way, way under you. Aside from the view, the tower boosts many other attractions which we decided to partake in…..A Space Wax Museum (lame), A Wax Museum (very cool), A Trick Art Museum (very, very cool) and a Guinness Book of World Records Museum (very, very, very cool).

Overall we had a great day. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel but the kids couldn’t resist the indoor pool. One other key thing to mention about day one: when we checked into the hotel we found out that the tour company had booked us two rooms instead of one that would house all of us. Yes, Brian and Amy had their own room, across the hall from us, for the entire trip. Ten years from now, when asked about their trip to Tokyo, you mark my word, that will be what they remember “We had our own room!”

And last but not least………I am obsessed with my pedometer so I have to mention that day one ended with a total of 16,721 steps. In case you were wondering.