Thursday, May 10, 2007
April 19, Tokyo! Again!
This morning we decided to visit the imperial palace in the morning and Shinjuku in the afternoon. So we woke up at 7 and got to the Tokyo Metro Station…AT RUSH HOUR!
Good grief, absolutely crazy. The subway showed up and had *no* space available. It was literally packed shoulder-to-shoulder along the whole subway. But we watched as people just *squeezed* their way in and everyone just kinda shuffled and squeezed to make a tiny bit more room. People would come to the doorway and just sort of stick their butt into the subway car then grab above the door and literally *lever* themselves into the car, turning their head sideways so that when the door closed it would not *crush their face*.
Eventually Jess and I managed to find a way to shuffle ourselves in, tucked in with everyone else. I actually had to try pretty hard not to accidentally molest anyone. We got to the JR station (rail, as opposed to subway) and it was even crazier! The Yamanote line, a loop that goes around Tokyo (think ‘freeway’), ran every two minutes and was still packed to the gills. There was a line to get up onto the platform! Crazy!
But yeah, we got to the Imperial Palace, the grounds where the Emperor of Japan still lives! (So you can’t go inside. He’s, y’know, walking around in there.) We walked past the fountain garden and walked around the outer moat, which sported koi and swans! One of them even had a nest.
The garden was pretty spectacular, too. Considering we were literally in the *middle of Tokyo*, that much space is pretty much the biggest luxury you can have. There were some really neat old buildings from back when such a place actually needed to be guarded and fortified, but y favorites were the mixed bushes and the bridges over the lake and waterfall. Everything was artistically done, and there was quite a lot of garden.
We walked around the outside of the palace, through a large, open space filled with Pine trees and tour groups, another luxurious empty space. More bridges and swans and the like. We took a short stroll through the nearby government district, too.
Next: Shinjuku! It took some doing to find the main drag, but find it we did. We actually saw an adult movie theatre, naked posters just all over the building. We walked around the stores but spent most of our time in…another arcade!
I went crazy enjoying myself on more games (more Mario cart!) and Jess got to rest her feet. She thinks I look adorable in this picture. :)
Evidently Shinjuku turns into more of a shady nightclub/bar district at night, but we didn’t stay that late. We found a nice curry & rice place that Jess and I really like. I need to practice making Japanese curry.
Next day, Electric town again!
-N
This morning we decided to visit the imperial palace in the morning and Shinjuku in the afternoon. So we woke up at 7 and got to the Tokyo Metro Station…AT RUSH HOUR!
Good grief, absolutely crazy. The subway showed up and had *no* space available. It was literally packed shoulder-to-shoulder along the whole subway. But we watched as people just *squeezed* their way in and everyone just kinda shuffled and squeezed to make a tiny bit more room. People would come to the doorway and just sort of stick their butt into the subway car then grab above the door and literally *lever* themselves into the car, turning their head sideways so that when the door closed it would not *crush their face*.
Eventually Jess and I managed to find a way to shuffle ourselves in, tucked in with everyone else. I actually had to try pretty hard not to accidentally molest anyone. We got to the JR station (rail, as opposed to subway) and it was even crazier! The Yamanote line, a loop that goes around Tokyo (think ‘freeway’), ran every two minutes and was still packed to the gills. There was a line to get up onto the platform! Crazy!
But yeah, we got to the Imperial Palace, the grounds where the Emperor of Japan still lives! (So you can’t go inside. He’s, y’know, walking around in there.) We walked past the fountain garden and walked around the outer moat, which sported koi and swans! One of them even had a nest.
The garden was pretty spectacular, too. Considering we were literally in the *middle of Tokyo*, that much space is pretty much the biggest luxury you can have. There were some really neat old buildings from back when such a place actually needed to be guarded and fortified, but y favorites were the mixed bushes and the bridges over the lake and waterfall. Everything was artistically done, and there was quite a lot of garden.
We walked around the outside of the palace, through a large, open space filled with Pine trees and tour groups, another luxurious empty space. More bridges and swans and the like. We took a short stroll through the nearby government district, too.
Next: Shinjuku! It took some doing to find the main drag, but find it we did. We actually saw an adult movie theatre, naked posters just all over the building. We walked around the stores but spent most of our time in…another arcade!
I went crazy enjoying myself on more games (more Mario cart!) and Jess got to rest her feet. She thinks I look adorable in this picture. :)
Evidently Shinjuku turns into more of a shady nightclub/bar district at night, but we didn’t stay that late. We found a nice curry & rice place that Jess and I really like. I need to practice making Japanese curry.
Next day, Electric town again!
-N
Labels: Arcades, Imperial Palace, Japan, Rush Hour, Shinjuku, Tokyo
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