Anyhow. Here are some of the highlights... It was rainy. Umbrellas and trains are something of a theme.
The system map for Tokyo is complex.
The Imperial palace gardens.
At this point, I began to notice that the Japanese have much cooler umbrellas. They're all colours and patterns, and in the rain, the crowds were small seas of umbrellas. I felt left out without one.
This bridge at the Imperial palace is very famous. People line up in the rain to have their picture taken. So here I am. Note the lack of umbrella.
You really can get everything American in Shinjuku. The Japanese are apparently as excited by Krispy Kreme as Americans are by Beard Papas. I don't like Krispy Kreme, but I enjoyed the line of umbrellas.
The orange train is the one we took later to the Ghibli museum in Mitaka. There are lots of trains at Shinjuku station, and if you eat soba noodles at the top of the big mall across from it, you can watch the trains while you eat.
Also, after you eat your soba, you can buy a cool umbrella at the department store. Ali decided to go with the cheap special. Mine is so vastly superior.
Best mochi I have had in my life (so far!).
Shinjuku station.
A bus and cyclist in Mitaka, near the Ghibli museum.
2 comments:
Yes, your umbrella is definitely superior to Ali's. Faith said so. She is, after all, the self-appointed Queen of the Umbrellas in our household. Ali's stealth umbrella is booooring :)
And the nerd in me was wondering what was the purpose the retrofitted raceway and outlet poking through the floorboards by your feet in that same picture. :)
2 Crucial points:
1) There is no way you are going to look like more of a tourist than the Japanese. They are the most stereotypical tourists you can imagine, even in their own country!
2) If you really need an umbrella, it's not entirely inappropriate to just grab one from the rack on your way out of a building. It's one of their more-acceptable forms of antisocialism. I myself have had an umbrella taken in Japan, from the rack outside a 7-11. If you really want to keep yours you find a rack where you can lock it in place, as exist in front of some office buildings.
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