Asakusa

I visited this shrine because I remember it being so pretty and full of fun souvenir shops. Shame on me for not realizing that Sundays are CRAZY busy and add the rain to it, the experience was a bit miserable. Oh well. At least I got to re-visit a neat place and have a treat...

 The "smoking pot" from which incense burns, visitors fan the smoke over parts of their bodies that are ailing. I have a wicked cough right now, so I tried it out, as well...

 Hand-washing station

My treat (upside down) -- a waffle fish filled with a sweet cream. It was warm and yummy!

Bright lights, Big City!

We ventured out at night to Shinjuku, the electronics capital of Tokyo. Think of Times Square on speed.... many many blocks that looked just like this! We ate a delicious dinner of sukiyaki, Japanese beef and vegetables cooked in broth with sake at table, then dipped in raw egg before eating. YUMMY!

Fabulous randomness....

I've missed Japan so much! I'm enjoying people watching and otherwise seeing how much things have changed. Like no more internet cafes to check emails, since everyone has wireless and iPhones. I'm able to FaceTime with home daily and text back and forth with the US. It's so easy, it's crazy! 

 Now the subway lines have "women only" cars that are closest to the stairs/exits and are reserved for women and school children only during rush hour

 It's nearly cherry blossom (sakura) season here, so the Asahi beer cans are changed into Sakura cans! Love it :) 

 It's Mikan season (think delicious clementines but even better...)

 Sakura man hole cover 

Yes, a flower cart attached to a moped!

Museums

So the weather here is cold, rainy and dreary. While Becky talked today I decided to seek some indoor entertainment. I started at the Contemporary Art Museum of Tokyo and ended at the National Museum of Tokyo. Sadly, my camera died before I got to the second museum, which housed many beautiful, OLD national treasures of the country. 

 Outside the Contemporary Museum

I chose to visit a special exhibition of Gabriel Orozco, a Mexican artist

 "My heart is my hands"

 "Cats and Watermelon"

 Citrone car that he cut in thirds, discarded the middle third and reattached. It was so cool!

 Made friends with some other visitors and played ping-pong on a hands-on exhibit. It was super fun!

 Some modern-post-apocalyptic-elephant-rocking-horse by a Japanese artist

The last picture before my camera died. This woman was playing stones that were fashioned as keys on a giant xylephone, it sounded really pretty!

My awesome Ane (big sister)

Becky sought out Cross Fit here in Tokyo! She was a champ and did great. I enjoyed watching...

With her workout buddies

Doing box jumps

Ume festival

It's the tail end of Ume (plum blossom) season here, I was lucky to find a festival not too far away (only 2 stops on subway line). It was a nice way to spend the afternoon!

Notice the many wooden boards tied at the shrine. They are purchased by visitors (this is the year of the sheep) and personalized with wishes. Apparently this shrine is to education, so most of the wishes are likely for success in school, exams, etc. I was able to find one below that has some English on it: "I will do my best"

A bizarre feature at this shrine was a Japanese monkey dressed in a jinbei (the little summery-kimono I used to dress Cora in as an infant when we lived here). This lil lady did some tricks and even walked around with a basket for donations, huh?!?

School children gathered around...

Imperial Palace and gardens

Of course we arose bright and early today and decided to stretch out our legs from the long flights by a walk to the Imperial Palace, where the emperor still lives.