The Frog in the Well Japan: Mar 30, 2010

Around 4:00 on Monday afternoon we headed back to the hotel after a very long day. Our plan was to put up our feet and rest for a few hours. Well... maybe closing the blinds was a bad idea, because by 5:30 the entire family was sound asleep and we didn't wake up until 3:30 AM, UGH!!! We will not make that mistake again.

Prior to us falling asleep we spent some time wandering the Shinjuka area. Here are a few shots from our time there.

Studio Alta - just outside of Shinjuku station

Another narrow street lined with more 5-7 people restaurants

Narrow streets of Golden Gai in Shinjuku - tiny little bars line each side of the street. They are just wide enough for a bar, a counter and a row of stools. Each place has it's regulars (writers and bikers) and they are not particular to strangers.

Ladies waking down Golden Gai

Hanazono Shrine Torii Gates

Prayer point at Hanazono Shrine

The Cocoon - stunning building

TUESDAY March 30th - Tokyo

Tuesday AM started with a Metro ride to see a place called the Tokyo International Forum. This facility is absolutely fantastic, it was designed by a guy by the name of Rafael Vinoly and it is used primarily for conventions.

The inside looks like a ships hull. Note the orderly single file line to go up the escalator

From the Forum we walked for about 15 mins to the Imperial Palace where we checked out the Palace Gardens.

Bridge to main entrance of the Palace

A moat surrounds the Palace property

Change of the Guards at the Main Palace entry

Lilly pads in the Palace Gardens

View point that looks out to Mount Fuji (closed to the public)

Cherry Blossoms at the Palace Gardens

Detailed tile work on one of the buildings

At lunch time we met up with some business associates that I have in Tokyo. They treated us to an absolutely amazing culinary experience. We had our own private dining room that fit the 6 of us. It was fantastic because we could watch our master Tempura chef at work.

We started off with some marinated Japanese vegetables and a bowl of seaweed soup (not my favourite). Then we had what honestly looked like a translucent, very large insect. Fortunately it wasn't an insect, it was a tiny shrimp appetizer that is meant to be eaten whole. It was delicious! Fintan peeled off all of the legs and ate the tiny body (maybe the size of a jelly bean). We had several courses consisting of Shrimp, asparagus, mushrooms SO GOOD, eel..., mystery fish, tiny little worm like eels, lotus root (Stacey's favourite) and more. For dessert we had ice cream with tempura sweet potato... a fascinating combo.

Most of you know how picky I am when it comes to food... I didn't want to offend our hosts, so I dug deep and ate all of it. To my surprise I loved all of it (except the seaweed soup.... barf).

The four of us in the private dining space

The Master Tempura Chef at work

The amazing japanese mushroom tempura

Kotani-san makes Fintan a Crane out of Japanese paper. Fintan told him it looks like a duck...

After lunch we stumbled upon a Temple by the name of Zojo-ji, it was founded in 1393, although the present temple was rebuilt in 1974. One of the most interesting things was the rows and rows of tiny stone Buddah's that are offerings from individuals that worship at the Temple. All of them are dressed up in colourful attire to celebrate the spring and the arrival of the flowers.

Zojo-ji Temple

Grave sites at the back of Zojo-ji

Rows and rows of stone carved Buddah offerings to the Temple

Decorated stone Buddah outside of the Temple

Right next to Zojo-ji is the Tokyo Tower which was completed in 1958. It is a 1093 ft high and is slightly higher then the Eiffel Tower in Paris on which its design is based. We went up in hopes of seeing Mount Fuji but it proved elusive as it was too hazy on the horizon.

The Tokyo Tower

To end the day we headed to the Ginza District. This area is Tokyo's equivalent of NYC's 5th Ave. All of the big fashion names have set up shop here. Some of the buildings are spectacular.