I'll begin today's post with my first Japanese aftershock earthquake experience last night at about 2:15am. The bed started swaying and I quickly checked online for an update..it was a 5.0 quite far away...But, things here in Tokyo are pretty much getting back to normal with trains pretty much all back on schedule.my friend even got the shinkansen 3 hours north of Tokyo to visit her family for the golden week holiday....This train goes past Fukushima to the east too....To save electricity though, many escalators at train stations are not working and big billboards and such that light up at night are not doing so (including the Tokyo Tower)---but apart from that..its normal Tokyo big city shennanigans:)
I headed out walking towards the Tokyo Tower this morning from the apartment...I didn't know if I was headed in the right direction on my map but then turned the corner and BANG! there it was right in front of me...on closer inspection and news from a friend too (see photo) the top of the tower is bent a little from the recent earthquake. I didn't go to the top of the tower but explored the shops in the bottom floors. It was a busy day with many kids and families there for golden week.
Before making it to the Tower, I wandered over to Zozo ji Temple right by the tower....another popular place to visit and there were hundreds of adorable worshipping dolls lined up too:) I kept walking after the temple and tower and was ready to meet another friend (brother of the apartment I am staying at and HPA grad!). We headed to Tsuyoshi's work building which happens to be home to the sky view deck, an art museum and small planetarium...great views!!! After, we got to explore Roppongi-an area very multi cultural and quite affluent. We had a little gourmet tour of Tokyo after that since he too likes to eat good food!
Rain didn't dampen our spirits as we headed to the ODAIBO area for our late afternoon/evening adventures. Its kind of an island area with many more shops and an amusement park too....great restaurants that we ate at including cheese fondue, sashimi, and takoyaki. There is a copy of the shopping store in the Bellagio in Odaibo with the roof looking like clouds and the sky. The funny thing was there was a hugeee Hawaiian exhibition on with foods, hula dancing, music, stores and more....you could even buy slices of Ted's Bakery chocolate haupia pie!
Another amazing day in Tokyo city....one more full day tomorrow but for now, I'm putting the feet up and heading to bed!
No comments:
Post a Comment