2 & 3 April

We have spent the last 2 days seeing as much of Tokyo as we can but at the same time trying to stop and enjoy the moments as they come along.

First up yesterday we went to Ueno Park where they have literally 100's of Cherry Blossom trees in flower. As you can see by the photo they are a hit with the locals as well. There were constantly people pouring into the park. We then took a bus for a complete circuit of it's route to see the sights from that angle. On winding in and out of the streets here we came to feel like we are in some kind of toy town. Its so great how compact everything is. The bus, cars, houses, bikes etc are all compact. Tokyo completely suits Mark's preference for 'clean and neat'!!! I have lost count of the number of times he has pointed out in astonishment how clean the under carriage of a truck is, or a train, or subway station or paths etc etc. He loves that part of it.

After the bus trip around we went to Senso Ji temple. It was in Asakusa which is quite a touristy area which was a shame but the actual temple was absolutely stunning. It is a Buddhist temple and there was also several surrounding buildings equally beautiful.

After a wander and a great tempura lunch we then went on a ferry up the river. It was an interesting way to see a bit more of the city but not super exciting. We got off the boat at the Ginza area. This was a busy busy area but pretty fabulous. Mark was impressed by all the lights and billboards. He couldn't help but take a pic or 2 of them.

After lots of window shopping (see pic of me having a little rest amongst the gerbera's) we found a great place for dinner. Like the restaurant we went to the previous night it was a bit of a maze. The whole restaurant was broken up into cubicles. Each space was only 2 tables. The walls were all done in lovely timber slats and some were lined with rice paper. (alas smoking in restaurants is still a BIG thing here but you can only smoke on the street at designated smoking stations - aka large ashtray. The benefit of this rule is that there are no butts on the ground in the streets)

This is us with our dinner. Pork & veg steaming in the wooden box and sashimi on ice behind it. To go along with the 'toy town' theory we laughed at the very tiny tomatoes dressing the plate with our bbq'd yam slices and donuts Mark snacked on today.

First up this morning was coffee at the local cafe. We practically feel like locals as when we walk in the guy behind the counter smiles and says quite cheerily, 2 cafe latte's? He remembered after our first visit there. It seems it is a fairly rare order as most here drink iced or black coffee mixed with water and then gum syrup. Before we found this cafe we were so desperate that we resorted to the vending machine coffee which is coffee in a can, and comes out hot. Very weird but surprisingly not bad (when you are desperate for caffiene).

Then we were off to Meiji Jingu a fabulous bush park and gardens, and palace built in the early 1900's. The park had a feel of Central Park in NYC. 100's of acres of bush and gardens. Very large trees with birds flitting around & a big pond full of Carp. From there it was across the street to Harajuku St and surrounds. What a cool and funky area. We could have spent alot more time here but it would mostly have been shopping and there was more interesting things to see.

So off we went to find a Japanese style garden listed in the book to be of some note. We have used the train and subway system alot to get around. At first it was a bit tricky but we soon got the hang of it. The dilemma has been when we were a bit further out of the city there is no English on the signs. This resulted in us getting on the wrong train today and flying along on the express past the station we wanted to get off at. We soon sorted it out and found our way back to the station near the park we were heading for.

We had to walk a little distance from the station and it was quite a suburban area. Again the whole toy town feel with such cute houses and winding lanes. In this area lots of people were cycling which made it very pleasant to stroll around.

The park was quite small but lovely. It was not the manicured Japanese style we expected but lovely none the less.

Then it was back to the hotel to get organised for our flight tomorrow morn to Helsinki. We will leave the hotel around 7am and our flight is at 11am. This is giving us more than ample time but will allow for any unknowns.

Thats enough blabbing on for now... time to find our last dinner in Japan.

Hope all are well there. We miss you all.

xD