Stopped by the Square Enix store across the street from The Park Hywatt - stunning life size statue/display of some video game dude (Mark says Sepharothe (sp)) from Final Fantasy set in the floor.
Just one of the amazing photos we took from the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt's New York Bar.
Discovered this cemertary just south of the Shinjuku station and our hotel, right in between all the high rises.
Tuesday we packed in a ton of stuff - which we were able to do after getting a solid 8 hours of sleep. First up was a visit to the Imperial Palace and Imperial Gardens in the very center of Tokyo. We braved the morning rush hour on the trains at Shinkjuku Station - the busiest station in Tokyo, which is an experience itself. The gardens were very pristine, orderly and simple but very beautiful, with cherry blossom trees (un-blossomed of course) and giant bonsai trees everywhere.
We walked along the Imperial Gardens and saw beautiful bridges, gates and Imperial buildings. You can only see the very top of the palace itself. We were surprised (but not surprised) at how very simple and unadorned the palace and palace grounds are.
We spent all morning strolling the garden grounds and then headed back to Harijuku to do some shopping without the insane Sunday crowds.
On a side note - we are still thoroughly perplexed by Tokyo's massive and confusing mass transit system. We are normally very good at mastering foreign transportation systems, but this experience has had many ups and downs. We'll figure a route out on our own and feel high we are so proud of ourselves, then the next thing you know we are riding back and forth on the trains having no idea even what line we are on.
Related to this - we have mastered the art of looking so confused and helpless so that any English speaking Japanese person with mercy will help us, and trust me, they are everywhere! We even had a French man stop to help us! We are damn good.
Another side note - Mark asks at least one incredibly stupid, but totally endearing question to a Japanese person each day. These questions are so innocent, but so random and out of context (ie not related to directions, food or currency) that he leaves our generous helper so bewildered that it makes me laugh endlessly. Example - at dinner, he asked our nice, but non-English speaking waiter "What is the drinking age in Japan?"
Anyway, we did some shopping where i bought some boots that resemble something a caveman would wear. The big highlight of the afternoon was seeing a woman and her 3 year old daughter dressed in gorgeous traditional Japanese Kimonos. They were on their way to a wedding and were very sweet to stop and let us take photos (on the camera that we aren't able to download from right now). They were unbelievably beautiful. We headed back to the hotel to shower and freshen up for our fancy night out - drinks at the New York Bar, Park Hyatt.
If you haven't seen the movie "Lost in Translation," The Park Hyatt and the New York Bar in particular play important roles. We got there just in time to watch the sun set on the 52nd floor of the hotel. The bar and restaurant offer 360 degree views of Tokyo and it was amazing. The staff at the hotel and bar were beyond incredible, patiently answering our questions about the movie and the hotel. We sat at a table by the window next to the piano and diagonally from the bar where several scenes from the movie where shot. We went for just a drink, but the views were so awesome and the drinks so good, we stayed a lot longer than we had planned. Mark had Suntory, of course.
After drinks we wandered Shinkjuku for dinner and found a great yakatori place nearby and ate our weight in meat on sticks and yummy noddles in what appeared to be some sort of light cheese sauce. Then we crashed.
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