Torii Gate of Meiji Jingu
Great park for morning walk
Popular street in Tokyo
Yoyogi Park
Shibuya Crossing
Times Square effect in Shubuya
Tokyo Tower
A view from Sky Deck of Mori Tower
Chilling in the subway
After getting to bed at 9pm local time - I woke up around 3:30am on Sunday, July 3rd. I couldn't get back to sleep, so I worked on my blog using my headlamp to keep from waking Randy and Wendy. About 45 mintes later - they were both up as well. It was an early start to the day to say the least.
Tokyo. What do I know about Tokyo? First off - I like to look at things big picture. Here's an interesting fact. Tokyo is the most populated city in the world -- and it's not even close. Tokyo has roughly 38 million people. Dehli (25 million), Shanghai (23 million), Mexico City (21 million), and Sao Paulo (21 million) round out the top 5. What does this mean? In 4 days - we are only able to scratch the service of this HUGE city.
We got out of the hotel early - 6:30am early. We started the day at the Shinjuku Train Station. Randy/Wendy were patient with me as I worked out plans for my Mt. Fuji hike set for Monday (4th). I decided to take a train on Sunday night so I could get an early start on my hike. We all ended up getting lost a couple times at the Shinjuku Station. Interesting fact. The Shinjuku Train Station is the busiest train station in the WORLD. Only 6 of the top 51 busiest train stations are located outside Japan. Did I mention that Tokyo has a few people in the city? With the multitude of people and the almost complete language barrier - it's easy to see how it took us a little while to negotiate the metro system.
After our comedy of errors at the train station, out first stop of the day was to a really interesting park/shrine - Meiji Jingu Shrine. This shrine is dedicated to one of the famous emporers of Japan - Emporer Meiji. It lies in a beautiful park - perfect for an early morning walk. Huge Torii gates lead to some shrines in the park. A torii gate in Japan is very common - symbolizing that you are entering a sacred area after passing through the gate. After a coupe hours of exploring, we headed down to one of the trendy streets in Tokyo - the Takeshita Street. Action personified. Tons of people everywhere - shops, restaurants, vendors, etc. We opted for a waffle breakfast at Neo Restaurant. Excellent - the fruit waffle I had was right on time.
Next, we went to Yoyogi Park - one of the biggest parks in Tokyo. A lot of things going on. A running group made up of blind runners were making loops around the park. Really interesting. Not sure if you have ever witnessed this - but a guide runner has a rope that the blind runner holds onto to lead the way. Amazing and so inspiring. We saw yoga groups, entertaining groups practicing routines, etc. The Hyde Park or Central Park of Tokyo.
We next headed to an area of town called Shibuya. I'll call it the Times Square of Tokyo. There's a famous crossing that connects about 5-6 different main streets. One of our travel books mentioned a Starbucks that overlooks the area - a perfect spot to take a break and watch the action. We made this happen. We happened upon the best seat in the house at Starbucks - as a couple was leaving upon our arrival. We took it all in over some hot tea and a cookie.
Next to the Roppingi Hills District. A really neat area - kind of a small city by itself. We went up to the City View Deck and Sky Deck in the Mori Tower. Wow! We actually could now see this massive city laid out below us. There were skyscrapers in every direction. Unlike any other city I've seen in my life. The Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree are amazing sites - resembling the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Seattle Space Needle respectively. We then walked around Roppingi Hills - seeing a huge spider (Maman) and roamed around the Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel - one of the most elite hotels in all of Tokyo.
By this time, it was about 3pm. I needed to be back at the hotel around 4:30pm to get my stuff ready for Fuji. We took the train back and walked around the area where our hotel is located - Shinjuku. This area is one of the most popular draws in Tokyo - with it's own "Times Square" effect with a ton of shops/restaurants. We're really just hitting some high points.
Back to hotel. I completed packing and I was off to Fujisan. Randy/Wendy will be spending the day in Tokyo tomorrow so I'm on my own for the next day or so. About a 2.5 hour train got me to my final destination about 9pm. Side note on my train trip. I was completely wiped out last night when getting on the train. So, I ended up falling asleep. My understanding was that I was to be on the same train the entire time. When I fell asleep there were a lot of people aboard. When I awoke, the train car I was on was completely empty except for an older gentleman. At the next stop, the older guy gets up to depart the train -- he looked over at me with an expression that said: "Dude - you need to get off this train". Of course he didn't speak English or say anything - but my instinct was that there soon was going to be a problem. A minute later, one of the train guards comes in my train and tells me I need to get out. I'm not understanding - I show him my ticket. He just points out the door. So, I get off the train. Where am I going to go? I walked up a few train cars. There were people on these cars. So - I just jumped back on the same train. I'm thinking the last cars were being removed from the main train because I got to my destination anyway. It's amazing how much you have to trust your instincts when you can't read or speak the language. During my time in Europe I became very good at doing this. But, just like most things, it takes a while to get it back. I'm thankful my gut told me to get back on that train.
Upon arriving in Fujisan, my hotel was 1 minute from the train station - good thing -- otherwise, I may still be looking for it. Early to bed - a big day tomorrow.
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