dynamic tokyo tour

we found our hotel without any trouble (even using the subway.. with our luggage!) and didn’t stay up too late because we were tired and had to get up early for the tour on thanksgiving day. a bus picked us up at 8 am to take us to a bus depot to meet up with the real tour. only thirteen of us on the tour.. it was easy to fit in the monster bus! there was a family from texas, a lady from australia, another lady from canada, a couple on their honeymoon from england.. a very diverse bunch! the tour guide was hilarious.. he repeated himself every time we got back on the bus it seemed haha.. he was cute though. i could tell you all about his family and how old his mom is (96!) haha :)

our first stop was tokyo tower. it is about 40 ft taller than the eiffel tower. it used to be the tallest in tokyo, but now the tallest is the building we stayed at for our second hotel (trust me.. you’ll see pictures in the next blog). we went up to the observatory to see a 360 view of tokyo.. the elevator ride reminded me of something out of a sci-fi movie haha.. space music was playing and the colors changed while we were going up. the view was breathtaking.. it wasn’t the clearest day (it rained most of the day), but luckily we could still see far!

we can finally be tourists! we don't even try and blend in here :)

we loved the christmas decorations everywhere! this was outside the tower.

the next stop was a traditional japanese tea ceremony. we walked through the happo-en japanese gardens to get there and it was gorgeous! the tea ceremony was interesting.. the tea master prepared the tea for us very delicately and then served us all. our tour guide gave us directions of what to say in japanese to her, when to bow, how to drink the green tea.. it was fun!

outside the tea house.. isn't is gorgeous?!

i enjoyed seeing all the koi.. reminds me of home :)

after we left the tea house, we walked through the gardens some more and looked at the bonsai trees. they were so cute and small.. reminded me of the storybook ride at disneyland haha. i took my picture with the five hundred year old tree.. it doesn’t look that old!

lunch was amazing! we went to a cute little bbq restaurant where they cook in front of you. but FIRST the lady went around and put apron style bibs around each of us! haha.. i felt like a little kid. even though i did splatter some soy sauce on me so luckily i had it on! the lady cooked chicken, beef, vegetables, and potatoes on the little grill around our table for us. EVERYTHING was dipped in soy sauce.. i’m not complaining.. it was good!

walking back from lunch to the hotel we were parked by

next stop was a photo spot in front of the imperial palace. you can’t actually go on the grounds but once a year i think.. you can’t even see the palace from outside the gates no matter where you are (the tall buildings around the grounds don’t have windows on the top floors!!). we took a picture in front of the bridge to the entrance.. the tour guide told us it was a very popular picture spot, so we had to do it!

then came a river cruise. when we saw the boat coming, it was crammed with people.. probably packed with a hundred or so. then they all get off and we look around and realize it is only our little tour group getting on! so we had the whole boat for thirteen people. sadly, it was the boring part of the tour haha.. adrienne even took a little nap :)

yes.. a japanese beer company constructed their building to look like a glass of beer. i'm still trying to figure out what the building next to it is haha.

the final stop was visiting the oldest and most popular buddhist temple in tokyo. there were lots of shops between the entrance and actual temple, which were fun to browse.

you are supposed to move the smoke to where your health ailments are to help cure them.

they drink the water out of their hand and then spit it out.. gross. there are a lot of different things to do for good fortune and health... it was interesting!

the girls went to get hot chocolate (out of a vending machine!) and i had to take a picture (it's in okinawa too).. tommy lee jones for boss drinks haha. i love random celebrity endorsements :)

the tour guide talked the bus driver into dropping us off close to our hotel, which was nice! we were exhausted and crashed early haha. the tour day was fun and it was nice to see a lot of the popular tourist spots all in one day!