Tokyo, Japan, Day 3

Day 3 On Day 3, we went to the Imperial Palace East Gardens, located right in the middle of the city (Marunouchi). Admission is free, but they give you a plastic ticket when you enter that you have to return when you exit. (We guessed so that they know how many people are still on the grounds at closing time.) We made the mistake of arriving about noon, and the place was so darn hot. I'm still annoyed we walked halfway across the place (up a steep hill) to see the Mt. Fuji Observatory.... only to find out you can only look at the building (from a distance!) that looks at Mt. Fuji.^^


Our first stop inside the garden: the rest house. :)
And a pretty lake with some huge koi fish (carp) swimming around.


Bamboo trees, and a waterfall near the lake.


People sitting on benches in the shade, and a shady path through the trees.


The never-ending hill up to the Mt. Fuji "Observatory,"
and me (behind the camera) observing the observatory from a distance.


A pretty (famous) bridge called Nijubashi, and I liked the cement barriers in the parking lot....

Then we went to the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. There were tons of little stalls lined up with expensive souvenirs. At the end, near the temple, there were several omikuji stands. For the "suggested donation" of 100 yen ($1), we each shook a box, pulled a stick out, opened the draw with the corresponding number-symbol, and read our fortunes. Luckily, it's a foreigner-friendly location so there was English on the back. :) My fortune was only "good" at this one. (But I got "super amazing awesome!" at the Love Shrine we went to another day.) A popular Japanese boy band (from the early 90s!) showed up to film their variety show at the temple. One day, I'll look for the late-May/early-June episodes online to see what they were actually doing there.


Another set of (privately owned?) subway lines. Seriously,
kid + crayons = Tokyo subway system.


The Sensoji Temple Thunder Gate. And a building near the temple.
(It turns out I didn't take any pictures of the temple itself. Oops.)


Tons of souvenir and food stalls lined the path from the gate to the temple.
My only purchase of the day was a green tea-vanilla ice cream.



Omikuji directions, and the drawers to pull your fortune from. And a rack to dispose of your bad fortunes.

Finally, we went to a supposedly-famous sukiyaki restaurant called Asakusa Imahan.


Asakusa Imahan, only a 15-20 minute walk from the temple. Also, sukiyaki directions.
Basically, you simmer veggies and tofu in a pan, along with thin slices of
(Kobe) beef. When the beef is cooked, you dip it in raw egg and eat it.



Appetizers, the setup, the first cooked beef!

We initially planned to swing by the SkyTree, but forgot it was on the other side of the river... :(


A night view of the Tokyo SkyTree from across the river.

4 days down, only 3 to go! I'll get to them eventually...