Tokyo Tower.

Alright here we have it... 3/10 in the Tokyo Series! Our morning started out pretty much like all the others so far with Starbucks and Krispy Kreme lol But then we decided to walk off that doughnut and walk over to the arena where they sold t-shirts. Jake mentioned that he tried to pick one up, but didn't and wanted one. So, we went to pick one up for him, but the one he wanted was sold out. When we asked when they would get more and well yes they would, but not until Friday. Ugh. We picked up one just in case and decided we'd be back again.

After putting the tee in mom's backpack we headed down into the subway station to jump on the train and head off to our first big sightseeing tourist trap. A little while later we had arrived at our first stop. Remember how I said that you needed to find your attraction on the map or know your streets? Well, I didn't know of that handy map, and I can't read Japanese and couldn't find a name that also happened to be on my map so we had to wonder around for a bit until this very nice Japanese guy (he must have wanted to practice his English) and asked "Where you going?" He pointed us in the right direction and soon enough we found it. We were now in the district of Ginza. This is the focus of Western influences and a prime shopping center. We didn't explore as much of this area as I would have liked too, but I had a feeling we'd make it back out here. I did snap some photos while I was there though just in case. (You know how things go though, you always see more the second time around, plus the first time I was too worried about being lost to enjoy it). By the time we walked to the end of the famous shopping district, we were hungry and decided to find a place to eat.

After eating we were off on our grand adventure once again. This time we were in search of something that looked like the Eiffel Tower. That's right... the one in Paris. Once again we were somewhat lost... we wondered through this gorgeous garden until we could spot our attraction. Didn't take me long to find out where we had to go, but it was quite a little walk to get there and QUITE the line too. Well, here we go!

About 2 blocks behind our hotel, Dad spotted yet another familiar site... 

The subway eats your tickets when we get off, but I did manage to get a shot of it for the scrapbook. The large bold number (210) is how much yen we had to pay and how do they determine what you pay? Well, how far are you going? :)

In case you couldn't see the number in the blog post before... I know it's blurry, but ...

Here we are waiting for dad to make it out of the subway station...

We came out of the subway station called Shiodome. It sits along side the river bank and is home to the tallest residential building in Japan. It includes indoor malls with some great smelling restaurants and the Caretta Shiodome which as offices of Japan's largest advertising agency! This wasn't the residential building, but can you imagine?! Look at how high up this thing is! It was filled with a Starbucks, Subway, and many other shopping places. We didn't go into this skyscraper, but instead went into the indoor mall/City Center. Then out and about on the streets to find our Ginza shopping district.

Dad taking a picture of the very large building.

Click to enlarge this, it give a little info about the fountain we found. Water was supposed to spout from it on every hour for I think 10 minutes, but the time table here says it's not working at all.

Here is the Caretta building that hosts the advertising agency.

Our first sight at the Ginza shopping district. Seiko... the watch company. Wow.

What a neat building. It also chimes on the hour and it sounds beautiful.

Japan has a crime rate. They're reasoning is because they have police stands set up on street corners, in stores, in subways, and all over the city to ensure that everyone stays safe and crime free. We've decided that they're so kind and have morals that we've long ago forgotten about. We also think that maybe they're laws are a little more strict. People don't lock up their bikes, we only saw 2 places with graffiti the entire time, and you really do feel safe walking around. Must be nice.

Woo hoo! It's the Gucci building. I was in awe at some of these stores.

Ah ha! The whole reason for coming down this way was to show my dad this famous Sony building. It has a show room with all of their latest toys on display for you to touch and play with. It had several levels and each room had it's own theme... tablets, cameras, tv, radios, etc. It was incredible to look at, but our loyalty still goes out to Apple. We did find a store, but didn't think we'd ever leave and decided to pass it up and continue our journey.

It's the Sony Building.

This is one of the biggest and most popular intersections. It wasn't too incredibly busy at this time, but still is crowded. I can't believe how many people there are. We thought NY was bad... ha!

We found this little restaurant and decided that we'd give it a try. I ordered the fried rice with steak while the others had fish, noodles, and other weird foreign things. Mine was delicious and I was mastering those chop sticks! Yea!

While waiting for dad to pay we decided to run to the restroom. We thought it'd be a safe bet since it was a fairly decent restaurant and didn't want to run into a place that only offered a hole in the ground. So we head in... well, all the stalls were closed except for the one with what looks like a urinal in the ground. No thanks, but just then a lady walks out and we stop the toilet! Yahoo... a real potty lol

Dad paid, we went potty, and now we're off... this was our restaurant. Pretty good in my book.

See! The poster was in the subway!!

Blurry image as I ran to try to get on this thing... look how straight up it goes?! We were amazed.

Here come mom and dad. SMILE.

Alright. We've made it to our second tourist attraction of the day. Remember I said you pop out and have to find it because who knew of those handy maps? Well, we wondered through this beautiful park trying to find it... I wish our city had this many beautiful parks and locations. I bet photographers never run out of new places to photograph. Amazing.

Ah ha! I've spotted it through the trees. Can you see it?? (The giant red and white replica [only larger] of the Eiffel Tower!)

A crazy cool tree.

Can you read that? I can't, but it looks pretty.

More beautiful things in this park.

Must be a popular running trail because about 3 runners ran in my shot before I was able to quickly snap this before the 4th ran through.

Cool bridge.

Ahhhh we're getting closer to it!! I see the buses heading up there. Al-most there!

But first we had to walk through more of the park. We found an area where locals were working out on these exercise "equipment" things. I decided to show them what's up with my cool L hold. I was thinking... Hurry and take the picture Dad!

Finally out of the park when we spotted this beautiful home nestled with it's back to the park and it's front on the road across from our destination. Probably isn't as quite as he wanted, but it was pretty to look at.

Starting our hike up the hill... So excited!

Mom and dad :)

There I am.

back to walking up the hill when I saw this cute lantern do da. Cute!

Behold... the Tokyo Tower! It's a replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris only taller and red. I am kinda disappointed in the Eiffel Tower now... I thought it was much bigger. The photos make it look big, but then again the views from the observation deck are amazing I'm sure and I would still LOVE to go to Paris.

We were on 2F (2nd Floor) when we finally climbed up the hill and made it to the tower. The Tokyo Tower is on 1F so we had to find stairs or an elevator to take us down a floor. When we rounded the corner of the stair well there were SO many people. We almost left, but once we realized that it was moving quite quickly we decided to purchase our tickets and head up! 

From the main observation deck. There is another deck that is an additional fee and higher up, but since it was foggy and we couldn't see that far anyway, we decided we were good at this height. This is looking back towards our hotel.

See that Empire State Building looking building? Our hotel is right behind it :)

Big soccer field in the middle of the city lol Maybe it's a school?

What's that black slanted roof thing? We think a shrine of some sort? Such a beautiful place with wonderful views. Too bad it was super foggy.

Looking out this way we should have been able to see Mt. Fuji on a clear day, however as you can see it's not a clear day. Boo.

Watching the city and freeways move. Always bustling this city is...

You can see Tokyo Bay just past the buildings, to the right is the park we walked through, and to the left yet somewhat center is a shrine.

Looking down at the road we walked up on. See the orange leg? Straight in front of that is a little yellow taxi... that's the road we walked up.

Closer shot of the shrine in the park. You can see in the upper left the red entry gateway... remember that.

Check out all the tombstones. They really crammed them in there. Wow.

Prince Hotel I believe is what it's called. Not sure what is so special about it, but I did hear quite a bit about it.

Kind of hard to see with the fog, but you can you see the twin towers on the left and the one building on the right? In the middle of the two is that Farris wheel...Never made it over there, but there is also a Statue of Liberty over there.

Apparently I liked this view...

If you click to enlarge and really look at this photo, you'll see the Space needle thing (SkyTree).

Another cemetery.

Back to our first side. This is looking out towards the Emperor's Palace.

See dad in the corner taking a picture? lol

They had a window that allowed you to look down below. Finally got a shot without these rotten kids in it... but as soon as they left, another kid stepped in. Oh well. At least you can see down to the bottom.

Walking back through the park and you can tell it was getting dark. It wasn't this dark not sure what happened in camera, but still makes a great shot. Pretty neat place to visit.

Ok. Do you remember that red gateway past the shrine I told you to remember? Here it is :) I love how they have gateways into everything. And all of the detail! Oh my gosh... the detail. It's so amazing.

Here is another entrance into that shrine.

Last photo of the day... Jake told us about this and I had yet to notice it so after I had showered that night I made sure to notice. Here it is... these guys are genius I tell you. Heated seat toilets and such... they also kept in mind that you'd want to see yourself when you get out of the shower to brush your teeth or whatever. The clear part of the mirror is heated so that it doesn't fog while you're in the shower. I need one of these!!

I had a busy day yesterday full of editing and more paperwork. I'm slowly getting caught up, but I must get back to work (my list is continuing to grow). I hope you guys are enjoying the photos from Japan and that you had a wonderful weekend! Love you!