Tokyo: Part 2 - Seeing Sights

We began our second day in Tokyo early, and headed to the Imperial Palace, located in the center of the city. The Palace is still the living residence of the Emperor of Japan - Tours are offered twice-daily, but are booked weeks in advance.

I was lucky enough to remember to sign up for one, at the beginning of July.

With a Japanese-only guide, we were shown around the premises - and explained a bit of history, with the help of an English audio-book. It's a bit sad how almost every building's explanation began with 'This building was rebuilt in 195x, after being destroyed in 1945 during the Second World War'.

Still, there were a few original buildings left - like the one above, which was evidently built sometime in the 1600s.

Once the tour finished, it was time for lunch.

Japan is regionally recognized for its Pork Cutlets, which are quite good. While in Japan, we had Cutlets, Noodles, Chicken, and Sushi, and the cutlets are easily the winners of the prized 'Alex's choice-food' award.

We spent the rest of the day exploring electronics markets, along with some popular districts of Tokyo (Shinjuku and Shibuya) - the latter of which is the home of a popular intersection. The intersection in question is what's called a pedestrian scramble; where traffic is stopped from all directions, and people can walk to and from any corner of the street. Really cool.

Toward the end of the day, we decided to have dinner at a Sushi restaurant, where the Sushi-chefs yell in a hilariously-overzealous tone to greet each and every person going in and out. I only remembered to take a picture of the Sushi after we'd had most of it -suffice it to say, it was an interesting meal.

While i'm a fan of the raw-fish-that's-stuffed-inside-the-rice-with som- vegetables... this kind of Sushi? Not so much. It was just different types of fish sliced on little slabs of rice. Not terrible, but not something I think I'd have again if I had the choice.

Finally, we ended the day by going to a Japanese Pub, and having some Saké. The taste is pretty decent - it's like a very watered down and flavored Vodka. On the other hand, Soju, Korea's cheap-drink of choice, is probably about twice as strong.

I'll wrap-up the trip's wrapup sometime Sunday or Monday in the exciting conclusion: 'Tokyo: Part 3 - Mister Alex vs 17 Ninjas'.

That sounds promising.

- Happy Birthday Émilie! -