Monday the 25th was the day of my Tokyo City Tour, I was out on my own this time aarrgghh! I got picked up at the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel at 7:40! eeek! Sha Sha was very tired :-( This bus then took us to the main bus terminal where you had to check in then were given a boarding pass and gate number just like an airport and it was crazy busy! Eventually found my gate and met my tour guide Junko who was fantastic. Our first stop was Tokyo Tour which is a copy of the Eiffel Tower but a bit bigger. I'm told the height is 1,019 ft but the observation deck we went to was only half way at 492ft. The views were pretty amazing even on a horrible day like I had! Would love to see it on a clear day as you can sometimes see Mount Fuji! Got a few cool pics and a couple at the glass floor eeeeek! Next stop was a traditional japanese garden with Bonsai trees and we got to take part in a Tea Ceremony. The garden was gorgeous, just what I expected and more! Huge Coy Carp in the pond and little japanese sculpures everywhere then the rows of Bonsai trees. The oldest in this garden was 500 years old- can't even get my head round that, it's just a wee plant! The Tea ceremony was held in a traditonal tea house- we were warned not to touch the walls as they were so old that they could collapse! Nice! The ceremony itself was pretty wierd but amazing too. These woman are so precise in their movements- we were told that every movement has an important meaning. They served us some strange thick, frothy green tea. Even when we drank the tea it had to be done in a certain way- the picture on the bowl had to point away etc and your hands had to be in a precise position. On your last mouthfull you had to make a slurping noise to show appreciation, but if you were too loud it was considered rude. The tea was pretty mingin- very bitter taste to it! We were then given 2 japanese sweets Okashi, that you let melt on your tongue, one pink and the other green! Delicious! We had to express our enjoyment by saying Kekko Desu to the ladies, it just means I liked it!

We then had a 40 minute drive heading North on the expressway for lunch. The expressway is not like our motorways, it was built after most of the building so it follows the route of the old rivers so it's very winding and dodges around all the huge sky scrapers above the city streets below that were built where the river used to be. On the way we passed the Tokyo Dome which was amazing to see. The tour guide was constantly filling is in on little things about the city, for example most people that work in Tokyo have a 2 hour commute everyday!!! Crazy! That's a long day!! She also told us that in most Burger Kings the ques are about an hour because it's just brand new to Tokyo! When Krispy Kreme came to Tokyo people were queing for upto 3 hours! She also told us that the estimated population of Japan was 110 million, with 12 million of those people living in Tokyo alone!! We finally arrived at lunch, a restaurant called Chinzan-so in the middle of another japanese garden. The lunch was delicious, it was BBQ style but not like I had before, we BBQ's the meat on black lava rock from mount fuji and we were given little aprons to wear hehe! We had pork, beef, red peppers, asparagus, onion and carrots on the go and ofcourse some rice! Really enjoyed it!

Next was the Imperial Palace Plaza which is wear the main gate and watch tower to the emperor of japan's palace is. The whole area of the imperial palace is apparently about the size of Central Park NY. By this point the rain was really coming down so we didnt stay too long, just long enough for a wander and a few pics. I can imagine this place is really beautiful in the spring with all the cherry blossoms. We were told there was recently a little panic concerning the imperial family as the emperors sons wife;s were all having girls- they cannot become the emperor! How it works is as you guessed only a man can become emperor and once the emperors daughter marry someone they are no longer part of the imperial family they are now a commoner and move out of the imperial palace. However the sons marry anyone then they are still allowed to live within the imperial palace and live like royalty. But because they were only having daughters they almost changed the ancient rule to allow woman to be emperor but just in time a son was born. Just like Korea, it's still very much a man's world in japan.

Next stop was the pier at Tokyo Bay to catch the cruise boat up the Sumida. It took about 40 mins, it was nice to just relax and take in the viewa after a busy day on and off the bus. Our destination was Asakusa where we went to the famous Kannon temple which is where the Cannon camera's name was derived. The street leading up to the Temple is called the Nakamise shopping arcade filled with every japanese souvenier you can imagine- Sha Sha spent a good whack here! We reached the huge temple and just in front of the entrance there was a huge pot burning incense, people were rubbing the smoke over their body as they believe it will heal them. Some people were rubbing in some...well interesting areas!!!! (cough cough) poor guys!! Inside the temple you could get your fortune, you had to shake a metal container with just a small hole at the bottom until a chopstick came out with a japanese number on it. you then had to go the corresponding drawer and take the sheet of paper with your fortune on it. If it was bad you had to fold it up and tie it on the railing- to leave your ad fortune behind. Luckily mine was a "regular fortune" so I could keep mine!

It read: When Spring comes, Katsura tree flowers are in full bloom, smelling so well. Your fortune will open wide when your season comes. If you get the chance open, you will get fame and honor, climbing the way to the top of the sky. Also you meet a great person with honor who helps you. The moon in the dark sky will get bright again, in the clear sky, you can meet your fortune soon. Your request will be granted. The patient will get well soon. The lost article will be found soon. It is good to start a trip. Marriage and employment are both well.

Our final stop and drop off was the famous Ginza shopping area, Tokyo's 5th Avenue! I was too scared to go into some of the shops tho they were soooo fancy!!! I looked like a drowned rat! Amazingly I got a rare picture of the Shinkanzen Bullet train! Because of the weather it had to stop midway to Fuji-san, apparently you rarely see it sitting anywhere except at the stations. Whoop whoop! These trains travel at 180mph!! Maybe next time i'll take a wee whirl to Fuji-san. I got the subway along to Ropponggi at about 6pm to grab some dinner at a wee italian restaurant before hunting down The Cavern Club which was hidden up a tiny little street near where philip and I had went to a few bars. The club is very small and every wall is covered in Beatles memorabilia. The Silver Beats are a famous japanese beatles tribute band, these guys tour all over the world, they had just returned 2 days before from the states. The do 6 different sets a night at the cavern club starting from 7:30 till 2am. I planned only to stay for one but after a few glassed of wine I couldnt help but stay for 3 and only left because I had to make the last subway back before 12:30! But enjoyed 4 hourse of these guys at a fantastic table near the stage with 3 nice japanese guys who bought me some noodle! They even paid my request- When I saw her standing there! I also got to shake the Japanese Paul's hand and japanese John said goodbye to me- well I was the only foreigner in there how could they miss me! Pretty much in love with the japanese John now!! hahaha! He's sooo lovely and I think he actually looks very like a young John Lennon!!!

Well after a very long but amazing day, the Silver Beats were a perfect ending! Couldnt wait to get to bed!!!