Kayabacho Pearl Hotel Chuo

... some construction) Takashimaya Times Square. At the time we didn't realize it was a department store, but we thought it interesting the the building close to it resembled the Empire State Building! The Shinjuko Station is also attached to the Lumine Department store. We decided not to check it out, but it is huge! There's also an accompanying shopping mall as well! Enroute to our next train, we discovered a London Style Pub, called what else but "London ...

... don't spe*k J*p*nese!!" This w*s going to be some experience bec*use the only thing I could s*y besides th*nk you w*s : Ple*se, c*n i h*ve some ____ *nd then use the phr*se book for the rest. Luckily I used this line to order some te* *t first *nd the w*iter c*me b*ck with te* *nd * m*n who could spe*k English. I w*s horrified to find there w*s very little chicken *nd NO BEEF on the menu. NO BEEF!!! wh*t the hell kind of pl*ce is this. We ordered * number of *uthentic J*p ...

We arose early in the morning to head to TPE airport for our flight to NRT Narita airport serving Tokyo. The flight was quiet and uneventful, not quite long enough to finish the in-flight movie. The weather in Tokyo was bright, cool and sunny. We found the train easily and made the trip to our hotel. We wandered ...

Our daughter's friend was visiting Tokyo so we decided to play tourist for the day with visits to Kichijouji, Inokashira Park, and Asakusa. We started or "trip" with a walk around the small lake (a pond really) in Inokashira Park. Established in 1918, at 70 years of age this park is a favorite of many Tokyoites and their families for a Sunday outing. The park is located a short walk from Kichijouji Train ...

... No one spoke (or at least they whispered) three quarters of the passengers were sleeping, some standing up! So different from Clive commuting on the London Underground. From Shinjuku we visited a department store to pick up some sushi for a picnic in Yoyogi Park where we visited Meiji-Jingu Shrine and garden. This is one of the most important Shinto shrines in all of Japan. The park, the shrine and the gardens are all incredibly beautiful and so ...

... bus stop to go to where else, Tokyo Disneyland! Yes, I'm so happy then to be able to go to Disneyland. Back then I think it was every kid's fantasy to step into this magical and "happiest place on earth." Of course upon entering, there was the "mandatory" picture-taking with the Cinderella castle in the background. Then we were off to exploring every nook and crany of place.

... fairly grand. Which brings me onto the last thing I was going to mention: Tokyo apartments. I use the word apartment here in the loosest sense of the word because really, if you're renting a place in Tokyo you get a room and not a very big room at that. When we arrived at Mac's "apartment", I thought he was just being a cheap-skate, renting a tiny apartment so he had more disposable income for comic books and trips around Japan. I now realise that his situation is perfectly ...

... Chinese zodiac (the tiger!) and also the Buddha that corresponds to my birthday. My Buddha is the one for happiness and intelligence. Yoko's Buddha signifies a long and healthy life. After Asakasa, Yoko and I went to Nihonbashi, the central region of Tokyo. There is a pillar in Nihonbashi that is actually considered to be Tokyo, meaning that when map measurements are calculated (like from Tokyo to Kyoto, for instance) the pole is the location that they use as "Tokyo ...

... is om te zien en de meesten ook graag op de foto willen en echt voor je poseren, is het verhaal erachter schrijnend. Het merendeel van deze tieners wordt op school namelijk heftig gepest. Om dit te vergeten, van zich af te zetten en weer op te laden voor een nieuwe schoolweek komen ze met zeg maar lotgenoten ieder weekend bij elkaar en uiting te geven aan hun gevoelens door zich ...

after a plane ride from toronto to washington DC, and then to tokyo, jessica and i have arrived! for those who don't know, this wasn't part of the original travel plans but since our flight invlved a free stopover in tokyo, we decided to take advantage of it and booked 2 nights here. our flight left toronto at 6:20am (which meant leaving for the airport at 3:30am - in true helen style, i was frantically packing all the way up the second the cab arrived at my door) so we thought we'd be ...