Tokyo on a Sunday

Trip Start Jul 28, 2006
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Trip End Ongoing


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Monday, July 31, 2006

Tokyo is not a very pretty city; it is spotlessly clean but there are no interesting or beautiful buildings-just gray, faceless rectangles of varying heights. I suppose that is why our tour this morning included the orange Tokyo Tower which is really just an ugly television antenna and the plainest Imperial Palace you can imagine. The highlight of the tour, for me, was a trip to the oldest Buddhist temple and the nearby shopping district of Akakuskanon, both packed with Japanese enjoying some Sunday shopping. Shopping, I gather, is Japan's national pastime. We also saw a demonstration on culturing pearls which was Matt's highlight, mostly because he had given Leslie some pearls. Everything in Matt's world is connected to Leslie. After our tour, Matt caught some sleep to make up for last night and I used the spa and sauna at the hotel, well worth the extra $5 it cost.
Everything at our hotel is extra. But the Japanese do two things well-bathing and gardening, and the intimate gardens that surround our hotel complex are exquisite At Peace
At Peace
 . After an hour relaxing in the spa, I spent an hour walking the streets, my favorite part of traveling. Old and young were out enjoying the last of their Sunday afternoon. I came upon an Indian restaurant that smelled delicious so I returned to the hotel and made Matt get up so we could feast on chicken tiki marsala and curry, saffron rice and Nan. It has become essential that we find places to eat that the locals frequent. Food in Japan is exorbitant-a plate of spaghetti at the hotel costs a laughable $60.00, room service will bring you a club sandwich for $22.00 and the cheapest 3 or 4 course meal goes for $120.00. Our dinner with wine and beer totaled 41 yen, roughly $40.00. Much more my style!
It has been another night with little sleep. The phone rang at 4:00 am and I slept very little after that. Matt has been on the computer since then and I finally got up at 6:30 am. Anyone who knows me knows this can not continue. I need sleep and lots of it. I am 54-they are 19 and 23 and we are not on an equal playing field. Hopefully we will fall into a regular routine soon.
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