Day 6 - Sakura hunting, part deux!
The family and I were now truly into the flow of Tokyo tourism and still relatively early on Monday morning we were at the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing. My wife and daughter enjoyed it greatly taking many photos and selfies among the hoards of people . . . crossing an intersection of roads. My son and I were less impressed as that last description probably tells you. However, similar to how tourists visit Leicester Sq in London, it was good to tick off the list of must see spots.
Loyalty immortalised
The dog statue at Shibuya however was interesting to see. There was a “queue” of some kind to take photos with it. While we didn’t partake I did pick up my son so he could see the dog over the crowd and told him the story:
A long time ago Hachiko the dog would walk to Shibuya Station to wait for his owner to arrive back from his daily commute. One day his owner was suddenly taken sick, died and never returned from work. Hachiko did not know what had happened to his owner and continued to return to Shibuya Station hoping to meet his master for the next 9 years.James, and then Bella too, were greatly moved when I told them the story. And as I looked at all the people gathered around a statue of a dog it did hit you how much that story means to people, which we discussed while heading to our next destination - Shinjuku.
Sakura season achievement unlocked!
The day had started out a little overcast and damp but by mid-morning the sun was out. We couldn’t ask for better weather as we approached Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. If you’ve been reading the whole journey you’ll know mid-morning (and afternoon) is break time. So before heading into the park proper we had a snack at the Under the Tree cafe. It was quiet (who else is eating ice-creams and cake at 10:30, I ask you) so we had window seats, to enjoy a peaceful moment. Tranquility was the theme for the next 90 minutes or more as we explored the gardens. There is a fee of 500 Yen per Adult but Children are free and it’s certainly worth it. Even with my cynical, jaded nature I couldn’t help pull my phone out to capture photos of the pristine landscape and most importantly the sakura. That’s right - this was the cherry blossom park that was in certain people’s minds when we first arrived. Despite being well into the sakura season there were plenty of trees still in full bloom.
As lunchtime came around I had to conceded defeat and jump into a Starbucks for a quick top-up. To be fair, my experience of Starbucks in Japan were always pleasant and actually cheaper than the UK. It’s a stress-free experience (as much as it can be) eating there with the family as everyone knows they will get something they like and with some grumbles being made about the next two sites to visit I didn’t push my luck.
In Shinjuku, the gardens was alway the main site for us to visit. But while being close I desperately wanted to see the Godzilla head and 3D Cat. Everyone was moaning at me until we got to the spots. The Godzilla head is actually really big. It doesn’t come across in videos or photos but nonetheless we tried to get selfies with the monster. While our photos weren't too special seeing the great beast was. But for those of you that don’t know you can actually visit the Godzilla head on the 8th floor cafe/lounge - https://gracery.com/shinjuku/restaurant/
Now you can see why I was a little gutted to be eating in a generic Starbucks when I could have been stuffing my face alongside one of the world's greatest monsters. Godzilla defeated King Ghidorah don’t you know!
Moving on, as I should, we now headed to see the 3D cat. It’s less than a 5 minute walk away and despite being impressed with Godzilla, I was still being moaned at about wanting to see a “big tv”. All doubts were cast out however once they saw this impressive display. If you’ve seen the 3d cat on youtube or tiktok you know what it does. But seeing the cat in real-life is still great fun. With charming animations playing a loop needless to say all grumbling and complaining had stopped to be replaced with cooing ooohs, ahhhs and smiles all around. Our time in West Tokyo was at a close and we needed to head home, we had another appointment. This time with our "home" guiding landmark The Tokyo SkyTree.
You see there is a huge complex of shops and restaurants below/part of the SkyTree. We had seen bits and pieces but we wanted to explore more. So, some more shopping was done until tired legs (think it was me this time) called for dinner. It had been a great day but a long one, comfort food was needed. Spotting tables spare in a Chinese restaurant, "Ginza Tenryu" we dived in. The food was fantastic and just what we needed. The service was even better but as it turns out a congregation member from TMC worked there part-time when not studying. After a quick chat, we wished her all the best, and set off for our last night at Playsis East Tokyo hotel. For tomorrow we were going to Kyoto. As fast as speeding bullet!
The day had started out a little overcast and damp but by mid-morning the sun was out. We couldn’t ask for better weather as we approached Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. If you’ve been reading the whole journey you’ll know mid-morning (and afternoon) is break time. So before heading into the park proper we had a snack at the Under the Tree cafe. It was quiet (who else is eating ice-creams and cake at 10:30, I ask you) so we had window seats, to enjoy a peaceful moment. Tranquility was the theme for the next 90 minutes or more as we explored the gardens. There is a fee of 500 Yen per Adult but Children are free and it’s certainly worth it. Even with my cynical, jaded nature I couldn’t help pull my phone out to capture photos of the pristine landscape and most importantly the sakura. That’s right - this was the cherry blossom park that was in certain people’s minds when we first arrived. Despite being well into the sakura season there were plenty of trees still in full bloom.
As lunchtime came around I had to conceded defeat and jump into a Starbucks for a quick top-up. To be fair, my experience of Starbucks in Japan were always pleasant and actually cheaper than the UK. It’s a stress-free experience (as much as it can be) eating there with the family as everyone knows they will get something they like and with some grumbles being made about the next two sites to visit I didn’t push my luck.
In Shinjuku, the gardens was alway the main site for us to visit. But while being close I desperately wanted to see the Godzilla head and 3D Cat. Everyone was moaning at me until we got to the spots. The Godzilla head is actually really big. It doesn’t come across in videos or photos but nonetheless we tried to get selfies with the monster. While our photos weren't too special seeing the great beast was. But for those of you that don’t know you can actually visit the Godzilla head on the 8th floor cafe/lounge - https://gracery.com/shinjuku/restaurant/
Now you can see why I was a little gutted to be eating in a generic Starbucks when I could have been stuffing my face alongside one of the world's greatest monsters. Godzilla defeated King Ghidorah don’t you know!
Moving on, as I should, we now headed to see the 3D cat. It’s less than a 5 minute walk away and despite being impressed with Godzilla, I was still being moaned at about wanting to see a “big tv”. All doubts were cast out however once they saw this impressive display. If you’ve seen the 3d cat on youtube or tiktok you know what it does. But seeing the cat in real-life is still great fun. With charming animations playing a loop needless to say all grumbling and complaining had stopped to be replaced with cooing ooohs, ahhhs and smiles all around. Our time in West Tokyo was at a close and we needed to head home, we had another appointment. This time with our "home" guiding landmark The Tokyo SkyTree.
The only way is up. . .
I had booked tickets to Skytree using my mobile phone. It was in English and simple enough but our tickets required picking a time slot to attend. As it happens we were able to travel from Shinjuku to the SkyTree fairly easily. The venue itself is busy but not too crowded attraction with a lot of staff on hand to guide and help you. There are two levels to the Skytree and the lift to the first (TOKYO SKYTREE TEMBO DECK (350 m)) is very quick. Once there we wandered around the circular level checking out the epic views from the world’s 3rd tallest structure. How big is it really? From one of the windows you look down on a skyscraper that has a helipad!
Now it’s been 3 paragraphs since I’ve mentioned food and you won’t be surprised to read that we ate and drank our afternoon snack in the SkyTree. Iced, cold drinks all round and rather tasty donuts too. Yes, we could have saved money by buying all of that at a 7-11 or FamilyMart in the shopping mall but it was part of the experience. Happy and healthy we headed up to the top floor. The lift is quick but this time one side of the lift is a window! Those closest to it instinctively pulled away from the glass seperation and Tokyo 350+ meters in the air and can’t say I blamed them either. The top floor isn’t actually a level floor. It’s a circular walkway and you go around the SkyTree looking out of the windows. I’m not scared of heights particularly but even I did feel a touch of vertigo. Some people struggled and stuck to the left of the walkway, so they couldn’t see out of the window. But don’t worry too much, it’s not too anxiety inducing and can be completed in less than 10 minutes should you wish. On the way down there was another chance to scare yourself, should you wish, with a glass floor. My daughter and I both jumped on it to take photos but James being that bit younger, completely understandably, wouldn’t go close to it. And with another lift back down, our visit to the SkyTree was complete but not so the SkyTree Town.
And down!
You see there is a huge complex of shops and restaurants below/part of the SkyTree. We had seen bits and pieces but we wanted to explore more. So, some more shopping was done until tired legs (think it was me this time) called for dinner. It had been a great day but a long one, comfort food was needed. Spotting tables spare in a Chinese restaurant, "Ginza Tenryu" we dived in. The food was fantastic and just what we needed. The service was even better but as it turns out a congregation member from TMC worked there part-time when not studying. After a quick chat, we wished her all the best, and set off for our last night at Playsis East Tokyo hotel. For tomorrow we were going to Kyoto. As fast as speeding bullet!
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