Thursday, March 10, 2011

Day Six: Being Touristy.

Don't have much time to post today, as I'm going "clubbing" tonight with one of my roommates. Funny how I've worked in bars for so long and I don't think I've ever actually been "clubbing." I always associated the concept with frat boys, popped collared douchebags, miniskirted/hookershoed girls with daddy issues, and bad techno music. Hopefully it's more fun in a different country.

So I went to the Imperial Gardens today, which is right in the middle of downtown. Which means that I had to face my fear of this;
The Ticket Machine! Although now I have my PASMO (see yesterday), so I don't need to figure out the exact amount needed for each trip. I just swipe and go...
This is the Hanzomon Line. I live on the far right, and I had to transfer at the red dot in the middle to get to the Marounochi Line, which takes you to the center of the city, where the Imperial Palace is. More pictures:

It turns out that with a clear head and a little planning, the subway is freaking easy to use. I actually got bored at one point. It's freaking sweet. The totally complicated subway map that looks like a ball of jumbled yarn appears way more challenging than it is. More routes just means more ways to get from A to B. But watch me eat my words later...
So to the gardens;
Actually, none of these are of gardens. It was just a nice day outside. But I'll stop teasing.

This is just at the entrance. The house above is an old samurai guard house, where guards on duty (tee-hee) would live. This thing would house about 100 samurai, and it's about the size of my parents' garage. It's also about 500 years old.
Now this next part is for my mom;
Apparently it's still early in the season for cherry blossoms, so it's only going to get better from here. Enjoy the virtual flowers :)
That rose tree was 12 feet tall. It reminded me of that scene from alice in wonderland, because they were too perfect to be real.

Here's some more scenery with statues of old people. They are previous emperors. 
So I wanted to get a tour of the palace itself, like I did in England when my family took me to London. But apparently the palace is very much still in use (their monarchy is much like England's, but without the tours). Figured it would be best NOT to get kicked out of the country for trying to get a candid camera shot with the Empress. 
This colourful building above is a music hall dedicated to the Empress in the 1960's. The mosaics are made up of tiny little tiles. One hell of a birthday present. 
Here's another picture of nature;

And then there's this;
AN ENTIRE FAMILY OF PEOPLE WEARING MASKS! WHAT HERPES RELATED ASTHMA DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE? I must find out before I leave. 

Wish me luck with this "clubbing!"

2 comments:

  1. Can I just say how incredibly jealous I am of the fact you get to be in the land of cherry blossoms?

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