Tokyo trip: 5-2-09 to 5-5-09

Day one:

6am to 10am--Flying first class! Story and Pictures
10am to 1pm--Getting to Tokyo from Narita and checking in. Tokyo's metro system is INSANE! There are several train systems working within the city, which is really just a bunch of individual prefectures. It was so frustrating that there were a few times I wanted to cry, and I've been used to the NYC subway before. yipes. It was also very expensive. Timber and I probably spent about US equivalent $15/day just on subway fare.
1pm to 6pm--After checking into our hostel, we took a walk down to the river, took the water bus into central Tokyo and made our way through the Hama-rikyu gardens. Gorgeous!
Story and Pictures
6pm-9pm--Shibuya crossing, one of the busiest intersections in the world. Story and Pictures


Day two:

I slept really great inside the crazy capsule bed in the doom room at the hostel. Timber didn't sleep as well, being a little claustrophobic, but I was happy to close the sliding door to my bunk enclosure and hunker down. I was surprised at how comfy the mattress on the floor was. Booking the room, I was honestly a little scared of Japanese bedding, but I'm sold.
After rousing a sleepy Timber with coffee and juice from the convenience store, we made our way to the Meiji-jingu gardens, which were full of lovely surprises. Story and Pictures

After the gardens, we walked to nearby Harajuku, a huge shopping area full of great fashion and lots of really interesting characters, including the cozplay kids and the Elvis gangs. Story and Pictures

Day three:

We set the alarm for somewhere around 5am to try to get to the Tsukiji fish market by 6, but overslept and only got up around 8:30. It turned out to be early enough to see some of the action of the world's biggest fish market and have the best sushi meal of my life.
Story and Pictures
After the fish market, we headed back to Asakusa to drop off Timber's treasure and go to Senso-ji temple. We had been to a couple of gardens and a Shinto shrine, but not a temple proper, so we figured we probably should. Story and Pictures

Day four:
We packed up and made our way across town (yet again) to go to the Ghibli museum. It was too lovely for words. Story and a few pictures. (cameras aren't allowed inside the museum)

After the museum, it was back to the airport and Korea. I loved Tokyo, and if and when I go back, I was LOADS of money to spend--and not just on Pachinko.