Busy Day

After a failed attempt to visit the Imperial Palace Gardens yesterday, we returned this morning and lucked into a free private tour by Hiroshi, a retired computer programmer who works for a Tokyo tourism club. Then it was off to Ginza, where we lunched on the street to items bought in the Matsuya department store. Afterward, a quick tour of the Sony Gallery before heading over to Roppongi. There, I backed out of a sky-high scenic view when I found out it was outside on the roof, so we snapped pictures of Tokyo Tower and left for Harajuku, where we toured the main shopping thoroughfare before visiting nearby Yoyogi Park. Outside of the park, we dined on street fare. I had octopus balls, which I'd recently seen Anthony Bourdain enjoy. As we ate, we conversed as best we could with a woman who works as a pantomime, and we think she may be with Cirque du Soleil, but her English was as good as our Japanese. Next, we visited Shinjuku for an indoor sky-high view at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and snapped nighttime pics of Tokyo Tower. After a brief tour of the tiny gay area, we decided to check out Akihabara before heading back home. We were too tired when we got there, so we split a Teriyaki Whopper and made our way back to Ueno. We stopped by the 7 Eleven on the walk to the Hotel Edoya, and I picked up my new favorite snack, Crunky Popjoy. A quick soak in the outdoor roof tub, and we called it a night.