Japan – Day 11 – Video
Quick video post...
Japan – Day 10 - Pictures
It’s aquarium day! That’s right. We’re doing the total tourist thing and heading off to an aquarium to see some sea life. My understanding is that there is also a dolphin and sea lion show. Sadly we don’t own any “I♥NY” sweaters or any other, equally embarrassing, tourist attire. Oh well, maybe next time. Anyway, off to the aquarium!
Japan – Day 9 - Pictures
Today we decided to take another stab at visiting the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. Success, it was actually open… both towers. Each tower houses an observatory on the 45th floor.
After the viewing it was off for some lunch and exploring. 
We found Tokyo Time Square in a part of town called Shinjuku. 
There are lots of interesting building in Tokyo. Too many to shoot. 
(Click for really high-res)
Japan – Day 8 - Video
It’s New Years Eve 2010! We began the day by traveling to a part of town called Shinjuku. We tried to visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, where you can see most of Tokyo from their observatory. Unbeknownst to us, it was closed for the holidays. Well, that gave us the opportunity to explore that side of town. Before we left, I snapped a few pictures of the building and generated this panorama (click for high-res).
After that we found a place for lunch. We did some Japanese Barbeque. Turns out our favorite dish was cow tongue… who knew!? After searching around town, and hitting up every high-tech camera/electronic shop, it was time to return for the New Year’s celebration!
New Years Eve in Japan is slightly different than in the states. Rather than having a private party, the Japanese typically celebrate at a temple. We found a local temple, which turned out to be rather large, and decided that would be our celebration point.
The place was packed! When we entered, we were offered ama-sake (A thick, pulpy, milk colored, warm sake). It’s alcohol content is much lower than regular sake and is considered suitable for children. People were also given bio-degradable balloons to release at midnight. How cool.
At this point we really regretted having dinner prior to our arrival. There were a large number of food stalls lining the walkways. Anything you wanted… noodles, seafood, meat, veggies, etc. We grabbed a quick beer and headed off to check out the sights.
There was a huge fire where locals were burning their previous year’s wishes and preparing for the current year’s goods. Monks were chanting and getting ready to ring the temple bell. They ring it 108 times at midnight. They believe that there are 108 desires and the rings are to clear these desires for the coming year.
I have yet to transfer all the photos from the last couple days but I have put together a video compilation of our New Years celebration…
Here it is…
Japan – Day 7 – Pictures
Today we decided to leave the city and check out Tokyo Disneyland. I left the camera at home and took Bree’s point and shoot. Of course I don’t have a card reader for it, so no pics until we return. Disneyland is only a 30 minute subway/train ride away. Well, it turns out that Disneyland is rather popular here; incredibly crowded. The shortest line we could find was three hours long (FastPass was also turned off). What a better way to burn a day in Japan than waiting for four hours to ride Space Mountain. Needless to say we decided not to wait in any of those lines. We just walked around the park and took in the sights. Later that evening the line for Pirates of the Caribbean had reduced to about an hour, so we decided to partake in one attraction. After that we were ready to head home. Way to go Disney!
On the way home we decided to stop by a local steakhouse but there were only smoking tables available. Hmm… more walking. While getting ready to cross the street, a woman, who had seen us looking for restaurants, approached and told us about a “wonderful little restaurant that has great food.” Score! A “locals” restaurant. She walked us down the street and into a little restaurant alley where we found… a tapas restaurant. Oh well, no Japanese tonight. The food was pretty good though so I suppose we can’t complain.
Tomorrow is New Years Eve and we’re planning the festivities. Should be a busy one. We’ll keep you posted.
Random pictures from earlier…
Japan – Day 6 - Video
Well, today was somewhat of a bust in terms of pictures. We changed hotels today (moving to the other side of town). As we were not entirely familiar with the surroundings our little exploration walk ended up taking a few hours more than planned. Thusly, I only took about three pictures… a building, a tiger made of legos, an a misfire that captured a tree. So instead of the daily photo post , I’ll post some video of day 5 instead. Our fish market experience. Enjoy…
Japan – Day 5 – Pictures
The Tokyo fish market… We woke up early to head over to the Tokyo fish market. This is the place where the daily catch comes in and the seafood is auctioned off to the highest bidder. The average price for a bluefin is around $12,000 but one recently went for $105,000 (298 lbs). These fish are huge; weights can top 400 pounds. That said, a wealth of seafood is available for sale, though tuna seems to be the most glamorous.
There are a few on-site restaurants that also purchase the daily catch and serve it up, starting at 6:00am. The lines to these restaurants are seemingly endless and can take hours to navigate. We weren’t about to let that stop us! We waited… and waited… and waited… Then it was time for some sushi breakfast! We ordered some fresh toro (tuna), tako (octopus), and the rest was the chef’s choice. It was amazingly fresh. An awesome experience indeed.
Waiting in line… Success, sushi!
Time to enter the fish market.
All was going well until one of the tuna attacked Bree. Mmm, fugu. 
Crabs aaaaand octopus!?!?! Yes, please. 
We explored all day. After all was done we headed off to the Tokyo tower to see the city from the observation deck. Below you see our approach and a shot I took of Mount Fuji. I have some panoramas that I’ll post shortly.
