Today was a long, activity filled day. We started the day by touring the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. This tour was different from the other one in that the tour was not in English, but we were provided with an audio guide that we could use to learn about the different points of interest. We took great pride in noting the behavior of the other water buffalo as they fumbled around the tour, as we’ve practically developed from buffalo into elk by now. 

After the tour was over, we befriended another couple of water buffalo from Houston and shared some valuable information with them, since they had only just arrived in the past couple of days. My biggest contribution was that the word for beer is “biru”. I hope it turns out to be helpful.

We soon parted ways to tour the East Imperial Garden before touring the Kitanomaru Park on the way to the Yasukuni Shrine, which is the controversial shrine in Tokyo, as it enshrines the ashes of those who died in war, some of which are convicted war criminals. We had read that the shrine is often a site of protest by activists and politicians, all of whom arrive in black vans and shout over megaphones. There was none of this activity today and the shrine seemed very peaceful but for a group of older Japanese women in robes performing some sort of ceremonial dance (it was an odd, but interesting and noisysight).

We also witnessed a marching ceremony by a group of what we assume were retired Japanese soldiers. Charles and I have decided that all elderly Japanese people are adorable since they are all so small (Charles wants to pick them up and hold them… I remind him that they might scream). We were worried that these might be the sort of soldiers who hold a grudge against Americans, but we didn’t get any mean glares. In fact, after the ceremony, as we passed one of the soldiers, he made a point of thanking us (in English) for coming, so we felt very welcome.

After checking out the shrine, we made our way for the train station to go to Asakusa to check out the Senso-ji Temple (reputedly the best temple in Tokyo). Unfortunately, the temple was under renovation and the outside was covered, but we could still go into the temple. The temple was very beautiful and the streets surrounding it were full of outdoor markets, which we enjoyed walking through.

After the temple, we took a brief train ride to check out one of Japan’s newest skyscrapers, The Sky Tree, which is still under construction, before returning to Asakusa to kill time before our Tokyo Bay Cruise. We had noted that there was a Big Echo karaoke parlor in Asakusa and I suggested that this might be a good way to kill time, so we decided to check out the prices. It was only 240 Yen for 30 minutes (about $2.50), so we decided to give it a shot.

Unfortunately, none of the staff spoke English and we had a very difficult time figuring out what we were supposed to do. Karaoke is different in Japan in that you get your own private room, rather than having to sing in front of a crowded room full of strangers. We booked a room for 30 minutes and then spent about 18 minutes trying to figure out how to work the technorogy and then find a song in English that we knew (we brought sexy back….). We got through 3 songs before our time was up, which was lucky, because the room was VERY hot and we couldn’t seem to adjust the thermostat so as to make it cooler. Nevertheless, we had fun and it was a good experience.

After karaoke, we found that we still had an hour left to kill, so we went to, of course, Starbucks before finally boarding our bay cruise. The boat was a very futuristic looking vessel and the cruise was very beautiful, as it was just before twilight. We went under various bridges, which Charles announced for me, but all of the names sounded the same to me so I just nodded appreciatively and took in the scenery. We ended up in Odaiba, next to the rainbow bridge. Since it wasn’t quite dark and the bridge wasn’t lit yet, we walked along the beach while we waited. The bridge was very beautiful when lit, though it wasn’t quite as colorful as I expected (they probably should have named it the “illuminated bridge”, as “rainbow bridge” makes for some big expectations). Still, it provided a beautiful backdrop for our walk, with the Tokyo Tower behind it and the Statue of Liberty (yes, I know) in front of it. 

We ate dinner at the food court in the mall there along the beach. Charles wanted Japanese curry and I wanted to try the shrimp avocado sub from Subway, since I’m fascinated by American food in Japan, which is almost always very similar to in the U.S., but still very different. Neither one of us felt like we could pass up the opportunity to try the McShrimp Burger from McDonalds (think breaded, fried crab cakes only with shrimp), so we bought one of those to split, as well. We definitely need to bring the McShrimp to the U.S.

After dinner, we went to the Sega Joypolis arcade, which was again, very expensive. This time, we had to pay 500 Yen to get in (about $5.00 each) and then pay for each game we played, so this limited our game playing. This time, Charles and I competed on the Japanese drum game. The first time he was considerably disgraced. We won’t talk about the second time.

After the arcade, we made our way back to Ginza so that we could prepare for another long day tomorrow.