Tokyo, Japan

Today we took the train from Yokohama to Tokyo and did some exploring of Tokyo. Busy place and still hot and humid (heat index 100+ even in the morning).

We went to the Hama-rikyu Gardens which are not far from our hotel. They were initially established in1654 as duck hunting grounds and built on land reclaimed from the ocean. There is a large pond in the gardens that was designed to draw in seawater and is affected by the tides…controlled by lock gates. From the gardens we were going to go to a big fish market but couldn’t go in because I was wearing sandals. Not sure why that’s a fish market rule.

We did do some other exploring and ate lunch at the Shiodome train station. The larger stations are basically malls…this one had multiple restaurants and appeared to be having some summer programs for kids. Restaurants here are interesting. There are, naturally, many Japanese restaurants. There are also Chinese restaurants, mainly in the China towns. There are a few US chains like McDonalds and Subway (with shrimp subs). And then there are Italian restaurants. Tons of them everywhere we go here. Apparently the Japanese like their Italian food…even if they do put eggs on pizzas.

We took some time off after that to get out of the heat. While we were cooling off Paul found that there’s an owl cafe not too far from us, so that became our next adventure. You pay a fee to enter and for a drink…then you get to hang out with owls. It was a small place with about 12 owls out, all but one of which could be petted and/or held. Most of them are quite soft and docile..although one whacked me in the face when flying by. The place was quite an experience.

Tomorrow is our last day here. We have hired a guide to take us around to some of the historic sites…and whatever else they have in mind.