It was a life long dream to visit Tokyo and in mid 2010 we decided to book a 2 week vacation to Asia for later in the year. Fast forward to November and we were in Tokyo.
For 5 amazing days we ventured around Tokyo.. Upscale Department Stores, Temples, the Electronics District, Tsukiji Fish Market, Harajuku, Tokyo Disney Land and many other enticing exotic sites.
We both love sushi so when we found ourselves near the Tsukiji Fish Market bright and early in the morning (jet lag from NYC is not fun) we decided to join the locals and have an authentic sushi breakfast. Who knew shrimp hand rolls and green tea made a great breakfast (this is coming from a girl that eats yogurt and granola most mornings).
Based on the recommendation of my Tokyo colleague we ventured off one morning to aTemple and we were so happy that we did. Neither of us are religious but you could not help feel the spirituality surround you. There were plenty of places to pray but I was most intrigued by the wish / fortune sticks.. after paying a small feed you shook a container of sticks wishing for something until one came out. You then matched the Japanese symbols on the stick with the drawer marked with the same symbols. Inside was your fortune. Even though I am still waiting for my wish to come true I do believe it will happen.
One of the main temple buildings.
We had the pleasure of staying at an amazing 5 star hotel in Tokyo (The Ritz Carlton in Roppongi). Our room was on the 52nd floor and had a view of Mt. Fuji, most of the time there was too many clouds to see the Mountain but once in a while the clouds parted and this was our view:
One of the most intriguing things about Tokyo is how everything is so compacted.. after a few hours of being in Tokyo you quickly realize that you have to look up all of the time when walking around. Street level is just the beginning... almost every building hosts floors and floors of businesses. One night on our way to Tokyo Tower we wanted to try Udon. We stumbled upon this little restaurant in Roppongi that had the best tasting Udon I have ever tried. If only we could recreate this at home!
Finally here is a picture of the Tokyo Tower.. the views were similar to those from our hotel room but it was a great way to see Tokyo.
Tokyo we will be back!
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