Day 2: Hama Rikyu Garden and Shinjuku

This morning we slept in for quite a while, which wasn't surprising I guess, because of that thing called jetlag. :P Anyway, we decided to change our plans a bit since it was later than anticipated and took a train to Shiodome, a business district of Tokyo. After walking for a while, we reached the Hama Rikyu Garden, a traditonal Japanese garden built back in the era of the shogun (~seventeenth century). There was a free English audio guide offered at the entrance by an enthusiastic man, so we picked that up. It took us on a 90-min walking course of the whole garden. Even though it was hotter today than yesterday, the garden was so beautiful that we didn't mind sweating too much. It wasn't crowded, either. From the garden, we could see the skyscrapers of Shiodome all around us, as well as Tokyo Tower and the Rainbow Bridge. Some friendly fishermen waved to us from their boat. :)

After the garden, we were both wiped, so we found a McDonald's to grab some dinner. I had a "chicken crisp" which is basically a mcchicken. It was really fresh and the chicken was way better than any MDonald's in the US! Mom had fun pointing to the picture menu to order. ^_^

Before dinner, we took a local train to Shinjuku, another business district. A ton of walking in an underground passageway (the McDonald's was down there) led us straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (TMG). The TMG has a free observatory on the 45th floor. It offered a really great view of Tokyo; unfortunately, Mt. Fuji was shy today, so we were unable to see it.

Oh yeah, after returning to our hotel, we walked to the Sensoji temple again so we could see it illuminated at night. See below.

Phew! Feels like we did a lot today. Just one more comment: People in service, like cashiers, are SUPER FRIENDLY, but people walking along the street just bump into you without caring. So weird! That's Japan, though. :P