Taking On Tokyo

This holiday break was great. After skiing in Hakuba, we went to Tokyo to meet our friends, Liz and Phil, who were flying in from the states. We hadn't seen anyone from home in over four months, so this was very exciting for us. So- we went to Narita airport to meet them, headed back into the city to our hotel, and spent three nights there. We stayed in an older district on the northeast side of the city. It was cool because there was still shopping and city life, but it was a little calmer than some of the more famous neighborhoods. The subways in Tokyo were possibly the best I have ever seen. They were on time, clean, super easy to use, and we found these cheap two-day passes, so for what was like 10$, you could use the subways for 2 days with unlimited use. I was highly impressed.
Another bonus to our trip was that New Years is kind of a chilled out time in Japan. Dan and I had been a little nervous to visit Tokyo after hearing horror stories such as "people-jams" and people who's job it is to shove you into subways to make more room for more people to then be shoved in. I typically like my good old American personal space. So, when we discovered that the city was unusually calm and we would never be without a seat on the subway, we were more than pleased. In addition to the overall calmness, Japan doesn't have the same kind of "bar scene" we are used to surrounding this holiday. People here spend time with family and go to temples to pray for good luck in the new year.
Liz and Phil arrived on Saturday December 29th. They were understandably tired that night, so we went out to dinner and had an early evening. The next day, we went out to start our touristy sight seeing. In the three days, we saw Sensoji temple, the Imperial Palace grounds(the actual palace was closed for the holiday), Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Roponggi, the Mori Art Museum, and Ginza street. It was great. The districts were all like different little cities all attached to each other. Shibuya was very fun. It was really lively and had lots of shops and restaurants. It looked like what you think Tokyo should look like. Another cool place was the Mori Art Museum. It was in Roponggi Hills(a huge trendy shopping area) and was on the top of a high rise building. In addition to a cool modern art exhibit, your ticket is good for the Tokyo City View. It is just above the museum and there are huge windows that go all the way around the floor. The views were amazing.

This is us on a train from Narita airport heading into the city. I was so happy to see Liz!

This is the first night in the hotel. Phil was choking down some mystery drink he found at the convenience store.

At Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. Liz and Phil are warding off bad spirits with the smoke.

I was really excited to find this chocolate shop. For those of you that don't know, Peltier is my maiden name and I love chocolate.

Liz B. and Liz P. taking on Tokyo

Shibuya

Us in Shibuya.

Dan and Liz chatting on the metro.

In The Mori Art Museum at the Tokyo City View.

New Years Eve at Sensoji Temple.

Happy New years at an English Pub in Tokyo.