Tokyo - Meiji Shrine

Tokyo - We took a JR to Yoyoji station bound for Meiji Jingu.  This is one of Japan's revered Shinto Shrine dating 1920 where the souls of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken are enshrined.  This is a very popular shrine and it was crowded.   The whole environment is awesome with trees and trees all around whilst you walk up the gravel pavement towards to the shrine.

Meiji Shrine entrance

Meiji Shrine in the foreground

We were also fortunate to watch a wedding procession taking place at this Meiji Shrine.

Actual wedding ceremony

Blessing tablets

Barrels of Sake wrapped in straw

Mt Fuji - Yeti Snowtown

Tokyo - i booked the coach which took us from Shinjuku to Yeti snow town and reached our destination @ 10am.   It was a 2 and a half hours journey up to the ski resort.  At our half rest area, I managed to catch a pic of Mt Fuji.

Mt Fuji in the background

Getting ready to Snowboard 

We are getting ready to snowboard on Mt Fuji slopes with lots of falling down later.

Quin managed to snowboard

a view of Mt Fuji

Snow boarders

Outdoor fire place

It was so cold outside that I did not even feel the heat from this big fire pit.   After the 2 1/2 hours ride back to Shinjuku we hunt around for dinner and found this special soba stall.

Cod roe dry soba

fermented beans dry Soba

Tokyo - National Museum of Nature and Science @ Ueno

Tokyo - Back at Ueno to visit this National Museum of Nature and Science which we missed out on our last visit.   For high school children it was free entry to this museum.

Entrance

Upon entry we went to the THEATER 360, which is an amazing display with a 360 degree field of south and vision.   2 movies of 5 minutes each displaying The Last Dinosaurs and The Universe: A Journey of 13.7 Billion Years.

This museum was huge and had a Global Gallery which exhibits the History of Life on Earth, the evolution of the Earth and its inhabitants, along with a history of the development of intelligent thought in humans.

The Japanese Gallery displays exhibits on the environment on the Japanese islands, the evolution of the its organisms and the process by which the modern Japanese population was formed.

We spent the whole morning here as there were many interesting exhibits of stuffed animals, insects and dinosaurs to be seen.

Stuffed Panda and Anteater

insect exhibits

Dinosaurs bones

Giant periodic table

There are many science exhibits for my children to play around like the above periodic table.

resting their tired legs

The herb garden is on the roof top of the museum.

Tokyo - Ueno

Tokyo - From the JR Ueno station it was a short walk to Ameyoko, one of the popular and crowded streets with stores selling clothes, shoes, dried foods, etc

Ameyoko Street

Fresh fruits stall

Next, we walk to The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo.   The building is is one of UNESCO World Heritage Site in Tokyo.   You are able to view many Western Art including modern Rodin Sculpture and Monet paintings from France.

Me and Pax

One of Rodin's sculpture

many interesting paintings

It was surprising to find so many security guards at every corner of this Tokyo Western Art Museum. After spending many hours at this museum and our legs are aching, we stroll slowing to the nearby Ueno Park and was lucky to come across a farmers market.

many fresh pickles and dried foods

A short walk through the park we came across Toshogu Shrine.  This shrine was built in 1627 and one of the places to visit in Ueno.

Toshogu Shrine

Next to the Toshogu Shrine is the Five-storied Pagoda.

Five-storied Pagoda

Peek-a-boo

Citrus fruit 

There was a huge citrus fruit tree growing within the compounds of the shrine.

eternal flame for the atom bomb victims

Winter time brings vibrant colours to the Ueno park and it was so beautiful.

Beautiful blend of nature

After all the walking we had a satisfying sushi dinner....

My kids still crave for more sushi and we found another stall that was value for money.

my family 

Sashimi Don

It was a very delicious sashimi rice dinner....yummy.   Raw prawns, scallops, salmon, squid and rice

Unagi Don

Salmon belly don

Tokyo - Asakusa

Tokyo - Today we went to the district of Asakusa which is known for its old-town atmosphere and historic Buddhist temples.  A short distance from Asakusa station, we stop by the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center which was a good resource for the district of Asakusa.   The counter ladies speaks good English too.  The 8th floor has an observation deck which gives a good view of Tokyo SkyTree.   The outside temperature was very cold at 6 degrees.

There were too many tourist gathered around this huge hanging latern at Kaminarimon Gate which makes taking a pic around this gate almost impossible.   This gate is the symbol of Asakusa and is the main gate to the temple.

A big slipper on the Kaminarimon Gate

Passing through the gate on both sides are lined with stores dating back to the Edo area and is called Nakamise Shopping Street.

At the end of the Nakamise Shopping Street is the famous Sensoji Temple which is the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo, and was built in 628.  Walking around we came across ROX shopping centres, which comprises of 4 nearby shopping buildings.

along Denbouin Street

Outside Asakusa Entertainment Hall along the street, there are Japanese Celebrity handprints.

Japanese Celebrity handprints

Our Okonomiyaki dinner...

Seafood Okonomiyaki

We came back to Ikekuburo and still feeling hungry and ate a hearty meal of Japanese Spaghetti.

500g Japanese clam Spaghetti

Tokyo - Odaiba

Tokyo - We went to Odaiba, which is a popular shopping and entertainment district on a man made island in Tokyo Bay. It originated as a set of small man made fort islands (daiba literally means "fort"), which were built towards the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) to protect Tokyo against possible attacks from the sea.  The small islands were joined into larger islands by massive landfills, and Tokyo began a spectacular development project aimed to turn the islands into a futuristic residential and business district.

From Toyosu station (Y22), we took the monorail to Palette town and we enjoyed the Toyota Mega Web.  Mega Web is a giant Toyota showroom that shows off all of Toyota's latest models, car accessories and technologies. Attractions include a museum exhibiting cars from past decades and its many complimentary arcade racing.

Pax on this racing car

Trev on his A1 Toyota car

Q on his A1 racing car

all racing

Toyota futuristic car

A short walk to Venus Fort is a shopping mall in the style of a 18th century South European town. The mall features over a hundred shops, fashion boutiques, cafes and restaurants on three floors including a few outlets shops on the upper floor.

After which we took the monorail to Daiba station (U07) to Aqua City Odaiba.  The fifth floor houses a ramen food theme park where you can try different ramen from all over Japan.  We tried the Southern-style pork bone broth ramen.

Ramen Southern-Style

Statue of Liberty

It took a while to steady the camera to take this pic as the temperature was very cold with the wind blowing on to our faces.    From April 29, 1998 to May 9, 1999, the statue of Liberty of Paris was installed temporarily in Odaiba, as part of the celebrations of the Year of France in Japan.   Since this temporary presence of the statue was appreciated by many, the French Government permitted the making of this replica of the statue.