Tokyo

Well, you've all heard of the place, right? If you ever want to know what it feels like to have 30 million people in your pants, boy oh boy is this is place for you. It's safe to say that I'm not much of a fan of Tokyo. While I love the fact that everything imaginable could probably be found/done here, its just not my speed. You could spend a week trying to find out what to do. All those choices are aren't healthy for indecisive people, you know.

I only had 2 days in the big city, so I just decided to do what every other tourist would do - go to the main attractions.

I visited on March 27th, right before the cherry blossoms started to bloom. I was hoping to catch an early glimpse of them. So, we decided to go to Ueno Park right off the night bus (6:00am arrival). Endowed with thousands of cherry trees, the park had no signs of flowers. After combing the grounds we found a single tree that had seemingly just opened the first buds of the season.

The most popular cherry blossom in Japan, the somei yoshino

We continued to meander through the Ueno Park. Of course, what would a park anywhere in the world be without a bunch of pestering sea gulls.

Apparently Japanese sea gulls have better manners than American sea gulls. They completely avoided crapping all over this statue. Amazing, isn't it?

An early blooming breed cherry tree

Next we went to Ameyoko Street, apparently an old black market area that developed after WWII. Now, its home to an amazing fish market, and lots of things you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else. All legal, of course.

Ameyoko Street

6,000 Yen ($70) for a massive Octopus leg

A bunch of seaweed freshly yanked from the ocean...

Not a fan myself...

Seafood heaven, in fact.

Next, we decided to get a taste of some Japanese architecture. Nestled next to the Tokyo Central Train Station was the International Forum, which is said to resemble the inside of a whale.

Thought the reflection was pretty cool

Finished off the day headed to Odaiba island - a man made island built on trash if I'm not mistaken. I hoped to get a nightscape shot of the city, but the earthquake damage threw us a curveball; all observation decks were closed, and many of the city's main attractions like Toyko Tower and Rainbow Bridge weren't lighting up... Bleh... Nevertheless, got the best shot I could.

I did a post about Tokyo city and how it was affected in the aftermath of the earthquake and posted it on Japan-guide.com. It can be found here.

Anyways, the clouds were dancing that night so I couldn't complain all that much...

That's all from Tokyo. If you want to see a few more flicks without the stories check out the Flickr. Over and out.