Tokyo - Day Three

The next day was just as bright and sunny.  We figured out the train system and headed across town to the Shinjuku neighbourhood.  Getting there was a bit of an adventure, as Shinjuku's train station is Tokyo's largest - and is far and away the world's busiest transit hub, serving over 3.6 million commuters per day!  Luckily for us, it was Saturday so there were fewer people than a normal day as we tried to navigate our way out.  Our first stop was the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building where (for free!) you can head up to the 51st floor and get a bird's eye view of the city.  The Tokyo we had seen to date was mostly lower rise (6-10 story) buildings, but this area had high-rises one would expect.

A fancy building along the way.

Before heading up, we stopped for Chad to eat a snack he picked up in the basement of a mall in the train station.  Many of the rail lines own huge department stores, which are attached to the train station.  In the basement they have food stands selling all kinds of delicious looking treats.

The view from above definitely gave us some perspective on the size of Tokyo - buildings as far as the eye can see.

Next we headed for the park next door.  There we found a traditional Japanese shinto temple.  In general, all the temples we saw were much less ornate than those in Thailand, but they were beautiful in their natural materials, simplicity and orderliness.

You can pay for a little wooden plaque on which you write your wishes.  Or cheap out and go the paper route :)

We moved from the west side of Shinjuku, which caters to business people, to the east side, which is apparently seedier (though definitely no Downtown East Side of Vancouver!)

Looks like a warning not to swear within earshot of small children.  

This was also a day of checking out some craft beer bars, as detailed in Chad's hoplog post.  But for those of you who don't make it over there, I am including a shout out to the sweet potato chips I tasted at a place called The Watering Hole.  Hot, fresh, lightly salted, insanely delicious - I am not ashamed to admit that I had two orders!

Tucked next to the red light district is a pocket of lowrise buildings called the Golden Gai.  Over 300 tiny bars are crammed into the backstreets of this district, which is quiet during the day but apparently comes alive at night.

The idea is that you choose a bar and pay a cover charge for your seat, since they are so small (6-10 seats) they can't rely on volume of business to make their dollars.  Many are known as being good places for conversation on a particular topic.  But only about a dozen of the bars actually allow foreigners... hence the sign above.

Sadly, we were too early for a drink in the Golden Gai.  We headed on our way.

The entrance to the Kabukicho entertainment district (i.e., the red light district)

The crowded, narrow side streets beside the train station also looked like a fun place to grab a drink.  They hung fake cherry blossoms in honour of the season (though we were on the early side for cherry blossom viewing, too).