Yesterday after the fish market we came back to the hotel to regroup. We decided to go for lunch and some shopping in Ginza, the upscale shopping part of town.
Forgot to take a pic of lunch but it was at a little Korean place in the food hall level of one of the department stores. I had a soup with oxtail and rice, yum. Evan and Alaina should tell you what they eat when they update :0) We weren't allowed to take pics of our sushi breakfast. Actually there are a lot of places where photos are prohibited here...so if you're wondering that's probably why there isn't a photo of something.
A busy intersection in Ginza (the Sony store is behind me..we went in there and saw some cool stuff)
After the Sony store we were feeling pretty beat. We read in the Lonely Planet book about some hot springs, so we decided to give that a try. The place was in the Tokyo Dome complex.
Sadly there were no cameras allowed inside, but let me tell you it was amazinggggg. Here is a photo of one of the baths from their website:
The baths were gender-separated and totally natural (except for a little 'modesty towel.' There are facilities for scrubbing yourself well before entering the water. There were many baths of various temps, and steam rooms and saunas, the hottest being 90C! (yeah that's 194 F)
Upstairs there was a floor of relaxation rooms at various temps with heated floors. Just lay your (regular-sized) towel down, lie on the heated floor, listen to traditional japanese music and drift to sleep..... afterward you will be very hot, so step into the cold room and watch the jellyfish tank for a few minutes!
Downstairs there was a floor of massage rooms, facials, etc, a lounge with comfy chairs and tvs, and restaurants (they gave us special outfits to wear here).
This place was amazing. We spent about 6 hours there, including dinner (I had broiled eel on rice in a hot stone bowl). They didn't care how long you stayed - it was only about $30 for access (not including massage). It was seriously worth a lot more. (6 hours in spa +dinner+20min massage=$60. whaaaaaaa?) I think this will be a highlight of the entire trip...such a cultural experience.
After being pampered for 6 hours we stumbled home and fell into bed, hence no update last night.
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This morning, we wandered around a bit looking for brunch near the imperial palace, which is situated in the center of the city. We found a crowded little area and stepped into a tempura joint for a bite.
My tempura with broth and soba noodles, accompanied by rice wrapped in bean curd, cost about $6. So much food! Beats fast food in our country.
On to the palace. It's only open to visitors 2 days per year, but the outside is pretty enough.
Such pretty bonsai trees!
I'm sure you were wondering how they do that:
The east garden of the palace is free to visit - a beautiful japanese-style (duh) garden
-K
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