It was late afternoon but we still had another destination to check out before we headed back to the room for a disco nap. We were pretty lucky on this trip to catch the very beginning of Sakura or cherry blossom season. The blooms were coming on a good two weeks earlier than usual. Ueno Park is one of the most popular places in the city for Hanami, or cherry blossom viewing. At it’s height, families come to the park with blankets and picnic baskets and spend the entire day enjoying the blooms.
Some early blooms putting on a show.
You can spy some people camped out on blankets in the back.
These lanterns lined the walk ways. I had to disagree with the color choice. Hello? Clashing!
This promenade will be over arching with pink blooms soon enough.
I could find nothing about this beautiful fountain.
I just adore this picture of girls dressed in Kimono. Try and ignore the iPhone.
So pretty!
This tree is right by one of the entrances. Great advertising, tree!
The hugest wall of lanterns yet.
A few more blossoms for your enjoyment….
This park includes many, many museums as well as a proper zoo. We just didn’t have enough time to visit any of these. This strengthens my stance that we absolutely need to come back. We headed to to what I thought was Ameya Yochoko,Turns out it was just another pop-up food fair. The former we never ended up finding. Yet another reason to return!
Stairs leading down to more festival food.
It was shoulder to shoulder here.
Say it with me now…Takiyaki!!!
These were similar to Takiyaki but bigger with a whole egg in the middle. Didn’t Try.
No idea what’s happening here.
Some more crazy state fair food.
Beyond the food stands there were small temples.
I’m not sure if this was a museum or not.
Another small temple.
Stunning gardens
Framable.
The waterways were boiling with Carp here. A homage to the inedible fish.
Not a snake.
The main temple that we saw here was the Shinobazuike Bentendo. It stands on an island in the middle of Shinobazu Pond in Ueno.
Shinobazuike Bentendo
The cherry blossoms here were a deeper fuscia color. Just gorgeous.
I tried to take as many artsy photos as possible.
This is the first place where we encountered Temple cats! These guys just wander around here. I’m not sure if they are fed by the monks or are just here keep the mouse population at bay.
They were moderately friendly.
No pictures, please.
Okay, but I won’t open my eyes.
This beauty was ready for his close-up.
The far end of the park opened up to Shinobazu Pond and a gorgeous city center.
Swan boats! What fun.
It was chilly, but the boater sailed on.
Some view, huh?
We set about finding a train station. Some colorful flowers were just planted along the way.
So when we left early this morning our little street in Korea town had orange cones blocking off the street. Now we know why. Some K- Pop boy band was paying a visit.
All the blue sweatshirts are the band.
The young girls were swooning!
We joined the parade due to the fact that it was they way to our room!
More swooning.
We successfully navigated through the hordes of frenzied teen girls to our room. Fast forward now to dinner. To this point, we had mostly been catching snacks here and there. We decided to try and find a sit down restaurant right in our Korea-town neighborhood.
Heo-chan Shin-Okubo A vietnamese restaurant in Korea-town in Tokyo. Meta.
A beer that’s not Kirin!
The food here was fresh and delicious! This was a sort of Pad Thai.
If I ever got another tattoo…
Next course, these gorgeous prawns!
Finally, roasted duck.
The space age vacuum tubes over the tables are for Barbecuing.
Our last stop for the evening was a bit of a pilgrimage. You by now know that Tokyo Disney was the impetus for this adventure, but there was another bit of pop culture that lured us to the city of Tokyo.
For relaxing times, make it Suntory time.
One of my favorite films is Lost in Translation. If you say that that’s the movie where nothing really happens, I’m afraid we can’t be friends. The movie is set in Tokyo, mostly in the Shinjuku area where we stayed. This film beautifully illustrates the vast dichotomy of the city, from the mammoth neon city centers to the serene temples, and the unique customs and morays of the Japanese people. One of the more recognizable scenes takes place in the very real Park Hyatt Tokyo. The hotel occupies the top fourteen floors of a fifity-two story skyscraper.
The portico of the Park Hyatt.
Bamboo in the large atrium.
We are headed to the New York Lounge. It’s not so easy to locate. Luckily I found a blog post with detailed instructions on how to get up there!. First you take an elevator ride from the main entrance to the 41st floor where the Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel lobby is actually located.
Almost there!
Once you’re on the 41st floor, signs will lead you through this gorgeous library and to your second elevator ride.
This second elevator will take you up to the 52nd floor, where New York Bar awaits.
We made it!
The view from ten more stories up!
The rub here is an exorbitant cover charge of $25 US. I know, I know, it’s a lot. However, I didn’t travel all the way around the world to skip this over fifity bucks. Plus, the high entrance fee most surely keeps out Looky Loo’s that wouldn’t be laying out fifty thousand yen for drinks.
The drinks were crazy expensive too, but we got bar snack AND extra Luxardo cherries!
I whittled down the four thousand pictures I took of the skyline
This chick kept hopping up as I tried to get a pic of the band.
Lady, please!
How about a lap after drinks?
Drinks were drunk.Now, back down to the library.
Down to the lobby. You missed a spot.
This creepy dude bids you adieu.
See here ends the last full day in Japan. Fear not, dear readers. We have a few hours to explore Shinjuku before we have to leave this phenominal place.
Up Next: How hard is it to find a thirty story fire breathing monster?