Shinagawa

After a quiet day at sea yesterday, we have arrived in Tokyo!!! It’s the first time ever in a big city that we don’t know what to expect. We are considered in-transit passengers since most of the passengers have completed their leg and will get off this morning. Since we have another 2 week leg, we go off on a trip into the city for the day to explore. We’re on our own!😳

Well, it was quite a day in Tokyo! There were just 6 of us on an 8 hour tour with a fabulous guide so we got a good taste of Tokyo. We went to an area that was filled with temples, Buddhist
Priests and many symbolic shrines. We cleansed our souls with a water bath and incense so we are as pure as can be. It was a riot of color, sounds, exotic inscriptions and tastes. A little rain did not dampen our spirits as we continued through the maze of streets and people. I was the only one brave enough (or stupid enough) to do the traditional fortune telling. You shake metal container until a stick comes out of a small opening. The characters on the stick relate to a wooden drawer that you open and pull out your fortune. Mine was all good. Our guide had a very apprehensive look on her face as this was happening, but breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out well.
We went on to the Ginza area of Tokyo which is a high end shopping area. It was much like Madison Avenue in NY, but incredibly clean.
In Japan, there are no waste receptacles or any kind of garbage bins anywhere, you are expected to pack out any garbage you have. Litter does not exist here.
Lunch was a challenge. We ordered from pictures and were not 100% sure about anything we ate. About an hour later, it didn’t feel like we’d eaten anything. No wonder everyone is so thin.
There is a stationery store called itoya that was 8 floors of absolute stationery bliss. There was one whole floor of pens! I could’ve spent an entire day there.
We also went into a department store that was simply bustling with shoppers. Heading down 2 floors below the street level, we discovered a mind-blowing world of beautiful food for sale. Cookies, cakes, salads, seafood, meats - you name it, it was there, looking more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen.
All these experiences took a lot of processing. We are happy to have a sea day before our next port.Read more