Day 2, Tokio, Shinjuku
Written in Dublin on 26th.
The Second Day. We actually slept till midday, even thought I few times woke up to random noises from the street. The room was in middle of the house, no windows a all. But still the noises carried there.
Jarel picked us up from the Ryokan and we all headed to Shinjuku. The Shinjuku station is famous for the rush hours, 3 to 4 million people go through it every day. It's kinda mind boggling statistic. All I know there was lots and lots of people every time I passed and it being a cross station it happened several times.
We started by walking to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building - there is a free observation are in the top floor of the twin towers. The tower without the restaurant gives the better view, in my opinion.
After we had spend some time admiring the view - endless buildings and hint of a mountain behind the clouds in the horizon - we headed to the other side of the station and went to lunch.
Then we went to book store Kinokinya and after that had to part with our guide. We walked to building that housed manga and anime dvds on several floors (I later learned it was apparently part of the aforementioned book store.) and on the top floor there was an Internet 'cafe'. It was a huge place, all walls full of bookselves of manga and several kind of seats to pick. Open seats, closed seats, pair ones and so on. The fee included free drinks from the vending machine. This was the first time I tried iced cocoa, which I later got nearly addicted :D We tried to arrange the details of our Kyoto trip, but in vain.
When we exited the cafe, we wandered around, spend time in arcade (again several floors, a floor for 'catch a prize' another for shooting games and so on). We also walked around in Kabukicho, a district known of host clubs and other stuff. If the adds are to be believed, lots of good looking people are working there ;) No, we didn't visit anywhere, just walked around.
And finally we re-visited the Government Building, went up to other tower and got great night view of Shinjuku. I hope I can save the pictures I have in the memory card that faced accident later in the trip...
Feet started aching that day. But it was worth it, Shinjuku, more than Takadanobaba gives the idea of metropolis, the people all around, shops, noise, lights...
The Second Day. We actually slept till midday, even thought I few times woke up to random noises from the street. The room was in middle of the house, no windows a all. But still the noises carried there.
Jarel picked us up from the Ryokan and we all headed to Shinjuku. The Shinjuku station is famous for the rush hours, 3 to 4 million people go through it every day. It's kinda mind boggling statistic. All I know there was lots and lots of people every time I passed and it being a cross station it happened several times.
We started by walking to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building - there is a free observation are in the top floor of the twin towers. The tower without the restaurant gives the better view, in my opinion.
After we had spend some time admiring the view - endless buildings and hint of a mountain behind the clouds in the horizon - we headed to the other side of the station and went to lunch.
Then we went to book store Kinokinya and after that had to part with our guide. We walked to building that housed manga and anime dvds on several floors (I later learned it was apparently part of the aforementioned book store.) and on the top floor there was an Internet 'cafe'. It was a huge place, all walls full of bookselves of manga and several kind of seats to pick. Open seats, closed seats, pair ones and so on. The fee included free drinks from the vending machine. This was the first time I tried iced cocoa, which I later got nearly addicted :D We tried to arrange the details of our Kyoto trip, but in vain.
When we exited the cafe, we wandered around, spend time in arcade (again several floors, a floor for 'catch a prize' another for shooting games and so on). We also walked around in Kabukicho, a district known of host clubs and other stuff. If the adds are to be believed, lots of good looking people are working there ;) No, we didn't visit anywhere, just walked around.
And finally we re-visited the Government Building, went up to other tower and got great night view of Shinjuku. I hope I can save the pictures I have in the memory card that faced accident later in the trip...
Feet started aching that day. But it was worth it, Shinjuku, more than Takadanobaba gives the idea of metropolis, the people all around, shops, noise, lights...