The first stop was to watch around Tokyo Tower area. It took around an hour and a half to get up there. Took some really good pictures, saw another one of the crazy big spiders. This one was enjoying breakfast, a nice big fly. When we got on the other side of the tower I noticed that the moon was right behind the tower. Really nice shots. In the same area there is a tree which was planted by George H. W. Bush. We walked around from the other side and got a few more shots. Then it was on to Akihabara.
First up was to go to the Yodabashi. After enjoying a delicious "Black Out" doughnut it was time to look for a camera bag. I ended up getting a LowePro Nova 160 AW. Fits all my gear and has a rain cover. Stopped by Burger King and wandered around the area for around an hour, and then it was on to the next destination, Asakusa.
After overshooting the entrance and backtracking we finally arrived at the Asakusa Temple/Shrine. This area is unique in Japan because it has both a Shinto Shrine and a Buddhist Temple. One of the early emperors did this in an attempt to unify Japan. Still to this day most Japanese follow Buddhism and Shintoism. Took some nice pictures of a bronze statue of a famous Kabuki actor. I have always missed this statue because it was behind where buses drop people off. The next stop was Shinjuku.
The main purpose of the stop at Shinjuku was to ascend the first building of the day. This was the Metropolitan Government Offices South Tower. The building is compressed of a main portion and then two towers. The South Tower has a more pictureqs view of Tokyo. Another benefit it is free. After taking photos up at the top we went down to Shinjuku park. At this point it was around one thirty, so everyone was getting hungry. So we headed off to Roppongi.
Once we arrived in Roppongi we headed over to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. After the grub we headed over to Roppongi Hills and Tokyo City View. The trip to the top of this building cost 1500 Yen, for an extra 300 Yen you can go out on the top of the building. I decided that for me 52 stories was enough. The view from this building is the best you can get in Tokyo. You can see the Shinjuku area, Tokyo Tower, and on a clear day Fuji. These days don't happen too much, if you can get up right after a Typhoon rolls through the sky will never be clearer. Then it was back on the trains headed to Shibuya.
This is one of the worlds most famous Mass Crossing Areas. We sat and chilled at Starbucks for about a half hour. This Starbucks is always one of the top 5 in the world for business each year. Got some good shots of the mass crossing in action. There are even more people if you go later at night. At this point we had our fill of Tokyo, so where better to go than Kawasaki.
There is a train from Shinagawa directly to Kawasaki that takes 8 minutes and cost 290 Yen, a pretty good deal. We headed over to California Pizza Kitchen for a Califronian Club Pizza, Chicken, Bacon, Lettuce, Tamato, and Avacado. As we walked into the mall where the CPK is there was a J-POP band performing. The pizza was good the music was not. After dinner it was time for the final stop on the trip, Yokohama Minato Mirai.
Spent around 2 hours around Landmark Tower. Got shots up from the dry dock to the building, then went up into it for some night photos. A tripod would have been awesome. I did me best to set the shutter speed very low and let the magic happen. This only works so well when the camera is in motion during the shot. You can see those pictures in the second album. New camera took 570 pictures without losing one bar on the battery, very good. It did lead to the discovery that picasa only lets you upload 500 pictures per album. I am assuming that most people will never know that limit.
Enjoy the pictures from the Super Trip.
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| October 10 |
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| October 10th |
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| October 10th Part 3 |
1 comment:
Great shot of you in the crowd at the intersection. Night shots are tricky, but sometimes the mistakes end up being the coolest photos. Also the Tokyo Tower photo with the reflection on the base of the tower is really nice. We had fun clicking through the train approach in set 3. And exactly how many Starbucks did you visit?
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