April 14, a guided tour of Tokyo

 

Today we go on a guided bus tour of selected sights in Tokyo.

We had a wonderful buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant on the 26th floor. Most of the tables were near the window around the restaurant so diners had views of the Tokyo skyline.

The selection and quality of the food was varied and good. After breakfast we went back to the room to get our belongings and down to the concierge so she could order a taxi and give us a card with the address of the bus terminal. 

This tour was arranged by our tour company and was a disappointment as we expected a bus pickup to join the tour and not have to pay for a taxi.

When we got there we got in a queue for our   tour ticket and and then boarded the bus. 

The bus left promptly at 9 am and our guide was Mai. She explained the order of the visits and what to expect.

Our first stop was the Tokyo Tower Observatory. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3009.html.

It is  the second highest structure in Japan and 13 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower. There are two observation decks and Mai took the group to the first one. One got a great view of Tokyo from here. Sophia went with the group and due my fear of heights I remained on the ground level.

 

Tokyo Sky Tower

View of Tokyo from Sky Tower

base of Sky Tower

 

Next stop was a visit to the Happo-en Park where we walked though the grounds to attend a tea ceremony. 

 

Mai warned us that the tea ceremony was very formal and not to talk during the tea preparation. Since the building was small we went in two groups. We were in the last group so we walked around and viewed the pond full of colorful koi and the park like grounds taking photos.

When our turn came for the tea ceremony we were ushered into the building and took seats. The hostess started the ceremony by telling us to be quiet and observe and then she passed out pink and green sugar cubes for us. We each took one so the sugar could cleanse our palates.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2096.html

 

 

The hostess then started the tea ceremony as described on the above referenced web link. I'm not going to describe the whole ceremony but just a few notes. She passed out the cups, we positioned the cups as instructed and once we got our tea drank it as instructed. We turned the cup around and she collected them. 

This was a really nice experience and we were glad it was on the tour.

Mai said we were now going for lunch at the Hotel Chinzanso for a traditional Japanese BBQ lunch. 

 

The hotel and grounds were very large and we walked about 10 minutes from the lobby  to get to the restaurant. . 

 

We all sat at the small tables that included the grill. 

There was a cook for each table who started grilling the vegetables and meat.

 

 Once cooked she would serve everyone. The food was delicious and the experience great. We really enjoyed this meal.

 

We then went to the Imperial Palace (where we were two days ago) and listened to Mai explain about the palace and the Emperor. She gave us free time and we walked around the grounds until it was time to board the bus

 

We did not realize that a river cruise was part of the tour and were surprised when Mai told us. 

We boarded the boat at Hinode Pier for the 45 minute ride to Asakusa. 

 

The ride was smooth and scenic. We debarked at the Asakusa pier and Mai led us up to the street near the Asakusa Temple and then to the Temple and Nakamise shopping arcade. We were here before as part of the Cruise tour so we were familiar with it. We told Mai that our hotel was nearby and we would leave the tour here and not return with the group.

We walked back to our hotel after our visit here.

Dinner was at the hotel buffet. 

 

 

We tried various dishes and enjoyed our meal. 

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Thank you,

George

 

 

 

April 13, our disembarkation in Tokyo, end of the cruise

 

 

Today was the end of our cruise and we start the last part of our journey with tours in Tokyo.

The cruise was all and more that I expected. We  got to see so many different things on our shore excursions and on the three days in Beijing. 

We are so glad we selected this cruise!!

 

Now we start our tour of Tokyo and Tokyo Disney.

As I mentioned in the first blog about this trip we chose to use a tour company to provide our transportation while in Tokyo, mainly to take us to the hotel from the port and at the end to the airport. We also elected to take some tours of Tokyo with them.

Once we disembarked and cleared customs and collected our baggage we left the terminal building to find our car service.

Our driver Masami had a sign up with our name and we met him and took our luggage to his car and he loaded up two suitcases in the trunk and the rest in the front seat.

The ride to our hotel was quick and smooth and before we knew it we were at the Asakusa View Hotel.

 

 

We had to wait a bit to check in and since the room was not ready we went to the lobby restaurant to have lunch. We ordered club sandwiches with fries and the sandwich was cut in 3 as four is bad luck. 

 

We went back to the lobby to see if the room  was ready and we got our keys and a porter to bring the bags to the room.

Since today was a free day we asked the concierge to make reservations for us for tea at 4 pm at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Ginza and to order  a taxi to take us there.

The concierge told us that for today and future taxi trips to see her and she will write the destination in Japanese for the driver on the back of a card that we will give to the driver for the return  the hotel address. (This system worked very well.)

Our initial impression once we saw the taxi was surprise. The driver wore a suit and tie and white gloves and he opened the rear door automatically for us. Once in he closed the door for us with a lever or button.

 

The restaurant for the tea was on the 38th floor and the view from this floor was breathtaking. We could see all of Tokyo from every side of the 38th floor.

The hostess seated us near a window and then the waitress took our order.  As with the Sheraton Peace Hotel in Shanghai the sweets and savories were beautifully presented and were delicious. 

 

This was such a nice way to end our first day in Tokyo. We got to see parts of the city with the drive to the hotel and back. 

We did not know we had to make reservations for the buffet in the hotel and ended up having pizza for dinner in a small pizzeria near the hotel. Since then we made reservations for dinner every night we were at the hotel.

Tomorrow we go on our first guided tour.

==

April 12, 2019 Yokohama Japan port for Tokyo

 

 

Today the ship arrived in Yokohama (port for Tokyo)for an overnight stay. This was our last port and it worked out having the extra day so we can take a tour of Tokyo before we disembark.

 

We booked an all day- 8 hour - tour which we normally don't do on cruises but we wanted to see as much as we could. 

 

We left at 10:30 am and arrived  around 11:30 in Tokyo where the first stop was the New Otani Hotel where we had a Western Lunch. 

We were shown to a private room and our group was then seated. 

 

The waiters then proceeded to serve our lunch- soup,salad, BBQ chicken and chocolate cake for dessert with either coffee or tea.

Our first visit was to the Meiji Shrine which was built for the Emperor Meiji, the father of modernization.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3002.html.  

It was very large and we had to walk together so we would not get lost in other groups and local visitors. The grounds were very well maintained and pretty.

 

The shrines were large and impressive. After our guide explained about the site we were on our own to get back to the parking lot. 

Next to the parking lot was a gift store where we bought some cookies.

 

Our next stop was the Imperial Palace and the grounds surrounding it.

https://tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/tokyo-imperial-palace-guide/

The palace complex is in the center of the city and very large. It had a park like setting and people were relaxing and walking and just enjoying the scenery of the park.

The entrance to the Imperial Palace was blocked by a gate.

 

 

Our last stop was to visit the Senso Ji Temple also know as the Asakusa Kannon Temple in Asakusa. It is Tokyo's oldest temple. 

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3001.html

 

 

It seems it is a very popular destination as it was very crowded when we arrived. Lots of people in the Temple complex and in the adjoining shopping arcade, Nakamise. 

 

 

 

There were lots of young women wearing Kimonos and were glad to pose with us for photos..

 

We had one hour here to wander and shop before we had to get back on the bus for the ride to the ship.

Later we discovered that our hotel for our stay after the cruise was a few blocks from here. Very convenient.

On the way back we saw a rickshaw...