tokyo tour

The highlight of our first breakfast in Tokyo was an "award ceremony" conducted by the band director:  The New Keihan Universal Tower Hotel had forwarded items forgotten in our rooms over to the Hotel Ikebukuro and our band director called each person up to claim their items.  It was hilarious (and a little embarassing for some)!  Items ranged from clothing items to lanyards (which were required to be worn at all times), chargers, toothbrushes (Ryan!), and even one of the "mahalo" gifts we left for the room housekeepers.\

On the schedule for today was a Tokyo city tour, including Meiji Shrine and the Imperial Palace.

Here's a photo of our wonderful Bus C captain Noe and her son Kala.  She was great at keeping us on time.

The first stop was at Meiji Jingu, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the divine souls of Emperor Meiji and his consort Empress Shoken.  This Otorii is the largest wooden shrine gate in Japan.  The shrine is located in the middle of a forest of 100,000 trees donated by people wishing to pay tribute to them after their deaths. 

This is Ryan at the Temizuya, where people visiting the shrine purify themselves by rinsing their hands and mouth.  This is the etiquette:

1.	Rinse your left hand.
2.	Rinse your right hand.
3.	Pour water into your left hand.
4.	Rinse your mouth.
5.	Rinse your left hand again.
6.	Rinse the dipper (allow the remaining water to run down the handle of the dipper). These are "Ema," small wooden plaques that people write their prayers or wishes on.  I took a picture of this because there is one written in English by "Ryan" that says "I wish I had a dog, I wish my uncle would give my money."  So funny!  But not written by MY Ryan (I think).  The next stop was the Imperial Palace, which is surrounded by a moat.  Here is (most of) Bus C in front of the Nijubashi Bridge, with the Imperial Palace in the background. Next stop was the Asakusa Shrine.  This is a picture of us in front of the Kaminarimon outer gate.  This area was fun because there were a lot of little shops, including those selling toys, trinkets and food.  The final stop on the tour was Ueno Station.  We were led to Ameyoko-Cho, a busy market street where we could eat lunch and shop.  Jan and Craig met us there.  Darrell was wiped out even though he had mostly stayed on the bus during the city tour, so Jan and Craig took him by train back to the hotel and kept him company.  They even had a nice Italian dinner that night.  They were real lifesavers...thanks, Jan and Craig! The original plan for today was to go back to the hotel after Ameyoko-Cho and shop in Ikebukuro.  However, the band director suggested and the chaperones agreed to give the kids a treat and take them to Tokyo Dome  City instead. Traveling from Ueno to Tokyo Dome City was just a short train ride, but it wound up being an adventure.  It was very lucky we were wearing these bright blue shirts!  This was our first commuter train ride (we had previously only ridden bullet trains).  Unlike the bullet trains, where we had reserved seats on a specific train, this time we could jump on any train during a particular time period.   We were on the platform ready to jump on (since the loading time is only a minute before the doors close), when we got the word to GO.  We started getting on, then got the word to GET OFF!  Apparently the train was too crowded to accomodate all of us so the decision was made to wait until the next train.  So we got off.  Then the next train came and we were told to GO!  Then we got the word to GET OFF!  OMG, it was crazy!  We were so worried when it was passed down the platform that some kids had gotten on the train and hadn't gotten off.  I started counting but couldn't see everyone since it was so crowded and everyone was spread down the platform in order to get into one of the open doors.  My boys were so smart though.  They said if they got on and weren't able to get off because the doors closed, they said they would get off at the next stop and then wait until a train came that had a bunch of blue shirts on it, then jump in.  Then we got off at the right stop, then were told to walk down these stairs.  After most of us got there, we were told to go back up the stairs and go to a different exit.  It was so confusing, but luckily we all got to Tokyo Dome ok. The kids had a blast at the Tokyo Dome amusement park, including the Thunder Dolphin roller coaster.  I checked out the shopping mall there, hung out with the other chaperones, and had dinner at Bubba Gump's.   We caught the train again from Korakuen to Ikebukuro and this time we just got on, even though it was crowded!  I was surprised that the train was still packed at almost 9 pm with commuters in business suits.  It was a relief to get back to the hotel for the night since we had an early wakeup call for  Disneyland the next day.