Tokyo - Days 2 & 3

The second day of my vacation in Tokyo involved a lot of wandering around and a lot of relaxing! 

Since the Skytree was so close to my hotel, I headed there first. Little did I know that it would be packed with people!! I didn't realize that it had just opened a few months before, so it was swarming with people. That being said, I didn't go up to the top, but I did enjoy walking around the area and looking up at the giant beast! 

Then, I headed towards to the river, where I got a nice picture of lanterns hanging along the river. 

From the other side of the river, I was able to get a nice view of the Skytree and the Asahi buildings. Asahi is a Japanese beer that had headquarters in Tokyo. From my understanding, the gold building is supposed to look like a mug of beer. 

Next, I hopped on a boat and headed up the river to the other side of Tokyo. It was about a 40 minute ride and the views were really spectacular!

My final stop on the second day was an onsen, otherwise known as a bathhouse. The bathhouse I went to, Oodeo Onsen Monogatari, was amazing!! It is definitely set up for tourists and people to spend hours there. I actually ended up spending 4 hours there! For a big part of the bathhouse, you are wearing a kimino looking gown and it's coed. In the coed areas, there are foot baths, eating areas, and shopping stalls. The gender separated areas include the bath areas and relaxation rooms. It was incredible! I definitely recommend it!

Day two started with a trip to Shibuya, which was made popular in the movie "Lost in Translation". My first stop was the Sony Building. There, I played with all sorts of gadgets. I mostly stuck with the cameras, but it was fun seeing all the different things!

Outside the subway station, I said hello to Hachiko. If you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it. It's such an amazing story of loyalty.

And I walked through Shibuya Crossing, which is said to be the Times Square of Tokyo. There were loads of people!

Later, I headed to the market and caught a picture of some ladies in kimonos...so pretty!

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at a cat cafe. The owner spoke English really well and was really friendly. In the cafe, she had 17 cats that were waiting to be adopted. I really admired her commitment to the cats. Apparently, Japan has a big problem with strays, but she was helping as best she could. It was a nice stop!

These guys were everywhere around the tourist ares. The pull the carts with 1-2 people around the city. I was mesmorized! I can't imagine doing that....especially in the awful heat!

This street art caught my eye!

And finally, a nice sunset from my hotel window...a lovely day to end the day!