I blogged about Hakuba here. This post is the two nights before Hakuba and was written just after we got back, but I have been waiting on pictures from S's laptop...and I am lazy.
The first two nights we spent in Tokyo. We stayed at the Metropolitan Marunouchi which was amazing! S upgraded our room to a corner suite and since we were on the 47th floor, we had sweeping views of Tokyo. At night, with all the lights lit up, Tokyo is just incredible!
The hotel is located in Central Tokyo and is close to Ginza (the upmarket shopping district of Tokyo), so we walked along the streets checking out the designer stores and just took it all in. We also saw the 'Tokyo Illuminati' which is the annual display of Christmas Lights. We noticed that on Boxing Day morning, all Christmas decorations had been taken down (apart from the lights which are there until end of Jan) and replaced with 'Happy New Year' decorations. The Japanese are certainly efficient.
During these two days, we also went to Tsukiji fish markets and Odaiba. Tsukiji fish markets are recommended by many people but I think it is something you can miss if strapped for time..It's just..lots of fish. Also, lots of people! There are a lot of stores and each sell different things. After you have seen so many though, they all look the same.
Odaiba is located near Tokyo Bay. We went there just to see what it was like and also because S read there was a Suntory factory (which ended up being offices, not a museum or anything). We were amused to find a 'Statue of Liberty' near the shore, too. We didn't spend too much time here, as it was nearing the evening and we had walked about 7km from our hotel to get there so were exhausted.
Odaiba seems to be a bit of a tourist trap with a shopping arcade, restaurants etc by the water. One thing that we found really strange was a pet shop that had a room people could pay to go in to, to play with the cats. I suppose with such small living areas a lot of people can't keep pets. Still though...only in Japan!
Next up - Tokyo Part 2.
All the lights are really pretty, including your amazing view!
ReplyDeleteFish looks like it would have smelt interesting, not sure I would have stayed long haha.
And I love the statue of liberty!
Just googled and found this:
DeleteThe French Statue of Liberty came to Odaiba, the beach area of Tokyo since April 1998 until May 1999 in commemoration of "The French year in Japan". Because of its popularity, in 2000, a replica of the French Statue of Liberty was erected at the same place.
I like that there is a reason for it too, not just because they wanted one :-)
Photos look amazing!!! The view is breathtaking so many lights and colours! x
ReplyDelete