Back to the jet lag! We went to sleep at around 11pm the first night. Although it was technically 10am in Toronto, we were tired. We fell asleep quickly, but then I woke up at around 230am, wide awake. The last time I checked my watch, it was around 315am and then I started dozing off. I finally fell asleep but then woke up again at around 5ish. This time around, I couldn't fall back asleep as it started getting bright outside. My wife was fine throughout the whole night, only waking up a couple times for a few minutes.
We ended up going for breakfast at 7am at a cafe a few steps from the hotel. About 15 minutes later, our friends that travelled the same day as us (who also woke up extra early) walked by so we flagged them down. We had our breakfast and walked around the area for about an hour or so as we had plans to meet up with the rest of the group at 930am.
Our first stop was Imperial Palace, the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. We were only able to get to a certain point as guards were surrounding the entrances. The Palace only opens its gates twice a year; New Year's and the Emperor's Birthday, and even then, the public is only allowed past the first gates. Even from the view we had, the Palace was beautiful. The surrounding water and trees made it appear so quiet and peaceful despite the hundreds of tourists in the area. And when I say tourists, I would say 90-95% are local people from Japan. What astonished me during this trip was the number of Japanese people and how busy it was. We were in the main tourists areas too, and it was hard to spot a tourist from another country.
After the Palace, we made our way to the underground of Tokyo subway station, which is hhhuge and a maze in itself. We were looking for "Ramen Street", a place with multiple ramen restaurants side by side. That only took around 40 minutes to find! It was Sunday, but the crowds were plenty. There were line ups at practically every restaurant, which were small in size, but the turn around time was quick because service was fast and it doesn't generally take too long to eat ramen. The group split up to go to different restaurants because it would be impossible to get a table for seven at that time.
Another fascination in Tokyo is the number of shops and stores located everywhere you go. Each subway station had their own underground mall, so getting from one place to another usually took us extra time due to us stopping and looking at everything!
The day went on, and we did some shopping in the afternoon. It was around 5pm and we made our way to Meiji Shrine in the Harajuku area before it closed at dusk. This was the first of many shrines we visited and it was a great one to see. The walk into the main area was breathtaking on its own with lush trees surrounding the path. Once getting in, all was peaceful and the crowds of people you were just in 15 minutes ago at the subway station were no longer there.
After the shrine, we walked to the Shibuya area to see, and participate, in the famous Shibuya crossing. I saw videos and pictures of it before going to Japan, but being part of it is a whole new experience. It was a Sunday evening, so the crossing didn't seem as crowded compared to the videos I watched, but it was still amazing. Being new to it, we crossed the intersection a few times just for the fun of it :)
Today was the first full day, and it was a long one. We were out early in the morning, and we didn't get back to the hotel until 1030pm.
