Tokyo Part 3!

The last post about our trip to Tokyo. On our last day we had arranged to meet Taeko, who I used to work with in London! She is Japanese and now living back in Tokyo - so it was great to be able to see her and have her show us around. Firstly, we went to Tokyo Skytree: the 'largest structure' in the world! Whatever that classification means...

It was really cool: riding the elevator up to the observation deck was an experience itself! It went super fast, 600 meters a minute or something like that. And we got to see a great panorama of Tokyo. Supposedly you can see Fuji on a clear day... 

Taeko came in her beautiful kimono!

We then decided to walk to Akasuka and got a great view of the Skytree from far away! On the left is the Skytree - and next to it is the ASAHI headquarters! How cool is that - the building is designed to look like a BEER! That's my kind of architecture.

Akasuka is famous for Senso-Ji, a buddhist temple. But before we checked that out is was lunchtime! Taeko took us for traditional Tokyo food: もんじゃ (monja). I don't know how to explain it, but it's somewhat like a yummy savoury pancake with various vegetables/meat/fish fillings, depending on what you choose. The people at the restaurant cook it for you on a griddle at your table, which you then eat from! Sounds unusual... but it's really good! おいしいです.

Then, we visited the temple. A beautiful red building - but completely swarming with people.

Oh my gosh how cute are these kids? I had to take a sneaky picture just because it was ridiculous: it was about 2 degrees out and they were wearing these tiny shorts as their school uniform!! Japan takes uniforms to a whole other level.

 We parted from Taeko and Mike, and after packing our stuff at the hotel, we hit the Shinkuju district. The 'red light district' of Tokyo, which was pretty seedy. You can visit a 'special' DVD rental place, sit in a private booth all night, then have a shower and leave in the morning... A pretty strange place.

But instead of engaging in any hedonistic activities, we went to the cat cafe! And wow, it was fun.

It exceeded my expectations. It was full of pedigree cats with super soft fur, so it seemed as if they were really cared for. And the cats come out to play on rotation so they can have private time too! There were British short hairs (none that looked like Marlon unfortunately), Ocicats, Scottish Folds and many more beautiful breeds. I thought it would be full of Gaijin and teenage girls but many Japanese business men were  relaxing in their suits after work. It seems that cats have a calming effect that is transferable to everybody!

Jonny dress this guy up - but I don't think he liked it.

Then, back to the hotel ready to fly home in the morning. We had to fly back as we had work that day! So, we flew in our suits and I went straight to work when we stepped off the plane. The plane journey was really quick - and we got to see Mount Fuji! Wow, it was so beautiful. The plane was flying just above it and we got to see the whole mountain.