Have Some More Soybeans, or Day 2, Eating in Tokyo

We actually slept until about 7:30 am, we might be adjusting to the new time zone. Then is was off to breakfast where Nancy learned to look at the photos more closely before pointing (she got beef instead of chicken). Then we boarded the train and headed to Ueno-koen (koen means park).

Ueno-koen was the first public park in Japan and one of Tokyo's largest. There are many museums, temples and shrines, and a large pond (Shinobazu Pond). We started by finding the pond, much of which is covered with lotus plants. On a small artificial island in the center is a small temple. The fish in the boating pond seemed ready to pull us in. We saw several other temples, watched an interesting magic show (there were a number of "street" performers), found a totem pole erected by the Lions Club of Tokyo, and found a monument to General Ulysses Simpson Grant (he and his wife visited Japan after he was president and planted some trees in the park). We were amazed at the number of homeless people sleeping on the park benches and the "camp" they'd constructed with blue tarps near the Grant monument.

There are several museums in the park -- we chose the Tokyo National Museum. Two stories with lots of interesting Japanese arts and objects (you'll see some in the photos). When we finished in the museum gift shop, it was 1:30 and time for lunch. We decided to head back into the park to find the restaurant we'd seen earlier. Initially everything was written in Japanese, but they were able to give us a menu with English. After taking off our shoes we were led to a nice table overlooking the park. We chose two different lunch sets -- Nancy's turned out to have four parts (didn't think there was going to be a 3rd). Our poor server kept trying to tell us what she was bringing but the only thing that really came out in English was soy beans. Many of the parts of our lunch (including the tea) were made with soy beans, lots of different types of tofu (and we weren't supposed to eat the green leaf wrapped around part of the dessert, we sort of knew but luckily the server showed us how to unwrap it). She never was able to explain the little dish on our table with the number 602 on it. Turns out we had to bring it to the front to the cashier, were she figured out the bill, and they retrieved our shoes from their cubbyholes.

We got back on the train and headed to a station that Kate thought was relatively close to Roppongi Hills, a major shopping and entertainment center. It was farther than we thought (part of it up steep hills). And although the rain did clear, it was hot and humid. We did make it, wandered around a little, and then took the subway back to the train station where we caught the train back to Shinigawa. We have JR rail passes which give us unlimited rides on the JR trains (but not the subway).

Dinner was again purchased at the food market under the train station. As there is a little fridge in our room, we now have enough leftovers for tomorrow's dinner. Tonight's tv included World Cup soccer, some baseball, and the very hilarious Beverly Hills 90210 dubbed in Japanese.

And here are the photos.