Out & About in Tokyo (Part 1)

I'm being rather presumptuous (i.e., Part I) in that I'm assuming we will get "out and about" a few more times before we head home!  The following will be a few outings we have taken while here in the greater Tokyo area since our move here from Fussa in March.  

One outing we took with our friends Elder and Sister Bridge was to Sugamo, where there is a famous shrine as well as a great street for shopping.  We timed it just right the day we were there.  There was a festival going on at the shrine, where the taiko drummers were putting on a great show!

This was an interesting sight:  People stood in line, eager to pour water over the Buddhist statue
 in hopes of being cured of whatever ailment they suffered.

The shopping street has been nicknamed "Grandma Street" because all the shops there cater to older people.  We confirmed that as we seemed to be the age of everyone else shopping there.  There were few young people, so they "must have gotten the message"!  Besides all kinds of edible items, there were clothing stores and souvenir shops.  We especially liked the 1,000 Yen shop with everything there for about $12.50.

 I think you get an idea from the picture below of how crowded the street is. 

 No cars are allowed because it is so full of people and vendors!

Weird fish, anyone?

 More fish and seaweed!

He's cooking yaki soba--fried noodles, onions, veggies, meat, etc.  Yummy!

Another favorite--okonomiyaki, a vegetable pancake!  Awesome!

 Fruits & vegetables galore!

 The Bridges, temple missionaries from North Carolina, buying some of our favorite

Japanese crackers which resemble Cracker Jacks

 Maybe a grandma out of the past?

My favorite store of all: the one selling nothing but red underwear, which the Japanese claim makes old people virile! (And no, we didn't make a purchase there, in case you're wondering!)

As you can see, it was a good day for both of us.  I'm happy because we bought some great dried fruit, tasty crackers, and some Christmas presents. Elder G is happy because we are done with our shopping
and are leaving this very congested area!

Another fun afternoon was spent with our former mission president and wife, the Albrechts, checking out the Azalea Festival.  Since it was held on the grounds of a shrine, there was a beautiful torii gate at the entrance.

Once again, we were treated to another display of the taiko drums.  It is amazing what a physical workout this really is!  And oftentimes it is done by young women!

 We loved the row of multiple small torii gates which formed a covered walkway. 

Very pretty entrance gate to the shrine itself

The shrine

 Worship area inside the shrine.

Here are the thousands of azaleas being viewed by an even greater number of people!!!

  Picnicking along the steps was quite popular. There were plenty of vendors there selling much the same edibles as we saw on Grandma Street.  One such favorite is takoyaki--
baked dough balls filled with octopus!

 Well, I'll include one more outing for this round:  one of our favorite destinations, Ikebukuro.  The train station there is the second busiest in all of Japan!  Because it is so busy and so many people are constantly AND continuously coming and going, many of the streets do not allow cars since there is already a ton of pedestrians walking in the middle of the streets!  Just being among the crowd is exciting in and of itself.  But a popular destination there is the multi-storied mall called Sunshine City. It is HUGE and has hundreds of stores. We weren't shopping for anything in particular; we were just people-watching
or "store-name" critiquing.

Beautiful 4-story fountain in the center of the mall

These girls were very annoying with their loud high-pitched "barking" as they tried to entice people to shop at their store!  And yes, short-shorts are worn by many young Japanese girls.

This shot is taken from the rooftop of the mall, looking at additional shops above.

There was a beautiful garden area up there like our very own Conference Center!

Beautiful stone mural of Mt. Fuji

  

Although this is just an ad, I wanted to include it to show
what a traditional Japanese wedding could look like!

 Billboards for Japanese movies playing at the mall theaters

Another example of a "barker" trying to get us to go to the restaurant where she works.

One of our favorite meals there was the TGIF in Ikebukuro.  Elder G's hamburger was $20; his Pepsi, $6.  Since my shishkabob was only $12.50, I splurged on panna cotta for dessert, which was another $8.   The nice thing is, however, you don't tip in Japan. That is already built into the price of the food!

And now some awesome shots of crowded Ikebukuro at night--
all of which were rainy nights, but that didn't slow traffic down at all!  

Goodnight, Ikebukuro!  O-yasumi nasai!