Myka Visits........

For the last 10 days we were paid a visit by our daughter Myka on her first trip to Japan. We (hopefully) entertained her with many of the local attractions around Utsunomiya and the Tokyo area. We hope spending time with us, meeting many of our friends and colleagues, and seeing the local sights as as enjoyable for her as it was for us. Now it is time for her to head back to School and begin her 3rd year in pursuit of her nursing degree.
Gambatte Myka Chan, we miss you!
Above is a sampling of the pics she took, and about 500 more can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8953511@N05/sets/72157606886845353

Tokyo 東京 Shibuya 渋谷 Ginza 銀座 Ebisu 恵比寿

On Friday and Saturday we rolled over to Tokyo for a couple of days where we stayed at the Cerulean Hotel in Shibuya. Another great upscale hotel where we had a killer room with a great view of central Tokyo from the 33rd floor. On Friday we visited the Hachiko Statue and the worlds busiest pedestrian intersection Shibuya Crossing. After that we shot down to Shiba Park and went up in Tokyo Tower. At night we visited a Greek restaurant called the Aegean which had been recommended by another expat and it was great. After dinner we went to a pretty nice foreigner bar called the Hobgoblin, which was full of friendly locals and expats alike. After midnight we managed to hit both of the Gas Panic clubs in town. Not a bad day for old timers.
On Saturday we visited Ginza which is home to many art museums, large corporations, and is basically known as Tokyo's most upscale shopping district. The are many very nice buildings and on the weekends they close the main street for pedestrian traffic only. We visited the Sony Building and then after spending several hours walking around the rest of Ginza looking at all of the overpriced name brand merchandise, we decided to train over to Ebisu for something a little more relaxing.
There we visited Yebisu Garden Place which is the headquarters of Sapporo Brewery, and the Beer Museum. While we didn't make the museum this trip, we did enjoy the park area and the Yebisu outdoor cafe. This was truly one of the nicest, cleanest areas I have visited in Tokyo.
That night we went to the Hobgoblin this time for dinner, and then finished the night out walking the streets of Shibuya and visiting a Irish pub Called The Dubliner.
All in all a great long weekend. I have been to Tokyo many, many times but have never stayed in the City itself more than one overnight stay. The city is large and lively and expensive to the point where it can be too much at times. In 4 days we didn't even put a dent in the sightseeing potential that the place offers, so I'm sure we'll be back several times, maybe just in smaller doses. Once again, more pics in the Flicker folder, but our pictures don't tell the story of all that there is to see and do.