Bob In The City

So finally I'm getting around to putting up some pictures of what Bob and I have been doing in Tokyo. Unfortunately the old man was a bit sick when he came and we didn't do as much sightseeing as I had originally planned. But we did however do some very important things --

We ate sushi at a 'kaiten zushi' restaurant, where the little plates go by on a conveyor belt and you grab it when it passes...

We went drinking and gallavanting downtown in the busiest areas...

Bob learnt about the history of Tokyo at a great museum...

We rode the last train home and laughed at all the sleepy people resting on each other's shoulders...

But by far I think the best thing we've done so far is go to Koganei Park to see some cherry blossoms, or 'sakura', in bloom. Note two very, very Japanese things in the picture below - one is the dog in the t-shirt, and two is the woman in the mask!

Everyone told me how beautiful the cherry blossom season is, but I really didn't understand how fantastic it is until we went to the park this morning. The sakura trees only bloom for two weeks, and it is like an announcement that winter is finally over, and the warmth of spring is officially here. Everybody - and I do mean everybody - heads outdoors with picnic blankets, food, sake, badminton rackets, frisbees and dogs to relax under the blossoms.

Today was also particularly lovely because there were a number of people performing music at various locations in the park, and it was really sweet to hear some violins playing classical music.

There was even a band all the way from the Andes, Peru, performing traditional Peruvian folk songs on their instruments. They certainly attracted quite a crowd.