Tokyo

Today I went to Tokyo for the second time and I stick to my opinion that it's a city just like any other city. Luckily Mom and I got seats on the train to and from which is rare but we did not dress warm enough for the chilly breezes today. I'm posting a picture of a small portion of the train map we look at to buy our tickets. Try reading the destinations on this bugger! After deciphering how to get around in this country, I feel like using trains and mass transit in somewhere like Europe or almost anywhere else would be a snap! We had to pick up mom's passport at the U.S. Embassy which is just as hard to get into as getting through U.S. Airport security. Pain in the bum. But we walked to the palace, where lots of tourists go. The only trouble is, you can't actually see the palace. You can see the moat around the grounds and the stone wall and a few bridges but that's about it. At least there were lots of pretty trees to see from where we were. Then we cut through a park where lots of festivals take place. The changing colors in the trees were gorgeous but all the yellow gingko leaves are falling. Geez those trees smell bad!! There were stone stairs leading throughout part of the park, winding around the homeless people and leading to a large bell with a plaque. For once, the plaque was in English. Turns out the bell was a replica of the liberty bell that some famous American presented to the Japanese to encourage American mentality many years ago. I actually laughed out loud at the idea of it. We snobby Americans never learn to live cultures alone.....Sorry if I offend anyone in that statement. This evening I have discovered the interesting effect of soju on my system. Apparently it takes any balance I had left and throws it out the window, which is pretty entertaining for me and everyone around me. I think I may have to drink more of that interesting alcohol to study it's further effects, lol!