The Imperial Palace grounds are impressive in a number of ways. The gardens are vast and beautiful. We were not able to get very good views of the Palace itself, unfortunately. As much as we tried and as hard as we searched, there just didn't seem to be a decent vantage point. There did appear to be some construction or renovation work being done which may have been a major contributor to our lack of views. Next time, I'll try harder.
Still on the palace grounds, we walked through Kokyo Gaien on the way toward Tokyo Station. Compared to other parks and gardens I have seen in my park-and-garden-viewing career, this one in particular was the most clean and manicured I have come across. The trees majestically sprout from the ground while their branches effortlessly hover low to the ground. They provided shade to the many people sitting on the soft, green grass enjoying themselves outdoors. It was peaceful despite being directly in the center of one of the largest cities on the planet.
From there, we took a train over to Meiji Jingu. We got off and crossed the Harajuku bridge. We came late in the day, so it was not very crowded. Harajuku was definitely crowded, but the bridge and the Shrine grounds were not. There was a lot of walking on gravel trails to reach the shrine itself. At the time, the sky was overcast and there was a hint of a drizzle. So the walk was, non-sarcastically, very pleasant. We reached the shrine and looked on with awe and wonderment. Some people were there to say their prayers, so I tried not to be in anyone's way. Again, serenity levels were high.
We got tired of having the cameras out and ready to shoot so we put them away as we left the shrine grounds. We still did a bit of exploring. From the northern edge of Meiji, we walked south on the back streets of Shinjuku back toward Harajuku. It was a good chance to see the ordinary, non-tourist version of Tokyo. It wasn't exciting, but that wasn't the point. We walked around and just saw nondescript building after nondescript building. Before making it back to Harajuku, the most interesting thing we came across was a Lotus dealership. That was kind of cool.
We caught a train back to Koto, dropped into Aeon to grab some food and drinks for the night, and headed back.
Monday was our last day. We used the day to pick up a variety of things that friends and family had requested from us. Also, Hector decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Momo steering wheel for his RX-8. That was sure to get some interesting looks from airport security scanning his carry on bag. We also went back to Tokyo Station to check out First Avenue. There were hundreds of stores and restaurants, along with many small specialty shops. We even took a peek inside an electronics store that had a couple of robots on display. A mother and her son were taking a look at one of the robots. More specifically, her son was busy being afraid of it and she was busy laughing. I'm sure she tried very hard not to be amused by her child's fear. I, on the other hand, didn't hide it at all. These last few photos were all taken with my Galaxy Note 4 instead of the Nikon D5200.
We ate at another restaurant for the last time. The food was okay and the service was alright. I wasn't impressed. But, I'll be straight. I expect it is the same everywhere. There are good, okay, and bad restaurants everywhere. You shouldn't assume that just because it is in Japan, all of the Japanese food is going to be good. But it was a great dose of reality.
In the final hours of my time in Tokyo, I thought a lot about why I was there and what I was doing. There were a lot of things people told me I should do when I arrived. "Damn man you are gonna get laid so hard." "Dude you need to buy so many car parts." "You're gonna party like crazy!" But I wasn't there to do any of that. I didn't travel across the globe to do things I could have done if I stayed in the States. To put it as simply as possible, I was there to see another life.
I wanted to experience a difference. I haven't traveled much in my life. I hope to change that. This year alone has been what I could call my "most adventurous". I've made more solo trips back home to New Orleans. I drove the Focus on it's last voyage to Georgia for the last Southern Worthersee. I planned to go to Japan by myself but was lucky enough to have a friend come with me, for which I am very thankful. A few years ago I didn't think I would be doing any of that. And even though there is so much to do where I live, there isn't much that I wouldn't expect. I wanted to fly to a completely different country, on a different continent, with a culture and language immensely different from my own.
Some of the things we did were just boring, every day activities that were made interesting based on the fact that there were so many barriers to overcome. Sure, partying and all of that would probably still be different, but they aren't high priorities in my own life. But I believe this trip has helped me to figure out what my priorities actually are. Simply put, my priority is happiness. And I just have to find it. In the words of SoloTravelBlog, this trip "changed my life in unidentifiable ways."
For more photos, check me out on Facebook and Instagram!
