On this momentous holiday, I decided to go for another bike ride around the city. Since so many people were out, I thought I might get lucky and tag along with some other bikers to discover some good routes. I "planned" out a route to a river that I've read people like to ride along. As usual, I made a wrong turn. I thought I would get lost, but ended up almost back at home. I've made that my standard procedure by now. I glance at a map, try to end up somewhere, then figure out what actually happened when I get home. I'm still not sure I'll end up there next time, but I'm sure I'll get closer, and maybe farther as well. Seeing how I could pretty much make a U-turn without knowing it, I could easily get really lost. At least I know I can't end up in China.
This is where I ended up when I realized I made a wrong turn. This is the park right next to where we live. I'll put more pictures of it up later. It's a pretty great place to live next to in such a big city. Heather runs around it for her workouts almost daily. The grass is so nice, I thought people weren't allowed on it. It's really a beautiful park.
I haven't shown pictures of the big, crowded side of Tokyo, yet. This is one of the major shopping areas near us. There are several areas like this within a few miles of us. They block off the streets on weekends and holidays so people can shop comfortably. It must be necessary; there's no way this many people can't fit on the sidewalk.
This is the most enourmous footbridge I've ever seen. It's also the most enormous ferris wheel I've ever seen. This area was kind of like a ghost town. There was overgrown grass, rust, and huge accomodations with no people. I shouldn't say NO people; not far away was also one of the biggest lines I've seen, and I've been to Disneyland. It looked like it was for a junkyard, though.
At the end of the bridge, I found this. At first I thought it was a high school or something, but quickly realized it was something else. I don't know if it was anime convention or what. All of these people were dressed up like anime characters and were being professionally, or at least skillfully, photographed. I would have taken a closer picture so you could see more acurately what was going on, but I would have felt too weird. It felt weird being there at all.
Unfortunately, it's no longer Autum Equinox Day, so it's back to the real world.
2 comments:
Is most of the shopping street shopping like in the picture or are there malls as well? What kinds of shops are on the street in the picture? Are they mostly specialty shops like in the US? Remember, Christmas is coming and your mother loves Asian art and jewelry.
I think most of the shopping is in the street. It's not unlike most dense cities. There are a few indoor and outdoor malls, but it's mostly street shopping. Like I said, they block off the streets, so it becomes very much like a mall. I think the specialty shop to mega-store ratio is not much different than a US city.
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