Touring Tokyo with Tita Jasmin and Mom (Frijas)

With the West Japan Tour blogging out of the way, I'm relieved to move on and catch up with posting more of our spring events. It can be rather tedious going through hundreds of photos. However, I can't complain - looking back at previous posts and dwelling on our sweet memories and experiences of Japan, makes it all worthwhile. With only less than two more months, we have much more planned on our agenda before we head back abroad. It's unfathomable how quickly time has passed over the last two years.

The following mixture of photos were taken during the 17-day visit from Mom (Frijas) and Tita Jasmin (Rodney's aunt).

Enjoying the view in Meguro Gajoen's courtyard

Beautiful landscape of a temple in Meguro honoring unborn babies

Sensoji Temple - Hozomon main gates

As mentioned previously, there are recurrent hotspots where we prefer to take visitors to get a good taste of Tokyo, such as the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa; Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building including the Shinjuku area; the shopping district of Ginza and some of the beautiful gardens within in the city; just to name a few. During the week of April 7th, we toured the famed city attractions with Tita Jasmin. Rodney's mom had seen many of these places before on her previous visit in the autumn of 2006. On April 14, they departed Tokyo and flew to the Philippines to visit their family. Rodney's mom would return to Japan after two weeks, while Tita Jasmin extended her stay in the Philippines for a month.

My PEACE child!

The Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Dori is often filled with tourists and locals alike. We've been here numerous amounts of times and still enjoy it.

One of my "must-take-photos" at Asakusa Station

Adorable canines making friends at the temple grounds

Saying a little prayer after offering small change into the donation chamber at Sensoji Temple.

SHINJUKU & TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT BUILDING

JR West Entrance gates of Shinjuku Station - the busiest station in all of Japan handles over 2 million passengers daily

At the Shinjuku Station, Markus loved the animal-themed coin lockers and insisted he had his photos taken at each one we walked by.

Riding the long conveyer walk in Shinjuku Station west corridor, heading toward the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and the Skyscraper District. Markus calls it the "special escalator".

Unfortunately it happened to be a rainy day and the view was not as spectacular as it could have been. Nonetheless, the tall skyscrapers were visible and you could definitely recognize massiveness of Tokyo beyond the grey skies.

A view from the 45th Floor of the TMGB

It must be revealed that the cafe in the North Observatory of the TMG sells the most delicious blueberry gelato I've ever laid my taste buds on. Sugoii oishikatta!

On the train ride home during the beginning of rush hour, Markus was nearly sandwiched while riding the JR Saikyo Line from Shinjuku. Yet, he didn't utter a word during the 5-minute ride back to Ikebukuro. Mom and Tita Jasmin was jostled toward the center of the train. Tita Jasmin was content and mesmerized by a nice-smelling man she was crammed against!

INOKASHIRA PARK

As part of celebrating my 32nd birthday, we took a trip to one of our favourite parks, Inokashira Koen in Kichioji. We enjoyed a relaxing canoe ride in the pond.

It was a crowded typical Saturday in the park with people enjoying the spring weather. Given that ohanami season was already over, I was quite surprised to see all the people picnicing.

Since the boats were limited to carrying three passengers at a time, mom and Tita Jasmin took a nice stroll in the park in the meantime.

There are times where you really wish you had eyes on the back of your head. I nearly slashed my face with this low-lying tree-branch. Markus and Rodney (my navigators) were too distracted by the ducks, while I was paddling away.

My knights!

Markus of course, urges to take his turn paddling.

Shopping in the Kichioji district. Markus loves the gumball machines. He feels half the fun is putting the money in the slot and turning the dial.

After a day of sight-seeing and shopping we had a delicious DIY dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, Fugu Shabu-Shabu in Ikebukuro. Gosh, I'll really miss this place!