'Tis the season...

Our Thanksgiving weekend here in Tokyo was quaint...sans turkey. I might have mentioned it before, but turkey meat is not prevalent in Japan, nor are the average homes with ovens large enough to bake a decent sized turkey, otherwise I wouldn't have minded slaving in our kitchen for the occasion. Generally, turkey is available at most international supas. Indeed we missed out on great home cooking with family.

What a smile!

Online, I found several restaurants serving turkey dinners. I randomly chose one restaurant named Farm Grill located in Ginza. Based on the review, it sounded great. So we ventured out to Ginza to the location, and much to our surprise we couldn't find it anywhere. We even went to the Koban (police box) for some assistance. I tried calling the phone number, which I had written down, only to get a busy signal. So I assumed that they were just simply busy. But to no avail, it turned out that the restaurant closed down two years ago. What a bummer! When I got home that night, I checked the listing once again online...I found out that I was reading a back issue of a magazine dated in 2005. Lesson learned!

Taking a stroll down the main street in Ginza.

Friday, November 23 was also a national holiday in Japan - Labour Thanksgiving Day. The purpose is to commemorate labour and production, as well as giving thanks to one another for hard work and accomplishments. Government-related offices and most businesses had the day off. However, like most national holidays, Honda employees were hard at work; at least we can say it was a short day.

On Thanksgiving weekend, we did some bulk shopping at Costco and headed to TOKYO MIDTOWN in Roppongi to see the wonderful holiday light displays, commonly known throughout Japan as "Winter illuminations". Tokyo Midtown is like a little town in itself right in the heart of Tokyo. This new attraction comprises six buildings, one of which is now the tallest building in the Tokyo Prefecture at the astounding height of 248 metres. After three years of construction, the complex first opened its doors early this year in March. Crowds upon crowds showed up for the Grand Opening. During that time, I remember us heading to church one Sunday morning, which is located just a few blocks away, and being swarmed by the hundreds of people making their way to the new site. Within it's commercial property, it houses several restaurants, Japan's first Ritz-Carlton Hotel, many retail shops and museums, including the Suntory Museum of Art.

Views of inside the Galleria of Tokyo Midtown

Tokyo Midtown Plaza area, by day

The Plaza, by night

Markus was compelled by the changing colours of hanging fibre optic streams of lights

The view looking up into the fibre optic streams

The weather was gorgeous last weekend, perfect for walking outdoors, so of course there were hundreds of people out and about trying to capture the perfect picture.

Glass Christmas Tree in the Garden Terrace

Just a side note, Japanese are predominately Buddhist and Shinto, and since Christmas is a Christian holiday, it is not considered a national holiday in Japan. In fact, Rodney is scheduled to work on the 25Th of December. However, these days it seems that Christmas has become more of a "Hallmark" holiday in that it gives people reasons to exchange Christmas gifts with each other. Traditionally, most of my Japanese friends buy their children gifts, but not their spouses or parents. Though we'll be here in Japan for the holidays, we intend on continuing our own family traditions. Yes, Rodney and I have already exchanged wishlists!

A closer look of the Milky Way display in the Garden Terrace consists of rows of brilliant blue and white LED lights.

Another spectacular view overlooking the Garden Terrace from the crosswalk

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TOKYO TOWER is the largest structure in all of Japan standing at 333 metres high. The illuminations display consists of 15,000 lights. Based on what I can recall, the set up is very similar, if not exactly the same, as last year's. Joanna and Giancarlo were in town when we toured the Tokyo Tower and holiday display last year.

Taking a breather from all the running around!

This theme is perfect for the toddler who loves trains, Markus included. He enjoyed popping in and out of the train cars and posing for the camera.

We plan to visit several more of the illumination displays all over Tokyo. I just love this time of year and it was so nice coming back to the Tokyo city scene adorned with plenty of beautiful holiday decor.


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!