We got here last night after a 10 hour flight, 1.5 hours through customs, then a 2.5 hour bus ride through Tokyo rush hour traffic. We were BEAT!
This morning (it's Saturday here) we had a very yummy breakfast in our hotel, then
walked to a Buddhist temple up the street. It's a GORGEOUS day here (quite possibly the nicest one we'll have) and the cherry blossoms are in bloom all over the place.
In the immigration line at the airport there was a very feisty old Japanese lady from Los Angeles in line with us. "What are you doing in the foreigner line?" I asked her.
"I'm a naturalized American citizen," she said, with a fairly strong Japanese accent.
"It must be weird to have to come here and get in the foreigner line."
"Nah, I do it 3 or 4 times a year. I'm used to it."
We chatted a bit. Told her we were from Seattle. "Seattle's nice," she said. "I go up there some times to go to the opera." (Dang, who IS this old lady? She's putting me to shame.)
"You picked a great time to come here," she said. "The cherry blossoms are perfect right now."
"We have cherry blossoms in Seattle," I said.
"Yeah, we do in LA, too." she said. "But here it's different. Here, they're DEDICATED."
I thought of her today as we walked around Zojoji Temple. The cherry blossoms were amazing. Like nothing I've ever seen. They gave the whole place a fairy-tale quality.
About to gear up for a big trip to Ueno Park, then Shinjuku district for some shopping, then Shibuya district for a concert! See ya later!
P.S. Remind me to tell you about the toilets here. HEAVENLY!
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