Ueno

We went to Ueno for a couple of days and stayed over night.  The first hotel was so cheap. It smelled like pee and was so tiny we had to curl up on the bed sideways to fit the three of us.  Since it was the first time we stayed in a hotel, I thought the description of "for two adults and a child under 5" would fit us all on one bed.  I was thinking it would be a king or at least a queen.  Nope, we got a single bed... Needless to say we left that hotel and booked at a more up-scale joint.  I made double sure to check the bed measurements!

The first day we went to the National science and nature museum.  There was no taking pictures, so sorry everyone!  We also did karaoke and found the most delicious bakery in Japan!

The next day we went to the Ueno zoo which is pretty famous in Tokyo.  It is much smaller than the Toronto Zoo.  The main attraction is the pandas, and I heard that one is pregnant.  Unfortunately, the day we went the pandas left.  I'm not sure the reason since everything explaining it was in Japanese, but I believe they didn't have enough money to take care of them since there were donations for the pandas set up around the park and signs in English that said "save the pandas!" The zoo is located in Ueno Park where there are a lot of museums and attractions.  There were also a few temples we peeked at.

Asian peace sign pose

Chiyoda

Chiyoda is where the Imperial Palace is located.  I spent the day calling it Chidoya, oops! It was a really hot day, but at least it was sunny.  We thought we would be able to go into the palace, at least some part of it, but we weren't allowed in anything.

real turtles!

We also went to Oedo Antique Market with was like a flee market!  There was a lot of cool things, but they were very costly.  We didn't buy much because we had no way of knowing if it was a reasonable price or not.

can you spot me?

Around Chiyoda....

Having lunch at an upscale place..everyone else had on fancy clothes

lots of food establishments in the back ally

people sitting on milk crates with card tables is a common sight for the ally pubs

Food joints are also crammed under the railroad tracks.

P.s. sorry for the lack of uploads, but for the last couple weeks it has takes around 1 hr + just to upload 30 pics...I will try to keep adding but I might have to finish everything after I get back!