All quiet in Shinjuku? What the...

We woke up bright and early Sunday morning at 9 am--well, some of us woke up brighter and earlier than others, namely the Korean girls. They always woke up hours before the rest of us, to complete their morning rituals of applying multiple lotions and make up to their faces. Me, I just rolled out of bed, washed my face, got dressed and made sure my camera bag was packed. See, we had to be out of the hostel from 11 am until 4 pm. It was weird; kind of like a reverse curfew.

We first walked around in Shinjuku, the epitome of "modern" Tokyo: business, government, commercial and entertainment center all in one. First we saw the endless camera shops, then wandered through skyscrapers and skyscrapers. Some very interesting architecture to be found here.

 

And here is where they keep the nuclear wessels

After a while, people started showing up, but before then...pretty quiet Sunday morning on the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo

A very convenient maneki neko. Usually they're actual paper mache, ceramic, or plastic statuettes...

 Here is Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building #1. I think. In any case, we took the elevator up to the 40-something-th floor to the observatory in the left tower. Very nice round view of the city--the only obstruction being the other tower.

 

The wooded area is Meiji Jinguu shrine and Yoyogi-kouen park are--we shall see in closer detail soon

On really clear days it's said that you can see Mt. Fuji from this view.

This is where it was supposed to be, but...too smoggy, so I had to draw it in.