Tokyo - Akihabara and Ginza

On Sunday I went sightseeing with another secondee, a girl from the UK named Stephanie.  She made all of the plans, and it was really nice just to go along with her!  We started at the imperial gardens, where the koi were really active.  These ones were colorful and had super long fins!

 Next we took the train a few stops to Akihabara.  This is the anime and electronics district!

 Some of the anime billboards.  There was also a cafe/shop here for AKB48, a girl group in Japan with a cult-like following.  The line was huge!

 After looking in some of the shops, we had lunch in a restaurant near the station.  It was the first time I read something on a menu!  Well, I read the part that was in hiragana, and then figured out what the kanji meant based on the picture - it was katsudon (かつ丼).  I was super proud of myself - and then I ordered something else.  I managed to understand it was fish from the waitress, but for some reason I expected it to be cooked and hot.  It wasn't, but it was still pretty good with the egg and the different kinds of fish.  And the hot soba warmed me up from a day sightseeing in the chilly rain!

 After lunch we went to the Ginza shopping district.  There were a lot of fancy fancy stores here, and some cool buildings!

 This building had a directory of the floors on the outside stairwell, kinda neat!

 A clock tower that was listed in my guidebook. 

 The main shopping streets are closed to cars in the afternoon, and there was a ton of people out! 

 Norman liked the shopping!

Norman and I in Tokyo!!

 And, as always, Hooters was there to keep it classy.