My round the world trip has been derailed. I'm now flying to Oman from Tokyo on my way back to Houston.....
Since my flight doesn't leave until 2220 I had time to explore Tokyo a bit more.
I checked out of the hotel and left my baggage.
It was a very short walk to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. They have a small greenhouse (small compared to the one in Singapore). There is also a very nice French garden with two long rows of trees and a Japanese traditional garden.
An old tea house:
The Shinjuku skyline from the garden:
The trees in the French garden:
A damaged tree, I assume it was damaged by the Typhoon.
Some fish in the pond:
Taiwan pavillion:
These are actually part of the tree roots:
After garden I walked to the observation deck in the government building. It's a very nice - and free observation deck. I was hoping to see Mt. Fuji since it was a clear day, but the mountain is so big that it makes it's own weather. You can see the base of the mountain below, but the summit is not visible.
At the exit they had information on the Olympics.
A couple of torches used at the Rio Olympics:
I took the subway to Hie Shrine which is near the Akasaka subway station. It was not crowded despite being advertised on the subway map as a place to visit.
The tori gate at the entrance:
The fountain for ritual cleaning had a motion detector:
The tori gate behind the shrine:
The tori gates along the staircase behind the shrine. One woman who didn't appear to be a tourist was wearing a kimono.
After visiting the shrine I took the subway back to the hotel, repacked my bags and took a taxi to the Shinjuku train stations. The fare wasn't much more than the subway ride and much more comfortable. I attempted to buy a ticket with the machine, but it asked me for a pin for my credit card.... so then I waited in the queue for 15 minutes which meant I had to take the 18:09 train instead of the 17:39 train. Unfortunately for me the 18:09 train was delayed slightly.
Pictures of the Narita Express:
The train finally arrives at 18:19 - ten minutes late. I still arrived in plenty of time to reach the airport.
The green car... I had the entire coach to myself.
After going through immigration and security I spent some time in the JAL first class lounge. They had this nice piece of art from turbine parts of a Boeing 747 on display:
My seats on the Qatar Airways Boeing 777:
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