Monday was a national holiday...Keiro no hi (Respect to Elders Day).
In the past, I've said this holiday is similar with Grandparents Day, but I think calling it "respect to elders" is more fair as everyone may not be a grandparent..
Anyway, the weather was blazing and humid.
We started off at the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden.
There are 9 metropolitan gardens around Tokyo and so far, the ones we've seen are huge!
Amazing to see in the middle of the concrete jungle.
The only thing with these gardens in the middle of the concrete jungle are the noises of the city.
Lunch was at Noda Shumai.
Delicious.
Cold Tan Tan Men... wish I brought my
spoon with holes.
Loved how the spiciness crept up.
A really good bowl...hope to get back to try other items.
Rikugien is a garden that used to be the Iwasaki Family's property (owners of Mitsubishi).
Another beautiful huge property.
If you are also planning to visit the Kyu-Furukawa Garden, be sure to by the ticket that gives you a discount when you purchase your admission to Rikugien.
About a 20 minute walk away is the Kyu-Furukawa Garden.
Another beautiful (huge) property, this one will be pretty when their roses are in full bloom.
The Japanese area of the garden will be pretty when the leaves change color.
Then we walked 30 minutes or so to Sugamo.
The shopping arcade is huge!
We visited the Koganji Temple.
This temple is related to the one in Manoa.
It was so humid and warm that we stopped for shave ice at Mizuno.
Shio Daifuku (salty sweet bean paste filled rice cakes) is the main item at this shop.
They put the salty sweet bean paste on the bottom of the bowl and top the shave ice with a tiny daifuku.
The sweet-salty combo was perfect for the heat and humidity.
Lots of walking and eating and we got to see more of Tokyo.
Koishikawa Korakuen Garden
1-6-6 Koraku
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3811.3015
Hours: 9:00-17:00
Noda Shumai
6-24 Honkomagome
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.53695.9940
Hours: 11:30-24:00
Rikugien
6-16-3 Honkomagome
Bunkyo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3941.2222
Hours: 9:00-17:00
Kyu-Furukawa Garden
1-27-39 Nishigahara
Kita, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3910.0394
Hours: 9:00-17:00
Mizuno
3-33-3 Sugamo
Toshima, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3910.4652
Hours: 9:00-18:30