Japan: Day 2 - Part 3

I can't believe I'm still on day 2...

Immediately after lunch it was time for the Tokyo Bay cruise!

My reaction to the news.

We went to a port and they gave us a ticket to enter and we got on the boat for a one hour cruise.  It was incredible, but incredibly frigid.

We went way out under and past that bridge (and back again), which is called The Rainbow Bridge.

This was the tour guide.  Her name was Mai and she had Pikachu on a stick so tourists could see her from a distance.

Freezing.

This bridge was beautiful.  There's no other way to describe it.  It looks effortlessly made and kept up.  Very sleek.

We got a complete panoramic view of the bay.  It was amazing.  I was very impressed with how everything just flowed in Tokyo.  I don't know how to explain that, but it all just seemed to look and fit and maneuver brilliantly.  

 Sun getting lower.

Right after the cruise our tour guide told us we were going to drive across the Rainbow Bridge and on to the other side for a few more things to see.  It was so cool.

On the other side she told us that Tokyo as well has a Statue of Liberty.  I did not know this fact, but indeed, they do.  It was so random but pretty cool.  It's also, obviously, a lot smaller than NYC one.  

 As the sun was beginning to set and as it was getting darker and darker, the Rainbow Bridge started to show why it was called that.

It was awesome.

We were able to watch the sun go completey down...

...and then it set on the tour.  We drove back to the tour station and then another bus took me back to my hotel.  It was such a fun experience to go on this tour and to meet lots of interesting people from all over the world and get to see one of the coolest cities in the world.  There's no way I could have done all of that on my own without a tour.  Tours are the way to go.

After the tour I met up with one of my best friends and roommates from college: Nate.  He's stationed an hour outside Tokyo and lives there with his wife, Alina, of one year, of whom I had briefly only met once.

We headed to the famous Shibuya Street-Crossing of Tokyo for dinner.  It was sooo cool!  (I end up going here on Day 3 again because we weren't able to stay very long...so more pictures of the actual crossing will come later.)

At the edge of one of the street crossings.

Me, Nate and Alina at Yoshinoya.  It was delicious.

After dinner and some walking around it was time to go back to the hotel.  They had to get home and I was exhausted from a long day.  It was great to see my friends though and meet up with familiar faces on the other side of the world.

The subway was beyond packed.  One more person would not have fit.

See the creeper in the back!?

Just before getting to my hotel I saw an orange taxi and had to take a picture.

It was a fun but long day full of things to see and do.