Tokyo Highlights

Drinks atop the Park Hyatt Hotel, in Shinjuku.  It's the most amazing view of Tokyo's skyline.  We tried to emulate Bill Murray and look depressed (like Lost in Translation) but just being up there is too good a time.
Here we are with Hajime Funada, one of the most senior members of the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Representatives.  He's a very friendly guy, and loves all things related to space travel (if he hadn't become a politician he would have been an astronaut.)  We are nobodies in the world, and he is definitely somebody, but he still scheduled half an hour for us with an election season about to begin.

Alex will have MUCH to say about visiting the national parliament building, but here we are with Mr. Suzuki (a good guy who helped us out with getting a behind the scenes tour of the Diet building, including a walk through the tunnel that links the office building and the capitol) and a familiar looking person we will simply call "Not A Funada".
Also in Shibuya, this is purported to be the busiest intersection in the world.  Find Alex!
Shibuya's shopping district, where teenagers and 20-somethings find unlimited shopping opportunities.  You can also get a Hello Kitty rhinestone covered guitar for only $2500.

 
Alex and Steve went to the Parasitological Museum, where they have an exhibit of the longest tape worm ever extracted from a human being (it's in the blue case there.)  Then we had a dinner of noodles.
Knock-off Kitty.  Hand-made in Kamakura for Y100, but quality control is an issue.  This is why Disney so carefully guards its product image in the US.
Diabutsu (Big Buddha).  He's forty feet tall.  
where's Alex?



Alex gets rid of his useless 1 yen coins on buddha statues.  1 yen coins are even more useless than pennies.  They don't yield good or bad luck.  Supposedly 5 yen coins (which are pretty useless) yield good luck when you put them on statues.  10 yen coins are bad luck, but I think that's just because the vending machines still accept them.  In any case, the series above are from a side trip to Kamakura, an hour south of Tokyo.  We were joined by a spectral entity that we called Naomakura
Steve and Alex on the 52^nd Floor of Rappongi Hills Tower.  

Alex, Steve, and an anonymous tourist that looks similar to a colleague (let’s call her Nachiko) pose at the statue of Hachiko, a famous memory-impaired dog who for ten years showed up at this spot in Shibuya, waiting for his master, never understanding that he had passed away. 

Alex, Steve, and an anonymous tourist that looks similar to a colleague (let’s call her Nanime) enjoy sweet treats at a Maid Café, where waitresses dressed in anime outfits are extremely nice and provide very attentive (but entirely innocent) service.  Hello Kitty Cuppucinos are by request.

Kiddy Land, in Harajuku, where you can buy anything for children, ages 0 to 100.  Maturity level can be a bit low.  For the record, these are USB drives.  Alex managed to spend more money here than Steve.