Japan in Winter

Tokyo is a big city, but much of the city is up.  In other words, for the largest city in the world, it is remarkably walkable because instead of being spread out in a patchwork of little homes and shops, it has grown up in skyscrapers and multi-story apartments (with shops often on the ground level).  Many of the places we used to take trains to get to we have found we can walk to almost as easily (and with little more by way of walking!). 

Last Sunday, Sam wanted to visit a little antique shop we discovered by accident (it has all sorts of little Buddha statues and old watches and compasses and stuff from all over the world that travelers have had to have and then discarded).  So, we walked up there and then just kept walking. We found a cute little Turkish restaurant--the Turkish restaurants here are always very cheerful and fun.  I don't know if it is because immigrants here continue to visit their homeland every year or what, but the restaurants (Turkish, Italian, Korean, Chinese, whatever) seem to retain more of the feel of the home country than those back in the states.  Interestingly enough, this little restaurant turned out to be owned/run by the father of one of Sam's schoolmates (you'll recall that he attends the Turkish school!).  So, we were treated very nicely, staying well over an hour and half drinking Turkish tea (Sam had 3 glasses) with tiny sugar cubes and eating free Turkish ice cream (Turkish ice cream is very sticky--I think it must be made with honey or something).  Then, we decided, despite the bitter cold, to keep walking. We ended up at Shinjuku Park--sort of a Central Park of Shinjuku.

We were at first very reluctant to pay the 300 yen (50 for Sam) to enter the park. After all, it was really cold and what would there be to see in winter in a garden?  But, we were already there, so.... Anyway, it turned out to be really lovely.  Shinjuku Park was a testament to the fact that Tokyo is a city for all seasons.

I will have to post the photos tomorrow, though. I am out of storage space and must cough up $5 for more!