Flea Market and the Tokyo National Museum

Konnichiwa!!

Today was another free day. We decided that we needed a bit less structure than yesterday. I'm telling you--Sergeant Major's cousin was hard on us! We met for breakfast about seven, then Meri and I came back upstairs to send some pictures while we waited on Debbie (Alaska) and her friend Dee to call us so we could join them in going to the flea market. Meri is an artist so she wanted to look at prints; I wanted to look for gift items; and Debbie just loves flea markets, salvation army stores, and thrift stores. She's gone to all of those here. We walked, or at least we tried to walk there. These streets are so confusing!! Yes, we got lost again. When you ask a Japanese for help, they always scratch their head and then think real hard. They usually cannot tell you what you need to know unless they can speak a bit of English. It's hard for them, too, because they want to help.

While we were searching, we felt rumbling. We were above the Shinjuku Train Station and thought it was the subway system we felt. Later when they took us off a car because of a wreck caused by the earthquake, we knew what we had felt. I guess it was exciting to experience an earthquake in Tokyo, but truthfully our little one in Cullman was more exciting becuase of its rarity.

The flea market was rather disappointing. It had "junk" but not the junk we were looking for. I did find an old abacus I wish I had bought. The kimomos were high priced. I really want another for our Kabuki production, but I may have to make it. Debbie and Dee wanted to find another flea market, but Meri and I wanted to go to the National Museum and the beautiful Ueno Park area. It is one of the "gotta see" spots in Tokyo. Well, I sure wish everyone had not chosen today to "gotta see" it. It's just crowded everywhere you go here. The museum was great. They had pieces dating centuries back. It was amazing.

I got to eat sort of a real sandwich, a few fries and a tiny coke for lunch. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! Meri order a rice salad. It didn't look bad. Then we stopped at a 105 Yen store and bought some candy and cookies. The exchange rate for yen is nearly the same as our US dollar, so we are good at converting. You just have to move the decimal point when you purchase something.

Tokyo National Museum is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. It collects, houses and preserves art and archaeological objects from all of East Asia with focus on Japan. It also conducts research and organizes educational events relating to its collection. There were five exhibitions galleries, as well as outdoor exhibits and a garden for visitors to gather to enjoy the surrounding beauty. Today was beautiful, warm and sunny with just the right amount of crispness in the air. The leaves were breathtaking at the park. They are in peak season right now.

We enjoyed exploring at a slow pace. They certainly had a lot of interesting objects. My favorite was two folding screens depicting Kabuki. When we got to the gift shop, there were the miniature Kabuki screens. They were so cute that I bought one. Afterwards, we walked in the park a bit taking in its beauty. There were homeless in boxes everywhere. Japan does not address this social issue. It's something they're going to have to face before too long.

At the museum we tried to order dessert and coffee at a little coffee shop. They would not serve us, and we could not understand why. We left, laughing all the way. When we came back through Keio mall, I purchased food to bring home. Four o'clock will come early in the morning. I have been here a week, but it seems like a year. Oyasumi nasai -good night!! :)