The trip is finally coming to an end with mixed emotions...while I'm looking forward to returning back to Florida where I can have fresh fruit (severely lacking in Japan), go to the bathroom in silence (the automated flushing sounds because everyone is too shy to just pee) and the toilet seat won't be warmed or hot all the time...I am going to miss the efficiency of the subways, the kindness of the Japanese people and the love and availability of iced coffee....and how clean it is in Japan.
Our final adventure took us back to the Imperial Palace to see the East Gardens. This is the only garden that is open to the public and is free. We took the JR for the final time all the way to Tokyo Station and then got lost as we were trying to get out of the station, luckily we exited the station right next to the Tokyo Information Center and were only a couple blocks away from the palace.
Entering the garden were three guard houses, each larger than the last. The samurai would be posted here to ensure that visitors to the palace were legit and approved. Each guardhouse had a higher level of samurai experience in it so if they made it through the third and final one they were good to go.
Throughout the gardens are a variety of mini-gardens, each requested by the Emperor. Ones in particular included a rose garden, a bamboo garden and a grove of trees, each perfecture in the country had a different variety of tree. Okinawa was the last perfecture to have a tree planted, in 1972 because it did not become an official part of Japan until then.
We also saw a number of homeless people in the area of the gardens, when the weather is nice there is a homeless person under every tree in the parks. This is still amazing to me because of the emphasis that is put on taking care of the elderly and family.
After the dreary, misty and blustery day (much like the first time we went to the Imperial Palace), it was time to head back to the hotel for some last minute shopping and late lunch at the place we had our first lunch at Disney to kick off the travel-palooza that was about to ensue. Also, while on the train the one on the left took my picture without asking (it was very obvious when his phone was pointed directly at me) so I went ahead and took a picture of the three of them :)
I was on the recieving end of a few deep bows today. In this culture there are varying degrees of bows depending on the situation, the level of person and respect and interactions. While checking out we realized that there were some issues with the credit cards being used that hadn't been cleared up on behalf of the hotel (an initial hold that turned into a transaction and then reversed). After a few phone calls to the credit card companies by the front desk it was all cleared up, and then I got the deep bow to apologize for the inconvenience and issues. Needless to say, I felt bad that they bowed to me that much. It was by no fault of theirs that the issue had come up, part of it is a language barrier issue (lesson learned, go with first instinct and don't change things around at the last minute when traveling internationally when interacting with others that do not speak English).
It's now time to let travel-palooza begin...
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