tokyo photos!

tokyo....

We had a phenomenal time with Tom and Krista in Tokyo!  Not only were the traveling companions delightful, but we all were thoroughly impressed with Tokyo and the overwhelmingly hospitable and polite Japanese people.  We enjoyed exploring the city, taking photos of their individual fashion statements, gazing upon their creative architecture and design, and sampling various epicurean delights.  We had the freshest sushi possible, straight from the ocean that day, at the world's largest Fish Market.  Surprisingly, it didn't smell fishy at all since everything was so fresh... Matthew wasn't grossed out at all!   We tried the world famous Kobe beef and can't even begin to communicate how delicious it was as it simply melted in your mouth.  It has a totally different, tender texture than regular beef.   We visited the palace, saw the Samba Festival with all the colorful masks and costumes (straight from Rio, there is a Carnivale-style parade that the Brazilian citizens put on every year at the end of August.)  And the craziest part of it all was that Japan Fashion Week was in progress so we were able to stumble upon two fashion shows where we were clearly the only Caucasians.  Our hotel hooked us up with tickets to one of the VIP fashion shows and then the second, we were apparently in the right place at the right time.  Both fashion designers had embraced delicate, flowing styles that were highly elegant on the runway models.  

Tokyo is one of the densest cities on the planet, although it had an aura of calm and peacefulness because everyone was so polite and courteous.  Our personal bubble was not invaded :)  It was a very refreshing weekend.