Blossoms on a Boat

Saturday, April 4th--After the Riverdance performance, we planned to go see some blossoms somewhere because Raymond had missed them all week due to work and school.  I polled the kids, and we decided that the very best blossoms were in Chiyoda along the Imperial Palace moat.  These were the blossoms that Dad needed to see.

When we got there, the boats that were tied up the other night were now being utilized.  What a beautiful sight!  See Tokyo Tower in the background?

We walked along the path that runs parallel to the moat.  The blossoms were no longer at their peak, but they were still impressive. 

We had about an hour before the sunset and the time when the lights illuminate the blossoms, so we decided to get into a rowboat ourselves during that time.  It was only 800 yen to rent the boat for the whole hour.

We have both had experience maneuvering a rowboat....most of the other people out there, not so much.  I guess they don't get a lot of practice at things like rowing a boat in a big city like Tokyo. 

Being able to see the blossoms while right on the moat made it a whole new experience.   We could row right under them and have a canopy of blossoms over our heads.

One of the huge tori gates for Yasukuni Shrine

We came to the end of the moat and rowed right through a sea of pink petals.

This duck had to make his way through the petals also.

Tokyo Tower

My turn at rowing so that Raymond could sit back and enjoy the blossoms.

Right before our hour was up, the lights came on.  We rowed back to the dock and turned the row boat back in.  We walked back up the path, enjoying the blossoms all lit up by the lights.

It was not quite as beautiful as the other night when they were at their peak, but it was still such a nice experience.  Seeing sakura at this spot would easily become an annual tradition for our family if we were living here for a long period of time.  This place had some of the very best sakura views!

 Next, we went over to the Mita area of Tokyo because Raymond had heard from fellow students that there were some streets lined with good restaurants in this area.  We found this street and explored the restaurants that were here.

We found a place that featured one of Raymond's favorite dishes--yakiniku.  This is actually a Korean barbeque, but the Japanese love it and so it is commonly seen around Japan.

As we were looking through the menu, we noticed these pictures....see what looks like sushi, the meat for that "sushi" is raw beef.  Not sure I could do that one.  There are also dishes available where you can get a raw egg on top of your food.  Very interesting.

I had no idea what I was getting into because Raymond and the waiter were talking in Japanese when he ordered for the both of us.  She brought out this grill type thing with really hot charcoal, a tray of various assortments of raw beef, a plate of raw vegetables, and two bowls of rice.

You set the meat and the vegetables on the grill and cook your food yourself.  Once the meat or the vegetables are cooked to your liking, it is polite to put it on top of your rice, and then eat it from your rice bowl.

It seems kind of crazy to be sitting in a restaurant, paying someone else while you cook your own food.  But, this is a really fun experience.  The beef was all different cuts and was so tender and delicious.  The vegetables were green onion, mushrooms, carrots, and pumpkin.  It was all pretty tasty, actually, and really good for you.

This was a lot of fun!