Tokyo - Tokyo Symphony Orchestra

My favorite part of our visit to Tokyo was hearing the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. Joe and I bought tickets almost 3 months ago, when we were planning this trip.

We saw the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at Tokyo Opera City - one of their smaller performanc halls. It was in a beautifully modern complex.

Inside the building, there was this beautiful art sculpture hanging from the ceiling. I thought it was kind of funny --- many performing arts halls have some sort of ceiling art!

I snuck a few photos inside the hall. It was beautiful!!! We saw behind the orchestra, so we had an unusual view. The concert was a Latin-American program - with music by Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla and Ginastera. I loved it!

Unfortunately, since Tokyo Opera City was a secondary hall, there was no Symphony Gift Shop (obviously something we Americans like!) So Joe and I took a trip to Ark Hills to the Symphony's main hall - Suntory Hall.

Suntory Hall is located at the end of this photo, on the right. But this plaza is filled with restaurants and coffeeshops. It was wonderful! I would love to go back with Joe to hear the symphony here, with a little dinner beforehand.

Suntory Hall entrance

Before the concert started, we had a little "welcome" music!

We were quite surprised! As you can see, the little organ hides itself again, once it's done playing.

Tokyo - City life & dining out

One of the first meals we had in Tokyo was okonomiyaki. It was GREAT!They actually made the okonomiyaki and brought it to our table; it's on a heated skillet there. Joe had a pork and yam one, and mine was shrimp, squid & pork. Afterwards, they gave us these little crunchy sticks (kind of like Cheetos). We saw so many people posing for pictures like this, Joe thought he would give it a try!Another evening we headed to Roppongi. This part of Tokyo is known for having a lot of embassies and its nightlife. We tried to get to the top of this tower (Roppongi Hills Tower), but it was way too windy.

On the streets of Roppongi.....The Tokyo Tower. This tower was modeled after the Eiffel Tower in Paris, but it taller. It's a tourist trap, but is also used for communications.Not eating "American" food for quite some time, we thought we stop by the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi. (and yes, it's pretty much like any other Hard Rock Cafe!)Another evening, Joe and I went with two other dentists to eat dinner in Shinjuku. This is one of the largest subway stops in Tokyo. We went to a mall (mind you, it was a mall with 15 floors!) and ate at a garlic restaurant. It was delicious!Couldn't resist taking a picture; could resist eating one.

Tokyo - The Imperial Palace East Gardens

The first place we visited was the Imperial Palace. You can't actually get into the Palace, but about 3/4 of the grounds are open to the public.

I believe this is the "outer moat" of the palace. As you can see, it's right in the middle of the city.
This "outer" part has it's own modern garden.

After the modern park, we came to the edge of the palace wall (and the "inner moat").

Here we are inside the inner wall of the palace.

There are about 3-4 guardhouses when you enter the palace grounds. Many of the original buildings were destroyed in war or accidental fire, so most of the buildings we were able to see have been rebuilt.

It was a beautiful day to walk around; cool and clear. The trees and flowers were just starting to bloom, so it almost felt like spring in the Midwest.

This was my favorite part of the garden. The flowers were just starting to bloom.

Then we walked up to the upper part of the garden grounds.

This was the original Edo part of the palace grounds.

Our favorite part was the large grassy area in front of the old Edo palace. People were able to rest and run around.

We even sat on the grass!