Glamourous times in Tokyo with Kitty! 12.23.2008

Our 2nd day out in Tokyo :) Here are Kat and I in our adorable French inspired hotel in Ginza. It was fantastic! This day was also the Emperor's birthday so we went to Imperial Palace to see him!

This is Kathryn inside the gates on our way to the palace itself! Yay, We are supporting Japan - a little ironic to be flying their flag but we were supporting Japan and their emperor.

This is Mrs. Takeshi! This is Nobuko & Venetia's mother and grandmother! We by chance ran into them at the palace. We stood with them while the emperor and his family came out and gave a speech. It was nice to see them there!

This is everyone waving their flag with the emperor came out to give his birthday speech.
This is Kathryn and I in front of the rather disappointing palace. We were hoping for something more majestic! But it was still very interesting to see him and his family. Many Japanese people cannot say they have been to the palace nor have they seen the emperor himself.
Then it was off to lunch at Hard Rock Cafe - UENO. WE then went to the zoo after lunch. Sissy and I were a bit sad because ling ling - the giant panda is dead and therefore the zoo decided to send the babies back to CHINA! We were so sad!

Kathryn chilling with the gorilla! :)

In honor of ling ling, Kathryn bough us "anko". Anko is a pancake type sweet with red bean paste on the inside. It is a combination of sweet and salty! They are so delicious! It is a very popular festival food :) This is me about to attack the poor thing!
Sissy also about to attack hers! Hee hee This is toward the main entrance of Ueno park. I thought it was cute for the Christmas holiday that they had little animal figures.

We were then very exhausted and went home. We went over to Nobuko's home for dinner. We had a fantastic time just chatting and eating good food. This is just one of many adventure that Kathryn and I had in Tokyo. There is much more to come! Stay tuned!!