Tokyo

An hour and a half in a bullet train from Nagoya, and we were in Tokyo.  We were in the world's most populated city, and I couldn't help but notice how orderly and organised everything was in spite of the massive population.

We couldn't check-in to the hotel until after 2 o' clock (general rule in Japan), so we went around the city.  The Akihabara Electric town was our first destination.  Here, we went to Yodobashi Camera, an electronics megastore.  We saw many fancy products, unique to Japan.

The next day, we went to the National Museum of Nature and Science in the beautiful Ueno park.  This park is a royal garden, and there is a museum dedicated to a different field, be it in the arts or in science, down almost every alley.

There were real skeletons of sharks; intestines of cows, leopards and blue whales, and even dinosaur fossils millions of years old, all right here.  Microscopic parasites and 50m tall trees were also in the fray.  In the experimental physics section, we learnt a lot about pulleys. We also saw a movie in a 360 theater about the origin of the universe and human migration.  Overall, it was an amazing place to spend an entire day.  

After spending a long time in the museum, we went to the Shinjuku area.  There is no specific downtown in Tokyo, but if I were to rank them based on buildings and shopping, this would probably be No.1.  The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Observatory was the place we visited next.  The view of the city from the top was amazing.  We went to an awesome store called Tokyu Hands after that, and got some cool stuff.  Then, we went back to Akihabara by train.  And, by the way, Shinjuku station is the world's busiest transport hub with 3.64 million people using it every day.

The black eggs

Thursday, my father's acquaintance took us all on a road trip to a town called Hakone.   When we reached Hakone after a pleasant drive, a cable car took us up the mountain.  It took us to the town of Owakudani (or the Great Boiling Valley), to the hot springs.  When we came out of the cable car, we were greeted by a strong sulfurous odor.  What I had previously only read about in books was what I was now seeing.  We were next to a volcano!  The hot springs were extremely hot and were bubbling, because of the heat of the magma below it.  There were also some people who were boiling eggs in the hot springs.  Because of the sulfur content and the extreme heat, they became black.  Many people believe that by eating the eggs, your lifespan increases by 2 years.   

Owakudani

On clear days, there is a great view of Mt Fuji, Japan's tallest peak, from Owakudani.  Unfortunately, as luck would have it, the sky was very cloudy, and we couldn't even catch a glimpse of the holy mountain.  

On the way back from Hakone, we decided to go on a side trip to the Yamanashi Prefecture Maglev Exhibition Center.  On the way there, we saw Mt Fuji.  The sight of the mountain had eluded us from three viewpoints, and here we could see it, from the road. 

The mountain shone brilliantly.  We could even see the crater of the volcano.  

The Maglev

In about half an hour, we reached the month old exhibition.  What we saw inside literally blew my mind.  There was a test run of the world's fastest train that was underway, and we could see it from the lounge.  The train was fast approaching.  It was going at a speed of 499 km/hour, and was 15 km away.  In seconds, it passed the observatory, amid people taking continuous shots and videos that didn't make justice to it's incredible velocity.  It's sheer speed caused the air to make sounds.   After we saw the train go thrice, we looked around the Museum.  There were various models that showed exactly how the Maglev works, and there was also a MiniMaglev, which actually floated in the air.  From September, though, people will be able to ride on the real Maglev. 

We reached Tokyo in the night, and my dad's acquaintance showed us around the city.  We went to the Rainbow bridge, which offered an amazing view of Tokyo.  Also, we saw areas like Shibuya and went on a 20 km underground highway. 

GeoCosmos

The next day, we went to the Tokyo Dome City Amusement park.  This place is like a miniature Disneyland.  There were some pretty cool rides here.  Later, we went to the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, or the Miraikan.  This was one of the places President Obama visited on his Japan tour.  Here, we saw a soccer playing robot, Asimo; the GeoCosmos, which is a revolving globe on which we saw a movie; chromosomes under the microscope; and a show in the planetarium.  

Our last day in Tokyo and Japan was full of shopping.  We bought robots, electronics, souvenirs, and lots more.

Overall, the Japan trip was one full of enjoyment and learning.  We got a whole new perspective on the world.  For a lot of things, there are two ways of doing it- the way Japan does it, and the way the rest of the world does it.  The country is unlike anyplace else.  Japan is an amazing country, and I will definitely come back here some day.