So Day 1ish, ha.  It was a long travel day and this post is mostly about the first full day in Tokyo.  I got to the CLT airport around 5.30 on a Friday morning after a full week of travel before.  (Yes, those pics are to come also).  Nola was at Amanda's and I was free of worry.  Excitement turned to worry right off the bat when the airport guy told me my first ticket had no value on it and the travel company I used had not correctly changed a ticket months earlier.  Vayama.com was not helpful at all.  So much for that experiment.  United saved the day and found a way to get me on a flight, cut a leg off and land in Tokyo earlier than I was supposed to previously.  It cost me 4 hours of worry in my home airport and some anxiety about the rest of the trip, but it all turned out fine.  

13 hour flight is not for the weary.  Luckily I had a seat open next to me, good food and 5 movies and 4 tv shows to watch.  I guess I have lost the ability to sleep on flights.  The long flight was from O'hare (wasn't I just in Chicago earlier in the week, ha) to Narita.  No problems at all.  I landed around 3.00 on Saturday now, breezed through immigration and customs, then headed off on a train to Tokyo.  Immediately I could tell this place was the definition of bustling.  Wow, at the people.  I walked from Tokyo Station east toward my apartment for the next 5 nights.  The place was small, but extremely nice and quiet.  15 min walk from the main station in a business area.  By about 8.00 Tokyo time, I had enough.  

All the vending machines in Tokyo and this one was outside my apartment. Notice the 2nd row.  Things were looking up already.  Funny, I bet I didn't see 3 more machines that had a Dr Pepper in it while I was in Japan, and trust me, I saw the vending machines.

Day 1 was planned to be a day to get my bearings, but I knew I had to choose an area a day and to explore it to the fullest because the city was too big to bounce around a lot.  The main station is about crazy with people, but it wasn't hard to figure out at all.  I didn't validate my Rail Pass until later in the week, because it was a 7 day pass, so I took the subway.  By the way it is Sunday if anyone is keeping track.  I found bakery for breakfast, yes Tokyo has every sort of food and I didn't have to eat fish 24/7.  My first stop, on the way to Ueno Park, was the Amekyo Market.  It was a black market after the war, but now just a good common market.  Some food vendors and such.  It was a good way to see Tokyo.

In Ueno Park, I decided my first day would be the zoo and museums.  Yep, I kept it simple.  It was drizzling rain, which actually became the norm.  The zoo was cool and instantly made me feel at home.  Basically everyone was enjoying a lazy afternoon. 

This rat was twice as big as Nola!!!  

The Palla's Cat was beautiful.  

On to the National Museum.  I only took in the main building, but I knew I had a bunch to do and I have seen exhibits on Greeks before and the other building held China stuff.  I was here to see Japan, ha.  

Beautiful inlays, metal work and of course coins.  It is funny now that I am seeing coins that I have in museums.  

Even some of the samurai armor and swords.  

Around the corner is the National Science and History Museum.  I guess I just wanted to see how they compared to ours or England's.  They were very cool and very similar. 

Most complete Stegosaurus skeleton in the world.  

Yep, had to find fishy fossils. 

Pine cone, pine cone, pine cone.  I think this was an exhibit in my TN museum growing up.  

Beetle, beetle, damn beetle.  These were huge.  Never noticed one on a dark street though.  

Sun comes up around 5.00 on my trip and starts to set around 5.30, but I still had time to go to Skytree.  It is the second tallest structure in the world.  

Still a little cloudy and I couldn't wee Mt Fuji, but hopefully these pics start to show the scale of the city.  

Day 1 was a complete success.  I snacked mostly at the markets and food halls (first sushi hit the spot and was a little richer), but ended up with a Japanese Curry and beer up high watching the sunset.  Little did I know that I would walk a bunch on this trip.  I also started to learn how much was actually underground in Tokyo.  I felt very comfortable and never had any of the struggles with language or the massive city that I thought I could have.  I will say some places were cheap, but most places were a little more expensive than I realized.  You could eat on any budget, but a couple pieces of sushi was also $6.  Took me about 30 mins to get back to the apartment and I was probably out cold by 10.30 the first full night.