Cherry blossoms continued

Since my global phone from work isn’t compatible with Japan’s quad-band network, I’m experiencing connectivity withdrawal. No tweeting, no e-mail, no phone calls.

It hasn’t posed a problem until this morning when I was trying to get a hold of the reporter I was to meet with to clarify where she wanted to meet in the ginormous Mori Tower. I almost ended up missing her because I was using a pay phone to leave messages on her office line and she was calling me on my defunct cell phone, but we were able to get together, so all was well.

Turns out the Mori Tower is also host to a modern art museum on the top floor and the Tokyo City View, so after my meeting, Gina and I experienced both. Ferrari headquarters are based in the tower too, so we saw some sweet rides.

The weather today was in the 70s, so I happily broke out my flip flops to stroll under the cherry blossom groves near the Imperial Palace, which is surrounded by a moat (single, not double like Nijo Castle :)). The gorgeous flowers with the Tokyo skyline in the distance make quite the interesting juxtaposition. We saw more people squatting spots under trees for hanami parties in the evening.

The blossoms are already starting to fall --their bloom time is less than two weeks—so Gina and I nailed our timing for this trip.

In the evening, Gina and I wandered to Asakusa to see the shrine, 5-tiered pagoda and browse the market.

By the way, the women here are all immaculately dressed, and everyone’s in heels, which I can’t understand. Walk the miles of underground tunnels in Tokyo’s subways, and you’ll understand. Check out this map of the subway…it’s insane! However, during our 1.5 days here, Gina and I rode about four different lines.