Hi, Worldmappin community! Let's continue my Japan trip as I am on my fourth entry of the #winterchallenge. This happened in December 2015 when Mariko and I met at Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. We need to see another Japanese-Filipino friend in Shinjuku.
Akiko just arrived, she's from Saitama. We were so noisy talking and laughing all together. Off we go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. We had to walk from the subway station.
Passing by Shinjuku Chuo Park
One of the free things to do in Tokyo is to see the downtown view of Tokyo. I stayed in Shinjuku during the first trip but was busy doing something else although I passed by this building many times. Since Mariko and Akiko wanted to see the observatory deck, I might also check with them.
We passed by a park in Shinjuku and couldn't help myself to hug a Gingko Tree. I became a tree hugger. Haha.
Of course, a selfie with the girls. Behind us is a sliding park. I did try it and it was funny. Akiko had a video she posted on Facebook.
It was amazing to walk in a park surrounded by beautiful autumn leaves. Behind me was a big slide, I was tempted to go up and go down the slide. But we need to reach on time to go to the observatory deck.
No doubt that this park is good for adults. I felt like a little kid just looking at it.
When you're in Japan, expect a lot of walking at least 20,000 steps. Hahaha! That's the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
Here I just wanted to have my photos taken with the trees. On my left hand, you can see I had a plastic bag because Akiko gave me a box of Tokyo Banana dessert as a gift. So sweet of her.
I consider this as a Golden Tree, I fell in love with this tree I couldn't help but take another photo of it.
Japanese people are so lucky to have a safe recreation place for sports, biking, and walking around the park.
I wanted to rent a bike but the last time I asked for the fee, it was 10,000 Yen. XD
Arriving at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
The sky was gray but look at the orange leaves.
Let's have our photos taken here before we reach the building.
The building and orange leaves were a nice background.
As a solo traveler, it is really safe to walk around Tokyo. You are surrounded by big buildings in Shinjuku.
You may hate the buildings but the beautiful colors of autumn made it pretty.
We were hoping to see Mount Fuji from the Observatory Deck
The reason why we came here was because we were hoping to see Mount Fuji from the observatory deck. Unfortunately, the sky was grey. But we were still lucky enough as the deck wasn't closed or our efforts of walking would be useless.
You can enjoy downtown Tokyo from a height of 202 meters. And I love the bird's eye view of the trees.
Based on my research and comparison, we can see Shinjuku Park Tower and Tokyo Opera City Tower from the southwest direction.
We failed to see the Tokyo Skytree that is from the Northeast Direction. Shinjuku Gyoen and Meiji Jingu can be seen from the South-east Direction. Mount Fuji can be seen from afar in the West direction. Because of the fog, we failed to see them all.
Anyway, we never let our disappointment bother us but we just enjoyed doing things all together.
The grey skies really made all the buildings look boring but at least what we saw down from the building was such a relaxing scene.
So many buildings in Tokyo.
I was going to ask them to have our photos all together but they were busy with their phones.
Only to find out they wanted to take selfies. Hahaha!
Let's end this blog with a nice group photo from Akiko. I really liked it and it was perfect timing when the airplane passed by. Amazing view of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building from this perspective.