Day 3 - venturing out on our own

Today, Art had something he wanted to do, so Donna and I ventured out on our own, and used the local train system.  Art had been doing much of the navigation up to now, so it was about time we tried it alone.

I knew there was a JR East Railroad museum in the city of Omiya just north of here (about 30 minute train ride).  On most rail trips, there is usually more than one way to get from point A to point B.  Fortunately, on this trip it would be a simple 1 train trip from Shinjuku to Omiya.  A train on the Saiyko Line would get us up there with no transfers.   And, it would cost about 470 Yen (or, a bit over $4).  Off we went.

When we got to Omiya, we followed the signs to the "New Shuttle" - the local elevated train that would get us to the museum.  Though we thought we followed the signs correctly, we ended up getting a bit off course.  But it was a fortunate detour.  We ended up finding a store called "BND Sportswear", and right out front was a display with women's sport shirts on sale.  Donna just happened to need these kind of shirts, as they were more comfortable in the hot, humid weather and would wash/dry a lot quicker.  She found several shirts for 40% off.

We eventually found the "New Shuttle" station, and continued on to the museum.

The JR Rail museum was very well done, and documented the history of the JR Rail system from the 1800 to present day.  The museum had static train displays inside, an internal museum of artifacts from the system over the years, a science workshop (aimed for kids), a simulator room (where you learn about how to safely run a rail system on a simulator), and some narrow gauge mini trains to ride on around the property.

There was also a large diorama with model trains that represented the current rolling stock of the rail system.  A live narrator, combined with lighting, apparently explained the different types of rail services provided.  I say "apparently", because it was all in Japanese.

The presentation was in a closed room, and we watched from bleachers. I have to say - I don't think I've ever been in a room full of so many unhappy toddlers.  Ever.  It was just around noon, and apparently some of these kids were missing their nap times.  Lots of crying and screaming going on while the narrator diligently kept with the script.  Since we couldn't understand what she was saying anyway, it wasn't a big loss.  It was a bigger loss for the Japanese people trying to follow along.

The rest of the museum was fun to wander through, and very well done.  most of the railroad engines were on static display inside the building, with a fake round house in the center.  The trains ranged from early steam engines to one of the first Shinkansen (bullet trains) ever used in Japan.

We left after a couple of hours, and made our way back to the train station.  We found a sandwich shop and had a light lunch before getting back on the Saikyo Line and back to the Shinuku area.

When we got back to Shinjuku, we decided to make our way to the Shinjuku Governmnent building.  This building has a free observation deck.  Actually, two - one on the south tower, and one on the north tower.  We went to the south tower, and got a pretty good view of the Tokyo area.

We met Art later for dinner, finding a good Tonkatsu restaurant near Shinjuku station.  Tonkatsu is a deep fried pork cutlet, and it was really good.  It came with rice, soup, salad, and some pickled veggies.  Not a bad dinner.  And the view from the restaurant wasn't too bad, either.

Done for tonight.  Tomorrow - Tokyo Skytree tower.