Meghan and I didn't plan anything too major for Friday because we weren't sure how our bodies were going to handle the crazy time change. Japan is currently 13 hours ahead of DC time, which means it's morning in DC when it's night time in Japan.

Perhaps luckily, we were so exhausted from our long travel day that we slept pretty well Thursday night and woke up at a semi-normal time Friday morning.

We decided to start the day with a walk through Roppongi up to the Imperial Gardens. Multiple people recommended the Imperial Gardens as a good running route in Tokyo because the loop around the palace grounds is exactly a 5K.



I'm so glad people suggested this to me because with all the cherry blossoms in full bloom, this was a gorgeous run. Plus, it was packed with other runners, and you could tell the large majority of them were also foreigners. So lots of friendly nods, smiles and waves.





I started and finished my run at one of the main gates.



Along the way, I noticed that there were some really nice distance markers on the ground. Each one had a pretty picture of cherry blossoms with the kilometers listed.



We were blessed with some gorgeous weather in Tokyo, but man with the sun shining and the humidity it got toasty on that run.

After we finished the run, we strolled back through Roppongi swinging past the U.S. embassy. I was actually super surprised that the embassy was just a really boring and ugly looking office building. All the other countries' embassies in DC are so gorgeous and have these pretty grounds, so I guess I was expecting something like that, and that was most definitely not the case.



After a quick lunch and shower, Meghan and I set out for the second part of our day, exploring all over Shinjuku. Shinjuku is a bumping part of Tokyo, and it is completely packed with people. When we got off the subway and went to cross one of the main streets, I'm pretty sure we were crossing with like 300 other people. Pure insanity.

Our first stop was the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Since we were visiting Japan during peek cherry blossom season, we knew we couldn't miss an opportunity to explore a park that boasts more than 40 different kinds of cherry trees.



We have cherry blossoms in DC (that were a gift from Japan), but it was really cool to see all the different varieties that grow native in the country. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and enjoying the gorgeous weather.



The next stop on our tour of Shinjuku was a cat cafe. I don't really like cats that much, but cat cafes are a pretty big thing in Japan, so we figured it was one of those things we had to do.



And it was quite the experience. Basically you pay for an hour of time hanging out with cats. The cafe we went to had 50 cats! 50! That is insane!



I only thought one or two of the cats were super nice, the others were either really standoff-ish or a little bit scared of humans.

In between petting the cats, Meghan and I also grabbed a sweet snack to fortify us until dinner with Scott and his coworkers.



After our hour was up, we headed to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to check out the observatory on the 46th floor. The towering building offers a gorgeous 360 degree view of the city of Tokyo and the surrounding areas. On super clear days, you can see all the way to Mt. Fuji.





Unfortunately for us, it was a bit hazy when we were there, so we didn't get to see Fuji from the distance.



Our last touristy stop of the day on Friday was the park right across the street from the government tower, which was home to one of Tokyo's many shrines and temples. This particular shrine wasn't huge and it was definitely not nearly as crowded as many of the other shrines and temples we saw on this trip.



But it was really cool that there was a random shrine tucked into this little park.

We wrapped up our Friday with a traditional Japanese Nomikai with Scott and his coworkers.



We headed to a restaurant where we had to take off our shoes as soon as we went inside (this is not uncommon in Japan) and then sat at a long table where course after course of Japanese food was served.



Plus sake.



I'm not a huge fan of sake in general, but the stuff we had at the party was OK. Not my favorite, but definitely not bad.

The night was capped off with a stroll through Golden Gai -- a part of Shinjuku really well known for its nightlife -- where Scott thought it would be fun to grab drinks, but Meg and I were too exhausted to function. So we settled on walking through the area and peeking into a few of the bars before heading for home and promptly collapsing into bed.



So all in all, our first full day in Tokyo was a pretty major success. We saw a ton, we did a ton, we crashed hard that night.

Side note, Meghan has a FitBit and tracked the number of steps we took and the miles we walked each day. I'm going to post that number at the end of each post because it's kind of crazy.

Steps: 34,737. Miles: 16.

Also, I put together a Snapchat story for each full day of the trip. I'll include that video here as well so you can see some more of the pictures (and some of my occasional snark).



Up next: Further adventures in other parts of Tokyo, including the fish market, Skytree and more shrines and temples.