Tokyo from the air!

So, our big trip today was actually a little more than an hour long, but it was 3000 feet up. The Yokota Aero Club provides a sightseeing tour over Tokyo in a Cessna for $90 total for up to 3 people. I just couldn't believe the immense size of the greater Tokyo metro area. As far as the eye could see, it was complete urbanity. I saw a picture of Tachikawa from the air, taken around 1970, and it had plenty of pastureland and green around it. Now, except for the planned park, and it IS pretty big, all that is built up. The pilot did spend time over the old Tachi Air Base, where we spent about 5 years. Since American Village was still there, I had an idea about where everything was, but a kid's perspective is different than an adult's. I posted the air pictures with some interested people who are going to do an overlay of the old Tachi on them.

The flight was fun and only a little shaky. We flew over Tachi, Shinjuku, downtown, the Emperor's Palace, down to Yokohama, then back to Tachi and Yokota. Good landing, which always make for an enjoyable trip. We ate REAL Chinese last night, and it was so much better than American. Still hot and humid as blazes here--makes Hawai'i seem like the very temperate paradise that it is, particularly on the north side of Oahu.

I'm going on a trip to Nikko or somewhere cultural today. I think that Mike is going to hang around the base as he is getting body/mind tired. There is a shuttle, which makes everything accessible. We will probably try to get him back to the states pretty soon, as he is getting ancy to get an apartment and job set up before school starts in a bit over a week. He is registered, but I think that he wants to get into the groove and recover from jet lag. I can understand that, but it kind of amazes me that HE is the one bringing it up.

Well, tata for now.

Ted