The Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and Japanese McDonald's' Newest Creations (10)

4:11 PM by Ren , under , , ,

*To begin, are the apostrophes used correctly in my title?

The grounds of the imperial palace, in the heart of the big city

My friend Alex who goes to grad-school at Waseda University, and who I graduated San Francisco State University with, joined me on a walk around the beautiful grounds which surround the imperial residence here in Tokyo. I took the subway from here in Chiba, all the way to Kudanshita station, where we met, and started on our way.

The McDonald's we met in front of
A large portion of Tokyo now being available for viewing with Google Street View has made meeting in places you have never been before a little easier considering a very large majority of Japanese streets aren't named. I just emailed him a link to the Street View image I had chosen, and we were easily able to figure out where we were to meet. Here is a picture similar to the one I sent him:


大きな地図で見る


This McDonald's was unique in that it had an order-out area due to all of the people who pick up to-go orders from all of the local offices. As you can see from the picture I took, they are promoting two new items, the "cheese-katsu burger" (a breaded pork cutlet filled with cheese, I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot stick), and a "macha-Oreo McFlurry" (macha is a form of green tea, I really want to try this!)

Cherry blossoms at their best


Looking down at the moat



The best thing about my first visit to this place is that I think I found the best place to picnic in the city. There is plenty of grass, nice trees, and peace-and-quiet! Hopefully the next pictures convey what I am trying to express!





I don't think we actually saw the palace itself. It is heavily guarded, and also sheltered within the nature-filled property. However, there were many traditional looking buildings that were attracting lots of tourists. I know it is sort of ignorant, but I feel like once you've seen a handful of those historic buildings, you've seen them all, so I didn't pursue finding my way in.

A couple pretty trees at the border of the imperial grounds



A group of Japanese tourists all dressed the same


We were in walking distance to Ginza, where I took this picture



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10 Reply to "The Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and Japanese McDonald's' Newest Creations"

Grammar Snob (a.k.a. Heather) on April 10, 2009 at 6:35 PM

Ren, I'm not positive, but I THINK that since "McDonald's" is already possessive, there's no need for the 2nd apostrophe. That would make it a double possessive. (Keep in mind, it's been a hundred years since I've taken an English class.)
Now, to read your blog...

 

Heather on April 10, 2009 at 6:42 PM

I can see you've been a bit jaded by living in the Bay Area. Where "peace & quiet" include at least 1000 other people with the same idea. ;-)
Looks like a pretty nice place.
I'm so envious of the cherry blossoms - there's NOTHING in bloom in Chi-town at the moment.

 

Anonymous on April 10, 2009 at 7:47 PM

LOL at Heather. I was thinking exactly the same thing about the "peace and quiet" which preceded photos of dozens of people. However, it certainly is a beautiful spot!

I do think Heather is right about the double possessive. Now, don't take offense, Ren, but since your blog says you are okay with correcting your grammar, I respectfully submit that "who I graduated San Francisco State University with" should be "with whom I graduated from San Francisco State University", and "The McDonald's we met in front of" should be "We met in front of this McDonald's", or even more formally, "The McDonald's in front of which we met" (I think that is right). I know it sounds stuffy and old-fashioned, but I do think it is correct. Not supposed to end a sentence with "with" or "of". Which I just did. :-D

A. J.

 

Ren on April 10, 2009 at 10:04 PM

Thanks for the input y'all! I appreciate it, and am glad to have it! I am still not sure about the apostrophe rule because I don't want it to look like I am referring to a possession of a hypothetical "Mr McDonald".

 

Ernie Branscomb on April 10, 2009 at 10:10 PM

Ren, if you spoke perfectly correct English you would become stuffy and tedious. Just be Ren, rules change every day. It is getting to be more acceptable to speak colloquially. It is even considered to be okay to use a preposition to end a sentence with. My fave is splitting infinitives. My writing would hardly be recognizable without them. Write like you talk, if you give yourself too many rules you will distract from the clarity of what you are trying to say. You should have known that there were too many apostrophes for clarity, and even if they had been used correctly, it would have made the word to be confusing, and I’m sure you did know or you wouldn’t have asked.

A very wise person told me once that the rules are to follow the language, not the other way around.

Oh, great photo’s’.

 

Anonymous on April 11, 2009 at 10:19 AM

LOL Ernie on your lovely sentences and apostrophes.

Renn's A.J.

 

Anonymous on April 12, 2009 at 11:26 AM

nice blog son. I enjoy seeing it,and wish i was on an adventure also.Trying to get camper ready , so i can take a trip with Jane to Usal for a day or two.That will be my peace and quite. Do those cherrie trees produce cherries? OR do they just have the blossoms. Dad

 

Ren on April 12, 2009 at 8:02 PM

Dad> I don't think the trees produce cherries, unfortunately.

 

Heather on April 12, 2009 at 9:22 PM

Good answer, Ernie!

 

buy generic viagra on May 17, 2011 at 7:42 AM

Beautiful pictures, I love this country a lot, the culture, the people, the food, all there is great.

 

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