Tokyo Tower...the Eiffel copycat

Tuesday night my personal tour guide, Lori, had to teach some English at work, which left me to fend for myself for the 1st time. I met up with some fellow JFMFers and went to Tokyo Tower via taxi. This was my first time in a taxi in Tokyo (they are really really expensive so we take the subway). Our driver was hilarious and he had a slight resemblance to Elvis. What do you think?
Anyway, so we arrived at the Tower and began a photo shoot that didn't end until we came down from the top. Though I had seen the Tower from afar, this was my first up close and personal view and I really got some good pictures. Tokyo Tower is used as a communications tower and tourist attraction. Built in 1958, it is based on the design of the Eiffel Tower and was built as a symbol of Japan's emergence as a global economic powerhouse. Not sure why they didn't come up with their own design....The Tokyo Tower is 9 meters (30 feet) taller than the Eiffel. We went up to the Main Observatory (155 m or 508 feet) and were able to see a 360 degree view of Tokyo and even saw Mt. Fuji (kind of) through the clouds and smog, off in the distance. You supposedly can only see it from Tokyo 1 out of 5 days though I'm not sure today's faint glimpse counted. There is a Shrine on this floor of the Tower (boasted to be the highest in town, obviously), as it seems there is a shrine for everything in this country. There was even one at the Fish Market yesterday, but I never saw it and was not willing to risk my life to find it. Anyway, we braved the next set of elevators and went up to the "Special Observatory" which is 250 meters or 820 feet tall (just a little taller than the highest point in MS & Iuka, Woodall Mountain). This level also offers a 360 degree view through an enclosed circular observatory and the walls are made almost entirely of glass. Having had enough of "sightseeing" we got back in a taxi and went to Asakusa (yes, this was my 3rd visit) and had dinner in the same area. It was a restaurant without a menu (or maybe just not one in English) so we had to use our pointer fingers to show the waiter what we wanted. This is Mary ordering (pointing) her meal. Good thing beer is the same in any language!