A Night View from the Komagata Bridge in Asakusa
Just a while ago I went to Tokyo for a week or so on the last week of April with a few friends as a quick getaway before University started for us. (We barely missed the Golden Week; I wasn't very thrilled about exploring places of interest with a giant crowd everywhere.) Like Hiromi, we missed the Sakura blooming as well, but it was still a rather fun and fulfilling trip at the end of it.
Day 1: Main Highlights
- Arrived at Narita Airport with sleepy eyes and back cramps. (Because we were cheapskates and took budget airlines. We regretted it like mad.)
- Stopped at the Airport Konbini for a somewhat late breakfast
- Took a relatively cheap ( but really long) limited express train ride into Tokyo.
- Checked into Hostel (Khao San Tokyo)
- Walked a bit around the area, ate more konbini food for lunch at a local Lawson's.
- Went to Roppongi (Hills and Midtown) for some exploring and walking around.
There wasn't much pictures for the first day – My friends didn't like museums and observatories so we pretty much gave the Mori Museum a miss, and we did realise that the place was rather hoity-toity upscale for very poor travellers as well. Hahaha,
One of the neighbourhoods in Sumida-Ku on our way to the Hostel.
Checked in to our hostel and hastily unpacked. For a rather cheap price the hostel went quite beyond our expectations.
Onwards to Roppongi!
Stumbled upon the Roppongi Hills outlet of Sushi Jiro, the 3 michelin star Sushi Restaurant in Ginza. Nope, none of us had the money to eat here. Hahaha.
Boy, were we surprised to see a restaurant serving our own country's cuisine in Roppongi.
One of the stores in Roppongi Hills that we found while wandering around. This one apparently sold lots of design books and CDs.
Hungry and rather desperate to find a proper dinner after a long time being around Roppongi Hills (no one had a map), We evantually found a Tsukemen Restaurant called Mita Seimenjo.
I must admit I took no pictures the restaurant. Credit for this picture goes to Andy from Ramen Otaku
This picture was rather close to what we ate there as well. We were rather puzzled that the small/medium/big bowls all cost 700 Yen ( hell I thought I read the machine wrongly.)
and nearly killed ourself finishing the large Bowl. They gave us a staggering kilo of noodles. But I must say that the Tsukemen Broth was better than the ones I ate back in Singapore. The thick noodles were really springy and complemented the Tsukemen really well.
(Credit for this picture goes to Andy from Ramen Otaku)
Day 2: Main Highlights
- Walked over to Asakusa's Sensoji and Nakamise Dori ( since we were living in Asakusa)
- Went to Ueno, visited Ueno Park and Ameya Yokocho.
- Went back early ( We wanted to go to the nearby Akihabara, but it seemed rather late for that; and we had to wake up rather early the next day.)
The famous Kaminarimon in Asakusa
The Nakamise Dori ( or Nakamise Street) that leads to the Sensoji Temple. Whole street is lined with souvenirs, snacks and toys.
The soft ice cream selection in the shops there were ridiculous. ^^ I love ice cream and pudding, so I got a pudding ice-cream. : P
The whole Sensoji compound had a lot of these Omikuji (strips of paper that supposedly tells your fortune.) Stations. You make a 100 Yen offering into the box and shake this metal box of wooden sticks. Evantually, one of the sticks will be shaken out. Number on the stick tells you which drawer to get your fortune from.
Oh, on a sidenote, I got a 吉 (blessing) fortune. Yay!
The Sensoji Pagoda
The garden surrounding the temple was serene and beautiful as well.
We ate some Ageman ( Buns with filling that are steamed and later fried) on the way out. Sinfully delicious, and they had loads of flavours too. I ate a Matcha one as seen from the picture, but one of my friends was adventurous enough to try the Monjyayaki flavour. : o
Took a walk around Ueno Park and visited their Benzaiten shrine in the middle of the park. Quaint little building in the middle of the Shinobazu Pond. Bit less touristy than Asakusa but you still see tourists hanging around nonetheless.
The fishies in the pond were really really fat. Gosh.
The shinobazu Pond. You can see lots of dried up grass thingy in the pond at the background. What exactly is that? I don't know too.
The boat pond had a lot of swan boats!!
And we sat on one! WHEE ~
Me paddles like mad……
And we wondered what the gulls were doing at the side of the pond while we were paddling.
Tired and thirsty from the paddling. Bought a lemon soda ( I think) with Goku on it.
We went in to Ameyoko after that. Sadly, we were all too fascinated with the shops and forgot to take pictures of the street itself. Hopped around looking at cheap ties and shoes, and then an hour or two on the “Game Station” Arcade there, playing everything from UFO catchers to Taiko no Tatsujin – more on arcades on the upcoming Akiba post though 