Tokyo Trip ~ Day Three and Four

29 June, 2008

It was a bad day. It really was. It was raining!!!!!!!! We couldn't go sightseeing and thus, the only choice we had was to shop. Yeah...summer sales....We went to Shibuya - a shopping and eating district popular with a lot of young Tokyoites. As it was raining, we went straight to Shibuya 109 - a trend setting fashion complex for young women with more than one hundred boutiques on ten floors. Maybe I was a bit outdated or old-fashioned, but I found the clothes there were too 'in' for me. Not only I found them pricey, I found them almost the same quality with those I can find in Sungei Wang Plaza. Yikes! Not my type....

I was determined to find a ramen restaurant which has a ramen vending machine. I had read about ramen restaurants selling their ramen using a vending machine from travel blogs and I told myself I must see it when I got there. So, we walked along the streets looking for one and guess what? It wasn't difficult to find one! There are plenty of them!

You don't have to worry if you can't read Japanese. Just choose whatever you like based on the pictures. After you've chosen your choice of ramen, just pay at the machine. Then, you will get a receipt and hand it to the cook when you get into the restaurant. It's as easy as one, two, three!

Sherlyn's lunch

Mine....750yen. The noodles.... arrrgghhhh...... the texture.... very different from what we used to eat back here in Malaysia. Oishii!!!!!!!

We continue shopping as that's the only thing we could do on a rainy day until 6p.m. and went back to the Shinjuku station to meet my Jap friend whom I've known for 14 years. She then brought us to a restaurant which is located on the top floor of an office building in Shinjuku. Man...I can tell you that the building is very tall...I can't remember how tall it is but I'm sure it's more than 20 storeys. I am afraid of height, you know, and so I was VERY nervous while going up in the lift.

According to Kayo, this restaurant is famous for its Hokkaido cuisine. It's a posh one where you can enjoy the night view of Tokyo while having your dinner. Sorry guys, I can't remember the name of the restaurant. These were what we had:

Totemo oishii ne!!!!!

Again, we went to bed at about 1 a.m. This was the third night that we slept after midnight.

30 June, 2008

The itinerary for the day was to visit the Sensoji Temple (aka Asakusa Kannon Temple), a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. It is Tokyo's oldest, an one of its most significant temples.

It was 8.44 in the morning and we were at the Shinjuku station. An average of 3.64 million people used the train station per day in 2007, making it the busiest train station in the world in terms of number of passengers.

This is the guide map of the station. It's huge!!! If you like shopping, then you really should make Shinjuku your base. There are about 11 shopping centers and department stores which are within walking distance from the Shinjuku station. Isetan, Marui, Mitsukoshi, Lumine, My Lord, Yodobashi, Sakuraya, Takashimaya, Bic Camera, Keio, Odakyu, Flags. You name it, you get it! That excludes those small boutiques on the streets!

First, we took the Orange JR Chuo Line from the Shinjuku station to Kanda station (160yen). Then we changed to the Ginza Subway Line for Asakusa (160yen).

This is the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of the Sensoji and symbol of Asakusa.

This is the "Koban", or Japanese Police Box, right next to the Thunder Gate. "Kobans" are commonly found on street corners in cities or towns, large or small, across Japan.

After entering the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), we walked through a 200-meter long shopping street called Nakamise. There are many little stalls that sell typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata, folding fans, slippers. Besides, traditional local snacks from the Asakusa are are sold along the Nakamise, too.

The second gate - Hozomon, is located at the end of the street.

5-star public toilet, in terms of cleanliness, if compared to the Malaysian ones.

As Asakusa is famous for its old town, we wanted to get the old, traditional feel and so we went to the Dempoin Street, which is off Nakamise Stree to the west.

This shop was closed but I liked the way they got their roller door painted.

Another door which I liked...

Brushes, anyone??

As for lunch, we went to the main street and found a nice restaurant.

My lunch...yum...yum!!!!


Sherlyin's

Our next destination was Ameyoko - a vibrant, bustling area that sells all sorts of consumer perishables as well as shoes and apparel. It's within walking distance from the Ueno station.

Cheap....very very cheap....

One of the things I bought from the market was the Hokkaido dried scallops. They are expensive in Malaysia. I bought 1 kg of them with only 10,000yen. They are good to go with porridge and soup. Yummy!!!

Where next? Odaiba - an artificial island with space age buildings, electric cars and fantasy shopping malls. We went to Shimbashi station for the train to Odaiba. The ride took 15 minutes and cost us 310yen each. If you ride the train more than twice (in Odaiba) , a one day pass for 800 yen is likely to come cheaper than single tickets.

As you can see from the map above, Odaiba is quite a big island with plenty to see and do.

This picture was taken while I was on the train, crossing the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba.

Odaiba...

That's the Fuji TV building, a favourite among the tourists.

Totoya Megaweb was my main focus in Odaiba. It's a Toyota showroom where Toyota's newest models and car accessories are displayed.

We were back in Shinjuku at 9.45 p.m That's the only day that I could sleep before midnight.