Tokyo, Day 2

Woke up at 9am this morning and headed out for Asakusa.

When I first saw the Japanese subway maps, I commented that it was confusing and purplexing. Many said, 'No, it's very comprehensive'. I've had my first experience on the trains and I beg to differ. They ARE complicated. So we ended up just checking with the station master each time we were headed somewhere. Not fun. Anyway, we covered 3 places today - Asakusa, Ueno and Akihabara.

Asakusa
The main attraction at Asakusa is Sensoji Temple and Nakamise Street that leads to it. The street sells all the typical Japanese tidbits from Mochi and rice crackers to kimonos that all cost a bomb.

Asakusa itself is nice, as it has a feel of olden Japan. Lunch was at another vending ticket outlet. This time we had noodles. Nothing to shout about though, but Dad liked it. Seriously, I think the food tasting better than Jap food in Singapore is really due to the weather. In such cold weather, any hot soupy dish would deem yummy, right? You see that long brownish stuff in the soup? It smells and tastes like fart! I thought it was the usual pickle but it's not! Ok, ok I don't know how fart tastes like, but it sure left a farty after-smell when you bite into it.

Ueno

Ameyoko must be Ueno's main attraction - mainly streets selling dried food stuff, tid bits and clothes. I managed to get another jacket at just 1000 yen (about S$15). RT managed to get some tops from Adidas and Asics at a steal too. This place is a little like Chatuchak in BKK. Except that in Chatuchak, they don't charge you S$8 for an apple, S$1 PER strawberry. Not a punnet hor, A SINGLE STRAWBERRY. For a papaya, it's about $10 a piece, and a watermelon one third the size of what you get in Singapore costs about S$10.

As I'm typing this, I'm eating a White Peach Jelly, probably going to be my source of fruit while I'm here. With fruits costing like that, I think the Japs need to be eating loads of vegetables. Or they can forget about removing their bowels!

Akihabara

Dad wanted to see this place - where all the electronics stuff is sold. So we dropped by the area for a bit. Honestly, all these gadgets don't interest me at all. Tried looking for the Naruto masks as the toy shops, but didn't find them again. The Japanese' fascination with toy figurines is another fascination which is beyond me.

Met the Giao Gui family for dinner back at Shinjuku. Katsu rice at Suzuya. This katsu is apparently the only one of its kind in Tokyo - served on a hotplate and then you pour green tea over the rice or the pork.

After dinner, we walked through Kabukicho. Popped into one of their outlets, which isn't really the outlet. Father Giao Gui explained that it's just a shop front, with computer terminals for the selection of the girls. Once selected, Mr Hamsup is led to another place where the girl is.

Walked over to Krispy Kreme to get some doughnuts. Funny thing is, the minute you're in the queue, you're offered a doughnut free! So in total we had 6 free doughnuts and bought paid only for the 8 we bought. Japanese hospitality.