Around Tokyo

We started our second morning in Tokyo searching for breakfast near our hotel. We went into the first one that was open and it turned out to be rather interesting.

You seat yourself and then go over to the vending machine to order and pay for your food.

The machine will dispense tickets which you later pass to the staff who will cook and bring the food out to you.

Sonya posed with the tickets while Clara insisted that she wanted to take a photo all plunk out on the table.

Sonya chose Tonkatsu with Japanese curry and rice. She must have been very hungry and also really liked it to gobble up everything except some of the rice! I think she has discovered another of her favorite Japanese dish besides soba and sushi.

After the yummy breakfast, we took the train to Ameyoko in Ueno to take a look at the famous street market.

Most of the shops had only just opened but the street was already rather crowded.

Hello Kitty facial wash!

Shop selling all kinds of Japanese crackers and other snacks. Justin got one for his office and we bought another which was gobbled up before we left Tokyo.

Games arcade with a cute walking penguin at the entrance.

Shop selling all kinds of Hello Kitty stuff.

We walked pass the shop making and selling their own snacks which looked so yummy. I thought I could buy these for friends back in Boston. Too bad the owner said they had to be consumed within 4 days and I won't be back in Boston for another week.

I love Japanese restaurants not only for their yummy foods but also for the beautiful fake food displays outside the restaurants.

We took a photo with this large red lantern in anticipation for the famous huge one that we will see later at the Senso-ji Temple.

Sonya and Clara fooling around again. Sonya likes making Clara into an octopus and Clara likes being squished into one :)

Walked past another interesting restaurant on our way towards Asakusa. Look at the photo below and see the huge bowl of noodles behind Sonya? The chopsticks and the noodles actually moved up and down.

Continued walking and came across this lady who was giving out free balloons with little golden key inside a tiny holiday sock. Sonya still has her key and sock. Clara dropped hers somewhere along the way.

People waiting outside a departmental store, all ready to shop when it opened in another 15 minutes or so.

Walked past another temple. Not sure of the name of the temple but loved the double gates that led to the temple.

The street, Asakusa Dori, that we were on had a lot of shops selling things like altars and tablets for the deceased.

Bare trees lined the streets. The branches were very different from any trees I have seen around Boston. I wonder if these could be cherry blossom trees and can only imagine how pretty it must be during spring time.

On our way to Asakusa, we stopped by Kappabashi Dougu Street lined with shops selling everything related to cooking. From far away, we spotted the blue, red and white teacup balconies of one of the apartment buildings and figured that that must be the street that we were looking for. As we crossed the road, we spotted a huge statue of a chef at the top of another building. This MUST be the correct street. We went into one of the shops and I bought quite a lot of cute little gadgets to help me create cute bento meals to add to the collection I got from Daiso in Singapore :) As we were meeting friends for lunch near the Senso-ji Temple at noon, we didn't have much time left to explore the other shops.

Just outside the Senso-ji Temple, we spotted the doggie shuttle bus :) Only in Japan!

A few minutes left before noon and a few quick snaps in front of the giant lantern of the Thunder Gate to the Senso-ji Temple :)

Here are our Japanese friends who were our neighbors in Westgate 2 years ago. It was great to see them again :)

It was amazing how Kanon and Sonya just connected immediately as if they have not been apart for so long (well, we did meet Kanon for a brief lunch when they visit Boston in August this year).

Clara was, of course, eager to join in what the big girls were doing :)

Ayako and Naoko had asked what we wanted for lunch and suggested Okonomiyaki, Sukiyaki, Unagi, Kamameshi, Tenpura and Soba. We chose Okonomiyaki and I think we made the right choice.

They brought us to an old Japanese restaurant where they cooked the Okonomiyaki right at your table and it was nothing like the ones you get in Singapore (at least the ones that I had).

First we had some vegetables fried on the grill pan. Here's Naoko having a go at the frying :) And then we had some grilled seafoods.

Then they made three different types of okonomiyaki. I remember one was with rice cake, and another with ginger. I can't remember what was in the third one but I know they were all great!

Kanon was already very good with the regular chopsticks and that inspired Sonya to try using them as well. She did quite a good job eating with them :)

The server then brought us their traditional okonomiyaki with vegetables, noodles and an egg to top it off.

For dessert, they served these jelly noodles with either a sweet or a vinegar sauce. Clara loved those jelly noodles with the sweet sauce :) I preferred the vinegar version.

After lunch, we walked back to the Senso-ji Temple where we had a few last group photos before we said our goodbyes.

We explored the temple grounds on our own after that.

I have read that there is this buddha statue with healing powers. If you have any aches / problems in any part of your body, just rub your hands on the corresponding area on the statue where your own problems are and the problems should go away. I, of course, need to have a try to cure my migraines and backaches :)

The practice was to throw some coins / dollars into the wooden container in front of the statue and then say your prayers. I gave Sonya some coins and I didn't expect her to throw them as if she was throwing pebbles into the ocean :)

After exiting the main hall, we found a street performer with his monkey outside. I know there are probably some people out there who are going to say that this is animal abuse. Anyway, the monkey was really cute. Sonya and Clara enjoyed the performance.

Clara found another statue that she wanted to take a photo with :)

I finally saw how rice crackers were made! I need to search the internet to see if I can find the recipe :)

Just outside the train station, we saw a monk and I decided to give him some change. I didn't understand what he said to me but hopefully it was a blessing (and not how little I gave him). It was turning out to be a great 2 days in Tokyo - got my life extended by 14 years, cured my migraine and backache, and got blessed by a monk :)

Across the river from the train station was the famous Asahi Breweries Headquarters Building (the golden building on the left). Here's the description of the building from the official Asahi website:

"With its amber-colored glass windows and top frieze of white external walls, the 22-story Asahi Beer Tower captures the essence of a sudsy glass of beer. The adjoining Asahi Super Dry Hall was designed by the noted French designer Philippe Starck and the “Flaming Ornament” on the roof is a symbol of Asahi Breweries’ dynamic heart."

We had planned to go to Shinjuku and Harajuku after visiting the temple but we were all so tired that we just headed back to the hotel. We packed dinner and ate in our room.

I thought I use this post as well to show more of the hotel where we stayed.

The hotel serves breakfast but only the traditional Japanese style breakfast and it was not included in the price of the room. We thought we try their breakfast at least once we were there.

Our room had a private bath but the hotel had the two big separate common baths (one for women and other for men) as well.

This is our own private bath and I took some photos of the toilet bowl with automated water jet feature to clean your bottom :)

Here's our room again on our last day while we were packing up to go to the airport.

Sonya and Clara went into the storage area and went "behind bars".

The hotel provided two yukata robes for use in the common baths and we thought we try it on for fun :)

The robes were way too big for Sonya and Clara but they had fun trying them on :)

Here are just two last photos of the street we walked from our hotel towards the Tokyo City Air Terminal where we caught the Limousine Bus to Narita Airport.