After beginning my day in Asakusa, I was now at Ueno Park, the largest public park in Tokyo city.
The sakura trees needed a few more days to fully bloomI decided to check out the pandas at Ueno Zoo, located inside the park
Entry tickets to the zoo cost ¥600 (₹360/$5/€4). I was mostly here for the pandas but I figured I would then take a quick stroll around the zoo as well.
Pandas are native to ChinaI don’t remember exactly how many pandas I saw, but I believe Ueno Zoo has around 3 pandas currentlyMost of the time I just saw them chewing on bamboo Pandas are so cute!Check out this guy, he he“Nom nom nom nom”
After spending days outside Tokyo — mostly Kyoto and Himeji — I was back in Japan’s impressive capital city. I was staying in the Asakusa area, popular for being close to many of Tokyo’s attraction — namely Nakamise Street, Sensoji shrine, Asakusa shrine and Sumida River. It’s why I chose to stay in Asakusa and booked myself at the Khaosan Tokyo Laboratory hostel for a few days.
Toshiba toilets, who would have thought It was nice to sit on these on a chilly morning — because the toilet seat would warm up!I went upstairs to the kitchen to have my breakfastThe kitchen isn’t very big but I didn’t find it very crowded either. It has all the essential appliances.I got ready and went downstairs to check out the information the hostel had put up about attractions in Tokyo and how to get to each one.First attraction on today’s sightseeing list was Senso-ji temple, so I headed out in that directionGood thing there was a Mos Burger outlet nearby
I walked towards the end of the road Senso-ji was situated on just to explore the surroundings. There are quite a few banks around, so I got some US dollars exchanged.
Past the bridge over Sumida river is the Asahi Beer Hall (the building with the ‘golden turd’ on top of it)This is the entrance to Senso-ji Temple, one of the most popular Buddhist shrines in Japan — because it’s the oldest in Tokyo. Therefore, it’s also one of the most popular attractions in the city.This large lantern is called a KaminarimonLeading up to Senso-ji temple is Nakamise Street, choc full of small shops
Nakamise Dori, as its known in Japanese, has seen many shops come and go since it first came up in the 18th century.
Ahh, wide footpathsYup, that’s a Gundam Cafe and next to it the official AKB48 Cafe & Shop For the uninitiated, Gundam is a popular mecha manga/anime/videogame franchise and AKB48 is the biggest (literally) girl group (literally) in Japan. And both cafes had long lines outside.Akihabara maybe the home to otaku/nerd/geek culture, but there are plenty of offices aroundWhen I reached the main road, I just stood there with a smile An area with so many videogames, anime, gadgets… couldn’t believe such a place exists, but hey, I’m finally in Akihabara!I was tempted to enter Club Sega, but I turned around insteadThis was a complex of stores selling spare parts, electrical components and retro gadgetsDefinitely a place for electronics hobbyistsI just wonder how many still build stuff from scratch in the days of easy consumptionI crossed over to the main hub of Akihabara districtThere were so many enticing buildings, but I had to get around quicklyI knew it was time for lunch, but I somehow thought I’d finish walking around Akihabara firstLot’s of girls trying to entice men (mostly) to enter maid cafesA few stores had street sales but I didn’t find all the prices as low as they were claiming it to be