Pa Lu Bin Cheng: Tokyo, Japan (part 2)

Japan in General is a safe country to travel even for a solo female traveler. The people are nice, friendly and helpful.

Tourist information @ Asakusa

one thing that one must do is, to visit the Senso-ji temple at night, when it light up

even when all the stores are closed still it's nice to see the arts on the roller shutters

it's so unbelievably beautiful at night

one of my fav shot

the weather was so good, that we can see Sky Tree from the temple

Boon @ Senso-ji

~ god ~ oh ~ god ~

this picture reminds me of Mr.Bean. The part where he fall out from the sky to this spot light?

lol

plus the temple is less crowded at night, so i got to take lots of nice pictures

another place to come at night is Azumabashi. From here you can see the Sky Tree, Asahi Breweries and Sumidagawa River

though abit blur but better than nothing :D

if you plan to go many places in Tokyo in 1 day. i do suggest the Tokyo Metro one-day open ticket.

it cost only 710yen for adult and 360yen for child, and unlimited rides on the Tokyo Metro for 1 whole day

the Tokyo Metro has many line, so it's enough to get you around Tokyo. Or you can buy the Tokyo Metro - Toei One day Pass which offers more lines which cost 1000yen for adult and 500yen for child also allows you unlimited rides on any Toei Subways or Tokyo Metro Line for an entire day from the 1st to the last trains

* this ticket does not include the JR line

Air Asia ad in Tokyo subway

The imperial palace east garden are open to public throughout the year except on Monday's, Friday's and special occasion. Open from 9am-5pm and it's Free

the Doshin Basho Guardhouse, this is one of the 3 Guardhouse for inspections of visitors who entered from the Ote-mon gate (main entrance) which still remaining from Edo period

the other 2 guardhouse. It was strictly guarded by samurai guardsmen of higher rank.

no hanky panky business

the east garden

they even have wild berries. During spring there are cherry blossoms, in Summer there are lots of Hydrenger

Ishimuro stone cellar. Some said it was used as an emergency storehouse for inner palace's supplies as it is near the inner palace's back room. Some even said that Ishimuro stone cellar was an underground passage or treasury and so on. So go figure. What i know is that there were lots of mosquito biting me

odd looking bamboo

at the far end of the garden is the Edo Castle, well former site of Edo Castle.

Edo Castle was the residence of the Tokugawa shogun who ruled Japan from 1603 - 1867. Emperor Meiji also resided there from 1868 - 1888 moving to the newly constructed Imperial Palace. What remain is this foundation of the former castle tower. The castle tower was completed in 1638 as the tallest castle tower in Japan's history. But only a few years later in 1657, it was destroyed by citywide fires and has not been rebuilt ever since

some building near the imperial palace

the place is huge

awwww so lovely...they even have 2 swans

famous angle of the imperial palace and the main gate stone bridge(Nijubashi)

damn i look pregnant in this picture :S

Boon @ imperial palace

time to go shopping again....@ Ueno Ameyokocho. Here you can find all sorts of stuff as it is crowded with stores offering clothes, fresh fish, dried food hack even hair tonic

also a nice place for people watching ;)

there are Ramen, Chinese food and even kebab. Something for everyone

next to a place which is more upscale.....Ginza

remember to bring your plastics...you need them

we can only have time for Uniqlo because this badboy has 12 floors and takes up a whopping 5,000 sqm, is the company's biggest store in the world. It's also one of the most cosmopolitan of 530 staff and roughly a hundred are foreign

we were spoiled with choices

there is also a Sony building (where u can find all the newest products by Sony)

Shibuya, i can see why Shibuya Station one of Tokyo's busiest railway stations. It was freaking packed and we almost got lost inside the Shibuya Station

we found Hachiko. Hachiko, a dog who waited on his late master at Shibuya Station every day from 1923 - 1935, eventually becoming a national celebrity for his loyalty

the famous Shibuya crossing

Shibuya is where the youngster hangs out in the last 30 years. You can shop till you drop here. The contemporary fashion scene in Shibuya extends northward from Shibuya Station to Harajuku, where youth culture reigns, Omotesando, the zelkova tree- and fashion brand lined street and sendagaya, Tokyo's appareal design district

Harajuku

Takeshita Dori

maps of Takeshita street

JR Harajuku Station is just opposite Takeshita street.

If you happen to be in Shibuya on Sunday, pay a visit to Yoyogi park. It's a gathering place for people to play music and practice martial arts. You can also rent bike for 200yen / hour. Too bad we didn't have much time so we skipped it...oh well next trip :)

another place not far from Shibuya is Shinjuku, Kabukicho. There are many restaurants, theaters, movie theater and game arcades. If you look for fun, look for Shinjuku

as i was walking along the street, i saw a small crowd, so i though was some street performance, to my surprise it was a smoking area, so everyone just stood there and well...smoke. So to all tourist smoker, do smoke @ a designated smoking area. Smoking in public is prohibited ...i think

life sucks when u need to move from fancy hotel....

to this tiny hostel...i want back the yukata, bath tub and Shiseido shampoo...huhuhu.

Average price for an good hotel in Tokyo cost about 10,000yen - 17,000yen

as for hostel you can find from 1600yen for dorms and if you want private room for 2 cost from 2100yen. We stayed @ Asakusa smile hostel, in Asakusa area cost about 2500yen / pax for 1 night, private room. Was small, cleanliness average, i think during summer the room would be a bit warm as there are only a small window and an ancient air conditioner. Location wise it's convenient very near to the Senso-ji temple and also metro station

and a free welcome drink :)

one thing i always love about staying in hostel is that the people are more street smart and know their way to cheap yummy ramen or cheapest way to travel. You don't get this in fancy hotel

they even share the train scheduled to the airport

From Asakusa to Haneda airpot is just 50 minutes if you take the direct train (which u don't have to transit) Toei asakusa line cost 640yen.

tip: In Japan you never have to worry about buying the wrong ticket, worry about how to get to the airport or worry being lost. You can always asked the information in the train station or even the local Japanese, they are really informative and helpful. So when you panic, just relax and kindly asked for help

Sumida River

another attraction which is not so far from Asakusa is Sumida-Ryogoku area. It's not really far away but it ain't near either. I walked here from Senso-ji temple or one can always take the train.

There is this Kyu-Yasuda Garden. The pond in the middle carrying water from Sumida river. It's really a nice well manicured Japanese style garden

If you want to see sumo wrestler, i mean real life sumo wrestler here is the place to come just next door to Kyu-Yasuda Garden, Ryogoku Kokugikan.

I was so lucky to come face to face with a sumo wrestler... i think he was walking to have his lunch nearby. tip: try lunch time for better chance to see sumo wrestler.

I actually smiled at this sumo wrestles but all i got from him was a serious stare...what was i suppose to do, at least i didn't snap a shot at his face...well i wouldn't dare either...hehe.

here are the price list to watch a sumo tournament. the cheapest is 3600yen - 14,300yen

check this out for the sumo tournament schedule

http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/ticket/honbasho_joho/index.html

there is a small sumo museum. It's free

came across this brilliant skywater harvesting system. It collects the rain water and the water are later used for watering the plants nearby. brilliant huh

public toilets in Japan is squeaky clean and has toilet paper...yes! toilet paper...i was impress :D

but not quite as impress as their toilet bowl.

When i sit my butt down on their toilet seat, it was warm and comfy, then as i was about to u know do my business there are this water flowing sound effect, i guess that is for creating a nice mood for me to do my business. Then as i was finished with my business, there's these button to wash your butt. they even have a sensor to aim it correctly...hehehe when it's all clean u can even blow dry your butt..... speechless right? Damn i wish i have this in Dresden...especially during cold hard winter

ok enough of toilet bowl. To Kyoto.

Here i activated my JR pass @ Shinagawa station JR information counter.

I only bought 7 days JR pass.

tip: Only buy JR pass if you plan to use the Shinkansen because if you only plan to travel around Tokyo it is not necessary to buy a JR pass.

because the Shinkansen is freaking expensive. one way ticket to Kyoto from Tokyo cost 13,220yen normal price. With JR pass you can reserved your seat on that day of travel itself or to be on the safe side reserved your seats 1 days before you travel. Holding JR pass itself doesn't mean you get seat on the train automatically. Free seats are only for 1st come 1st serve base. But i would advice to reserve tour seat before boarding

price for the JR pass.There are 2 types of JR pass: Green (for superior-class Green cars) and ordinary. The JR pass CANNOT be purchased inside Japan . http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en005.html here you can check where the exchange order can be purchase. With this exchange order than you change it in Japan in any JR information, they located mostly in major train station. The JR pass are only activated when you used them. Here you can find everything about the JR pass http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html