Tokyo, Japan (part1)

My summer vacation finally came to an end, 2 weeks in Japan and 2 months in Malaysia....good time always end fast but nonetheless I'm happy to be back in Dresden. Just checked my Japan trip photos, it's about 2 thousand pictures in total....god! Just Tokyo took me a week to arranged and narrowed them down to 146 pictures.  pheww!! sometimes i do hate doing it.

I flew to Tokyo from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with Air Asia, cost me about RM1300(2 way) included 1 in-flight meal and also the skybus from KL Sentral. The flight ticket wasn't really cheap but that was what i could get at that time. Not sure i would choose Air Asia for long distance flight again because this trip to Japan was freaking boring, as i was traveling alone and the flight took about 7 hours. Imagine no entertainment, no friend and no tit-bits(well u can have them but you'll need to pay extra). ONLY travel with Air Asia if you get really good price for the flight ticket.

from Airport

how to get to city center with the price. I love Japan they are really informative. From the airport or train station you can get all sorts of maps and information. It's so convenient

my 1st impression of Japan was that it's clean, the people are really polite...seriously really polite, organize and very efficient. We had only 5 nights in Tokyo and 1 days for Disney sea of course. There is just so much to see and as usual so little time. 1st stop Akihabara.

how to buy the metro or subway tickets? Most train station they have ticket machine in English language so, it's easy to purchase the tickets.

1. check where you want to go on the fare rate table and map,

2. select English on the ticket machine

3. put in money

4. select location and numbers of tickets

5. get your ticket and your change if you have any

if last minute you decide u want to change your destination or you get down on the wrong stop, you can go the Fare Adjustment Machine

saw a guy wear heels walking along the street like no body's business. This trip just get better :D

 after few minutes walk from the Electric City Akihabara, to Yushima Seido, Confucian temple in the Genroku era of the Edo period (in 1630)

this Chinese style architecture was reconstructed in 1935.

further up the road is an old store and main house of  the Endo family.

The Endo family, who started a lumber business in the Edo period, built a combined store and main house in 1927. This building is valuable because its typifies the structure of prewar store, reflects construction techniques from the Edo period and embodies the lumber trade in its use of high-quality materials and choice wood throughout

just next door is the Kanda Myojin Shrine

 this ancient shrine was built in 730

the local believed that it bring luck in business, family and also finding future spouses.

Some even bring their brand new car to be blessed. So for those who have problems in these areas,be sure to visit this shrine

the interior

 since Boon already have a good, smart and brilliant wife, let's hope for some luck in his career :P

we took the metro to Shiodome area, to Kyu-shiba-rikyu Garden

 one of the oldest gardens dating back to the beginning of the Edo era. It's a traditional Japanese garden of "a landscape style with artificial hills and fountains. There were alot of cheery trees, i bet it's be beautiful during spring, with all the cherry blossoms.
Cost: 150yen but we had this "Tokyo Handy Guide" we got 30yen discount. Though it's not much but it's nice :)

Tokyo Bay

from Shidome we made a round trip to Odaiba(man made island @ Tokyo Bay) with the monorail-Yurikamome Line. The monorail ticket is slightly more expensive than the subway or metro

the monorail was a nice way to have an overview of Odaiba

the Rainbow bridge from the Monorail

under Rainbow bridge...cool

modern buildings in Odaiba

there area also a statue of liberty in Odaiba

Rainbow bridge from the man made island

suddenly feels like in New York

spotted this very ultraman submarine looking Water bus. If you are interested in cruising along the Sumida-gawa river check this water bus out @ www.suijobus.co.jp

to all Japanese Anime fan. There is this gigantic Gundam model in Odaiba 

and it moves... but just the head and some gas...i was like "huh" THAT'S IT?

*if you are not a fan...don't bother..hehe

 here is the time table for the show

then there is this giant golden needle....not sure what it's about

 back to Shiodome

 cool police car

from Tokyo Bay we then walked to Zojoji Temple

 and also Tokyo Tower

Zojoji Temple, front gate

founded in 1393 as a fundamental numbutsu seminary of the Jodoshu school in east Japan, Zojoji later became the family temple of the Tokugawa shogunate

there are also cemetery behind the temple

i really wonder what those wooden sticks are for??

 the children cemetery are really unusual 

the wooden gate remains as the original architectural remainder of the early 17th century

 just behind the Zojoji temple is the Tokyo tower

Price list for Tokyo tower
Didn't manage to go up as the weather was not so good

does remind me of Eiffel tower in Paris

what i like about Tokyo is that there are big parks, small parks scattered everywhere, from behind office building to middle of city center. So one can always find a quiet spot for lunch or just to take a break from crowds

another thing which are scattered everywhere are these Pachinko parlors. Pachinko is a mechanical game originating in Japan( it's both recreational arcade game and more frequently a gambling device)

These machines were first built during the 1920's
The Japanese gov estimates the annual revenues of the Pachinko and pachislot industry are in the region of 29 trillion yen, so it's freaking popular here in Japan

had a nice dinner @ Shinagawa

dinner gang :)

from city center like Shinagawa to Asakusa, we took the JR train (so if you have a JRpass all those JR trains are free)

then change to Tokyo metro, Ginza Line

Asakusa

here we saw the world tallest tower...skytree recently open to public on May 2012. Too bad we didn't reserved the ticket in advance...it was sold out for 2 months. Tip: to make sure u get the tickets advance booking in necessary, best if 2 months advance booking.

and the ode looking building with a big golden object is the Asahi Breweries

from the metro station just a 5 minutes walk to the oldest temple in Tokyo Senso-ji Temple

it is said to have been built in 628. The Grand Kaminarimon gate with a large red lantern is a landmark one can't missed. i know i didn't..hehe

 just behind the Kaminarimon gate is the Nakamise shopping street

we shopped for some souvenirs here @ this 250m shopping street

there are many types of these Japanese rice cracker too

funny Japanese masks...Cost about 3000-5000yen

us @ Senso-ji Temple

2nd gate

 the pagoda of Senso-ji

:)

the temple is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon, also known as Guan Yin (Goddess of Mercy). According to a legend, a statue of the Kannon was found in the Sumida River in 628 by 2 fishermen, The chief of their village, recognized the sanctity of the statue and enshrined it by remodeling his own house into a small temple in Asakusa, so that the villagers could worship the Kannon

here you can also draw omikuji, a written fortune.

how?

1. Put in 100yen (roughly 1Euro or RM4)

2. pray or make a wish, at the same time shake this metal box few times until a wooden stick marked with number come out

3.check for the number on the wooden stick and put back the stick in the metal box

4. then take out a sheet of omikuji from the drawer marked your number.

5. you can bring it home or just put it back

i like what is written here. Good or bad fortune, one should tenaciously do their best. One can carve out one's own fortune

 even Heike tried her luck with omikuji. From the look on her face i bet it was a good fortune :D

every temple or shrine in Japan will surely have this 

small water fountain or temizuya either with bamboo or metal water scooper.

the whole point it to clean and purify your body by washing your hands and mouth.

how?

1. pick up the scooper with your right hand and scoop up some water from the temizuya

2, pour a third of the water into your right hand and wash it 1st. Swap the schooper into your hand, and pour another third of the water into your right hand and proceed to wash it

3. now that your hands are clean, you'll to wash your mouth. Pass the scooper back into your right hand and then pour the rest of the water into your left hand and bring it to your mouth. Rinse and finally spitting into the  area on the ground. 

* never put your mouth directly to the ladle or spit back the water into the temizuya

there was some special ceremony going on when we were there. Though I'm not so sure what was it about

many locals and tourist worshipers burn incense 

Senso-ji

not sure what are these

from  the map here...Senso-ji is a big area, with ponds, cherry trees, pagoda, temples...etc

more shopping

this is how the japanese horseradish to make wasabi looks like...kind of ugly

Boon was screwed by the seller for touching her stuff...she goes...nooooooo nooooo noooooo touchy

nooooo touchy....me: lol......seller: are you going to buy it? .....Boon: no! ......seller:  so noooooo touchy.... me: lol

there are also this rickshaw tour around Asakusa.

10 minutes - 2,000yen / person

                              3,000yen / for 2 persons

30 minutes - 5,000yen / person

                              8,000yen / for 2 persons

60 minutes - 9,000yen / person

                             15,000yen / for 2 persons

though it's a little bit pricey but these guys had to run here and there, explaining the history of the place. It's quite a tough job.

to be continue on my next post....damn did i really took that much pictures?

~ sayonara ~