Temp: Warm
Location: Japan
Our plane took off on 31 Aug 2007 at 2345LT, reached Tokyo's Narita airport at 0715LT, next day. Brought train tickets from airport to hotel about 1000yen (SGD13/-). I heard so much about Japan, finally I'm here today. I am enthusiasm about Japan culture, Japan technology, etc.
Talk about technology. In the train, I saw this.
(There is a single rotating fan mounted on the ceiling between us. Look like this a vintage train car in the 1950s. Guess so much for the technology over here.)
(Mum, sister and our luggages)
An hour ride on, we reached our destination, Ueno station. As I walked up the stairs from metro station, I expected the busy street of Toyko to embrace me. I stumbled onto my first sight of the Tokyo, what greet me was this eerily silent street.
(Hmm...empty street. I quietly chewed this over in my mind.)
It took us a while to navigate our way and eventually made our way to the the hotel and got ourselves checked in. We will be spending 6 nights in Ueno.
Ueno is at North-Eastern of Tokyo. Ueno used to be a typical working class district of Tokyo, the gate to economic migrant from Northern Japan.
(A shopping street in Ueno)
(We're heading for Ameyoko in Ueno which is popular for being a boisterous shopping street, filled with people hawking goods as well as more traditional stores selling food and clothes)
This is a packed shopping bazaar full of stalls selling almost anything you can imagine.
(There are usual shops and department stores are clustered with a multitude of restaurants, bars and karaoke.)
The bazaar between Ueno and Okachimachi is an open-air market selling everything from cheap clothes and accessories to fish and seafood. If you are looking for a more typically "Asian" market street in Tokyo, with bargaining expected and friendly vendors trying to out-shout each other, this is it.
(Average price of jean about SGD100/-)
This is definitely a good place for souvenirs for friends back home. The district got its name in the post-war years from the American blue jeans and other items that were sold on the black market.
(The market in Ueno is truly immense.)
Ameyoko is a busy bazaar-style market with hundreds of stalls that is famous for its jam packed stores, bargain prices and a dingy, no-frills shopping experience.
(There's plenty of cheap food to be found all around here)
(We decided to have our lunch here)
(Restaurant with meal ticket vending machines. You need to buy tickets for your meals)
(My lunch)
(Damage about Y700 about SGD10/-)
(Fugu, or puffer fish as most people would recognise it as, is still a highly regarded delicacy today in Japan. I didn't try for I have no plan to “retire” early)
(This is how Japanese queue for their food)
Dinner: We had curry rice (Yen650)
(See there some discarded cardboard on the floor? It meant for the street-corner vendor customers to sit down and eat their food.)
(With street food that are cheap and good, resistance is futile. Sister yield to temptation.)
As for supper this restaurants having a rustic look and also in some places having a pub style looked so inviting, so we tried it. What we had was Yakitori which is made up of small pieces of chicken meat, liver, skin and vegetables skewered on a bamboo stick and grilled over hot coals.
Damage: 1620yen including my bottle of beer.
Verdict on food: *****
