Temples, Parks and Shops - Thursday in Tokyo

I woke up this morning at 3.30am, I must still be on Sydney time. I spend the time loading the photos from yesterday day time. 

Drew wakes at 5.30am and I make coffee for us both and then a cup of tea. Ablutions complete we head down to breakfast

Breakfast

We arrive at Breakfast as they open at 7am.

Drew starts with a selection of fruit

I had fruit, nuts and seeds - very tasty.

Drew opted for a cheese, onion and tomato omelette with a side of Bacon

I opted for fried eggs, over hard with sides of mushrooms, bacon, tomato, asparagus, pork sausage, chicken sausage and bacon.

I had three kinds of bread with my breakfast - Baguette, Pan de Champagne and Cranberry Bread.

Drew enjoyed a very pretty Orange Cream Roll and a smartly shaped Raspberry Danish

I had cheese with some more of the delicious bread

Drew finished with an Almond Croissant which was flaky and mouthwatering.

We went back to the room where I edited and posted the photos from the restaurant last night.

Asakusa

We leave the hotel at 9am and head to Nihombashi Station,

where we ended yesterday afternoon, and catch the Ginga metro line to Asakusa, where we arrive at 9.50am.

Asakusa is one of Tokyo’s best-preserved old neighborhoods and it attracts large numbers of tourists. Here are some of the street scenes in Asakusa.

Sensoji Temple

After spending the time in the Asakusa area looking at the old-fashioned arcades we headed to the Buddhist temple around which this part of town developed. Sensoji Temple is Tokyo’s oldest temple and its most famous. Its entryway is marked by a signature large red lantern. The temple itself has a beautiful red frame and green rooftops all made of wood. It is a wonderful feeling walking through the crowds gathering. Even getting here early we find the place full. But a walk into the gardens of the temple lead to a much more peaceful area where the crowds are less evident to a smaller temple, statues and a coy carp pool. Here are some of our photos

though there are many more, which you can see on Flickr, starting here.

Asakusa Nishi-sandō Shopping Street

Many visitors to this part of Tokyo head next to the Tokyo Skytree, this building is the tallest structure in Japan with its observation platforms giving views across the city - but given Drew's problem with heights we took a photo of it in the distance

and then headed in the opposite direction, into the Asakusa Nishi-sando shopping street with its striking images.

I even managed to get Drew into the streets advert.

Out of the other end of the shopping street we come to another busy area with some interesting stores and bars, including a Sumo Club. Thankfully it was closed this early in the day, as I don't think I'd really cope with large Sumo wrestlers serving food and drink.

Kappabashi Street

We walk past the Sumo club and down Kappabashi Street. This street is known in English as Kitchen Town as it has a wide selection of shops selling various kitchen equipment including dishes, pots, pans, cooking utensils, stoves, tables, chairs, signs, lanterns alongside a similar temple and a lot of amusing street art. Drew was particularly taken by the doll on the back of someone’s back pack – he hopes Captain Jack doesn’t start wanting to travel that way!! 

Here are some of the images from the street as usual there are even more on Flickr.

Ueno Park and Gardens

When we reach the end of Kappabashi Street we come to a major railway station - Ueno Station. This seems to have as many lines as Tokyo Station does

We cross over the railway lines and come to Ueno Park and Gardens. We were impressed to see a coffee shop as by this time (11.40am) it was getting warmer and warmer. The coffee shop was a Starbucks and we had our usual:

The park has a range of walking trails in many directions and as well as a large fountain it also includes the Natural History Museum, other Historical Monuments, two Shrines and a Shinto Temple. We spent an hour and a half exploring the park and here are some of the photos from that exploration.

We were surprised, as we approached the edge of the park, to see a Totem Pole 

You'd think we were in Canada, not Japan! 

We also passed some fascinatingly dressed gentlemen

and some local musicians

Plus a frog statue

What a fascinating place.

Akihabara

From the bottom exit of Ueno Park we come to the AkihabaraDistrict, which has became famous for its focus on anime and manga culture and its huge electronics/gaming shops. There are literally streets and streets of electronics shops and gaming centres in this part of town. 

Here are some of them, including the seven story camera and mobile phone shop called Bic Camera Store - it is such a famous store that there are even articles online about the various floors of the store, like this one. Drew has been looking to replace his camera and saw plenty of ones that could replace his current, old, one. He still didn't buy one, spending money isn't easy for us!! [Co-pilot's note: He does, however, dear readers, seem to have no problem spending money on poncy dinners!!] I'm sure he'll get a new one someday.

Coffee Dotour

It was after 2pm now and we were beginning to feel our weary legs when we walked past a Coffee Dotour, a brand we had enjoyed yesterday. So we went in and I had another cold brew coffee and Drew a latte.

In checking our location while in the coffee shop, it became clear we had walked a long way back in the direction of our hotel. Our route had been something like this:

So we decided to walk back and arrived at the hotel at 3.30pm.

Dinner

We had decided, as this is our last night here, to have a more familiar meal to give our innards chance to settle down after last night's extravagance. We had spotted that Tokyo Station had a Italian Restaurant, so we had booked a table for 8.30pm.

We leave the hotel at 7.45pm and wander through the shops in Tokyo Station. Every time we walk through the station we find another set of stores selling all kind of products. Tonight we explore "Tokyo Character Street" where adults and children are both excited by toys, manga and other characters; “Tokyo Okashi Land” where you can experience specialist sweets and souvenirs and "Tokyo Gift Palette" where 33 luxury brands sell their wares. We were only window shopping (a misnomer as these are open spaced stores like a market - i.e. no windows).

We arrived at Osteria Il Viaggio at our booking time of 8.30pm and are seated immediately. This is clearly a popular place with many people looking as if they have stopped off for dinner on their way back from work. 

We ordered drinks while reviewing the menu. Drew's opted for drink called Jasmine and Mandarin Tea, this was made with Jasmine tea, Mandarin, Elderflower Syrup, Tonic Water and Soda Water with some thyme. He described it as sweet but delicious. I went for sparkling water, this was a bit off-brand for an Italian restaurant it was English Sparkling Water!! 

They offered two types of bread (Pane) to go with the meats I'd ordered - two soft rolls and two crunchy bits of baguette.

The meats (Affettato Misto) are like an Antipasto but without the cheese - very tasty selection of Italian Meats with bread sticks.

Drew opted for a Chicory, Apple and Gorgonzola Salad, he really loved this saying it was crunchy and flavourful.

I was obviously in meat mode after all last night's sea food. I choose the Wood-Fired Hakkinton Pork, it is a Chuck Eye Roll of pork - if I'd known it was unaccompanied I'd have ordered more sides, but it was chargrilled to perfection, with a lovely smoky flavour

I had ordered a side of Shitake Mushrooms, again a lovely smoky taste to a delicious mushroom

Drew chose Rigatoni with Wagyu Beef Cheek Ragout, it was a el dente pasta and rich succulent ragu. Drew, who choose pasta over pizza on this occasion was extremely pleased with his choice. 

We finished the meal with a Espresso each, this was a lovely espresso made with Italian beans and the flavour formed a perfect end to the meal.

We completed the meal and walked the five minutes back to the hotel, arriving at 10pm and we were in bed by 10.30pm.