Blogs from Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan, Asia - page 2

Well it was an early wake up call for me today. Mom drove me out to the airport shortly after 420. Not for any paticular reason but i had to be there 2 hrs early. It was just pissing rain outside on the way out. My dad even got up to say goodbye. He even waved out the window which almost got me. Mom made me a cup of coffee and told me the whole way out that i should keep this travel mug in case i need it. I thought it would be a waste of space but kept it just to make her happy. Man im not gonna miss this rain thats for sure. Got out to the airport and it was busy already. The first flight to Vancouver was at 530! Ungodly hour ... read more

I couldn't WAIT to get to Japan, this new part of the trip (ie new part of the world) would allow me to indulge in my favourite cuisines being sushi, Chinese and curries (when I get to India) - although I would prefer Malay curry, but beggers can't be chosers. Oh. Before I start, I must mention the Swine Flu. The Japs at the airport took things very seriously (a good thing too), and they handed out questionnaires - 'do you have symptoms such as cold, runny nose, cough, sore throat'. Unfortunately for me, I had all those symptoms since I still had a cold. The Japanese ground 'health' staff in their full body suits, headgear, goggles and masks got very excited and very politely asked me to go to the front of the plane to ... read more

Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo and our last stop in Japan, it's been amazing in every way, it's been more that we could have wished for. Japan has something for everyone, the walkers, the talkers, the doers and the don'ters! It's a techie's wildest dream and a technophobe's vision of beauty just as long as they stay away from any of the big cities, we are neither techie's or phobe's and at times we have had trouble opening a handleless sliding door or flushing the toilet, it's worse when it's a handleless sliding door in a toilet. Tokyo is an incredible city cramming some of the best bits of Japan into one place including Mt Fuji! So arriving and exploring Tokyo it seemed very familiar, rather like visiting an old friend. We were old hands walking into the ... read more

Ameyoko Market - Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan Located under the Yamanote line tracks between Okachimachi and Ueno Station, Ameyoko Market proves to be a fun spot to check out while learning a little history as well. The name "Ameyoko" is a short for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store alley), as candies were traditionally sold here. After the close of WWII, "Ame" was associated with "American" and the site became one of the best known black markets in Tokyo. Although no longer a place to buy illegal good and knockoffs (outdoors at least...), Ameyoko is definitely a thriving center of commerce. The stalls and shacks that line the streets sell everying...clothes, bags, cosmetics, fresh fish, dried food, skinned frogs, live turtles, whole pigs heads, chicken's achilles tendons/slices of lung/types of tripe/stomach lining, and spices. While walking down one street, ... read more

Made our way to Asakusa today to change hostels (was very random as two people we met on the night bus from Kyoto are also staying here). Asakusa is like old time Japan and is full of busy markets, there is stuff going on from 6am till dusk usually, which means we have lots to do. First we checked out the arcades (Dave was really excited cos he finally found somewhere he could play street fighter iv-although we were not very goog at it). The arcades here are even better than the ones in Kyoto (although slightly more expensive)and they are Japanese (along with pachinko-gambling buildings and quite a few x-rated buildings) Next we went to sensoji temple. This had a huge market around it and you almost could not move, it was that busy. I ... read more