Blogs from Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan, Asia
May 24th 2012
Ok, so they properly love food in Japan! Heres some of the mad stuff i've eaten allready :) and this is just the stuff i've had the guts to try ;) The two pictures with ?? On them i wasnt really sure what it was but i think it was rice with a raw egg some kinda of fried fish then some loverly pickles and natto. I would not recommend the natto! It's pretty much mouldy beans :)... read more
May 24th 2012
So I visited the skytree! The tallest tower in the world!! It's pretty dam big, kinda dominates the eastern tokyo skyline now. As per usual with the opening of something new in japan, the place was packed to the rafters with people! Trips to the top floors are booked solid until july 10th, which luckily I will probably be here for 😃 There was an aquarium inside but it was kind of pricey but today i'm gonna go to the 動物園 or zoo! Time to get the big camera out!!!... read more
May 22nd 2012
Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3! Ok so this is my first ever blog woo! It's great being back in Japan gonna take me a while to work all this blogging out tho! Ok heres a few pictures i've got so far!... read more
Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa, Tokyo Sky Tree Tower, and the Asahi Flame
Published: May 8th 2012Asia » Japan » Tokyo » Asakusa
May 6th 2012
Today I made the trip over to Asakusa, home of Senso-ji Temple. The subway ride was easy, with only one transfer, and upon exiting the station, I realized I was in for some big crowds! The first week of May in Japan is called Golden Week, and is a holiday period where most people take vacations, so everything is really busy and crowded! There were thousands and thousands of people just crossing the street! Before getting to the temple itself, one must walk down the main street where there is souvenir shops, food stalls, and mass crowds! As one of the very few foreigners in the area, I seemed to attract lots of stares and attention, and quickly a news crew came up to me and asked me if they could interview me for their TV ... read more
October 24th 2011
Hi Everybody! Walt and I started our trip by flying to St. Petersburg using frequent flier miles. We decided early on that we would not use the return trip tickets. Instead, we hoped that somewhere in Asia, we would be able to get into the Military Space Available program. When we got ready to move on from our visit to Singapore, we went to the nearby Singapore Military Air Force base and were lucky to get the last two seats on a contract flight. A contract flight is like a regular airlines flight with stewardesses, catered meals, etc. The only difference on this flight was that it only had 32 seats. The rest of the plane was blocked off and used for carrying military equipment. We flew into Yakota AFB near Tokyo. Tokyo, Japan's capital, is ... read more
October 23rd 2011
After an 11-hour flight out of Los Angeles, I landed at Narita Airport outside Tokyo. From there I would have to take a train for over an hour more before reaching my destination. As I looked out the train window I saw mostly farmland at first, but the population density quickly increased before exploding as the train entered Tokyo. By the time I arrived at Asakusabashi station, it was already dark, but the map the hostel provided was very good, and it didn’t take me long to find the Anne Hostel. After checking in I promptly fell asleep. As expected, I woke up early the next morning, and set out to explore the center of the Asakusa area, which was just north of Asakusabashi, a sub-division of Asakusa. As I walked down the streets towards the ... read more
September 20th 2011
Asakusa Temple: A temple for the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kannon. Exiting the train station there is a mixture of Japanese tourists and foreign tourists. Before finding my way to the temple, my friend and I got directions from a tour guide. The tour guide worked for a company that gave rickshaw rides around the area. Though we didn’t want a ride, he still offered valuable information about the area and popular places to visit. We eventually made our way to the temple which is actually quite close to the station. The first thing we arrived at was the Kaminarimon Gate, also known as the Thunder Gate, which has the guardians, Fujin and Raijin on each side. Once you walk through the gate, you are instantly immersed into markets. The walkway to the main part of ... read more
August 18th 2011
OK! Flew out of JFk at almost 8pm Aug 16th. So the flight to Japan wasn't anything great. We did get 2 meals, 2 snacks, private screens with some of the latest films, but other than that nothing great happened. So I arrive in Haneda airport after my 14 hour flight, at 10:30pm Aug 17th, and I go to the luggage pick-up and wait. I always hate waiting for my luggage to come out of those damn conveyor belts! Firstly, you have to stand there with all these people who are also just waiting to rush the machine when there bags get out. Secondly, if you get blocked out the first time you try and grab your bags, you have to chase them around the belt like a dog chasing a laser pointer. Thirdly, I'm always ... read more
July 8th 2011
Konnichiwa from Tokyo, my spiritual home. There are no words for how much I love this place you guys. Everything is so brightly coloured and cute. It's just... made for me. Anyway, so after my last blog in Shanghai we went to a market there where I bought one of those bendy tripods for my camera for £3, some (probably fake) Converse for about £13.50 and proved that I am terrible at haggling by ending up spending about £19 on a notebook for my mum and a pack of 10 sets of chopsticks as presents for various people... Yeeeeeah I got ripped off there! So I let Ralph do the haggling for the other stuff! We left China behind on the 6th (I can't even remember what do that was, days and time are blurring at ... read more
March 8th 2011
Senso-ji and Asakusa Charles: Yesterday, it was snowing and raining. We stayed home. Today, the weather was fine, and we went out to see the Senso-ji (the Senso Temple), one of Japan's prime Buddhist sites. Its history goes back to 628, when a gold statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, was found in the nearby river. A temple was constructed on the present site in 645, and enlarged many times. It was destroyed by bombing (and firestorm?) in WWII, and rebuilt in 1950. The reconstruction used traditional materials and techniques. Everything is peaceful now, except for the throngs of tourists (mostly Japanese). Everyone takes everyone's picture – I was captured by three kids, and forced to pose with them. The relationship of the Japanese with religion is complex, and outside the scope of ... read more
