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Published: September 29th 2017
Merry Christmas to me! Since it was Christmas, I decided to have a leisurely morning. I decided not to set my alarm and wake up when I was ready. I chilled at the hostel, taking my time to get ready, chilling over breakfast and chatting to the other guests and staff. Eventually, I was ready and since I'd only had a small breakfast, ready for some lunch. I love sushi, so that would be my Christmas Dinner in 2016, it hands down beats the Taco Bell I had at Incheon airport last year. I had learnt that one of the 100 yen conveyor belt sushi chains had opened a branch in the shopping arcade in Asakusa, near the temple. I had been warned that they had very little for 100 yen (well, 108 with the tax), but it would still be cheaper than a proper restaurant and I could stuff my face until my heart and belly were content. I think the chain I went to was Nova Sushi. I got there early and already there was a small queue outside. I only had to wait about ten minutes before I was shown to my seat. I settled myself in, got
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusaa cup of green tea on the go, and started use the touchscreen menu to order some food. I also picked some up off the conveyor belt. I got myself a right little feast. The sushi was delicious as always and I was stuffed by the time I left. There definitely wasn't much on the menu for 100 yen, only really the vegetable sushi, but it was still pretty cheap.
After my sushi, I decided to go to the owl cafe next door. I had seen it the night before when I was wandering around with my friends. One of my friends had remarked on how fun it looked, but also that it seemed pretty expensive. Sod the expense! It was Christmas after all and this, along with the sushi and anything else that would take my fancy that day, would be my Christmas present(s) to myself. One of the employees of the owl cafe was standing outside handing out leaflets with an owl sitting on her shoulder, it looked pretty surreal and plenty of people were stopping to take pictures. The cafe Owl no Mori (Forest of Owls) was up a shot flight of stairs. It was pretty
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa dark and there were some funky statues in the small corridor leading to the cafe. On entry to the cafe, there is a tray with some kind of antibacterial substance that yo have to dip your shoes into, so that you don't bring in any germs from the outside that could harm the animals. I headed to the counter and paid my entrance fee, which was about 800 yen if I remember correctly, which includes a drink. at the counter there is also a big bottle of hand sanitiser for the guests to use and a list of dos and don'ts. The cafe isn't too big and it didn't take me that long to walk around it. There are owls everywhere and also some other animals. It does feel a bit like a zoo, as most of the owls are lined up in rows for you to look at. There are signs next to the owls telling you a bit about them and which ones you can touch and which ones you can't. Most of the owls were free, but some were chained up by one leg, I don't know if these ones were a bit feisty or not. The
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa owls were really cool, I loved being able to see them up close. Some of the species were really cool and I must have taken a million photographs of them. About halfway round the cafe is where you get your drink. This is a cafe in the loosest sense, as it was just a wall of vending machines, where you made your drink selection, very Japanese. It was really hot in the cafe and I had already taken off my jackets, so I had to get an iced coffee to cool me down even more. The cafe wasn't just home to owls, by the entrance there was a dog (I'm not 100 percent sure if I have remembered this correctly) and a couple of meerkats. By the vending machines there were more animals, these ones a bit more scary. There were a couple of tanks which housed some snakes, one was pretty bog standard, but the other was really unusual. The other snake appeared to be an albino, it had no colour whatsoever. I was enthralled by it. It kind of looked like a lightly poached chicken breast, still a bit raw looking. After finishing my drink, I continued to
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa look at the owls, most of these ones were a lot smaller. I don't know if they were baby owls or that's just the way they were, but they were really, really cute. There were some little hats that you could put on them, I let other people do that, as I wasn't sure if they would enjoy being touched and I didn't want to lose a finger if they attached me. There was a Santa's hat and a kind of army hat. The tiny owls looked absolutely adorable in them. I enjoyed my time at the cafe, I don't think I would be in a hurry to return as for me it is a kind of one-off experience, like the cat and dog cafes I had visited in Korea, but it is definitely something different.
I popped back to the hostel to warm up a little and use the internet to figure out the directions of the museum I wanted to visit. I think I could have took the train there, but the walk didn't look too long and it would be nice to be outside in the fresh air. I am enjoying being in non polluted winter
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa air, gotta make the most of it before I return to China. The walk was about 20-30 minutes and took me along the Sumida River. It probably would have been a lot quicker, if I didn't stop to enjoy the view or take a million photos, but the river looked so pretty. I enjoyed walking through the quiet neighbourhoods of the Sumida ward. I reached the Edo-Tokyo Museum and took the escalator up to the entrance, after buying an entrance ticket for 600 yen. I had been searching online before coming to Tokyo for things to do and since I have been a few times before and it was winter and therefore cold, I wanted something inside to do. I found this museum online and it looked promising, I have never really been to any museums in Tokyo, only the military one, Yushukan. Inside the museum, I crossed the bridge into the Edo zone. I enjoy travelling to Japan, but haven't really done any reading up on its history. The museum told me a lot about life in the Edo period. Edo was Tokyo's previous name and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan from
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa 1603 to 1868. Edo grew from a small fishing village into the world's largest metropolis with a population of 1 million by 1721. During this time, Kyoto remained the formal capital of Japan, but merely in names sake, Edo was the real centre of political power. I looked around the exhibits that what Edo looked like and then moved on to the section about the lives of ordinary people. I really liked that section. There were replicas of the houses that people lived in and displayed people going about their normal daily lives. I loved the mock up carts selling sushi, I would have loved to have lived back in the day and bought my sushi form one of these. I enjoyed looking around the bookshops and seeing what people read in the past. The display of the Kabuki theatre was amazing, too.
From the Edo zone, I moved onto the Tokyo zone. In 1868, the Tokugawa Shogunate came to an end with the restoration of imperial rule. Edo was renamed Tokyo and the Meiji emperor moved his residence to Tokyo making it the formal capital of Japan. I enjoyed looking around these exhibits, too. It was nice to
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa see how Japan has changed and modernised over the years. I liked the old fashioned cars and seeing inside what a modernish Japanese house/apartment would have looked like. I found the stuff about the Kanto earthquake, which occurred in 1923 interesting. 70,000 people died, which is horrific. It also shows how modern Tokyo was built afterwards and the innovation in design to make buildings that can withstand earthquakes. Also the part of the exhibit on the birth of the 'salaryman' was interesting. I really enjoyed the museum and spend a good couple of hours there, taking in all the exhibits. My walk back to the hostel was slightly quicker than my walk to the museum as the sun was setting causing the temperature to drop even further. However, the sunset was gorgeous and I stopped to take more pictures form the bridge across the Sumida River.
I chilled back at the hostel for a bit before heading out to meet my friend. Christmas isn't celebrated in Japan, so she and another friend had been at work that day. However, we were having a little Christmas/birthday celebration and we were going to my friend's friend's place for dinner. I was
Forest of Owl
Owl Cafe, Asakusa feeling a bit chilly as I walked down to Ueno Station, at least it wasn't as cold as Korea. I didn't have to wait too long for my friend and we got the train to her friend's place. I have no idea where her friend lived. I just blindly followed my friend. The neighbourhood seemed pretty nice, very quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the centre of Tokyo. It was about a 15 minute walk from the station to the apartment. The apartment was really nice and showcases the beauty and simplicity of Japanese design. We had a lovely evening, eating hot pot and snacks, and drinking wine, beer and juice. I got to meet some of my friend's workmates and they were all lovely. I had a lovely Christmas Day, chilling and hanging out with others, it definitely wasn't traditional, but I don't think I could go back to a 'proper' Christmas now, it's just been too long. Back at the hostel, I should have had an early night, as a very early start was planned for the next day, but I ended up chatting to some of the others.
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