Day 3 - Imperial Palace, Nihombashi and Ginza
Okay the coolest part of the day was trying out all e cool sony gadgets including the Absolute Sound Cancelling headphones and the Concert Machine (which has incredible surround sound that makes every song seem live). Also got to see a terribly thin TV and a REALLY cheap and good and durable sony vaio for less than SGD2000. It was 128000 yen. G series or something.
Other than that today involved a lot of walking, like yesterday.
The imperial palace sakura blossoms were impressive, but i thought e sumida river ones were better (cos of e crowds at e palace.) The yasukuni shrine was good too.
Yesterday we went to Asakusa Kannon and got our first taste of e sakura matsuri, or festival. anyway we then headed for sumida park, a renowned sakura viewing hotspot. good thing we were there early. it was later inundated with old folks on guided tours, and corporate blue-tarp parties.
Later we went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which had the wow factor. Then we got lost in Ryogoku for an hour before we went to Akihabara. Bushed, we had DAMN HEAVENLY RAMEN there. unbelievable. Then I got tormented at Kotobukiya (which produces official figurines for SQUARE-ENIX). Wanted to buy the FF7 figurines at Y4000 a pop (that]s about $60) but decided against it in the end. Got a real feel of the Otaku culture in tokyo (arcades, ufo catching machines, AV factories, the like) Just tt we didnt manage to find a good maid cafe. slacked at starbucks after that.
This morning we visited e imperial palace and e yasukuni shrine. both are in full bloom at the moment. damn cool. at the yasukuni memorial museum i was again tempted into buying something. this time it was the Imperial Japanese flag (the one with the spreading rays from a rising sun) at Y3000, or almost $50. decided against it.
Visited e museum of modern art after that. Ginza afterwards was largely spent at the Sony Building. cool stuff, that. Erm then we visited the Bank of Japan, Nihonbashi (bridge of japan) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which unfortunately was closed by the time we got there.
Tmr its Shinjuku with a detour to buy some of kayas fencing gear.
and i should be going to bathe soon.
Other than that today involved a lot of walking, like yesterday.
The imperial palace sakura blossoms were impressive, but i thought e sumida river ones were better (cos of e crowds at e palace.) The yasukuni shrine was good too.
Yesterday we went to Asakusa Kannon and got our first taste of e sakura matsuri, or festival. anyway we then headed for sumida park, a renowned sakura viewing hotspot. good thing we were there early. it was later inundated with old folks on guided tours, and corporate blue-tarp parties.
Later we went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which had the wow factor. Then we got lost in Ryogoku for an hour before we went to Akihabara. Bushed, we had DAMN HEAVENLY RAMEN there. unbelievable. Then I got tormented at Kotobukiya (which produces official figurines for SQUARE-ENIX). Wanted to buy the FF7 figurines at Y4000 a pop (that]s about $60) but decided against it in the end. Got a real feel of the Otaku culture in tokyo (arcades, ufo catching machines, AV factories, the like) Just tt we didnt manage to find a good maid cafe. slacked at starbucks after that.
This morning we visited e imperial palace and e yasukuni shrine. both are in full bloom at the moment. damn cool. at the yasukuni memorial museum i was again tempted into buying something. this time it was the Imperial Japanese flag (the one with the spreading rays from a rising sun) at Y3000, or almost $50. decided against it.
Visited e museum of modern art after that. Ginza afterwards was largely spent at the Sony Building. cool stuff, that. Erm then we visited the Bank of Japan, Nihonbashi (bridge of japan) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which unfortunately was closed by the time we got there.
Tmr its Shinjuku with a detour to buy some of kayas fencing gear.
and i should be going to bathe soon.