Sunday I went on a day trip to explore two areas of Tokyo. I met up with some others again from the day trip meetup group I found online and we started off walking around Asakusa which is the Northeast area of Tokyo near the famous Skytree. I actually went there once before but the Buddhist Temple there was closed and it was getting dark so I didn't get to see much.
So this area has the largest Buddhist Temple in Tokyo. There are a couple of Shinto Shrines right next to it. Because it is a popular tourist destination and so close to the sky tree, you can find a lot of touristy crap for sale there. They also have old traditional Japanese Rickshaw rides you can take and some very old Trolley cars that are now converted into buses. After walking around the Temple we had lunch at a traditional yakisoba restaurant and then we headed over to the water where we caught a futuristic style boat that took us to the manmade island of Odaiba. Odaiba pretty much has lots of things for kids and a ton of shopping. The back of Odaiba is where many boats bring in their shipments. Overall I wasn't super impressed with Odaiba. A lot of things there seemed to be more for kids but I did find the Old Navy - the only one in Tokyo and that in itself was worth the visit. Enjoy the pics!!
Rickshaw Bicycles
Entrance into the main road towards the Temple
The largest Japanese lantern I have ever seen
The touristy shopping street at the Temple
Need some traditional Japanese Sandals?
Need a keychain?
Need a lucky cat?
Need some chopsticks?
Needs some treats?
Need a fan?
Need a wig?
Entrance into the Temple
Temple Pagoda
People throw their money in here and pray
Fortune telling boxes
Can't see the ceremony going on? Well you can watch it here on this plasma tv.
Make a wish and tie it on
Paintings on the ceiling
Outside
Shinto Shrine with a ceremony to bless this new Mercedes
Pretty little park area
These random figures are placed in strange places on various buildings in the area
My first yakisoba noodles. Honestly I didn't care for it too much. We ate a traditional restaurant where we sat on the floor on the tatami mats and pillows. I still suck at using chopsticks.
This boat is called the "Hotaluna." It was designed by a famous Anime/Manga movie person. It actually was pretty spacious inside and had a place to buy drinks and ice cream.
It was yucky weather with plenty of rain so my pics of the surrounding area didn't turn out so well. :(
I ended my day purchasing some things at Old Navy. I can't tell you how happy I was to find that store. A girl that was in the tour group said there will be 4 more opening in Tokyo soon. Woohoo! I am not sure I would go to Odaiba again for anything. Pretty much the only thing there that interests me is Old Navy because the clothes there fit me and it is really hard to shop here if you are an American. There is one museum I would want to see in the area also. And since I plan on going to it, you will have to wait for another blog post to read about that.
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