Thursday, March 20, 2014

Japan Golden Week - Tokyo

27-April-2013

After checking out from FirstCabin airport hotel, I went to the basement to have breakfast at McDonald :



 

Then I proceed to the train station to go to the city proper since Tokyo Station is where the meeting point for our CS group.

 


At the train platform - Domestic Airport Terminal Station,

 



Inside the train to Hamamatsuchō Station (浜松町駅, Hamamatsuchō-eki)
 
 


and then transfer to JR-East line to Tokyo Station (東京駅; -eki) - it is helpful if you can read Chinese character it is widely used in Japan. (Thank goodness, I took my Chinese classes!)




Alighting at the Tokyo Station, its noticeable that the building structure is colonial inspired, with the ceiling and facade:





In front of the Tokyo Station is the meeting place with the leader / organizer / guide / driver of our group: Mochan, this starts our Golden Week Japan Highlight Tour.
 


After short introduction of each members of our multi-national group, we first went to Odaiba, which is famous for the following sites: 


Life size Gandam Robot :



 


The Rainbow Bridge :



 
The Fuji - Television Network Building :





The Flame of Liberty - is a 21-meter gilded structure is a gift from France to commemorate the “J’aime la France” promotion campaign in Japan in 1998 and 1999.
 


Driving back to the city center, we had quick stop at these famous landmarks in Tokyo.
 

The Asahi Beer Hall (a.k.a. Super Dry Hall, or Flamme d'Or) is one of the buildings of the Asahi Breweries headquarters located on the east bank of the Sumida River in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. 

 

The Asahi Flame is officially named the golden turd (kin no unko, 金のうんこ) and the Asahi Beer Hall itself as "poo building" (unko-biru, うんこビル) by many Tokyo residence.  Behind it is the Tokyo Skytree.



After some photo taking sessions, we then moved to the area of Asakusa - where we had our first lunch. One of the famous landmark here in Asakusa is the Kaminarimon (雷門 "Thunder Gate") is the outer of two large entrance gates that ultimately leads to the Sensō-ji (the inner being the Hōzōmon) in Asakusa, Tokyo.
 


Walking past the red gate, we look for a restaurant to have our first lunch; I had this Soba Set @1200 Yen.



After lunch, we had free time to see around the Asakusa street markets,




 

and try some local delicacies.
 


Next stop is the shopping and Anime district of Akihabara (秋葉原), it is a district in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan. The name Akihabara is a shortening of Akibagahara (秋葉が原), which ultimately comes from Akiba, a fire-controlling god.



Akihabara gained the nickname Akihabara Electric Town (秋葉原電気街 Akihabara Denki Gai) shortly after World War II for being a major shopping center for household electronic goods and the post-war black market.  Nowadays, icons from popular anime and manga are displayed prominently on the shops in the area.

Since Yodobashi is famous with anime fans, we fortunately met a group of Super Mario Race Drivers :






Then, there were anime shops all around Akibahara:




and numerous maid cafés are found throughout the district:
 


Anime wardrobe shops,
 


 

The day ended in the house of Anna-san at Machida - outskirt of Tokyo, we pass by a supermarket to buy additional dinner and breakfast for the following days.
 



Had tasted a bit of these Sake & Soju before hitting the futon at around 11pm.

Sake, which is commonly known as “rice wine,” is a brewed beverage that has been distilled from rice. It is made like wine or beer and is fermented and aged. Soju is mainly a Japanese drink that is considered to be just like Vodka or whiskey.


Follow us in our next day trip to Western Tokyo.

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