Tokyo Day 3: The last day of our Korea/Japan trip

We started out our last day in Japan with Paul's mission to ride a few more roller coasters. We hopped a commuter train out to the Northern Tokyo suburbs, and went to Tobu Zoo. It was a nice little park, and the zoo side looked really large on the map, but we just rode a couple of coasters before heading back into town. Both coasters were fun, especially Kawasemi!

Paul and Tobu Zoo's mascot

"Regina," the wooden coaster

This coaster will make you cry?

Air time!

I do enjoy Itarian food. ;)

Back in Asakusa we found a chinese restaurant with some affordable set plates for lunch.  We had some eggplant, fried rice, and a few other yummy dishes.  We really like Japanese style Chinese food.  It's way less greasy and better overall than American style.

Lunch sets are a steal in Japan.  Look Mom, I don't look half-dead in this one!

After lunch, we headed across town to the Meguro neighborhood.  We were looking for the Museum of Parasitology, which is not shown on our guidebook's map.  After getting a little bit lost, we asked a young guy passing by. He knew exactly where it was, and walked us most of the way there while practicing his English! The museum was small but quirky, with lots of creepy parasite specimens in jars.

8.8 meter tapeworm.  Scary!

Gross

There also happened to be a festival at the Ootori Jinja shrine in Meguro. It was the "toro no ichi" festival, which celebrates the "day of the rooster" and anticipates spring. People buy decorated bamboo rakes for good luck. Each time someone bought a large extravagant rake (for over $100), the sellers would do a short little song with lots of clapping. At one stall, the seller would strike two pieces of flint together, sending sparks over the rake. It has something to do with the fact that there are three "days of the rooster" this year, which is unusual and predicts the year will have a lot of fires. It was really crowded at the shrine and a lot of people were taking pictures and videos while admiring the rakes. Paul got some delicious takoyaki from a stall, and we bought the smallest rake possible and it still cost over $10.

Those are all rakes hanging from the top

Takoyaki!  Look at the octopus at bottom left!

David still didn't quite get his fill of Akihabara, so we decided to go back and play some more games and search for more video game memorabilia.  David found a few more little items to purchase and played a bit more Street Fighter IV; he even beat the game in the arcade on one try!  Now he can scratch off "beat a video game in Japan" from his bucket list!  Akihabara is a really unique place.

This game was really popular

Saturday night in Akihabara is hopping!

After Akihabara, we took a train back to Asakusa to grab dinner and pack up.  We had dinner at Yoshinoya, a Japanese chain with a few locations in America that specializes in sliced beef over rice.  It's nothing special, but very simple, cheap and tasty.  Someone please open one in Atlanta!

Our flight back to America is on Sunday at 3:50 PM Japan time and we arrive in Atlanta at 1:30 PM Eastern Time (so we sorta arrive before we leave).  We both have to go to work on Monday morning, and I'm sure we'll be jet-lagged and exhausted for at least a few days.

We both had a really great time in Asia.  More pictures will find their way to facebook in the coming week or two.  We'll continue to update this blog with future trips, so check back if you hear we're going somewhere!

Tokyo - Geek Culture Day

We slept in today, letting David get some rest for his cold.  We left the hotel at about 10am and walked a few blocks to Nakamise-dori in front of Senso-ji temple to do some souvenir shopping.  Paul made a quick stop at Hanayashiki Amusement Park, which is right next to the temple, and rode Japan's oldest roller coaster.

David and the Senso-ji pagoda

Roller coaster at Hanayashiki

If I had a dollar for every cute thing I've seen in Japan...

 Afterward, we hopped the subway to Ginza to check out the Imperial Palace Grounds and the Tokyo International Forum.  Most of the Imperial Palace and grounds are closed to the public.  The part we were able to see was mostly made of grassy areas, gravel and a few moats.  The International Forum is used as a convention center and has a very modern looking interior.  We grabbed a quick lunch of curry katsu in Ginza.

Hibiya Park in Ginza

Skyscrapers over the imperial palace moat

View of one of the palace buildings

Inside of the Tokyo International Forum

With lunch out of the way, and considering it was such a beautiful clear day, we decided to head to Roppongi to go to the top of the Roppongi Mori Tower. The tower has a sky deck and modern art museum as well as an exhibition space at the top.  We were in luck today!  The exhibition was based on the 25th anniversary of the video game Dragon Quest, one of David and Paul's favorites.  There were lots of cute replicas of the game's monsters, as well as a live show, a bar that served themed foods and a nice gift shop.

David with Shinjuku district in the background

Tokyo

Hazy view, but that's Yokohama in the background!

Inside the Dragon Quest exhibit. We were only allowed to take pictures at these monster displays

Look out!

Speak softly and carry a big stick.

On top of  that, the art museum in the tower was doing an exhibition on city planning in Japan.  David was 2 for 2 on this accidental trip!  The museum explained the development of the metabolism concept of Japanese planning.  The concept employs megastructures of concrete to redevelop areas with a sense of permanence.  David wasn't a fan.

After visiting Roppongi, we went to Shibuya to see the famous crossing.  All car traffic is stopped at once and people are allowed to cross in all directions and diagonally at the same time.  The visual effect is very impressive.  It was fun to just cross a few times and feel engulfed in a wave of humanity.  We stopped in at the 2nd floor Starbucks at the intersection (the busiest in the world) to get a better view and to people watch for a bit.

Shibuya Crossing

To keep the video game theme going, we decided to visit the Akihabara district.  This area used to be well known for electronics...things like toasters, televisions, computers, and cameras.  Nowadays it's more known for manga, anime, video games and everything geek in Tokyo.  There are dozens of shops and arcades here that all sell similar wares, almost exclusively in Japanese, so it can be a challenge to find anything interesting.  We did managed to find "Super Potato," which has three floors selling old video games and video game paraphernalia.  David picked up an original copy of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy IV (both in Japanese) as keepsakes. We also saw an extremely rare copy of Yoshi's Cookie. According to an article on wired.com, only 500 were ever produced, and it was included with the purchase of a cooking appliance. The price was an astonishing 198,000 yen, which at the current exchange rate is over $2600!

One expensive video game!

By now it was well after dark and we were hungry.  We went back to our hostel in Asakusa to drop off some souvenirs and then headed off to dinner at a well regarded Japanese beer bar called Bakushu Club Popeye.  This place was small and crammed, but had a huge selection of mostly Japanese beers on draft.  Paul tried a delicious Japanese barleywine, and a great Japanese weizen, among others. The couple sitting next to us decided to try out their English and struck up a little conversation with us.  We had to use some drawing on the back of a receipt to explain our trip to them!  They were both very nice and wished us well and a quick return to Japan in the future.

Three types of sausage (including house-made hop-infused sausage) with IPA

Tokyo - The biggest city on earth!

We arrived last night at Tokyo Station, just a 2.5 hour high-speed train ride from Osaka. America needs high-speed rail like this! A quick  connection on the subway and we pulled into Asakusa Station. The Asakusa area is on the edge of central Tokyo, and is referred to as the old "low city" because of its elevation and position on the Sumida River. It has more of an old-school atmosphere, and is less flashy than many other areas of Tokyo. Our hostel is right next to Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. We can also see the Tokyo Sky Tree from Asakusa. It's a 2080 foot tall communication and observation tower that is under construction and scheduled to open early next year.

Senso-Ji

Our first meal in Tokyo - simple and cheap.

Sky Tree looming over Tokyo

Our first stop today was Ueno Park, home to a couple of shrines, a zoo, and a number of museums, including the Tokyo National Museum. The park also has the highest concentration of homeless people in Tokyo. We walked around for a while, then spent a couple of hours at the National Museum. It had a pretty impressive collection of Japanese artifacts and art.

Two buildings of the National Museum

Painting in the museum

A big tapestry/screen

Painting of a mythological creature

We hopped the JR yamanote line over to Harajuku, where we had a quick lunch at Yoshinoya and perused some of the shops on Takeshita street (seriously) and Omote-Sando street before visiting Meiji shrine. The shrine's grounds are a huge tranquil green space in the heart of this pulsating city.

A little girl's visit to the shrine

Meiji Shrine entrance gate

We hopped back on the Yamanote line to Shinagawa, on the south side of Tokyo, to visit Aqua Stadium, which happens to have a roller coaster! Galaxy Express 999 became Paul's 410th coaster. We also rode a 3-D ride about a squid and whale fighting to the death. I think it was a tie.

Once again we caught the Yamanote line (it goes everywhere!) and went to Shinjuku. It really is Tokyo in a nutshell - huge skyscrapers, colorful lights, shopping, restaurants, and even small old-style buildings and windy alleys with forgotten bars. It's also home to the city's red light district. Shinjuku Station itself is a major hub, with multiple subway lines, multiple commuter rail lines, a bus station, and a huge underground area with more shopping and restaurants. In fact, it's the busiest station in the world, with more than 3.6 million passengers per day!

Shinjuku is also home to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which has a free observation deck on the 48th floor. We got there at dusk, and lucked out with a very clear view - we could see Mount Fuji, which is more than 60 miles from Tokyo! After taking in the view, we walked to the Square Enix Store so David could buy some Final Fantasy merchandise, then had some dinner and checked out a couple of arcades (Street Fighter IV!) before taking our old friend the Yamanote line back to our hostel. So much more to see in Tokyo!  David has got a full blown cold now, but he's keeping up like a soldier.  We're nearing the final stretch with just two more days in Tokyo before we head back to the states!

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Mt. Fuji

Shinjuku

Tokyo goes on and on and on

City lights in East Shinjuku

Eggs end up in pretty much everything in Asia...and we're ok with that!

Osaka - Japan's #2 city

Today we drove from Kyoto to Osaka to see the city for a few hours before leaving by shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo.  The first site of the day was Osaka-Jo, an early 20th century reconstruction of a 16th century warlord's castle.  The castle had an 8th floor observation deck from which you could see the city.  Unfortunately, the weather today wasn't great and a lot of our pictures are a bit washed out, but you can still get the idea.  The fall colors continue to be great in this part of Japan.  Hopefully the trees in Tokyo will be just as beautiful.

Bridge to Osaka Castle

This castle had TWO moats...take that Europe!

View from the castle top

Osaka Castle had four fish ornaments, one at each cardinal direction

After the castle we were all hungry, and Emiko has been craving some American food, since she can't get any in Beppu. So we drove down to near Universal Studios Japan to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Everything was almost exactly like a Hard Rock in America, just twice as expensive.  Emiko ordered the mega appetizer that came with chicken tenders, chicken wings, onion rings, etc.  This dish cost over $40!  Our hamburger and fries were over $20/person and the sodas with free refills, a rarity in Japan, were $8.  Nothing like fine American dining!

Redonkulous Appetizer Platter

After lunch we walked around the Universal City shopping center and found a takoyaki museum.  Takoyaki is a Japanese snack that Paul really loves.  It's a little bit of battered octopus that is cooked into a ball in a special pan and then topped with a delicious sauce and usually fish flakes.  Unfortunately, we were too full to eat any today, but I'm sure we'll find some more in Tokyo.  The museum itself was mostly just a bunch of food stalls and a takoyaki themed gift shop with a catchy song welcoming us to Osaka ("Welcome to Osaka Takoyaki Museum" over and over and over).  Everything in Japan has a catchy song.

That's basically what a takoyaki looks like...but without arms and legs.

Paul LOVES takoyaki!

On the way back to the car, we ducked into another game room and found a Mario Kart themed racing game!  The game took your picture and put your face into your character's trademark items.  David got Mario's mustache and hat and Paul got Toad's mushroom cap.  Unfortunately for the boys, Emiko won the race.  David is getting super excited for the Akihabara electronics district and finding some video game paraphernalia.

Woo-Hoo!  It's a me!  David-o!

At the shinkansen train station we parted ways with our excellent Japanese tour guide, Emiko.  We are very grateful for all the help she's been and the personal expense she's undertaken to help show us an excellent time in Japan.  Now we're on our own for the last leg of our trip in the largest city in the world, Tokyo. 

David is super excited to experience Tokyo for the first time, and Paul is excited to return to one of his favorite cities. Unfortunately, David is getting a bit of a cold (anyone that knows David and traveling probably saw this coming).  Hopefully, the cold won't be a big deal and David can enjoy the last few days of the trip.

Shinkansen train.  Average arrival time: within 6 seconds of scheduled time