Ohayo Japan Part 1

6:34 AM

Hey guys!

Last June, as present for my thesis defense completion, my brother and I went to Japan! We visited Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. We took an AirAsia flight from Jakarta to Haneda Airport, Tokyo. Tip to save money: stay the night at the airport. A lot of people do it. At Level 5 of Haneda Airport you'll find a few padded benches to sleep on. When the morning comes, you can go feel the Tokyo weather on the observation deck. Well, at least that's what we did. We went into town using monorail and then transferred to the JR Yamanote Line. We stayed near Ueno--the closest JR station was Uguisudani. We stayed at this very fabulous hostel called Oak Zen Hostel. It's off the main street but not hard to find. We had splendid stay there.

The first area we went to was Asakusa, to visit the famous Kaminarimon Gate, which leads to Senso-ji, one of the oldest, most important Buddhist temple in Tokyo. A great tip is to go there as early as possible because it is a favorite among tourist and local school field tripper. On the road that leads up to the main temple you can also find many shops for souvenirs or snacks. I think the main temple opens very early but the shops open at around 9 am or 10 am.

Please remember that around June, July and August, Japan has its summer and it is unforgiving. The sun was so bright and I got home so tanned. Pack a lot of sunscreen lotion, bring a durable umbrella and shades.

Next we went to Tokyo Skytree, which is not too far from the Asakusa area, across the Sumida River.Well, we didn't get to the top but we did went around the mall underneath the tower, Tokyo Solamachi. We were looking for the Moomin Cafe (I love Moomin!) but it was just too small and too crowded. You can find lots of shops here and the food market offers a lot of choices. It reminded me of the basement food stalls at Takashimaya Ngee Ann City in Singapore. You get the picture.

After that we didn't do much, just stopped at Ginza to visit Uniqlo's tallest outlet (11 levels) to pick up a t-shirt and stuff. But I was amazed with Japanese drinks. I got this for 50 yen, which is a good deal for a good tasting fruit water. And I had this Pork in Beef Curry Rice at the Solamachi food court. Oh I love Japanese curry and it didn't disappoint!