Crazy Digest: Japan 2013: Tokyo + Hokkaido - Day 9 (Tokyo - Asakusa & Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Building)

Date of Travel: 2-12 Aug 2013

Asakusa's Main Temple, Senso-ji

Today was the hottest day in Tokyo in over 100 years, 38°C !! Of all days, we picked today to visit Asakusa! We headed there earlier than our usual, i.e. arrived by 10am in hopes of beating the crowd and sun. No such luck. Because of the heat, we were in no mood to shop nor browse. After a quick visit to the temple, we were ready to look for lunch!

The streets of Asakusa are still pretty quiet, with the Tokyo Sky Tree in the background

It's starting to get crowded. Many are hiding in the shade still

We were sweating profusely by now, and just wanted to stay indoors. Heading back towards the nearest railway station, we spotted a shopping mall in Asakusa. And just beside it, was a hole-in-the-wall type of place selling Unagi don. Perfect!! Only now did I realise that Asakusa has quite a few famous Unagi restaurants, most of them have set lunches for 2000-3000¥. I am so happy to find this hole-in-the-wall restaurant that costs only 900¥!

Very yummy 900¥ (RM29) Unagi (bigger tail portion) rice set with added veg on the side. Basic was 500¥

View of the Tokyo Sky Tree from the Rooftop of Asakusa Rox shopping mall

For the rest of the day, we had 2 things planned: Visit Super Autobacs in Shinonome for a huge car accessories shop, and then to the Tokyo Bay Fireworks in the evening. We did make our way to Super Autobacs, and yes it was huge, but sorry we are not car crazy until we'd bring home rims/HU/speakers/amps. From Shinonome, it was just a 3-stop train ride to the Tokyo Bay area. On the second stop, thousands and thousands of people got on, all wearing traditional attire. They all looked like they were ready to go for the fireworks too! We freaked out. We totally could not imagine squeezing with this amount of people on such a hot day. So we bailed out and went back to Shinjuku to our hotel area. Kakakakaka!

Somehow we ended up having Italian again at the La Pausa restaurant that we walk pass everyday in Shinjuku. Yes we hereby confirm, that you should not be eating pasta in Tokyo.

This was actually not bad at all, tomato is their strength

This was from the train station, where a long queue formed to buy this. A huge sweet potato + apple pie 1387¥!. So-so.

After dinner, we decided to get an aerial view of Tokyo at night. You can choose to go up the Tokyo Sky Tree, or the Tokyo Tower. But being cheapskate, we wanted a FREE option. Yes some things there are totally free. We walked to Shinjuku to locate the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building No.1 where you are allowed to take the lift up to the observation deck for a 360° view of the city.

On this night, the weather was 33°C!! Just standing on the street not walking or exercising, and you would be sweating profusely. It was that hot! We again walked all the way to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which was about 3km away. So tired, so hot, so sticky, bleagh!

View from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building - Free entry

It was still 29°C when we walked back to our hotel at 10:30pm. Seriously, do not visit Tokyo in summer. It's time to pack our bags and get ready for our trip home.

Our shopping loot. See my noodles, mouse, water filters, Columbia shoes and Casio G-Shock and Brooks Brothers shirt? :)

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Thursday, March 20, 2014

Japan 2013: Tokyo + Hokkaido - Day 9 (Tokyo - Asakusa & Tokyo Metropolitan Govt Building)

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