10 things I did in Tokyo over the long weekend.

We had a three day break from work, as Monday is a public holiday in Japan

So my 'tour guide', Tee-san took a 3 hr bullet train ride from Osaka to Tokyo to take me around. After this looong weekend, I'm probably much poorer and now have to worry about an overweight luggage.

I've just listed down some 10 things we did.....

1) Eat, eat and eat. Need I say more??

My favourite 'Takoyaki'. Osaka apparently has ze best 'takoyakis' but oh well, beggars can't be choosers. This one we ate was real yummy too.

A type of Wagashi (traditional Japanese dessert) called Gusumochi I tried. Mochi with peanuts and oozing black sugar.

Sukiyaki.. sukiyaki..and sukiyaki...the 1/2 hour wait in one of the restaurants in Asakusa was well worth the wait

2) A visit to Yamamoto-tei. I must say that this must have been the highlight of the weekend - to one of Japan's most beautiful gardens. Just sit down and enjoy the scenery over a cuppa green tea and Japanese dessert.

This garden, however, is located in theDaikyo-Ji temple, a stones throw away from Yamamoto-tei

3) Saw this dude, Taiyo Sugiura at Ameba Studio in Harajuku. Don't know who he is, but apparently ermm....somebody lah! I am not up to date with J-Pop culture. Again, we were not allowed to take pictures of the live interview going on at Studio Ameba in Shinjuku, something like a live broadcast radio station through a glass window.......

4) Went all the way to Roppongi to see Christmas lights.......

5) A quick shopping trip in Harajuku. A place to spot reallllly good looking jap chics and guys!!!! Look at the human traffic. Till now, I am unsure if they were trying to cross the road or getting somewhere on that side of the road. 2 hrs later I am much poorer with 2 dresses and Lala mui's (Laura's) birthday gift.




6) Ermm..again shopping and err temple sighting in Asakusa. About 250m from this gate to the temple entrace, the street is lined with little shops selling Japanese souvenirs.




7) Went to 'kiap' soft toys in Ikebukuro and Akihabara on both Fridays and Saturdays. Failure...not even successful to 'kiap' one. Some people ask why spend so much money, buy one also cheaper la. Ha ha, I can assure you should feel a sense of triumphant once you sucessfully 'kiap' one should be different. Too bad, I won't be able to get this feeling!!!! And some of these soft toys apparently can only be found in these places and you can't buy 'em off the shops - I so set my sight on a white christmas mickey mouse...but sadly....

8) Went to Akihabara. It is a major shopping area for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku (people with obsessive interests) goods - like where I found the 'Domokun' for Calene, including new and used items. Got myself a nice beige laptop bag. Tsk Tsk and I was laughing at my colleague Sharan a couple of weeks back in Singapore when she wanted to get one to replace our old ugly looking black ones. Cost me slightly more than Y3,500.

9) From Akihabara station, we took a 1/2 hr train ride to Nishikawaguchi to try this Tonkotsu Ramen strongly, strongly recommended by Wechard. From the station, another 10 minutes walk in chilly weather to this little shop. I am more a Udon fan and hardly ever touch Ramen, but I must admit that this must be the best pork bone soup base Ramen that I have ever tried in my life. I would have killed him if the ramen did not turn out to be as delicious as he recommended for that 1 hr journey back and forth . It's a MUST TRY for anyone with spare time in Tokyo and wants to enjoy a fantastic and authentic bowl of ramen at a very very reasonable price (approximately Y550 for a small bowl of ramen, which is sufficient for a hungry female).

The thick stock complements the ramen and slices of pork very well......Salivating already thinking about it now

10) Visit a Maid Cafe (メイドカフェ, Meido kafe) in Akihabara. Because no picture taking was allowed in the cafe, I was unable to take any unless I paid Y500 for a picture, which of course again, I am too cheapskate to do so. In such cafeswhere the service staff dress as elegant maids. Compared with service at normal cafes, the service at such cafés involves the creation of a rather different atmosphere. The staff treat the customers as masters and mistresses in a private home rather than merely as café customers. See Wikipedia for more information. Below, a picture i 'stole' from wikipedia- maids distributing leaflets in Akihabara

And below, just some interesting pics I managed to take during the weekend..

Reads 'anal specialist' for those who don't know Chinese

'Women only' trains during peak hours of weekdays where each racks gets jammed pack with people like sardines.