Thursday 12 April 2012

Photos - Day 1 - Tokyo

Narita Airport > Asakusa Station > Keihan Hotel > Tempura Lunch at Asakusa > Imperial Palace East Gardens > Ginza > Nakamise Street at Akasuka > Senjoji Temple at night > Korea BBQ dinner at Akasuka.

More Photos > Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 (am) - Day 4 (pm) - Day 5 - Day 5 (pm) - Day 6

Cherry blossoms, sakura at Imperial Palace East GardenTokyo here I come. Took an overnight, 6 hour flight, from Singapore to Narita on ANA airlines. My first trip with ANA. The aircraft was clean with modern entertainment video-on-demand system. Economy class was in a 2-3-2 seat configuration. Night snacks consisting of bottled water, a bar of chocolates and a bag of potato chips were given to each passenger in a see-through bag with drawstring - a nice touch. However, I didn't like the fact that the seats did not recline back but instead slid out forwards. Why was it designed this way? Not help for tall person like myself. And because of that, I had little sleep during the flight. Breakfast was satisfactory with a choice between a Japanese congee breakfast and a western one.Upon arriving at Narita (08:30am), cleared customs, retrieved my checked-in bags and walked over the the train station. There I bought the Suica card (¥ 1000) and took a direct express train to Asakusa (¥ 640). Then a 10 minute walk to Keihan Hotel. Hotel reception was on the second floor. Had to leave bags there as check in was at 3:00pm.


Semi Double room Hotel Keihan AsakusaThe Semi Double room does not have much walking space but a functional room nonetheless. The bed is slightly smaller (about 10 cm) than a regular queen size bed. Room includes a small refrigerator, CRT TV (no free English channels but with pay-per-view movie channels), writing desk and chair, very narrow closet (only managed to hang three jackets), humidifier machine and trouser press. One plus point is that the windows are able to open slightly - good if the central heating makes the room too hot and stuffy.

Bathroom of Semi Double room Hotel Keihan AsakusaSmall and clean bathroom. Good set of toiletries and amenities. Excellent water pressure. And of course the customary hi-tech toilet with seat warmer and perfect aim water sprayer.

Tempura at AsakusaSeafood tempura lunch at a small restaurant in Asakusa.

tempura
It was fun sitting at the counter shoulder-to-shoulder with the locals. This tempura set lunch which included rice, miso soup and appetiser costs ¥ 750. A very affordable and satisfying lunch!

Cherry blossoms, sakura at Imperial Palace East GardenAt the Imperial Palace East Gardens. Although we were two weeks early to the official cherry blossom season, which is usually happens first week April, we were fortunate to be treated to a few trees in full bloom.

Cherry blossoms, sakura at Imperial Palace East GardenUp close and personal.

Cherry blossoms, sakura at Imperial Palace East GardenPretty in pink. Some local girls at the garden were dressed in their traditional dress. It's very nice to see that the traditional dress is being worn by the younger generation.

Buildings at Imperial Palace East GardenBuildings within the Imperial Palace East Gardens.

From outside looking across the moat into the Imperial Palace East GardenPicture taken from outside the garden looking in. The garden is surrounded by a moat.

The double bridge at the Imperial PalaceThe double bridge at the Imperial Palace. The second bridge is hidden behind this one.

Imperial Palace.

Can someone tell me what building this is?

GinzaTook the subway to Ginza - a shopping mecca. Ginza has many big shops and malls. There is nothing mini about Ginza.

The famous Ginza intersection with the Ricoh building HQ in the background.

The Wako store and the famous Seiko Clock at Ginza with the Ginza subway station entrance in the foreground.

Pagoda at AsakusaAs it was getting dark, we headed back to the hotel, which meant a stroll through the Senjoji temple neighbourhood. The Pagoda at Asakusa lights up beautifully at night.

Pagoda at AsakusaPagoda at Asakusa at night.

Senjoji templeSenjoji temple at night.

This Korean BBQ restaurant was just a few doors away from Keihan Hotel. Two set dinners of BBQ pork and two drinks costs ¥ 2268.

More Photos > Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 (am) - Day 4 (pm) - Day 5 - Day 5 (pm) - Day 6

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