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| Red lantern in Asakusa (photo by TravellingFool.com) |
We made our way to the new (and final) hostel. It's up on the upper east side of Tokyo. A nice change of scenery and a location much closer to JR.
Of course we got here a few hours before check in so we dropped our things off and headed out to see some sights.
There were only three places left on Jordan's list: the world trade center observation deck, akihabara, and the rainbow bridge. I'm not sure where he found the observation deck or the rainbow bridge since neither one of those came up in my research but I was game for pretty much anything that wasn't "a bit of a hike." we also got a tip from Eric to check out the Tokyo Sky Tree tower in Asakusa.
We decided the route would be Asakusa then the world trade center observation deck. Asakusa was pretty cool even with the tower closed until the end of May. There were tons of shops to see instead across the river from the tower. We walked around looking at all of the things and stopped in a ramen shop for lunch. It was pork ramen in a fish based broth which while wasn't up Jordan's alley, I found it delicious. We continued on and started looking at sweets to bring home. We found a few good ones that were expensive and since Jordan was running low on cash we passed on those. Then we found some that we're being made fresh right there on the street. They were cheap and smelled delicious so we both picked up a box. We also saw Dana's fish pastries (sweets with filling in the shape of fish) - they weren't as good as the ones in Sendai but was still a yummy snack.
Making our way to the train we saw a giant paper lantern hanging at the entrance to the square. It was huge and ornately decorated and it turns out a famous landmark for that area. We found the train alright but headed down the wrong entrance and bought tickets for the wrong line. We thought you could just use them on the other line but nope we found when we were stopped by the guard that we needed a ticket for that specific line. Thankfully we got a refund and were on our way again.
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| Tokyo skyline view from the World Trade Center (photo by TravellingFool.com) |
The subway took us right under the Tokyo World Trade Center into a mall of food shops. We then found out that the ticket to get to the observation deck would be 620¥ something Jordan didn't see in his research. After a bit of hesitation we decided to go up anyway. Getting to the 40th floor was quick in the fancy glowing elevator but the view was disappointing.
First it was all indoors and while the seating was plentiful and the atmosphere pleasant the glass makes for really crappy pictures. Then we couldn't see Fuji. I wasn't so surprised about that one but it had been a major selling feature of the observation deck. We still hung out there for a while figuring out our next move. I was down to 9000¥ and Jordan had a little over 2000¥ left. He was determined to bring home a 1000¥ bill as a souvenir too so in reality it meant that he had about 12 dollars to work with between that afternoon and the morning before his flight. The alternative was to find places that took credit card which is more difficult then it should be.
At first Jordan suggested walking over the bridge now and hanging out on the island then head back at night. I wasn't interested in seeing the bridge twice so I suggested we head back, check in, then research places to eat dinner that take card as well as what we wanted to do with the second half of the day. We went with that plan and successfully checked into the hostel.
The upside about the Khaosan Tokyo Ninja is proximity to the train (the hostel in shinagawa was a kilometer away from the train), the bathroom/shower in good and modern condition and the free locker and computer access. The bad part is the beds. They're bunk beds which I expected except for the fact that they're three beds high. There's no middle bed thank goodness, in its place is a half shelf for your things, but that still means the top bunk is about seven feet in the air. Poor Jordan got the top but the bottom was no picnic either. The hole to get in and out of the bed is painfully small. You can't sit up on the edge of the bed and it further explains the hold in the middle bunk - without it you'd be in a capsule bed unable to sit at all. It took me a whole to get the hang of getting in and out of this bed - first I have to get one entire leg out then the head and torso and then the other leg, then manage to go from a crawling squat to an upright position. I dread each time I have to get in or out of the bed.
Anyway we dropped our things and got a plan of action together. First we would go to Akihabara the electronics town and then we would walk the bridge and then go back to our cheap food and drinks place in Shibuya.
Akihabara did not disappoint. It was everything I was told and dreamed of and more. Gadgets and games were everywhere. I even saw posters for the new Pokemon game which got me super excited. There were lots of gadgets I had seen before but plenty that were new to me. Jordan even picked up something to bring home as a mothers day gift - a spiffy Japanese iPad case. The store even took credit card!
After Jordan's successful purchase we headed towards the rainbow bridge. I would encourage you to google a picture of it at night. You'll see then why we wanted to see it after dark - the bridge illuminates in a rainbow of colors across the Tokyo skyline.
We got to the bridge just as it was starting to get dark but couldn't find the pedestrian walkway for anything. There were no signs for it and the only one we did see was explaining the open and close times for the walkway but not where it is. That was the first disappointment. The second was seeing the bridge. It was barely lit and had almost no color on it at all.
The pictures were all a lie.
We settled for taking the subway over and back. The views were interesting enough but nothing spectacular. Certainly not 240¥ good. We opted to take that train back to the JR line to head towards Shibuya because the thought of walking back from the bridge was painful.
Our place in Shibuya did not disappoint. We did have one dish of chicken skewers served undercooked (Japanese cooks why vacant you seem to cook chicken through?!) but otherwise it was delicious. We used our membership cards and didn't even need an English speaking server this time. It was like being pros and it is still by far our favorite place to eat in Japan.
We got back to the hostel sometime around midnight and began our farewells. I found Jordan directions to the airport and he packed the last of his things before climbing up into bed.
My adventure has slowly lost companions but it will certainly not stop me from having more adventures.
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