Winter Break Part 7: Tokyo

(continued from part 6)

After we'd finished with Odaiba, we headed to our next hotel near downtown Tokyo to drop off our luggage. We then took the train over to Akihabara to see what the legendary otaku district was like. Countless used electronics shops, anime/manga/game stores, and numerous maids advertising their maid cafes didn't disappoint. I pointed to a store selling supportive mouse pads (where the pad itself has a drawing of a girl, and the support cushion is perfectly placed on her bosom) and translated the sign of an erotic mega-store building while my mother snorted in disgust. Success!!

After they'd had enough of the craziness, we walked over to Asakusa to experience the atmosphere of old Tokyo. When we got there, it was like a carnival. People crowded the grounds of Sensouji Temple, and just squeezing through the famous Kaminari-mon (thunder/lightning door) was a challenge. There were food stands everywhere selling okonomiyaki, kara-age, amazake, and the other usual festival foods. My sister had a craving for monjayaki, but we couldn't find any to satisfy her.

Sensouji Temple

The inner gate, Hozo-mon.

Bad picture of Kaminari-mon

We left Asakusa, deciding to skip Tokyo Sky Tree in favor of Tokyo's eastern metropolitan area. First, we stopped at Harajuku to do some fashion viewing. Harajuku is well known for being a wild fashion center, where many of Japan's fashion trends originate. We knew that there would be some strangely dressed people walking around, so we went hunting for crazies. Sure enough, we saw more highlighter hair and balloon pants since 1980's America. I'd have pictures, but I wasn't unscrupulous enough to boldly photograph innocent pedestrians.

We got hungry, so we tried an okomiyaki/monjayaki restaurant I had heard good things about online. The shop didn't disappoint. First of all, the workers were definitely native residents of Harajuku with their crazy hair and clothing. In the customer base, there were hipsters as far as the eye could see, with fixies and vintage single-speeds parked out front. All over the walls was painted a strange hippy art, with massive-nosed characters in top hats spouting misspelled English speech bubbles. Here's one of the useful ones that helped us cook our food:

Inside Sakura-tei Okonomiyaki

While it was somewhat expensive, the food was tasty and made for a fun cooking/eating experience.

Okonomiyaki on the right, monjayaki on the left

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to rest, while my sister headed to Shibuya alone to check out the nightlife. She came back much later than she said she would, which made us convinced that she had died. Apparently, she's lost interest in clubbing these days, saying that she's "clubbed out". Whatever that means...

The next day, we went to take a look at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. It was rather boring, considering that they don't actually let you go into the grounds without a reserved tour. We snapped a few pictures and left to get my mom and sister to the airport.

Outer buildings of the Imperial Palace grounds.

We barely made it to their train on time, and the rush to load their massive luggage onto the train made them forget about returning the rest of the Japanese money I gave them. Sigh...

After they left, I had about 5 hours to kill before I needed to board my bus home, so I decided to go back to Akihabara and frolic amongst my fellow otaku. They had closed the streets, so the crowds were wandering about at their leisure. It almost felt like I was back at Anime Expo again. I bought some discounted goods from a few stores, and left with the victorious feeling of having my first figurines!

Party mode in Akihabara

I grew tired of carrying my luggage, so I bought a coffee from McDonalds and sat down for some rest. I also ventured back into the crowded Ameya-yokochou near Ueno Station to reward myself for a well executed winter break by chowing down on a spicy doner kebab. Relieved that vacation was over, but longing for more relaxation and the company of my Honeybunny, I retired into the bus cabin and headed home.

Thank you for enduring the 7 whole parts of my winter break adventures. See you next time!