Tokyo (2)

One of the objectives of the trip was to see the famous cherry blossom, and I am not disappointed. Every single park or temple garden is covered with flowers, it is incredible:

Next stop is Ueno Park, with eight hundred cherry trees.

 
Shinobazu Pond is a small lake with an area of 16 ha, extensive lotus beds, and marshland. It provides an important wintering ground for birds.
The central island houses a shrine to Benzaiten, goddess of fortune. The area was once full of "rendezvous teahouses", equivalent of the modern love hotel. After the Pacific War the pond was drained and used for the cultivation of cereals and subsequently there were plans to turn the site into a baseball stadium or multi-storey carpark. The lotus pond was restored in 1949, although much of it was again accidentally drained in 1968 during work on a new subway line.

Let's go to back to crowded and noisy areas, starting with Shibuya, its famous crossroad, and its statue dedicated to Hachiko (the dog from the movie with Richard Gere):

 

Too noisy for me, next visit will be the Meiji-jingu shrine, which is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken and located in a forest that covers an area of 70 hectares, containing 120,000 trees of 365 different species, which were donated by people from all parts of Japan when the shrine was established.

(These sake barrels are offered every year to the enshrined deities by members of the Nationwide Sake Brewers Association.
"In addition to stating our humble gratitude to all of th brewers who have so graciously donated their sake, we also pray for the continuous prosperity of the sake brewing industry.")

 

Wherever you are in Tokyo, it seems that you are always close to a peaceful and quiet place, and also to an incredibly vibrant area, such as Takeshita-dori and its shops for teenagers:

 

A few kilometers away, the last visit of the day is for Shimo-kitazawa:

A few more pictures, and then I am done for today, looking forward to another long night:

 

 

Tokyo (1)

Kon nichi wa!

It's never too early to start taking good habits, I have my first noodle breakfast in the plane:

First after landing in Tokyo: reach the closest metro station to the hostel, it shouldn't be difficult...

Second step, reach the hostel:

As expected, the next hurdle is located in the bathroom, how on earth ate you supposed to action the damned flush???

Once all of this is solved, it is 3:30pm, a lot earlier than what I had imagined, so I still have a few hours to start visiting the area before the sunset (and before I collapse into my bed because I've been up for about 24 hours now).

Let's start with one of the major sites of the city, the Sensō-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple, founded in 645 AD (which makes it the oldest temple in Tokyo). Dominating the entrance to the temple is the Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate". This imposing Buddhist structure features a massive paper lantern dramatically painted in vivid red-and-black tones to suggest thunderclouds and lightning.

This giant straw sandal is part of a pair which was made by 800 people in a month, with a weigh of 2500 kilograms and a height of 4.5 meters. They are a charm against evils, and people touch them for luck in order to be good walkers.

During World War II, the temple was bombed and destroyed. It was rebuilt later and is a symbol of rebirth and peace to the Japanese people. In the courtyard there is a tree that was hit by a bomb in the air raids, and it had regrown in the husk of the old tree and is a similar symbol to the temple itself.

Nakamise-Dori, the street leading from the Thunder Gate to the temple itself, is lined with small shops selling souvenirs ranging from fans, ukiyo-e (woodblock prints), kimono and other robes, Buddhist scrolls, traditional sweets, to Godzilla toys, t-shirts and mobile phone straps.

For a suggested donation of 100 yen, visitors may consult the oracle and divine answers to their questions.

This is the advice I got:
"Encourage yourself and you will be fortunate.
You haven't seen a sign of good luck yet, but you will get it in the future.
Hearing a morning call if a cock, you will have to wait for a chance to come.
Your time has come, you will be happier like a ship sails before the wind."

Day 2
Let's take a minute to talk about food.

Either you go to the supermarket, and find exotic items, that you cannot identify, and don't have a clue how to prepare:

Or you can go to a restaurant, and point to the waiter the plastic version of what you would like to have (very convenient, but not very enticing, to be honest...)

If you are in for giant carrots, you will be happy here.

But you can also chose to eat a panda, if you go to the nearest bakery:

And, yes, I did have a panda for breakfast (stuffed with whipped cream and red beans) :)))

Rainbow cotton candy is also a decent option for a snack

Or you can have more plastic food

My mid-afternoon snack will eventually be 2 scoops of ice cream, milk and matcha (green tea), natural, reasonably healthy, and pretty good.

3, 2, 1... Ignition!

I've been waiting for it for 18 months, D Day has eventually arrived.
Thanks to my colleagues, I have a full survival kit, which should allow me to come back alive to the office in 11 months ;-)

Talk to you from Japan, as soon as I find my way to the first hostel...