Big Adventures, Little World

Today began about 9.30am which seemed like a good time to get up after some much needed rest. I headed for the shower and got myself ready before sitting down for a while to study the subway maps and Belinda’s recommendations for the day.

I headed out for the day about 10.30 to the subway station where to get to Akihabara (Tokyo’s technology mecha), I needed to catch 3 trains, according to Belinda. Once I got to the station though I wasn’t too sure and headed to the ticket booth to get some help. After some pointing and running off the station names of what I wanted to do, the ticket man told me to catch just one train, and then Akihabara was only a 5 minute walk away. This would have been the case if I didn’t walk to far, and that wouldn’t have been the case if I had a street map instead of just the subway map. It didn’t matter though, I was enjoying walking the streets of Tokyo, (but not enjoying the 31 degree heat and high humidity) and just looking around, marveling at what Tokyo has to offer, and just how different it is.

Not 2 minutes of walking after leaving the subway station, I had walked 2 McDonald’s, 1 Burger King, and just about every second store being another variation of a convenience store. After a bit of walking I found a map near a train station and worked out the right way I should have been heading, and found my way to Akihabara, in particular, Yodabashi. The ticket man was right! Yodabashi is a giant electronics store with everything you can ever think of and more. It has 7 stories of different electronic and other products, with the 8th floor full of restaurants.

I looked around at all the different things, from mobile phones, to computer hardware and accessories, iPods & other MP3 players, to digital cameras, to game consoles, to TV’s, watches, sunglasses, household appliances and much, much more! I spent a good couple of hours wandering the floors, checking out what I want to buy when Belinda and I return there before I leave.

One of the most amazing things I saw there was a 103 inch Full HD plasma TV. That’s right, 103 inches! It was insane, but at about 900000 yen, or $90000 Australian, who could afford it? The thing was that big, you’d may as well have your own movie theatre!

After finding Akihabara, I had some newfound confidence in using the Subway system, so I decided to head to Asakusa, home of the Senoji Temple and a shopping district. First off, I grabbed a Teriyaki burger meal at McDonald’s (which was much better than any of the burgers we have in Australia), and after that, headed to the Subway station.

The more I used the Subway, the easier it got! I had my ticket and was at the platform, then on the train in no time. I checked out the Senoji temple, where a nice couple from El Mehico (Mexico for those who don’t know) took my photo in front of it. I looked around the temple for a bit, but it seemed familiar, or similar to the many temples I saw on my last visit here. So I started to walk around the shopping district, and it was just huge. All kinds of shops, it was just an experience walking through it all.

By this stage my legs were getting tired so I thought I would head out to Harajuku (like in the Gwen Stefani song) because it is apparently where all the cool kids hang out, so what better place for me to be? I got on the Subway with no problems and even managed to have a little nap on there without fear of missing my stop. I had become a Subway master! The Subway went to Shibuya, not too far away from Harajuku according to the Subway map, but I don’t think I found it. Shibuya was crazy busy though, people everywhere, and it was a younger crowd of people too, so I assume it was close. I went for a walk in most directions where all the people were, and saw some people that may have been Harajuku girls, but not completely sure.

I headed back to the hostel where I had a bit of a rest, then a shower, and then had some dinner before laying down again to end another day. (After writing this that is).