Our first full day starts at around 8:00pm after a lengthy 10 hour nap. While the long and sleepless day yesterday definitely helps with adjusting to the time zone and reducing jet lag, it unfortunately does not alleviate the problem completely. So despite the long rest, the first thought on both of our minds was; coffee. After a quick search for nearby cafe’s, we found a small shop seemingly run by 1 guy, serving a couple different types of coffee and some small desserts. The shop also convienently had my favourite form of coffee, being a mocha, making it all the more appeaing. So, after praticing some Japanese by ordering before learning the barista spoke very good English, and enjoying our small breakfast, we decided to walk the whole way from Asakusabushi to Tokyo Station.
Tokyo remains as one of the nicest urban areas I’ve ever been to for walking around. Very clean, relatively quiet, interesting and visually appealing stores, it’s worth not taking the transit just to enjoy the journey walking. It also helps a lot with finding interesting places or familiarizing yourself with the city. It also helps build up an appetite in a country full of amazing food.
Upon arriving the louder and more energetic Tokyo Station, we head inside to check off one of the first things on our to-do list while in Tokyo; visit the Pokemon Centre Shop, one of the largest stores for official Pokemon merch. There are two different Pokemon stores around the Tokyo Station area, so after enjoying the music from the games in the store and picking up souvenirs, we started to walk around the area to see if there was somewhere to grab a bite.
We found a store, labelled only with a single character: 吉. The menu on the side of the building showing the pork cutlet lunch special for 1100 yen was enough for us to try our luck and see how it was. For the same price as a quarter pounder meal at McDonalds, we got a bowl of rice, deep fried pork cutlets, pickled vegtables on tofu, miso soup, a nori salad, and unlimited tea, with the only added expense being knowing how to order the dish in Japanese, as the staff had limited English. The meal came out very quickly and while watching (and failing to understand most of) the Japanese news on the TV, we ate our meal and planned out where we were heading next.
After not much deliberation, we decided to walk back to the apartment and relax until the sun fell, as our next destination would be a place best enojoyed after nightfall; Akihabara, The Electric Town. We sat around with some vending machine drinks until we were feeling resfreshed and enough time had passed before walking to Akihabara. Unlike Tokyo Station, Akihabara Station is only 1 stop away from where we were staying, so it only took about 15 minutes to walk. From two blocks away, you can tell you’re in the right area, as buildings become progressively more plastered in screens and neon signs, culminating in the heart of Akihabara just outside of the station.
We made our way to the arcades and comic book booths, through trading card stores and hobby shops, until I found a couple things to buy. I picked up some Japanese comic books (Manga) so I can practice reading Japanese during my downtime, followed by some ice cream. After enjoying the sights and lights for a couple hours, we started walking back to Asakusabashi, stopping at a 7-11 on the way back to get a small snack, before finally crashing for the night.
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