Sensoji Temple and the surrounding areas of Asakusa

We spent the whole day in Asakusa to visit the Sensoji Temple (also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple) and the surrounding areas. We took the train to Asakusa (yes, we were beginning to manage taking the train without having to approach the Information desk each time to ask for directions hehe), and within a few steps, is the Sensoji Temple. I walked past the Thunder Gate (with a huge lantern), then walked into Nakamise Street (centuries old already!),

famous for the shops selling all sorts of Japanese paraphernalia.(Those little red lanterns are Php 675… if I had gone to 168 mall or Divisoria, I would’ve probably gotten a dozen of them 😀 teehee… goes to show how expensive everything is in Japan! But gotta love all the cutesy stuff still!)

Nakamise Street also houses shops that sell confections exclusive to Asakusa.
Like this– it’s called Kibi- dango. I don’t know what they are, but people were lining up for this. I wasn’t feeling very adventurous with sweets that day, so I skipped it. Now I realize I should’ve tried it… Tsk.

There were also Osenbei or rice crackers of all sorts. They were quite reasonably priced, but I guess I was craving for something extremely salty, so again, no- go for this baghag.

You have to walk underneath this HUGE lantern before you get into the temple proper.

Another gargantuan black lantern on the side of the red one.

I don’t really know the significance of these lanterns, so if there is someone out there who could actually shed some light on this, I’d be grateful to know more.

We went into the temple to say a little prayer. There were people who seemed to be tying some little strips of paper onto some clothesline- like contraptions. We obviously knew nothing about what they were doing. I was thinking perhaps they were writing their “wishes” and praying for them to come true. While I was tempted to do as the Japanese do (you know, when in Rome… *or I should say, When in Japan*), I stopped myself from committing grave errors that would reflect poorly on my nationality hahaha. (I don’t need to be PNG on foreign soil, thank you :D)

We left Sensoji Temple and went into the little shopping alleys. There were stores that sold ceramics/ earthenwares,
different colored fans (it was hot and humid in Tokyo)
and wooden slippers/ clogs 🙂 I had to get myself one! I did my bargain hunting because the other clogs were about US$20. I managed to get one for myself for just US$8! I was proud of myself (my 1st souvenir!!).

I also saw these being sold. I’m frankly not quite sure of what they are, but they’re quite nice. I don’t know if they’re meant to be played with as toys for children, or to be displayed somewhere. They’re real nice, and quite pricey.

And then horrors upon horrors, I saw a store that sold WHALE meat!!! Awhile back, I watched some NatGeo show about whales being harpooned and slaughtered for their meat. I admit openly and willingly that I love sashimi but I don’t think I’d go so far as to eat whale meat.
I just felt sorry for those big sea mammals 🙁 I actually got goosebumps when I stared at those whales in that poster outside the shop. *Shudder*

Roaming around the streets of Asakusa, I couldn’t help but feel how different each district is. Ginza’s very upmarket, Harajuku’s very “young” and hip, and well, Asakusa feels very “local”. Pardon the ignoramus remark, but Asakusa just feels so “authentic” Japanese. Ginza is home to so many foreign labels so it’s quite difficult for me to think of it as “authentic” Japan. Ginza is the picture of “modern” Japan for me. Harajuku? Well, let’s not talk about Harajuku because that’s way off my age group *muwahaha…*. But more on Harajuku soon.

Anyway, we were able to go into a local mall in Asakusa, and outside that mall was a small parking lot. For bicycles. Bicycles really do wonder for the locals– they don’t get hit or affected by the escalating prices of fuel 🙂 Good for them!! I wish Manila didn’t have so much air pollution. Riding a bicycle would really be an excellent way to save money! Hmmm…. *bright idea*

We were already getting hungry, and I was raring to go the adventurous route with dinner this time (but no whale meat please!). It took us almost an hour to figure out where to eat because DH wanted to make sure there was an English menu somewhere, so we don’t do the “turo- turo” (point- point) system again 😀 But at the end of our restaurant hunt, we decided to go for one of those slot- machine type ordering systems (how adventurous was that haha). And we found a Ramen place that had this kind of system. Thing was, the restaurant was in the basement. DH was unsure if it was a good idea to go to a restaurant that probably doesn’t get many customers because of its “difficult-to-find” location. But I was like, “Dude, if we are going to experiment tonight, it’s cool, because after dinner, we already head straight to the hotel for our private loo muwahahaha.” *Gross thought… erase erase*

There was only one man “manning” the restaurant. He’s our guy 🙂 *he’s a real friendly guy too!* Talk about being highly efficient!!

He spoke no English at all. So I had no choice but to speak whatever little Japanese I remembered to get by (yes, I actually took formal lessons in Japanese, but my Japanese is really laughable that even I am ashamed to speak out loud… it’s terrible, terrible, terrible!!!). We managed to figure out what to eat (our “guy” managed to understand what we wanted haha… no language barrier when it comes to fooood!!!), so DH and I put coins in the machine to get our food tickets, which we presented to our “cook/manager”.

My order: Miso based ramen with pork
DH had cold ramen which was dipped in soy- based soup with pork. He downed everything with a bottle of Beeru 😀 (Asahi beer)

Our meal cost us about Y2100. Dinner was great. I was happy that I finally got to eating authentic ramen 🙂 And no, no gastronomic wars happened after 🙂

So if we do go back to Asakusa next time, we just might pay this ramen place another visit 🙂 Another wonderful day, capped with a great meal!

P.S. Sorry I haven’t been able to go online regularly to check my emails. I actually have to blog in the store 🙁 My internet at home is going bonkers again. After asking Globe about the problem, they tell us they are experiencing “glitches” in our area so we’re apparently not the only ones affected. Ugh, well I hope they do something about it because I’ve actually been sleeping EARLY *like before midnight* because I have no net access!! 😀 *I think sleeping early is a good thing, really, but darn, I miss surfshopping at night!!*

x
Mrs.T