Having left our luggage at the hotel we then went out to explore. The hotel is a mid-range hotel in a wonderful location in the heart of Tokyo’s historic Asukasa district and is very close to the Senso-ji Temple.
The area is heaving with tourists, probably made worse by it being a. Saturday
We found somewhere for coffee as we needed to relax and get a plan together. We have ordered two mobile WiFi devices and they had been delivered to the hotel. So our first priority was to get them working which, luckily, was an easy task.
We then left Denis sitting on a bench in the sunshine while Anna and I went for a walk around. There were plenty of street food stalls and we eventually succumbed and had some strawberries. They were just like toffee apples except they were strawberries. Yum
We then tried a couple of the street food style cafes while we walked around
By this time we were all flagging so we paid 1000 yen (about £5) for an early check in at the hotel. The view from the room was fabulous
We all had a snooze and then headed out again late afternoon. The plan was basically to explore and in doing so find somewhere for a beer and snacks. Ideally we would also find somewhere where we could also watch Everton play Arsenal.
We started off here, The Auld, which sold a surprisingly good pint of Guinness.
Then I checked a few other places out without much luck, but we enjoyed wandering around the backstreets where we found a steakhouse and jazz bar we have lined up for tomorrow evening.
And we ended up here, an excellent Mexican restaurant called Fukumen.
Tokyo at night looks very different compared with what it looks like during the day. Denis said it was like being in an adult fun fair.
Things we have noted so far
– first impressions of Japan are good. A vey different culture and a strange mix of the very old and the new.
– lots of places, even in the heart of the tourist area of Tokyo, won’t take credit cards. Cash is still king here
– We are still not sure about the technology in the toilets and in particular the heated toilet seats!
I watched the football in the hotel room as we were back quite early. A good night’s sleep should see us all sorted for tomorrow when we are doing some serious sightseeing!
Pearl Blog 3 