Tokyo 2010 - Day 3 - Akihabara & Ameyayokocho & Ginza

The first stop today was the Can Do 100 Yen store in Shinjuku. The store is located at the Pepe building at the Prince Hotel Shinjuku. This hotel was originally our first choice but it had no Single Room for my Mum and we didn't want to triple share with her the whole trip :p But I still wished we had stayed here for the shopping! Not only does the building have the 100Yen store, it also has a Uniqlo store and a few other shops. If you can get to it, the Can Do 100 Yen store is a must! Best finds there are the Hello Kitty and CareBear stuff (which is more than 100Yen).

After we dropped our loot back at the hotel, we headed to Akihabara because our friend wanted to check it out. Akihabara is well known as a center for all things electronics, anime is now also popular there too. But if you aren't into either one and you don't have any interest in going to a 'maid cafe', then seriously just skip this place. It was pretty boring. There wasn't even anything worth taking a photo of.

On the other hand, Ameyayokocho (or also known as Ameyacho) is the best place to go for shopping of food items! I think it's the equivalent of HK's Ladies Market. But this place does close early, so make sure you go there before 7.30pm.

Tako balls are actually a pretty hard find in Tokyo (Osaka snack?). We first came across them at Odaiba Decks Mall. Then again at Akahibara. Both places had a starting price of 500Yen for a basic set of 8 balls - the prices went up depending on the toppings you choose. This is actually pretty much the same price as Singapore which sells 3 balls for $2.50. But at Ameyayokocho it was even cheaper. From this hole in the wall shop (which Edmund insists is unhygienic) they were 8 balls for 380Yen!! And the best thing was that you get to help yourself to as much toppings as you want! And that I sure did :)

The locals even shop there themselves. And looks like a great place to hang out for a beer and yakitori (if you were sans children). You can also get cheap seaweed there, mushrooms, snacks, etc and the prices of those Sashimi rice bowls are even cheaper than Tsukiji fish market (which I think sells them for around 1000Yen). I had only wished that the Sashimi was served on top of a bed of sushi rice rather than plain rice.

Ameyayokocho also has its own fresh food Market selling fruits and fresh seafood. How I wished I could've taken some boxes of Salmon Roe or Fresh Mentaikos home. I could totally go on and on about this place, it really is a place not to be missed and is not highlighted enough in all the guide books.

We then went to Ginza and walked the famous intersection Ginza 4 Chome (the intersection was in Lost in Translation). But we were really disappointed that the place was deserted by 8pm on a Saturday! I guess we're too used to Orchard Rd opening till midnight on weekends. But it is a pretty place nonetheless. Even the Forever 21 or Forever XXI store was very pretty. The only exciting thing we saw was the entourage of Ferrari cars and the shop selling the multi layers cake because it had a video loop of how they made it.

NEXT: Day 4 - Yokohama & Harajuku