Tokyo 2010 - Day 2 - Asakusa & Odaiba

Today was super tiring with lots of walking and getting acquainted with Tokyo's rail system.

At Asakusa we checked out the famed Sensoji Shrine (or is it Temple?) and Nakamise Dori - a street filled with lots of local gifts, snacks and knick knacks leading up to the entrance of the Shrine. It is choc block full of people and is very touristy - as is the price. But when in Tokyo how can you possibly resist buyng freshly barbecued rice crackers dipped in soy sauce right in front of you (although a tad too salty to have seconds)?

And they have the cutest sponge cakes filled with red bean paste. Here you can choose to buy the machine made ones or hand made ones. The machines are incredible, not only do they make perfect little cakes but they also package them in plastic. Very hygienic as it never touches anyone's hand until after it's bagged.

Food around Nakamise Dori is a bit more on the expensive side since it's a tourist area. But if you can go across the street opposite the entrance there's a nice noodle shop where you can get some yummy food for under 1000Yen per person. Food is ordered via the vending machine.

The Shrine itself was of nothing great. They were also doing some renovation work so the roof of the shrine was all covered up. But walking around the gardens it certainly was peaceful. The toilets were interesting too, the individual cubicles resembled bamboos. We spent the greatest amount of time walking around Nakamise Dori looking at everything.

Then with aching feet we made our way down to Odaiba to see the picturesque Rainbow Bridge and Statue of Liberty. I think Tokyo had a bit of an identity crisis...

The driverless Monorail ride to Odaiba was very enjoyable and the views were spectacular. The monorail even crosses the Rainbow Bridge which was an interesting ride in itself. The one way monorail ride from Shimbashi to Odaiba costs 310Yen.

At Odaiba (also known as Daiba) there's lots of shopping and amusement there. There's Decks Tokyo Beach, Venusfort (outlet stores), Aqua City Odaiba, and Tokyo Joypolis (One of Japan's largest indoor amusement park).

We very briefly visited each one because we were pressed for time. Wished we had more time to explore tho. Maybe next time! I would thoroughly recommend this place and you could probably spend a whole day there.

NEXT: Day 3 Akihabara & Ameyayokocho (Ameyacho) & Ginza