I used the remaining hotel voucher for breakfast at the hotel restaurant since I had a relaxed morning. I am not really into food so I think the food was good in a normal way for a hotel restaurant. Definitely not something that I will fork out 3000 yen plus.
I went to Ueno to explore Ueno Park and Ameyoko with a local student guide. We used the appointment on facebook and it sabo-ed us. She indicated meeting time at 11am but it appeared as 10am on my side. Facebook converts the time to our local times. Waiting for an hour turned out to be a blessings in disguise. I explored the shops near the station and I found a kombini which had Tokyo Banana Kitkat. That meant I did not have to travel all the way to Odaiba to get it. The shop at Tokyo Station is currently selling the Banana Milk Kitkat which I already bought the other day. I visited a bookshop and bought a magazine featuring Banana Fish and came a with a small pouch. Not that I am going to use the pouch or something, I bought it because it was the lightest compared to other books. Banana Fish anime seems to be quite a big thing since there are few anime books and there is a reprint of the old illustration book. It is quite surprising since the manga came out in the 1980s. I will get the other anime books online.
Ameyoko
I met my guide and that experience is testimony of my introversion. My guide is also quite shy so it was quite difficult to strike conversation. Ameyoko is just outside Ueno JR station. Despite all the hoo-ha on the net, Ameyoko is essentially only 2 shopping streets. Nothing is really fanciful about it. I do not think that it is a waste of time since I found Shinchan candy that my friend asked me to buy as well as Japanese washabe/reusable facial mask that I always want to try. The brand that I bought is called Pitta Mask.
Ueno Park
Ueno Park is also just across the road. It is just a park but according to my guide during sakura season, all the greens I saw today would be pink. Yes I can imagine how beautiful the place will be and no wonder the park is a popular spot during sakura season.
I did not take photos since there were quite a lot of people and I don't like to have strangers in my photos. I got to see Hanazono Inari which is a shrine inside Ueno Park and this shrine has red torii gates that reminds us of Fushimi Inari in Kyoto. Of course the torii gates here are smaller and more 'compact'. Again no pictures because of the people. I only took a photo outside the Ueno Toshogu with the pagoda nearby as the background.
We had pork katsu for lunch. My guide shared that the place is quite famous. We were very lucky that there was no queue when we went to have our lunch. Before that when we decided to see Ueno Park first as well as when we left the restaurant after our meal, there was a queue outside the restaurant.
Walking through Ameyoko will bring us to Okachimachi station. It is actually quite close to Ueno station. After lunch, we explored the area but it was mostly shopping malls. I think it was not a good use of time today.
After that, I decided to call the day. I made up my mind to skip Nakano and not returning to Akihabara. I returned to hotel and was deciding between extending my Disney ticket to a 3-day pass by paying an extra 4600 yen or if I should just wait until 6pm to get the After 6 Pass (4200 yen). To me, 400 yen for a difference of 1.5-2 hours is not a big deal. I listened to my old body and decided to pack my luggage, had an hour nap, and went for the After 6 Pass. Dinner was not even important as I used the final hotel voucher for bread: some for dinner and some for breakfast tomorrow.
Back to Disneysea
I always wonder who would want to get After 6 Pass since it costs more than half of a full day ticket and now I know I am so wrong. At about 550pm, queues to enter were already formed. It is not as bad as morning queue before the park opens but it is still a substantial queue.
I basically only wanted to maximise my photo keycard so I immediately chionged to the Lost River Delta. The wait times were 45 minutes for Goofy and 60 minutes for Mickey. I decided to go for Mickey first and sianz.. after that Goofy's time was 60 minutes. I would definitely be late for Fantasmic and the fireworks again. I decided to try my luck with Duffy instead. It was also more than 60 minutes. I missed Fantasmic but at least I still caught the fireworks.
No more photos for the rest of the night :( I felt slight consolation that my afternoon nap was worth it. I managed to stay until the park closed. I went for Sinbad, I played a game at Abu's Bazaar (of course failed again), I was contemplating whether to get an engraved pen from Agrabah's Market Place (the engraving service was still available) but decided not to, I bought Aladdin boxer shorts to match with my Aladdin t-shirt (although I don't know when I will ever wear these boxer shorts), I went for the Raging Spirits, and I went for Indiana Jones again. The highlight was the Raging Spirits. I always wanted to try this but I never got the chance. There is single rider for this so I did not wait too long. This will be another compulsory ride for me as it is mature enough to feel like a roller coaster ride. Not as scary as Journey to the Centre of the Earth but some screaming and shouting is still needed. On the way back, I should have just chionged for one final ride of Journey to the Centre of the Earth since they still allowed the final TWO people to rush in. Oh well =x
And that marks the end of a fantastic Birthday solo trip to Japan. This is by far the most exciting and the luckiest trip and I am very thankful to God for the amazing gift. The number of days are not enough compared to the things that I want to do. This forces me to prioritise and the whole experience allows me to discover the my priorities are:
1) Nature and adventure
2) Disney
3) Anime
4) Shopping
I did not feel so bad not really going to Nakano, Odaiba, or really exploring Akihabara this time. But I sort of regret spending the morning at Ameyoko and Ueno Park. I think spending that morning in Disneysea or Disneyland would give me more joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment