Skip to main content

Rice crackers and dolls - Japan 2006


I got lost in Asakusa this morning. I couldn't get my bearings and ended up walking in circles. Maybe it was the featureless grey sky.

We visited the pottery and cooking supply shops along Kappabashi-dori and bought rice crackers outside of the Senso-ji temple complex district.

Then we caught the subway to Asakusabashi station and looked at the doll and miniature samurai armour displays at the local shops. Too expensive!

Harajuku was next, a trip to Oriental Bazaar to purchase souvenirs for family. B had her hair cut at Fizzi, the same place as in 2003. No open wireless access or Japanese/English lessons this time.

Wandered around Harajuku with a headache. The shop below Fizzi sells model railway goods. It's amazing how cheap Japanese N-gauge rollingstock is.

Had zaru-soba, yaki-tori and sushi for dinner tonight. Still don't know where we are going tomorrow.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Down the Oito Line

Riding the length of the Oito Line from Itoigawa to Shinjuku (well, Matsumoto, really, but you might as well go the whole way) has long been a dream of mine. It suddenly gained urgency when I read that the last length of it between Itoigawa to Minami-Otari would be closed once the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa and Toyama opens by next year. Now, as mentioned last time, B and Alex are among those that would much rather catch the very fast Shinkansen, but in the end she decided to follow me, despite the very early morning. We rode the Hokuetsu Express from Toyama to Itoigawa, completing a little more of that West Coast for me. Though the coastal stretch was short there were some nice views at times. I should like to see more of Itoigawa one day, explore its geology. But now we had to quickly cross over the platform bridge to catch our train to Minami-Otari. To my great delight it was a KiHa 120 railcar, my favourite. I felt a degree of sadness standing up at the front...
Post a Comment
Read more

Asagaya and heading home

How can I be happy? I am about to return to a country where the toilets have at most two buttons and no seat warmers. But the tickets are booked and there are no cyclones, typhoons or other disasters standing in our way. It's almost time to go back to my first home. First B wants to do some "local shopping". So we catch the Chuo Line up a few stations to Asagaya, a residential area with a number of Shotengai, covered and uncovered arcades leading away from the station and narrow alleys lined with bars. It is an interesting area for a wander around. We are mainly looking, do some shopping for toothbrushes and sweets from Seiyu, a Wal-Mart owned supermarket/minor department store. We skipped breakfast and lunch is ramen and gyoza at a small restaurant near the entrance to the Pearl Centre shotengai. With the help of a staff member, I manage to purchase tickets at a branch of Lawson to the Ghibli Museum for a friend travelling to Japan in May. There are some...
Post a Comment
Read more