Asakusa...Hai!

Hello Ozzies!

It's been a couple of days since my last post, but things have been pretty hectic in here. As a preview, just take a look at this video and tell me want you think...Ok, the sound is pretty bad, but anyway, you can get the idea! In fact,this is the line I take everyday!

And it is always packed like this during rush hours...which means that every morning I have like 30 mins of Japanese subway hell. It takes me 2 hours from the door of my studio to the door of the Language Academy, and it really feels like a whole lot of time. No wonder people get sleep on their way. One of these days, I have to make a post with the best sleeping Japanese! I swear you, I don't understand how they do it to sleep in such conditions!

Anyway, this post was meant to be about my Sunday excursion to Asakusa and Ueno. Asakusa preserves the "old Tokyo" concept buildings. Most of it was destroyed during WWII, but the reconstructions a very good. And some parts managed to survive. All my tourist guides (and I have 4!) say that this zone is a "must-see". From my point of view, it's not such big deal. It's full of people, full of tourists, and there's not so much to see. Plus, the temple of Kannon (the oldest in Tokyo), was being repaired. This is not the real name of the temple, but I'm too lazy to look up its real name right now... Maybe it's so popular because it's all the shinto + buddhist stuff you hope to see when coming to Japan, but I'm sure there are better places to get a more impressive look of this, without feeling somehow in an amusement park.

Keeping this in mind, this zone has very very good restaurants. And cheap ones too! I'm looking forward to eating in many of them. We chose Katsukichi, whose specialty are tonkatstu (breaded pork with different toppings inside). OH MY GOD! Everybody should put a piece of heaven like that in their mouths! Unbelievable. And only for 10 euros! A place I will surely repeat!

After that, we went walking to Ueno. Ueno hosts many of the most important museums of Tokyo. We decided to focus on the park instead of seeing museums, and get a general idea of the place. It is a very nice place to walk around: there are beautiful views, and you don't have the feeling of being inside Tokyo when you wonder around its walkways.

We didn't have much luck, though. The only National Interesting Monument shinto shrine (it is a list done by the Japanese Governement with key elements of the Japanese old heritage) was also being repaired (so we coudn't see it).

In following posts I will come back to this zone, because there is a lot to be said. But for now, I'm going to bed! I leave you all with a photo of the Last Samurai (Saigo Takamori).

Sleep tight and don't dream about wicked witches!