Tokyo: Megacity

Last October 31, Jam and I took the night bus from Akita to Tokyo. It was our first official trip to the big city after two months in the sleepy town of Akita! We slept soundly in the bus for 8 hours. Upon arriving, we freshened up and immediately started strolling along Maronouchi District, a commercial district located near Tokyo's main train station. There were lots of fancy shops and high-end brands that we can't afford. We then proceeded to the Imperial Palace which was just 10 minutes away by foot. It has a huge park surrounded with massive stone walls. We were not allowed inside the palace grounds so we just took pictures near the Meganebashi Bridge. After, we walked to Kasumigaseki Hill to take a look at the National Diet Building.

Our next stop was the electric town of Akihabara, home to all kinds of electronic products that you could ever imagine! The brightly colored billboards added more life to the whole neighborhood. I was so excited to check out camera models because I was dying to buy a new one! Since arriving in Japan two months ago, I've been using my sister's sucky camera from the Philippines. I am dying to throw it out because the quality is so horrible! Thanks to my scholarship money, I was able to buy a new Sony DSC-T77 camera from Eisan. To my delight, one of the salesperson was a Filipino who gave me a discounted price and extra freebies!

I was so excited to immediately use my brand new camera so I asked the Filipino salesperson to kindly charge the camera while we check out the nearby Ueno Park for two hours. Ueno Park is a large public park in central Tokyo. Aside from checking out the gardens and cafes in the park vicinity, we also went to see the Memorial Hall, International Children's Library, Tokyo National Museum and Kimmenji Temple. 

Almost every corner in Tokyo looks quirky! Look at this eye-catching cellphone advertisement plus this very cute vendo machine for ice-cream! Before sunset, Jam and I headed to Asakusa to take the Tokyo Bay Cruise.

That afternoon, we cruised along Sumida River and Tokyo Bay. Apart from the buildings, most of the attractions during the cruise were the colorful bridges. We initially wanted to take the "Himiko" water bus but all the tickets have been sold out so we took the other water bus instead.

We took the "Suijo" water bus passing through Hinode Pier and then Odaiba Seaside Park.