Ueno, Tokyo Dome and Electric City

We have and early morning ahead of us and I am very tired, so this post will be mostly pictures and few details (I'm sorry that I'm too tired to write much other than captions, I'll be sure to revisit our stories from today in later posts). We saw a lot today and we experienced a little of the diversity that Tokyo has to offer.  By the way, we went to the post office this morning and had no problem withdrawing funds from that ATM.

The 100 yen (about a dollar) shop near our hostel and Okachimachi Station.  There's some pretty good stuff in there(mostly stuff to meet everyday household needs).  They're much better than American dollar stores.

There's a Hard Rock Cafe in Ueno Station.

We went to this really amazing seven story toy/anime/gaming shop called Yamashiroya near the station.  We got this guys out of a capsule machine.  We had to put him together.



Inside Yamashiroya:

This is a whole section of plushies, figurines and memorabilia for horse racing (and specific horses).  I didn't even know that sport was here.

Replica weapons from anime.

Marvel action figures from 1994.

Ninja Turtle action figures from about the same time.

Lots of Thomas, but not as much as I expected.

Brush up on your skills because we got these for Grant!

Ueno Park area:

20oz can of Dr. Pepper.

Balloon man with a hat we made in front of us.

Building protecting a Buddha statue.  The originals in this area were much bigger than the current one.  The first one was destroyed by earthquake and the second was melted down to make weapons for WWII.

We weren't supposed to take this picture, but we saw the sign too late.

Huge Buddha face from one of he originals.

The lake.  It's dirty and reedy.

But, there are still a lot of birds.



Monuments and shrines around the park:

This five story pagoda is actually in the zoo, but we had a view of it from outside.

Under construction (behind the gate is just a picture on the scaffolding).  We have terrible luck with that.

So many birds.

Perspective on how big the koi are.



Tokyo Dome area:

The area is a lot like Seattle Center.  Lots of shopping and entertainment.

Ultra Man!  Ian says is live action stuff like Power Rangers.



After the dome, we went back to the hostel to charge the camera.  While the camera was charging we ran back to Harajuku to get a sweater/dress that I had wanted.  Then we picked up the camera and went to Electric Town.  We didn't have as much time there before things started to close as we would have liked, but w still had a good time and we might go back.

Outside of the station.

Space invaders!

Anime Ian!

Slot/arcades/anime places were everywhere.  We played a little bit in this one, mostly on the arcade floor, but Ian did lose $5 trying to figure out a slot machine, it's a lot harder in Japanese.

This photo booth area is only for girls, but Ian and I made some purikura (tiny sticker photos for trading with friends) pictures anyway.



We wanted sushi for dinner, so we found a place in Electric Town.  It turns out it's a chain, but the place was packed with comisserating business men.  It was awesome and tasty.  We just ordered a customized collection of rolls we knew we could eat (we found the names on the internet).

The sake was very smooth.  The red base is filled, too, and this is only a small.

In the forefront: inari (fried tofu stuffed with sushi rice), and tomago (cooked egg with sushi rice and a band of nori).  In the background:  vegetable rolls including kappa (cucumber roll).

After dinner we went for a beer at a smoky, little hole in the wall place.  The beer wasn't excellent, but it's better than Korean beer.



Tomorrow we'll set out for Tokyo Disneyland.  It should be a thoughtless, relaxing day.



Happy belated birthday, Bruce!  I'm sorry I didn't get to talk to you today like I thought I would.



Good night!