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After a short rest in this episode, I prepared myself for a day (more like less than half) out in Tokyo. What I wanted to do first, was of course, to see the blooming sakuras. To be honest, I didn't have an itinerary but I had a few places in mind. So I selected one based on gut feeling (and how much I like the sound of the name) and decided to head to Ueno Park.

Before I bombard you with pictures of flowers, you will first meet my little friend whom I met during my walk to the train station:


This little short-legged bugger is shooo cutee! I later noticed that most dogs in Japan are all shorties.



April 7th, 1PM - Ueno Park (上野公園), Tokyo.

Statue of Saigō Takamori walking his dog. I don't know who he is but his name is pretty badass.


And then, of course, sakura. Sakuras everywhere. There are so many different variations and this is just one of them.

More sakuras in action:



Ueno park is one of the most popular places for Hanami parties, where people have group picnics under the cherry trees. I don't know about you but picnics have never appealed to me, but seeing the Japanese do it makes me feel like having my own Hanami party as well.

Check out the infographics below and let me know if you'd like to join me :p

Image source

The picnic food is one of the biggest motivator. Who needs sandwiches when you can have all the above!! (✿◠‿◠)


In Ueno park, here is the popular spot for Hanami parties. There's one happening as we speak (bottom left in the picture) and you can see that there are allocated lanes on the left and right for people to lay down their mats. There are bins too for rubbish disposal.

More pictures of Ueno park:






I had no idea this was here but I stumbled upon it anyway, the Ueno Great Buddha (Daibutsu).


The full statue was destroyed in a quake back then and only the face of the Daibutsu was preserved.


Got orange trees some more one ok!


And suddenly, I'm in Fushimi Inari Shrine.

No, not really. It's actually the Gojoten Jinja. The "red gates" are called torii, and these are just some of the many torii that you will find in Japan. Torii marks the entrance to a sacred space (usually a shrine of sort - in this case, it's the Gojoten Jinja). I will be heading to Fushimi Inari (the mother of all torii) but only later into my trip.


The five-storied pagoda, Kan'ei-ji, was also within the park's vicinity.



April 7th, 3PM - Shinobazu Pond (不忍池), Tokyo.
After several strolls in the park, I decided to head down to Shinobazu Pond (不忍池 Shinobazu no Ike), which is actually a pond still within the Ueno park.


Some very pink blooms.


Part of the Shinobazu pond, and yes that is a real bird.


This pond is a natural one, though it has been modified several times in the past.


This part of the pond is actually called the Lotus Pond. In summer, the lotus plants will completely cover the surface. I can only imagine what a sight that would be.


Actually no, there's Google Image.

More pictures of the various sakura blooms.


Not sure what these are so I can't caption them.

Anyway! I spent some time wandering around the pond area and there was also a mini food street. I was keeping an eye out on this one delicacy called the dango (団子). It's that "colorful fishball stick" emoji that we have on our phone:


Dango is a Japanese dumpling and sweet made from mochiko (rice flour), related to mochi. I was looking forward to dango ever since I came across this saying of "Hana yori dango” (花より団子, literally, “dumplings rather than flowers”), which actually means a preference for practical things rather than aesthetics.

So yes, I was walking along the food street when, lo and behold,


Dangos!


Got myself a sakura flavored one! So I stopped at the roadside to enjoy my stick of sakura dango. The weather was still chilly and the dango was freshly roasted, it was bliss!

With some warmth in my stomach, I was then ready to explore the next place. The following destination.. There was no following destination for Day 1 because the initial plan was to just explore Ueno park (thought I should go easy on my first day). Well well, since I had some energy and curiosity left for the remaining day, I did some last minute Google research to help me decide.



Next up: An impromptu location and spending the night in Tokyo.

Seeing that I still had some time after Ueno Park, I decided to explore another attraction before calling it a day. After consulting Google, I took the train from Ueno to..

April 7th, 4PM - Asakusa, Tokyo.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect at this place. Heck, I didn't even know where to go. So I sort of just followed the flow and walked along the road until I stumbled upon this gate:

Wah, so many people one! Confirm tourist attraction! So I stopped and joined the crowd (I didn't even know what this place was called at that moment).

Upon passing through the gate, I found myself in a Japanese Jonker Street.

I mean, sure, this place is much posher and cleaner than the one we have in Malacca but the concept is essentially the same (not sure how long Jonker Street is but Nakamise is over 200 meters). The items sold in one store are also sold in another store just 2 units down. But it's pretty interesting, they have souvenirs, snacks, utensils, etc.

I don't know what these are, some fried sweets from the looks. It says "Ageman" on the packaging but the only "Ageman" I can find via Google is "Japanese Middle Age Man". I'm sorry guys...

Came across a soft serve stall and I knew I had to have one! This is cherry blossom flavored because well you know, when in Japan (and spring), eat everything sakura. Taste wise, wasn't great, I should probably rule out sakura as my favorite flavor but no, just because it's rare for me, I decided to go for more things sakura (as you will see later).

Oh right, after purchasing the soft serve and wanting to walk off, I was suddenly detained by the shopkeeper.

"Ice cream eat here preease!"

Ohh.... Japan got guardians of the ice cream one. (´⊙ω⊙`)！

I'm only kidding. Not about the getting quarantined in the shop part though. Turns out, Japanese people don't have this habit of walking while eating. Probably because they do not want to dirty the streets. So most food stalls and shops will make you stay until you finish the food.

Really loving how the streets look like.

Anyway, I walked a bit more and found myself at another gate:

April 7th, 5PM - Senso-ji (Asakusa Kannon Temple), Tokyo.

Rupa-rupanya this is the real gate and the one that I passed earlier was just a replica/decor of sort. This is called the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate, ka-boom!), which is the symbol of Asakusa and the whole of Tokyo.

There is a temple beyond the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate, ka-boom!). So this is why this place is filled with tourists! It is the home of Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple (645 CE) and one of its most significant. Yes, thank you Google.

Some shots of the temple surroundings below:

I got caught up with taking photos of flowers and stuff. But how could I not???

The flora here (or actually, in the whole of Japan) is so pretty! Well, it's called spring for a reason. To further illustrate my point:

 If you don't love tulips, you are heartless!

Okay okay, I know you want to see photos of the place, and not so much on the macro shots of flora. So here are a couple (still got flora inside one):



You'll often find fountains like this one near the entrance to a temple. It's called a purification fountain and here are the steps to using one:

At the purification fountain near the shrine's entrance, take one of the ladles provided, fill it with fresh water and rinse both hands. Then transfer some water into your cupped hand, rinse your mouth and spit the water beside the fountain. You are not supposed to transfer the water directly from the ladle into your mouth or swallow the water.

I then walked around the temple grounds for a bit, and stumbled into another little friend of mine. *Cues "IT'S TIME FOR A MANDATORY DOG VID" jingle*:


Isn't he adorable?

I felt so at ease walking around the place. It didn't feel awkward, not even for one bit, being by myself. Also, I stumbled upon - not another little friend, but this cute couple snuggling close to each other on a bench.


I was there. I felt like I was truly there at that moment.

The Tokyo Skytree touching the clouds.

The sky was still bright and I wanted to see where else to go but that was when I realized, my pocket wifi ran out of battery. I was rather tired too so I guess it was time to make my way back. Traced back to the station I came from and took the train back to my hostel's station.