021

Those who know me can tell from this breakfast that i took my time waking up again...

I chose a good place to sit and observe people walking by in the busy morning of Tokyo city.

after enjoying this breakfast i took the Yamanote line to Yurakucho station to go see the Sony building.

It promised to be an exciting building, while actualy it didn't deliver what i expected.

outside there was this aquarium, with 50 kinds of fish or so, at the edge of the busy intersection.

(not realy relaxing conditions for fish i guess)

yes, even 3 small sharks.

(notice the bite mark on its right fin)

The inside was a nice experience though, walking down from the 8th floor 3D cinema.

passing the showrooms and tax free shop, while a psp here costs 22000 or so, in another shop i saw them at 16500...

i was thinking if i could buy one, but since the game industry is devided in global regions just like the dvd market.

Lunch was under the railway in an american inspired Japanese impression of Hamburger restaurant.

The burger was good, fries where good, everything went well until 5 frenchmen walked in,

a clear sign to get up and go out again. :D

I keep noticing that everywhere i go its pretty peaceful and relatively quiet until some tourists arrive,

from anywhere, they don't always seem to notice that most people are trying to respect the present atmosphere.

I went to see the area around the imperial palace, but decided not to go in.

instead i walked along some realy nice buildings and went to Tokyo station, which is unfortunatly under renovation.

So i couldn't get any decent picture to show you from that.

The next generation - even more bullet then before.

Tonights dinner.

the place on the other side of the street.

some of the drinking options.

Tomorrow is my last day here (27-07-2011)
and in the morning of 28 july i board an airplane back to Europe.

so probably i will not post this blog tomorrow...
i hope you have enjoyed following this page and it was interesting enough to keep you informed :)
any feedback, questions or others can be mailed to stand_art@hotmail.com

I hope to hear from you.
greetings, this was an amazing experience.

p

020

Today started as a 'not to much to do day' as i warned you all previous post.
I woke up slowly to update my profile, take a shower, and prepare for a shopping spree.

This is the case i bought before...

I went out to buy some books (unspecified amount) in a bookstore near Shinjuku station,
yesterday i visited to ensure this was the place to be, so today the idea was to spend some time there.
So, after getting there around 11.30 i spend 3 hours there without effort on just one floor only.
I had to make shure i knew what i wanted was right.
The result, a few kg of specific literature and culture to be transported back to Belgian soil.
I'll definetly go back there when i got the hang of reading Japanese.. someday
My budget will also have to increase though :p

After keeping my feet on the ground in this universe of knowledge,
i had some Kaiten Sushi and brought my new treasures back to the hotel and went out for some more fresh air.



The one thing EVERYBODY should at least once do when in Tokyo... Rooftop activity number one.
you've guessed it.

3 clubs + 90 golfballs = a lot of fun learning how to hit a ball hard.
after 30 or so i got the hang of launching them down range. thanks to spying on the other players :D

This place is only two stops from Ueno station on the Ginza line, and 1 minute walk from the Tawaramachi station. I didn't know what to expect from this, but its a lot of fun.

I went back to the area around my hotel to have this meal, and went back to the hotel.

This upload i did this morning (26-07-2011) i just woke up and this internet cable is giving me some trouble again.
This next day starts slowly again, but i enjoy relaxing these few last days.

019

Meet Tokyo Tower.

looking under its skirt.

elegant feet for a structure like this.

I wonder what a specilal alert is.. must be very specific :)

I went to both observation decks
one at 150m and the special observatory at 250m
The first level was 820 yen, the second was an additional fee of 600 yen.
Since the special observatory is a rather small deck (a diameter of about 12m) with elevator, stairs and structure inside.
So the remaining surface to actualy circulate is pretty small,
thats why the ticketing for this deck is on the first level and there is a waiting line of 30 to 45 minutes while on the first level deck.
The view is ultimatly worth the wait though!

organs of a building

view towards the Sky Tree.

looks like Godzilla did some damage to this one.

the first level skydeck 150 meters high.

More recent buddhist temple (really close to Tokyo tower so i went to check it out when i was at ground level again).

In the far distance on the other side of The Yamanote line i spotted this building again.

there is this magnificent view over Tokyo bay, and you can see pretty much all of Tokyo from here when the weather is clear. i didn't stitch the panorama so i won't upload it.
(they even added a sticker on the window saying Mt. Fuji 95km... for those with really good eyes :p ).
Hamarikyu.

you're supposed to look down, not at the foreign tourist...

another one looking up.

i keep beeing amazed by the little amount of structure these feet have.

No pictures inside, but it was big.
The main hall has about 2000 seats, and NO columns inside... the space is pretty impressive,
i hope you can imagine from the section i added.

The Zoujouji temple

...pervert in the woods playing with his saxophone

i didn't photograph dinner today, but i had onigiri at a good place in Shinjuku station.
even have some good options for vegetarians ... Laurent... ;)

I found a bar between Ueno station and Ueno-Okachimachi that has Belgian beers, so i couldn't resist walking in.
Delerium was 1300 yen, hoegaarden 950 yen, a stella 900.
Skyrocket prices... but they where all there.
and offcourse - four roses was there to, it seems to be one of the standard drinks you can get at any place here.

Tomorrow (for you), Today for me i'm going back to the Shinjuku area to buy sime things i wanted to buy the first week.
i bought a small hard case (4000 yen) best price i could find.

The internet in this hotel sucks, the connection is with a wire, but the connector is in bad condition.
So i don't get signal all the time.
Yesterday i tried to get on the net for one hour before giving up.
so lucky i can upload to you all now.

For monday there won't be a lot to upload i guess, because i'll be hanging around in a bookstore :p

018

Moved back to Tokyo in a 700 series Shinkansen.
I found a hotel about 3 minutes walking from Ueno station (i need to leave from here to the airport + its a good location to check out the rest of Tokyo)
So i decided to stay in this hotel for my last days here.
To bad it's not a Ryokan like the other places in Osaka and Kyoto, but its a good (but small) room.
I see the Sky tree from my window, actually not so special since the size of the building is quite big, but anyway.

For my arrival Tokyo prepared a few small presents :p
live music in Tokyo station

welcoming from the JSDF?

(the person on the left is a driver, not a kid. I think you could fit 5 of them on the front seats.)

and a lot of people on the street for something that had to do with North-Korea if i'm not mistaken.

Jep, a gundam café, and a line to get inside but you can't see that because of the taxi.

I went to electric town in Akihabara.
Like the name sais if you want some electronics, its the place to be.
Wires, cables, plugs, laptops, mp3, camera and many many more.

11 floors of cuteness.

since today nothing really interesting happened again i'll give you guys another food picture.
The dumplings are real garlic bombs... but Sooooooo good.

...and i think i'm the only one walking around who cares about this kind of stuff...