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Friday, May 11, 2012

Japan : Sensoji Temple (Asakusa Kannon Temple), Tokyo

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Hotspot #9 : Huge Lantern and Souvenir Street

From Ryogoku Station, we stopped at Kuramae on Oedo Line, and changed to Asakusa Line for Asakusa Station. We just had to walk for approximately 2min before we saw the Asakusa Tower on the right. We didn’t wait any longer and walked straight to the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) that is located outside of Sensoji Temple.
Asakusa was formerly acknowledged with kabuki theaters and large red light district during Edo Period. Anyhow, for many centuries, it has being modernized and equipped with movie theaters, which later, were destroyed during WWII.

The reason why we chose to explore this place was due to its super large red lantern at the gate (symbol of Asakusa), as well as Nakamise-dori (the shopping street) that provides VARIETY of traditional, local snacks, and souvenirs. Trust me, these rows of stalls can make your eyes popped-out!
To get closer to the Thunder Gate, we had to cross the street and joined the crowd. They left us with no space to get a couple shot with the red lantern, so we had to take two separate shots just for our Wall of FRAME.
Once we entered (by the way, it was free), we were greeted with two colorful statues on both sides representing a woman and a man with ball in her/his hand.
Right down the statue, we saw visitors encircling one street hawker who selling bottled mineral waters.

“What’s the fuss?” I questioned.

“You didn’t see it?” Hubby agape.

It took me 5min before I saw what the hawker did! He actually placed the bottle on the ice and popped it hard! In a blink, I saw one sphere ice cube, stuck in the bottle!

“OMG! HOW DID HE DO THAT? THAT’S F**KING RIDICULOUS!” I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I waited for the next two buyers, before I finally accepted the act. Unfortunately, it happened SO fast. Thus, I didn’t manage to capture the sphere ice cube. Sorry…seems like you guys need to go to Japan to experience this, hmm?
“Ayang? Ayang?” I couldn’t find hubby in this pool of people.

There I saw him taking photos like crazy! I quickly joined him and dragged him into the first shop that sells THOUSANDS of souvenirs! I got insane just by looking at the fridge magnets!
“I want this! And this!”

“How bout this?” Hubby showed me a geisha magnet.

“And this too!”

“Wait…this is only the first shop and you already freaking out.”

“Ok, we walk first…later on the way back, we buy, ah?” I warned hubby.

Indeed, there were MORE to choose! I aimed and tried to remember hard, but my brain wasn’t working well, for all shops were decorated with fake sakura on top. I TOTALLY FORGOT WHICH SHOP SELLS WHICH MAGNET! HAHAHA!
Along the way, we bumped into dogs and cats. Amazingly, they were well trained and didn’t poop around.
We passed by the second gate, Hozomon, where we saw Buddhist believer paid respect by “sweeping” the vapor onto their body. Figuratively. Meanwhile, some were tying white papers on the wire-lines, some were “reading” their fortune from the mantelpieces, and some were “cleaning” their mouth from the dragon fountains. Perhaps, Buddhist rituals.
“There…the shrine.” We finally saw the small yet famous temple.

Sensoji Temple a.k.a Asakusa Kannon Temple is the OLDEST temple in Tokyo. The hall was reconstructed, purposely to comfort the pilgrims. On the left, there stood the 5-tier pagoda, where this whole area will be closed for Matsuri (Shinto festival).
Okayyyy…why Shinto festival held in Buddha temple? We don’t need to know.
I then, laid my eyes on two traditional/cultural items. Kimono and folded paper fan. But looking at the price and thinking where to wear and where to keep it, I had to pass the option.
“Lapar…”

“Wanna eat nasik impit?” I offered hubby while taking it out from my handbag.

In a minute, I saw hubby ordering a piece of rice cracker from the hawker, next to the takoyaki stall! I was FORCED to keep back the nasik impit and walked towards him.
“What’s that???” I pointed to the snack.

“Rice cracker.” He was MUNCHING it! Pfft! I tasted a bit and it wasn’t that bad. Salty and crunchy.
We looked around and found that there were more and more colorful and handsome snacks. Banana color biru and pink???!!!
Close to that area, there were rows of white lanterns and on the other side of view, we saw, again, the Asakusa Tower a.k.a Tokyo Sky Tree, standing still, with a clear blue sky as the backdrop. 
After enjoying the scene with a group of butterflies flying in our tummy, we walked back to the first gate. While crossing the street, we saw one sculpture resembling a flaming torch in gold, right in front of the building that producing a noted beer called “Asahi”.
“Asahi is everywhere…jom tengok drunken people at Odaiba!”

Read HERE for Travelista version.  

21 comments:

shah_rule said...

errr suke gile gamba2 dalam entry ni.. lagik2 yg first pic tuh, cantik la.. tower camtuh rupenye bersepah ek kat jepun.. haha

banana kaler biru? haha tgelak aku nengok.. suke gak stall tuh, meriah!! senang ke nak berjalan dlam pasar tuh?

Biqque said...

the power of editing katanya hahaha! haah cam banyak jer tower2 gitu kat asia ni kan?

aku tatau la pe rasa banana tu tapi aku pasti mmg sedap la rasanya. sbb snacks kat sana sungguh tempting! nak jalan kat nakamise tu lagi senang dari jalan dalam pesta buku kat PWTC! hahaha!

Anash said...

hoh!!!
pisang berwarna biru!!!
comei wehhh!!!
(tetiba nak buat kapkek warna biru??)

walaweiii..byk giler fm tuh!!!
rege? camne regenyer??? mahal tak?

Biqque said...

dulu i takut nak makan makanan berwarna biru, i rasa macam buat dgn nila or sabun basuh baju hahaha! try la buat kapkek biru, meh kira sama2 rasa :D

fm various from 300yen-450yen. 300yen tu kira plg murah dah la...tak nampak lagi la 250yen.

3plepl8 said...

the most expensive rice cracker i've ever tasted so far kot.....100yen per piece kot.

Ely Hasrul said...

kat lantern tuh korg betol2 cam local haha. xleh byg la ice sphere tuh hebat sungguh.. pisang kaler biruuu? la la la la la la la

Unknown said...

hehehehe pisang biru tu mengagumkan..boleh try next time

Biqque said...

3pl3pl8, tapi sedap kan??? hahaha!

skin, if ko tgk dressing aku, mmg aku kalah lagi dgn local...cis! ice sphere tu mcm magic, tapi aku tau, takkan la ais masuk dalam botol tapi tak pecah kan...haha skill tu!

na, pisang tu mmg mengagumkan...nak tanya harga takut plak hahaha! next time u gi, sila rasa ok!

just.HY said...

klasiknyaaa tgkk gmbr2 ko nih! awesomeee!!! btw, nk tnye yg pisau bintang yg ninja guna tu FM ke? smart gilerrr!!!! nnt kalo ade rezeki nk pegi sana, nk beli bawak balik lerr...stylo abes!

pisang biru? erkkk!!! hahaha tp aku bedal je selagi yakin halal. hahah OOPPPSSS!!!!

Biqque said...

danny, haah magnet. i thought of getting one, tapi aku dah beli satu magnet tulis ninja...nanti pi lagi, nak sambar satu gak! if ko gi nanti, belikan satu tau :D

ye, yakin halal selagi tak nampak kepingan daging kat atas dia hahaha!

just.HY said...

mahal x jenis mcm tu? kalo dlm rm brape? mcm unik gilerr! beli byk2 letak kat peti ais, then kalo ade sape2 bising kat living hall, baling je FM tu. kekeke mcm ninja gitu...kekeke

hcvvorld of Travels, Lifestyle and Photography said...

wow..you did quite a lot of editing work. well done! and regarding the 'ice' got popped into the bottle..well it's not ice..it's a glass sphere and that drink is called ラモネ(Ramone) aka lemonade and it's a popular drink in Japan as well..no trick or what just the bottle design..

Azizan Zolkipli said...

suka tengok gambar2 [mulut sedikit ternganga] kamu sambil membaca catatan perjalanan ...

Biqque said...

john, baling??? hahahahahaha! menarik tuh! sume magnet dalam 300-400yen so dalam rm10-15 camtu.

hcvvorld, tx :) doing my best so that the reader can feel my experience. ya, my host told me that it's lemonade and like what u said, no trick :) i've being fooled! hahaha! tx for the info too!

wak jan, katup molot, nanti lalat masuk hahaha! pi la kayuh beskal kat japan, best woooo...

Azizan Zolkipli said...

Biqque: Itulah, ada kawan pompuan sorang belajor di pulau Okinawa. Jeles aje tengok dia dan kawan kembara basikal kat sana huhuhu ...

katanya kat sana aman, nak camping mana2 pun boleh ...

owen said...

Hi Biqque, tak sabar rasanya nak ke Jepun. Duit dah tukar but visa dok tertangguh lagi..heheheh...Nak tanya sebab I pun baca your husband punya blog pasal gerai takoyaki kat asakusa tuh. Apa insiden kat situ? Tak halal ker? Baru ingat nak makan kat situ..

Biqque said...

wak jan, ape lagi, pi la kayuh kat jepun :D sementara kawan ada kat sana, baik pi, murah skit tempat tido...

owen, la visa nape? ada prob ke? takoyaki tu ok, cuma mahal je la, tapi sedap! yg kat asakusa tu dia marah sbb amik gambar, ha padan muka ko, aku tak beli kat situ hahaha! beli tempat lain :D

owen said...

Oooo mcm tuh ker. Wah ada jugak org Jepun yg kerek eh...hehehe.... Yg visa tuh bukan ada problem. Semua dah siap cuma takde masa nak pegi je embassy tuh. Insyaallah this week or next week pegi...

Biqque said...

owen, mostly org jepun sume baik2, CUMA penjual pasar malam cam ada yg tak suka diambil gambar, and org tua2 kat osaka agak garang. lain2 sume ok, i mmg suka gile japan, nak gi lagiiiiiiiiiii :)

oooo, ha nanti buat visa cepat2, patu pegi, n cite ur experience plak ok? :)

owen said...

I see. Orait2. Visa dah siap. Tak sabar nak pegi next April. Thanks!!!

Biqque said...

owen, dah siap? wahhhh! bagus2. apa route ko ni? ko ada blog tak?

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