We slept like baby pandas today and I sort of got the feeling that this was going to be a lazy day. I was wrong. 🙂 We got ourselves an extra day in Tokyo because Žiga liked it, I also didn’t mind. I’ll actually be sad to leave when the time comes. We wanted to see Ueno Park, maybe check-out the baby panda at the zoo. We also needed to activate our JR Passes, as we are heading to Nikko tomorrow. There is a huge JR service center at Ueno station, where you can do that with the help of the extremely nice staff. It’s a fast process, but you need to have your passport with you.

Ueno station is probably the nicest Tokyo station I’ve seen until now. It is very zoo-themed, you can see pandas everywhere in one shape or another. Even the maps of the neighborhood are cuter here. We visited the Statue of Takamori Saigo in the Ueno Park and the beautiful red Kiyomizu Kannon-do temple. Lots of bad fortunes tied there – so I am obviously not the only one.

The temperatures in Tokyo are getting higher and higher – maximum today was 32°C. Still most of the time I feel like I am the only one sweating. Japanese girls seem to elegantly float through their days. So, when I saw a boat pond, I couldn’t resist it. We had to go hang out with swans and it was pure bliss. We managed to escape the heat for a while and I am seriously asking myself – why don’t we have something like this in Slovenia yet? I mean, why have a normal boat if you can have a majestic swan boat?

We decided to skip the Ueno Zoo this time. But, as far as Tokyo attractions go, it has to be one of the cheaper ones. The admission for adults is 600 yen at it is free for children up to 12 years old. I think the Zoo in Ljubljana is probably more expensive. There are also a lot of Museums in Ueno park, but we’re not really into that, so we moved to nearby residential Yanaka, where many locals live and prices are lower than elsewhere.

It is one of the few areas of Tokyo that was spared from bombing in WWII and has a very old-school feel about it. Yanaka Ginza – its shopping street, is a short walk from Nippori station. On the way there you pass a small cemetery which is worth a visit. It is interesting and makes lovely sounds. I don’t know how else to explain it. You can of course also find the bigger and more famous Yanaka cemetery.

Strolling down Yanaka Ginza I was on a mission to find a shop selling manju – small sweet balls filled with red bean paste. It is on Yomise-Dori street. You find it as you are heading away from the tourist info center. It sells lots of differently flavored manju. We, of course, chose green tea. I get a bit mean when I am hungry, which was not an issue when I was traveling alone, but now I really try not to be hungry so I am nibbling on something all the time.

We’re not really persistent shoppers, so Žiga surprised me with the idea to go to Harajuku. I went with it but later realized he definitely didn’t know what he was getting himself into, which was fun. 😀 For me, being there the second time, I was actually able to see some things. The first time I was overwhelmed with glitter. I dragged him into a 100 yen shop – Daiso to get some totally useless but cute souvenirs. He tried a crepe, but here you can find a list of different, crazy things you can try on Takeshita-Dori. I think somewhere in the middle of the street Žiga realized he definitely does not want to walk back the same way, so we took the route that passes by the Tokyo Plaza to get to the metro. Tokyo Plaza entrance is amazing, even if you’re not planning on shopping inside.

Our plans for the day included going to the Rainbow Bridge in Odaiba next, but we’ll have to leave that one for the next time. I am already making a list of things I want to see next time I visit this amazing city – I am adding Tokyo Disneyland, Rainbow Bridge, National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and the awesome Digital art museum to it – suggestions welcome. At one point I was seriously contemplating coming back from Kyoto just to see the Digital art museum, but I think I gave up now. Sadly, it is just too far away to do that and tickets are selling out really fast. 🙁

And finally, we finished the day on the rooftop terrace of our hostel with this amazing view.