Toyoko Inn's locations provide a complimentary breakfast for its guests. On the average, they will usually provide rice, egss, sausage, and soup along with some additional vegetables and main dishes. Coffee is provided for an additional hour after the breakfast bar closes.
While walking along the Loop line, I passed Shinagawa Yokocho. I have noticed a number of these "yokochos" showing up in a number of places. They are usually a gathering of izakayas
Ever since I started visiting Tokyo, there has always been 29 stations along the Yamanote Loop Line. Superstition, numerolgy, feng shui? Whatever the reason, they built Takanawa Gateway, the 30th station and newest crown in the jewel
Between Shinagawa and Tamachi was the longest stretch of open Yamanote line. The station was opened in time for the Olympics
The large glass enclosed structure only has 2 sets of tracks flowing through
An unmanned convenience store lets you select which ever items you want. Cameras take notice and tally your purchase when you get to the register to pay for them
As a gist to myself, I was going to buy a jacket. Their is a location of a retail store that sells work clothes in the Ginza area
I misread the opening time of the store/building and it gave me time to walk amongst the expensive shops that I will never shop in
Once I walked off the extra time, I ventured to the store. It was smaller than I expected and did not carry the item I was looking for.
With no jacket in hand, I stayed on the east side of the loop and get over to Ueno station. Its one of the quieter busy areas of Tokyo with Ueno Park adjacent to the station. I found out later that there were some food stalls located in the park
To the east across the Sumida we see Skytree where I had visisted last night at its base for Christams
The lower deck is the larger area of the 2 observation decks.
For additional fee, you can access the higher deck. Its smaller and more intimate. You can the the spiral ramp leading up from the elevator to the main deck
It was about time that I try Ichiran ramen. I have tried a number of ramne places including Jiro, Ippudo, and Rokurinsha. They have a branch location at Ueno. And, as expected, there is a line.
After getting in the door, you select what you want to eat from the ticket machine. You can add on extra items here or at your seat. Here payment types are more variend. At your seat, cash only
With your ticket is a sheet to customize your ramen experience. Soup srength, noodle firmness, spiciness, etc are options. . I went with the middle of the road for everything. With this being my first visit, I needed to establish a baseline.
Heres my order with a side of pork. They were out of the soft boild egg. The pork and egg are my go to toppings when it comes to ramen. Disappointing when they are out. I can see why people like this. The tonkotsu broth is rich and sumptuous. I will go with a stronger broth the next time with an bumped up level of spice as well. The extra pork was not as tender as the one that came with the dish but it had not been bathing in the luxurious soup, I would like to try this again.
Oh look!, theres a Rokurinsha a few doors down too!
A stroll along the back alleys of Ameyoko to find something sweet to cap off lunch.
If you are still hungry, there are plenty of kebob shops, sushi joints, seafood rice bowl counters, izakayas, etc.
Theres also fresh produce but there didnt seem to be much possibly due to the winter season
A lot of seafood on display as people shop for the New Year's dinner
Can I interest you in different shades of strawberries?
I was looking for the sliced fruit. As mentioned there might have been fewer stalls because of the winter season but there are usually several purveyors
A slice of melon was what I came to get
On the southside near the Okachimachi side of Ameyokocho is a shrine with a number of stores of note.
For one, that picture was taken from the second floor of the gashapon store across from it
On the ground level is a candy shop with a great selection and very goiod prices. Theres also a takoyaki shop that now gets very crowded. A corn dog shop that also was the source of many a line is no longer there
Heading to Akihabara. I could walk the 2 stations down Chuo Dori. But, what the hey, Ill just take the train
Look, gashapon machines at the station
And yet more gashapons. Get used to this, they are everywhere
If you're lucky, they will display whats on offer rather than having to look at each and every machine
Some machines are located very close to floor level so it may require some agility points to access
Had noticed some changes going around Akiba, some that I knew of and some new to me. The AKB48 Cafe and the Gundam Cafe are no longer there.
Instead a figure store had opened up a location to display what they have to sell
Alot of licensed merch from the big anime series were represented. Plenty of Macross items
Gundam, the latest series, is here
Some Marvel
Naruto!
The pandemic has been hard on some places
Notably, all the Sega arcades in this part of town have shutdown. Looks like Gigo has taken over the space
Taito does not seem to be having the same issues and their locations are still open
Akiba is probably the only place in Tokyo where you will find this many Dr Pepper in vending machines. Now the rarity lies in the diet varient. I have only found that at Don Ki in Akiba and very few other places
It feels like it starts to get dark early in Tokyo compared to home. But I think thats all in my mind. Now that I have returned, it gets dark just a tad bit later but not by much
Plans for dinner take me elsewhere. But not that far away as its just 2 stops from here
Suidobashi station is a stop on the local line and gets you access to Tokyo Dome
Tokyo Dome is a domed sports stadium with a shopping mall and theme park attached to it. Located in the center of the Yamanote loop, it gets festive like alot of other areas
A roller coaster and ferris are the big attractions
I had a hamburger steak dinner at the Saizeriya location near the stadium; This is part of a chain of restaurants calssified as family restaurants. They offer fairly standard meals at competitive prices and as the name states, works well with families.
Below at ground level was a Don Ki. The elevators to the second level, where Saizeriya is, had a submarine theme and the left lift had active sonar sounds. Looks like they are prepping their fukubukuro for the turn of the year
Around the mall are the smaller rides like the carousel.
During the summer, the flume ride is a refreshing way to cool down. Its late December and its probably late 30 degrees, still a thrill? There were a few people that rode it that night
A lighted tunnel pathway. The video will explore this more
The highlight of the display is their Christmas tree. The color changing LEDs is mesmerizing and captures your attention
