Asakusa

Saturday was incredible, truly a blast. Friday night we were getting into bed when Kris mentioned we should visit Asakusa because they have some great shopping. Since we stayed up fairly late Friday night we thought we'd go on Sunday. The universe had different plans however, and Saturday morning started at 9AM with the gardener. This was especially frustrating because the gardeners had been at it all day Friday too. Anyways, since we were awake we decided to just go.

The trip from our home in West Tokyo to Asakusa is about an hour and twenty minutes and it isn't exactly cheap- about 1600¥ per person, round trip. When we got there we found quite a crowd! Asakusa is obviously a popular tourist attraction. The area was visited was begins with a large gate, then theres a long row of shops leading to another large gate which opens up to a temple.

We took our time and checked out every shop along the main row leading to the temple, but there are so many other shops and rows that we didn't get a chance to see. The whole area is huge and there were a ton of people! Plus theres the temple and a shrine that we didn't even attempt to see today. We did some Christmas shopping while we were there- we're hoping to have everything bought by the end of November so we can send packages home early. Then we tried a couple of snacks from the street food vendors. First we tried Kalbi Beef on a stick- it started raw and they boiled it right at the booth and covered it in a shoyu sauce. Really good! Next we tried kara-age, a type of fried chicken nugget-type food. This was also really good, though I wish we had a sauce to dip it in. Next we bought some senbei from a big stand- 8 crackers for 500¥. They taste delicious but they have a spicy powder on them that is a bit too much for me.

After that I was craving something sweet. We had seen a taiyaki-type treat being made at many vendors but it was a mini version made to be given as a souvenir. I was totally craving a real, full-sized taiyaki, but we just couldnt find a booth anywhere. Kris and I were just about to leave when we wandered down one more row and sure enough, there it was! A taiyaki stand! Kris got a custard one and I got chocolate, of course. Taiyaki is basically a pancake picket filled with different cream flavors and cooked in a (usually) fish-shaped mold about the size of your hand. It really hit the spot, I was so happy!

After that we started to head home, and good thing too because it started to rain. We saw some beautiful things and got almost all of our Christmas shopping done! Asakusa was amazing and we definitely need to go back. Plus, the Tokyo Tower is near there, so on our next trip we'll need to go see that too.

K+K