Akihabara

As you know, Akihabara (many locals call it Akiba) is the famous electric town in Tokyo. In my school days I'd be there almost every other weekend - mostly browsing PC and Nintendo games and the 'strategy guidebooks' for the games. Brings back many fond memories of Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Romance of the 3 Kingdoms etc.

Maybe I spent too much time there in the past, so I no longer feel as excited the last time I went there. Or maybe it's because the scenary has changed quite a lot; there're many more new buildings especially around the train station.

There's one good thing about all this change though. My recommendation - head straight for Yodobashi Camera. It's a big building right next to the station. For starters it's probably the only place you need to go to know Akiba. Nevermind that it's called 'Camera'. They probably started selling only cameras many decades ago but today, they represent everything that Akiba is about.

Besides electric gadgets, they also sell toy models and figurines - Gundam etc. They dedicate an entire floor to just this.

As usual, I have something to say about ramen. There's a good one on the top floor, name's Chabuton. Apparently this is the first ramen restaurant ever to be listed in the Michelin Guide.

More info on Akiba here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihabara
(Can never underestimate Wiki's usefulness :D)

Tokyo Tower

It's probably not as famous as the Eiffel Tower but still worth a detour, if you happen to be in Tokyo.

And I mean detour cos it's not exactly near any major shopping or sightseeing place. I like the night view. Walk around the observation tower and you should be able to see the Imperial Palace, Shinjuku, Yokohama etc. depending on the direction you're facing.

Restaurants and souvenir shops are located on the lower floors. There's this interesting curry rice restaurant, name's Tokyo Curry Lab. What's on the menu is slightly different from the 'traditional' Japanese curry, and it's nice. I'm not sure about the other flavors but I'd recommend the bitter beef curry and spicy pork curry. After the meal they serve you a yummy shot of yogurt.

What's most interesting to me was the paper tablecloth that looked like a map from Pirates of the Carribean. It's educational e.g. did you know that curry increases blood flow to the brain? And how to remove curry stains... :)

More info here - http://www.tokyotower.co.jp/

Staying in Shinjuku

It's Shinjuku Star in AsiaRooms, but the actual name now is Star Hotel, Tokyo.

Room's incredibly small. The last time I was there, the window would open only 2 inches because it'd hit the wall of the next building. I'm not exaggerating!

But other than that, it's really the best considering price, location and distance. Why location? Because it's situated in Shinjuku - a must for beginners and non-beginners :) And Shinjuku Station is very central. You can get to almost anywhere quite easily by rail/ subway. Not forgetting that the Narita Express brings you straight to the airport.

The hotel is barely 5 minutes by foot from Shinjuku Station. (3 minutes if you have longer legs.) No other hotel at this budget is so near any station, much less Shinjuku.

Oh, and the food. They serve breakfast buffet. It can be quite addictive because the food looks and tastes so homely. They serve this grilled fish on hot stones... I was wondering why not just over a small fire or something, and it occured to me that the stones, while keeping the fish sufficiently hot, serves not to overcook it. Haha.

Anyway, here's the link to the hotel, with lotsa reviews. But don't be fooled by the picture of the hotel, in reality it's sandwiched between two other buildings. http://www.asiarooms.com/japan/tokyo/shinjuku_star.html

If you're more adventurous, go to their own website at http://www.starhotel.co.jp/city/tokyo/index.html. That gives you much more options on rooms and rates.

Narita Express

Narita Airport is in Chiba prefecture, and it's quite a long distance from Tokyo. As travellers I think we normally prefer to take cabs or buses but I always take the train.

My favorite is the Narita Express because it takes me to Shinjuku Station in under 100 minutes (faster than by bus), is the only direct train to Shinjuku (the other train, Keisei-sen, terminates at Ueno) and is cheaper than by cab.

Some of you may wonder why Shinjuku Station. More on this, next time.

It's easier than you'd imagine. Once you get out of Customs, head for the ticket sales booth for JR Narita Express. Choose the departure time of your train - if not mistaken, there're 2 departures per hour. The price per adult is slightly over 3,000 yen.

Yes, the staff do speak English. Rejoice.

Having collected your ticket and enjoyed your first encounter with a Japanese sales staff, proceed to the platform via the gantries. Once you reach the platform, try to stand at the spot where your cabin will stop right in front of you. For example, if you're assigned Cabin #7, look for a signboard on the floor that says "Narita Express, Cabin #7". Pictures attached. You can't go wrong.

Don't worry too much about input and output. I mean food and toilet. The facilities and means are available in the train.

But guys, be warned. One, the doors to the urinals are transparent, so you'll be showing your 'sexy back'. Two, the train may be jerky at times so you should either stand firm, or wear pants that are quick to dry.

And enjoy the view. Notice how trees and farmhouses are replaced by apartments and commercial buildings as we move from Chiba to Tokyo.

O-Den

O-den is essentially Japanese yong tau foo. It's one of my personal favs. It's best when eaten in cold weather.

It may be an acquired taste to some of us. For myself, I picked this up when studying in Japan. It's easy to cook. Just throw everything into a pot and boil.

When the weather turns cold, convenience stores in Tokyo will start selling o-den. Not the packaged kind. You literally scoop whatever you want, dump them into a foam bowl, pour some soup inside, and pay at the counter. It's probably 200 to 400 yen. Small price to pay for satisfaction.

(Some guys pay a lot more to get satisfaction at night.)

It has become a habit - now whenever I stay in Tokyo, on some nights I'll grab o-den at convenience stores on my way back to the hotel, for late night supper.

And you occasionally get away paying less. How? Try to hide some of the items underneath others. The bloke at the cash register isn't going to empty the bowl and count. So he may end up undercharging you.

Smiling? Then you're definitely Singaporean.

More info on this delicacy can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oden

Ramen Museum

Ramen was introduced to Japan from China. That we all probably know. What we probably won't know, we can find out at the Ramen Museum. It's in Shin-Yokohama.

There're several versions of ramen - different soups. The familiar ones are Shoyu (soya sauce), Miso (bean paste), Tonkotsu (pig bones) and Shio (Salt). For each there're variations, notably in the different prefectures throughout Japan.

Ever noticed that miso ramen is almost always garnished with corn and bean sprouts, shoyu always with bamboo shoots, and tonkotsu usually with pickled ginger?

If you like trivia, this is it. The museum gives a full history of ramen (including instant noodles), and even has a collection of artefacts (bowls, spoons etc.) from the best ramen shops in Japan.

The museum also features several ramen outlets that are branches of some of these 'top shops'. Sampler sizes are available at all the outlets there, so you can taste all of them at one go if you want.

More info, including instructions on how to get there, over here -
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3202.html

Popcorns in Tokyo Disney Resort

Watch out for the different flavors. There's caramel (my fav), chocolate, etc. There's curry flavor too! But give the honey flavor a miss - after a while you'll feel like puking.

There're many popcorn stores, and each store uses a different bucket for the popcorns. There're many designs - Mickey, Donald, Goofy etc. and the designs change every season. Walk around a bit to find one that you like best.

You can refill your bucket too, once you run out of popcorn.

I have quite a lot to write about Tokyo Disney Resort.

Will try to do it soon, maybe. (I miss this kind of non-committal statement. Bosses don't allow it in the office.)

Meanwhile, to have an idea of what the buckets look like, google "Disneyland popcorn bucket".