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.