AKIHABARA

AKIHABARA

So I decided to go to Akihabara, the gadget mecca of the world! All bright-eyed with the possibilities of the wonders I would see, I set off on trying to navigate my way through the subway system, which I'm now getting the hang of (They have a kind of myki system here like in Melbourne, Australia, which helps me a lot). I've wanted to take pictures on the train, but I think it would be frowned upon, and have not yet built the courage to quickly snap one. Here are some pics, so you can get a feel of what I'm seeing in Akihabara...

The truck in the bottom left they have all throughout the more busy parts of Tokyo, which play the music of the advertised pop star. It's really loud too, but everything is in these areas. Shops play their own jingles outside their stores; hawkers yell out their wares from the shop fronts; anime dressed girls try to get you into their bar/cafe for a drink; that's one on the balcony (She hearts me, naww).

Well, what I thought was going to be an easy find (needed a laptop), with just the hard part of choosing between the many choices, turned out to be a bit of a pipe dream. I mean..Akihabara would be great ..if you were Japanese... living in Japan. I guess you're getting the jist of this by now... everything is in Japanese software. Out of all of Akihabara, I only have 1 choice of a laptop and it's a child's Disney version for gawds sake!...sigh. I have tried since to see if I can order from the U.S. and get delivered here, but I can't from the place I usually order from. I will most likely get the Disney net book I console myself that it may work as some kind of theft deterrent maybe.

The Hostel is good. It has just got an influx of American/Aussies for Christmas it seems. I've got two Kiwis, a Spaniard, and an American in the room. The Kiwis are piss-pots and are breaking all the rules and being unruly, which is amusing and annoying at the same time, but they're okay blokes. Oh, I got the Shibuya crossing photos off the camera... here they are...

You will notice the no smoking sign on one. In Japan there are designated areas to smoke; no one smokes in the street as they walk that I have seen. Here are some pics from things I saw on the trip there and back walking around...

FamilyMart is where I survived on pre-made sandwiches (no crusts for some reason) in Shinjuku and well a lot anywhere in Tokyo. This is one of the main four chains or so of convenience stores here. The top left was just an alley I came across getting from A-2-B. The next two are of a police station round the corner from my Shinjuku capsule hotel, they are not fancy by any means, and they are all like this. To the right of that is the wanted board out the front. The next two are of the temple just 2 minutes down from where I am now at the Hostel. The blueish tower is the Tokyo Sky Tree, which is not opened till May next year, but I liked the contrast of new and old.

Okay, that's it for now. So a few pics to keep ya updated as the xoom and camera are now getting along again. Oh, I also lost a heap of really good photos of all my Shinjuku travels and where I stayed etc, so pretty upset with that and deciding whether to go and do it again or not.

Ciao for now
Steve.