Ueno Park is a popular spot for sakura viewing as almost the entire grounds are planted with sakura trees. However, by the time we arrived in Tokyo, the sakura season was nearing an end and the ground was scattered with light pink fallen sakura petals. The sakura flowers still intact up on the branches did not look as nice as the ones we saw in Kyoto and most of them already had fresh green leaves sprouting out. Our tour guide told us that sakura bloom for about 10 days before falling to the ground, and that you only get to see it bloom once a year. The warm weather today was a huge contrast from yesterday's miserable cold and wet weather with clear blue skies and little to no wind. In fact, today felt like the warmest day throughout the duration of my stay and I could get by just wearing a single layer.
After a leisurely stroll in Ueno Park and eating my second sakura flavoured soft serve ice cream, we stopped by at the Asakusa Temple which is connected to Nakamise Street - a very popular souvenir street for tourists. This place felt even more crowded compared to Ueno Park with the constant movement of tourists walking up and down the single street. The tiny shops on both sides of the street sold all kinds of local souvenirs and snacks. We bought some keychains, rice crackers, and some sweets made from rice flour. I saw a T-shirt with the captions "I love Tokyo" and thought of getting one for myself as a memento of my visit to Japan, but that plain white garment cost more than a discounted GAP plaid long sleeve shirt from Gotemba Premium Outlets! Absolutely prepostorous! I don't think it's even worth more than JPY1,400.
At the end of Nakamise Street is the Thunder Gate which has three large lanterns and a pair of what appears to be gigantic woven slippers. We passed under the gate to head for lunch at a nearby restaurant. As Tokyo is the largest city in Japan with the highest population, restaurants are smaller. We had our lunch in a rather cramped restaurant on the first floor. I was getting rather sick of drinking miso soup and eating tempura already and hardly touched them but the salt-grilled salmon and yellow pickles were pretty good.
After lunch, we headed to the grounds outside of the Imperial Palace where their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress reside. You couldn't really see anything except for a moat and some really high walls surrounding the palace. One interesting point to note is that one side of the grounds belongs to the public and we are free to touch the trees and tread on the grass, while another side belongs to the royalty and the general public are not allowed to step beyond the barricade. I was tempted to touch a blade of grass growing on the forbidden area but noticed the royal guards standing watch in the watch towers.
After this was my long-awaited shopping trip at Ginza - THE shopping district of Tokyo! We were given only 2 hours to shop before departing for Narita. Armed with only JPY10,000, I was reading for a shopping spree. With such a short time frame and so many things to see, I only managed to visit Matsuzakaya, Isetan, Uniqlo, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas and H&M. It's such a pity that almost everything seems overpriced here in Ginza except for a select few luxury labels. Needless to say, I returned to the bus with the same JPY10,000 still intact and untouched.
We left Ginza at 5.30pm and headed to Narita for dinner. From the bridge, it was a most beautiful Tokyo skyline at sunset. Tonight, dinner was at an all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant. 2 days earlier, we pre-ordered Kobe beef to be air-flown all the way to Narita. One piece of 150g steak costs JPY10,000. To confirm its authenticity, it even came with a certificate. It was lightly pan-seared without any seasoning so that we could taste the full flavour and enjoy the texture of the meat. Kobe beef is so tender that it melts in your mouth. This is because the fat of Kobe beef has a lower melting point than other types of beef. Now I understand why my colleagues who have eaten Kobe beef say that they have been spoiled and do not fancy eating normal beef any more.
We spent our final night in Japan at the Narita Port Hotel, which is situated about 15 minutes away from Narita International Airport - our departure point. It was a busy night of packing and stuffing things into the suitcase. An interesting event occurred at about 11.52pm on that night just as I was about to shut my eyes. After getting into bed and switching off the lights, I felt my bed sway from side to side for a couple of seconds. Immediately I shot right out of bed and switched the lights on. My brother felt it too and he thought he heard the floor lamp rattling against the window, but he dismissed it as feeling dizzy from all the flying. Remembering that it's a common occurrence in this part of Japan, we went back to bed. When we got home (and with internet connection), we learnt that there was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake with epicentre about 200km off the east coast of Honshu.
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