Sumida River Boat Trip

Today is the last Saturday when my two Thai housemates are still staying in my guesthouse. One goes home on Thursday, and the other next Saturday. We wanted to do something together as a farewell celebration (not celebrating the fact that they are leaving!).

So we went to Odaiba (お台場) to catch a boat up the Sumida River (隅田川) to Asakusa (浅草). I suggested that we took the Himiko (ヒミコ) boat. This type of boat runs 3-4 times a day, is more expensive than others, and looks very cool. It was manga-inspired, and looks great. Because my guesthouse is right next to the river halfway up towards Asakusa, I'd seen them pass by, and knew I wanted to try it. I'd even seen it on a TV programme in Britain last year.

As we waited (we didn't need to reserve and, even though it was a beautiful Saturday, the boat wasn't crowded at all), we watched some street perfomers do a European-style mime to music. It was very amusing.



The boat pulled in after a short wait. The ticket from this station (Toyosu, 豊洲) cost Y1,060, but Asakusa to Odaiba on the Himiko costs Y1,520. The Himiko is the most expensive type of boat, the cheapest is around Y300, for a short trip. You can see the types of boat here, and the different routes here.

The boat was designed with children in mind, and this was clear from the colourful characters, and lively announcements.

The whole trip took 40-50 minutes and was very pleasant. The views ranged from old Edo-period Tokyo, to a futuristic cityscape.

This is the area close to my guesthouse. It was interesting to see it from the water.

This is the hotel where my family stayed when they visited me in March and April.

I saw this building when I visited Asakusa in February.

Then we met up with another housemate in Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. We were all really hungry, and we ate in the same line of stalls that I had lunch with my family at one day.

This is okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), a pancake filled with meat and vegetables. It was so filling I couldn't finish mine, even though I'd only eaten an ice cream in the morning.

Yes, that's right. I'm as tall as the pagoda.

I have no idea why one of my housemates took this photo!

Washing my hands in the sacred water. It actually felt really smooth and nice.

On our way out of the Temple, my mum rang me and I was able to describe exactly where we were because she bought a pot for my grandparents from the shop I was standing next to!

Then our plan went slightly awry. One housemate needed to go back home to study for his TOEFL exam, and the two Thai girls decided to wander round Asakusa for a while. But we had arranged to meet someone in Shibuya, so my French housemate and I trekked across Tokyo to meet her.

It was lots of fun, window shopping, and trying on stupid sunglasses. We had a curry buffet for dinner, for only Y1,050! Very cheap and tasty. But we were all stuffed by the end of the evening.

Then we took the new Fukutoshin subway line, which opened today! You can read all about that on my next post.

On a different topic, this morning I slept through a magnitude 7.2 earthquake which killed 6 people in the northern prefecture of Iwate. I woke up a few minutes later, not sure why I'd been disturbed, but someone told me about it the next day. Apparently it had been very strong in Tokyo too. At this time, hundreds of people are injured, and rescuers are searching for people buried in a landslide. There have been over 200 aftershocks too. You can read about it on BBC News.

Family Visit: Asakusa & Imperial Palace

On the third day we went to the traditional area of Asakusa to see Sensoji Temple. I visited when it snowed in February, and you can see the photos here.
It was much busier this time, but it was Sunday. I guess it would be quieter during a weekday.
This is the view I sent on a postcard to my family, and they saw it for real! The sakura (cherry blossom) was out 100% by now, so their visit was really perfectly timed. Thank you to the Church for making Easter early!
My mum was really taken with these samurai swords. We were all really surprised! We didn't buy one because we weren't sure of the laws regarding bringing a sword to the UK, especially after someone was killed with a samurai sword. We guessed they'd be banned so decided against it. Would be great to have one though!

We did buy a Throwing Star though, which will look very impressive. Obviously it's not sharpened.

We went into the gardens that last time were covered in snow, and were now flooded with blossom!

Then we had a wander through some more stalls, and had a tapas-style lunch with lots of different Japanese dishes forming one huge meal. Japan has changed my appetite and it was the first time in my life my mum gave me more food because she thought I needed fattening up! (Don't worry, I'm eating chocolate as I write this!)

Then we had a coffee in a very expensive coffee shop that was playing Lily Allen and planned our afternoon. I had written Ueno Park on the itinerary but everyone was too worn out for that so we decided to skip and go straight to the Imperial Palace near Tokyo station.

We took the Ginza subway line to Ueno station, and then transferred to the JR Yamanote line for Tokyo station.

Of course, as soon as we left Tokyo station's Renaissance-style facade, it started pouring with rain, but we pressed on to find the Imperial Palace.

The view was very atmospheric, albeit a little wet!

We went back to the station for dinner (the restaurant area inside Tokyo station near Yaesu North exit is actually really good - you'd never go to a station in the UK for a nice meal!) and headed home for some rest.