Tokyo wanderings

After a lovely evening out at Chez Olivier's last night, we slept in a bit this morning. We had planned to check out the Asakusa golden dragon dance, which is focused on Sensō-ji, but our late arrival around 11am meant we'd missed the first two performances. The crowds of tourists were also very overwhelming so we decided to give it a miss. We'll visit Sensō-ji on Monday morning to try and avoid the crowds.

We took the Asakusa subway line to visit Tokyo Tower, which we've not visited on previous trips. It was 9 stops to Daimon station and then a 15-minute walk to the tower. We passed the very picturesque Zojo-ji Temple along the way - it's interesting to see the old and new (temple and tower) so close together.

Tokyo Tower was built in the 1950s and looks quite similar to the Eiffel tower - it is considered a symbol of Japan's post-war recovery. It was the tallest tower up until Skytree Tower was built. We wandered through the shops at the base of the tower and discovered it was teeming with people. It seems to be a popular place for families to visit on weekends. We didn't go to the top of the tower - to be honest, the views from last night's cocktail bar were enough for us.

Feeling very hungry, we walked to the very trendy and upmarket Toranomon district. We located a large shopping centre and proceeded to search for lunch. The good restaurants get line-ups outside, but we didn't have to wait too long to get into a katsu restaurant. The pork loin katsu set was great, especially the miso soup. I love a good 'set' - rice, miso soup, and shredded cabbage - what's not to love! A nice cold, frothy japanese beer to wash it down!

We took the subway back to Asakusa, although we were a bit distracted and missed our stop. We got off at Skytree Tower instead and checked out the extremely busy shopping centre. Finally, sick of the Saturday crowds, we walked back to our apartment, an easy 15-minute walk to rest and recuperate.

In the evening, we had our obligatory whiskey highballs at the apartment - we always grab a couple of cans from 7/11. We haven't dined at a Jonathon's family restaurant on this trip yet, and we feel the need. Jonathon's is a chain restaurant serving a very Japanese take on Western favourites. I first discovered them through reading Japanese detective novels by Jonelle Patrick.

We walked about 25 minutes to the nearest Jonathon's, where we had to wait a little while to get a table. There's always an order to things in Japan whereby you place your name on a list so that they can call you up when a table is ready. We're familiar with their approach, but a kind Japanese lady asked us if we'd put our name down!

We ordered our meals and drinks on the tablet - love how drinks arrived by robot waiter! The food is nothing fancy, but it's tasty and inexpensive, and it's fun to observe local people enjoying an evening out in the suburbs. For those new to such restaurants, it's common to pay the bill at a self-serve booth - you just scan your ticket, make payment, and leave. Imagine doing that in Australia - I'm not sure it would work.

We strolled home on a beautiful evening, as it's still 18c but with a lovely breeze . We stopped at a 7/11 for ice cream along the way.もっと詳しく