Day 4 - Ueno, Harajuku, Aoyama Cemetery

29 March 2009

Picture-heavy post ahead! Haha. It seems that with every post my need to add lots of photos increases ten-fold. :) We woke up early, intending to get to Ueno park before the masses arrived en-masse. Heh.

Chidoricho station - Densha ni norimasu! ^^

The plan was slightly thwarted when I gave in to my obsession to find the elusive Mochi Cream, which had previously eluded us in all the locations they were supposed to have been available at. Some blog said there was a stall at Shinjuku station. Nada. Some other blog said there was a shop in Mitsukoshi Alcott, Shinjuku. Again, no where to be found. Some other website said there was a stall at Kamata station. FAIL! (Unless we were so blind that we scoured all these places and somehow missed it. *kicks self*) Desperate for a taste of Mochi Cream, I asked some shop assistant at Kamata station who told me that it exists in Kawasaki, just a stop down from Kamata station, in a shopping centre called Lazona. Yippee... so I dragged an unwilling mummy all the way there only to find that it only opens at 10am. By this time, mummy had started griping about how she had never seen someone so obsessed and willing to do anything for food. True, true. Such a glutton I am. ^^ Anyways, waited till 10am... and there, in neat little rows of perfection, were the colourful mochis!

*drools*

*drools somemore*

So, so pretty! Coz they were expensive (150-200 yen each), we only bought four - caramel macchiato, sakura, caramel, and caramel pudding. Caramel overdose yaay! They had so many other flavours - chocolate, raspberry, mango, red bean, green tea, sesame, etc. Anyway, they are amazing. Mochi by itself is already good... imagine biting into the chewy mochi and finding caramel oozing out... too good for words. Satisfied that we had FINALLY found it, we made our way to Ueno park for more pretty cherry blossoms!

First stop, Ueno Park (上野公園)

Got there at about 11am, the station was so crowded that we had to queue up to get out of the station. Crazy! All of that was worth it though... the cherry blossoms there were the prettiest shade of light pink, gently swaying in the wind, an occasional flower drifting to the ground below. So beautiful. I shall say no more and let the (imperfect) pictures do the talking.

human traffic

finally, ueno park!

きれい　なあ。。。

breathtakingly beautiful

pinkish white

pretty flowers against a blue sky

how i miss you...

Bae yong jun lookalike in the crowd. Haha.

ojisans and obasans having a hanami party! so cute! ^^

We then decided to join the Japanese in their tradition of picnicing under the flowers - found a nice spot and tucked into some yummy gyoza (similar to Guo Tie), taiyaki (fish shaped cake thingy with chocolate / yoghurt / lemon / caramel filling), mochi cream and strawberry pudding! Yums. Also had some sakura-flavoured icecream. Yums.

Mmm gyoza!

yumyum Taiyaki!

Mochi cream おいしい！

Strawberry pudding!

Next stop, Harajuku (原宿)

Returned to Harajuku again for the Sunday freakshow parade! Again, I mean this in the nicest way possible. :) It's actually quite facinating, the way these teenagers go to such trouble to dress up and pose for hours at the bridge leading to Yoyogi-koen. It was quite funny though, there were only a handful of dressed-up teens, greatly outnumbered by the tourists gawking at them. Some of them are nice - they agree to pose with you. The others just talk among themselves and act like the tourists and cameras in their faces don't exist. Hehe... Picture time!

My bro thinks this girl is pretty :)

We gave this goth dude a wide berth. Hehe.

The blonde guy is HOT. Anime-HOT!

Gothic.

Who's the odd one out?

Erm. Yes. Haha.

This how the Japanese cam-whore

Er. I think she's trying to be a doll.

Then, we walked a pretty tree-lined path to Meiji Shrine, where we witnessed about 4 to 5 weddings taking place. Japanese wedding ceremonies are vastly different from ours - silent, solemn affairs. What a contrast to the typical fanfare and glitz of Chinese weddings!

Meiji-shrine entrance

Pretty little wedding party

The silent march taking place.

Teatime! Went off to find Sakura-tei (near Takeshita street) for Okonomiyaki. Yum. This restaurant is fun - you get to 'fry' your own okonomiyaki! After a mishap or two (like how mummy accidentally poured half a cup of oil over the hot plate, haha :p), we ate our Sakura Okonomiyaki - squid, prawns, mushrooms, pork strips, onions and egg... topped with lots of sauce, mayo, bonito flakes and kelp. Good stuff.

Mummy showing off her mad frying skillz

"Eat Me!" says the smiley-face. (:

Last stop, Aoyama Cemetery (青山霊園)

Last hanami spot of the day... we decided to go to Aoyama (near Harajuku) to look for Aoyama rei-en, the largest cemetery in central Tokyo. It was so cold in Aoyama, and it was getting dark - we almost gave up looking for the place. But we found it! And it was worth the stop. The cemetery was large... we probably only walked through 10% of it. It was very serene and peaceful, so quiet it was almost spooooky. Couldn't help but think that it would be a nice final resting place. You get to "sleep" under a canopy of cherry blossoms... :)

Pretty. Pretty spooooooky...

Went back to Harajuku for a ramen dinner, then went home. This was our last full day in Tokyo, so I felt kinda sad that day. Ah... wistful feelings...

Another bowl of Kyushu Jangara Ramen for the weary traveller.

Next post, Hakone and the magnificent Mount Fuji. :)