The Police Museum was interesting. Inside, there is a helicopter model as well as police motorbikes. Upstairs, there were videos and photos of olden days police force, as well modern PR videos to educate the public. You can click on the Virtual Tour link from their original website. Pretty cool! We had fun trying out the forensics tools and mini quizzes!
Spent some hours in there before we made our way to Asakusa.
Asakusa
It was nightfall when we arrived. Took some night shots as we walked towards Sensoji Temple.
shot using Sony A6300
on top of buildings, peering down at us
The other time when I was in Asakusa back in end Dec 2009, there was still daylight and more lively (since it was closer to New Year). Now in 2018, wow.. that was some 9 years since. The sights were pretty much the same. Glad that I was able to be back for a revisit.
Below are photos taken using phone:
Hozomon
Sensoji Temple
Similar shots using Sony camera:
imposing sculpture of Nio guardians (left)
imposing sculpture of Nio guardians (right)
At Sensoji (Asakusa Kannon Temple), we went to pick out our omikuji. Thankful for the good fortune lot.
Sensoji Temple
exact shot, with us inside
Of course, we had our fair share of NG shots. Hahaaaa!
i'm not holding the camera... *LOL*
Ok, next to Kaminarimon Gate. On the way there, many shops were shuttered and took some time to admire the beautiful shutters.
lovely
many were waiting for their photo-op
us, quickly sneaking in a few group shots
ok, two shots enough =x
Then, waited for them to finish their individual shots as they are first timers to Asakusa.
similar to this...individual photo-op, keke
Done with the tourist thing, we went around looking for food. But hor.. going out with new friend means no one wants to decide. So we went up and down the streets, just looking at restaurants and finally after some minutes... yes, we went up and down the same street for 20 minutes....then finally, Johan decided on Tendon Tenya. Keke.
for fried food!
We waited for about 10 minutes as I wasn't too keen for a table at Level 2. Self-service joint means bringing trays of food and drinks up the stairs. Hahaha, the last time I did that...the mocha had spilled out too much!
menu
complimentary cold tea
Usually, I'd go for a beer but since this table seemed to be teetotallers, we settled for the complimentary roasted tea. Lovely, 'coz they gave us a tumbler of that and with ice. Yay! Totally parched from the all sightseeing that day. We drank a lot of tea that night!
our food
Tendon with maitake mushrooms, okra, prawn, and squid with additional scallop @ ¥720
When one is hungry, everything is nice! True, but the food at Tendon Tenya was reasonably priced and I remembered the mushroom and the shisho leaf were the better items 'coz it was super tasty and crunchy. Wished there could be more sauce though.
We finished dinner and bade each other good night. Will be meeting up with them a few days later in Kyoto. On the way back to Kinshicho, made a stop to see Tokyo Skytree.
On the next day, I'd be meeting Shermaine to go to the zoo. But first, let's have breafast. Headed to the convenience store next door early morning and there wasn't any other person inside except for the cashier.
egg sandwich
322kcal, is all I need to know
soft white bread and egg mayo
After breakfast, it was time to head to the train station to go to Nishi-Kasai Station, as we'd be going to Edogawa Ward Natural Zoo (free admission).
to the train station
top-up Suica card
Met up with Shermaine at about 11am, and she bought choco on her way to meet with me. Thank you Shermaine!
choco ball
lovely choco
Edogawa City Natural Zoo
Address: 3 Chome-2-1 Kitakasai, Edogawa City, Tokyo 134-0081, Japan
Then, using Google Maps, we navigated around the area and managed to get to the Zoo! Here are the few landmarks that we passed by.
dolphins sculpture
Sunny Mall
signs of a zoo nearby
Edogawa Natural Zoo entrance sign
Here are the sights and sounds of the visit:
map of the zoo
photo-op here
The zoo can be easily covered within 20 minutes. Small and nice. Saw mostly parents with kids in tow at the zoo.
loved the handmade infoboard
giant anteater
Hehe, first time seeing such a big anteater! I don't think there's any in Singapore Zoo.
Victoria Crowned Pigeon
There's a petting zoo inside but it was not open for petting when we visited.
feeding time
smiley goat
chill chic
Next, we stumbled upon the prairie dogs enclosure. They looked like oversized hamsters.
prairie dog
pretty flowers
As the zoo is connected to Gyosen Park, the last enclosure that one would see is the penguin enclosure. It was quite calming to see the penguins swimming.
After which, we took in the sights of Gyosen Park. Yes, there were some who were enjoying their picnic there on this bright sunny day.
We were done by 12pm and decided to find a place for lunch. Went back to Sunny Mall and found a food court in there but it was crowded and the food didn't entice us. Decided to walk outside and into the unknown (actually, was just towards the alleyways across the road from the mall...) and finally found a shop with homecooked meals.
walking back towards Nishi-Kasai Station
popular mode of transport
decided to eat somewhere along this road (left)
定食 稲 Shokudo and Teishoku Restaurant
Address: 5 Chome-8-16 Nishikasai, Edogawa City, Tokyo 134-0088, Japan
kitchen and menu
ok, there's a menu on every table
The prices for the teishoku are all pretty reasonable and I was tempted by the fried cutlet and all. Decided on pork shogayaki instead of fried stuff while Shermaine opted for oyakodon.
Pork Shogayaki @¥750
i liked pickles
oyakodon close-up
oyakodon set @¥700
The pork shogayaki set came with an onsen egg. Not sure but I just mixed this with the rice. The stir-fried pork with ginger was tasty. For the rice, I added some spicy fried garlic minced and that brought it up to another level!
Both of us enjoyed our lunch very much. The staff are all friendly too and brought the complimentary drinking water flask (cold) to our table.