Tokyo Asakusa and Sky Tree

Day 2 in Tokyo. We visited Asakusa and Sky Tree. These two places are not far from each other. Asakusa is located at the center of Tokyo, with several train stations around it. From Ikebukuro, we used Metro Marunouchi and Ginza Lines and reached at Asakusa Station in around 45 minutes.

Thunder Gate or Kaminarimon is located around 50 meters from Metro's exit.  It leads to a long-straight shopping street called Nakamise. At the end of the street lays the main gate of Sensoji Temple- Hozomon.

Sensoji Temple (浅草寺, or Asakusa Kannon Temple) - the oldest temple in Tokyo, is the main attraction in Asakusa. It is believed to be built in year 648. Together with Sensoji Temple is a five-tier pagoda, and Asakusa Shrine (built in 1650). 

To be frank, our first impression was, Asakusa temple area was too busy. The hustle of the massive crowd and the noise diluted the historical value of the temple. Well, our expectation of visiting a peaceful temple created a shock for a moment. 

So, instead of Angkor Wat or Guanlin Temple, the temple area is more like Shilin Night Market or Raohe Night Market. According to the history, Asakusa is an entertainment district since long time ago. There are several pedestrian streets webbing around the temple area, make the whole area a huge tourist trap. The entrance to Asakusa temple area is free. We spent around 1 hour and a half roaming around the temple area and the streets nearby.

The signage of Thunder Gate can be seen from the exit of Metro (upper left). Thunder Gate is a huge wooden structure (upper right). The original gate was destroyed long time ago. It was rebuilt in 1960. We need to wait for the right time to take photo with a nicer view of the gate. The gate leads to Nakamise- a street market selling various souvenirs, food, and handicrafts (lower right). The whole place was full of visitors from different countries.

The lantern at the Thunder Gate was donated by Panasonic.

Souvenirs (upper left), Japanese traditional clothes (upper right), masks (lower right), sandals, and many more can be bought around the area. We didn't buy anything there.

Hozomon marks the end of the Nakamise. It is a two-level gate, bigger and taller than the Thunder Gate.

There is a five-level pagoda built on the left side of the Hozomon.

A pair of giant straw sandals (Owaraji in Japanese) are hanged on each sides of Hozomon. The Sandals are around 4 meters long and weight around 500 kg- given as a sign of gratitude. The history of the giant sandals is provided by Japan Times.

The main hall of the temple. This building was bombed to the ground in World War 2. The one that we can see today is a replica.

Asakusa Shrine is relatively quiet and peaceful. It is located at the right of Sensoji Temple.

There is a hand washing basin in front of Asakusa. It is a tradition for Japanese to wash their hand and mouth before proceed into the temple. 

White lanterns with the name of individuals or businesses. This is a way to acknowledge their contributions to the temple.

There are people with traditional Japanese attire walking around the temple area. These clothes can be rented from shops nearby the temple. From the language they used, most of them were not Japanese.

We tried some street food- kibi dango- sweet soft glutenous rice stick (upper left), ice cream (upper right), and ice cream bun (lower right). The pedestrian streets extend far beyond the temple compound. 

Our next stop- Sky Tree. It can be clearly seen from Asakusa. 

Completed in 2011, Tokyo Sky Tree, with a height of 634 meters, is the tallest tower in the world. It is currently the second tallest structure in the world. The tower is located at Sumida, nearby Asakusa. We hooped onto Metro Tobu Sky Tree Line, and traveled from Asakusa to Sky Tree Station. Solamachi Shopping Mall and Sumida Aquarium is located at the foot of the tower. 

The entrance ticket counter of Tokyo Sky Tree is located at 4th floor in Solamachi, with 2060 Yen for one adult to the deck at 350 meters (approximately RM 75). We need to pay another 1030 Yen to access to the deck at 450 meters. For us, 350 meters was high enough to see whole Tokyo, so we didn't proceed higher. We were really lucky that the queuing time at the ticket counter was less than 5 minutes. The high-speed lift traveled 350 meters vertically in around 50 seconds. We took our lunch at Solamachi and spent whole afternoon in Sky Tree and Sumida Aquarium. 

Tokyo Sky Tree is two stations away from Asakusa (Upper left). Tokyo Sky Tree Town is right at the exit of the Metro Station (upper right). From there, we moved upward to Solamachi (lower right). We took our lunch at the food court at 3rd floor, and accessed to the observation deck at 350 meters from 4th floor.

Group photo at 350 meters.

Panorama view to the west.

We can see Asakusa from Sky Tree.

Tokyo Tower can be seen from Sky Tree. Can you identify the tower?

Glass floor at 340 meters.

A view downward.

We went back down to ground around 5 pm. We decided to visit Sumida Aquarium before going back to Ikebukuro. The aquarium operates from 9 am - 9 pm. Entrance fee for adult is 2050 Yen (around RM 75). More information about the aquarium is available at Sumida Aquarium Official Webpage.

Sumida Aquarium is beautiful, clean and organized. However, it is a bit small, and the variety of fish is small. In our opinion, it was not worth the money paid. Aquariums in Malaysia, such as Aquaria KLCC at Kuala Lumpur and Underwater World at Langkawi provides better experience with cheaper price. The aquarium however provided plenty of seats for us to take rest while watching fish swimming around.

Sumida Aquarium can be accessed via roof top passage at 4th floor of Solamachi (upper left). The freshwater aquarium (upper right), seawater aquarium (lower right), seals, and penguins were available.

Creatively designed aquarium with water foliage and fish.

Before we headed back to our homestay, we walked out of Solamachi to take a photo of Tokyo Sky Tree. 

We reached Ikebukuro at around 8 pm. We rested early after dinner. Next, we will share our experience at Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace, and Tokyo Metropolitan Tower in Shinjuku.

[Tokyo DisneySea] [Asakusa and Sky Tree] [Tokyo Tower and Imperial Palace]

[Ueno Zoo and Museum of Nature and Science]

[Tokyo Accommodation, Food, Transportation, and Shopping]
[All Our Destinations]

Tokyo DisneySea

DisneySea is only available in Tokyo. That is the sole reason for it to be a must-visit place in our Tokyo trip. To go to Tokyo DisneySea by train is convenient. First, we went to Maihama Station on Keiyo Line. Then, we used Disney Resort Line to go straight to the main entrance of DisneySea.

The Disney theme park opens from 9 am to 10 pm. Adult ticket price for one day pass is 7400 yen (around RM270). Starlight passport ticket is available with discounted price, but not worth it as we can only enter the park after the sunset. If the queuing time is long, fastpass can be utilized to reduce the queuing time, so plan ahead to maximize the fun. Well, we only used fastpass once in the park for Raging Spirits roller coaster ride. The queue time was 45 minutes.

Our experience- buy ticket online at Tokyo DisneySea official website. It is important because we don't want to waste time queuing for buying entrance ticket. Restaurants food price are fair (compared to food in Tokyo), and the restaurant at Arabian Coast has the best offer. Drinking water fountains are almost everywhere, offering hydrating cold water for free. Some websites stated Disney-popcorn is a must eat snack there. We tried. We disagree with them. 

Let's talk about the rides. Many rides worth a try, but top on our list- SeaRiders at Port Discovery, Indiana Jones Adventure at Lost Delta, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Mysterious Island. The rest like the water craft at Port Discovery and Raging Spirit at Port Lost Delta are good as well. We personally like Simbad's Storybook Voyage at Arabian Coast very much. The ride was relaxing with delighting music, and Simbad's pet- a cute little tiger was the highlight in all the scenes.  The Journey to the Center of the Earth was closed during our visit.

For theater and shows, Big Band Beat is a must see stage performance. The Broadway style stage  features fast-paced performance by energy-packed dancers from difference countries. There are special guests on stage as well, including Mickey. Big Band Beat is located at the theater in Waterfront.

Triton's Concert at Mermaid Lagoon and the Magic Lamp Show at Arabian Coast feature the combination of superb 3-D effects and performers. These two shows are good to fill our waiting time. However, if you have been bombarded by stunning 4-D and trilling rides before you walk into these theaters, well, either one can put you to sleep.

Similar to Disneyland in Hong Kong,  the Disney Resort line coach is well-designed. Disney Resort line is built encircling Disneyland, DisneySea, and a few resorts nearby.

Right after the ticket counter is a square with a globe at the middle of it. Disney Resort line station is on the right side of this photo.

 We need to walk "through" these Venice style buildings to enter DisneySea.

The area at the entrance is called Mediterranean Harbor. It is beautiful but believe us, don't spend even one minute standing there. We will have a lot of opportunities to take photo in this area later. The big volcano behind the Arabian palace is called Mysterious Island. That is the place that we shall go first.

Mysterious Island is encircled by a volcanic crater. We can see a giant mine digging machine, submarine bay, and two of the top recommended rides there- Journey to the Center of the Earth, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was unlucky for us. The ride to the center of the earth was closed during our visit. So we could only go 20 k leagues undersea before we left the area to Port Discovery. The ride was not amazing, but the experience was good. We could actually feel that we went undersea in the submarine.

Port Discovery is a vibrant area with fast moving water craft at Aquatopia and superb quality 4-D SeaRider with Nemo and friends. We can see huge crowd queuing for SeaRider on far right.

SeaRiders was simply amazing (Upper left). We queued for around 30 minutes to experience an adventure with Nemo and friends in a submarine (Upper right). The great 4-D experience- strong wind, splashing water, and the cabin movement make it the best ride on our list. After the ride, we went to Aquatopia and queued for less than 10 minutes (lower right) to board onto a water craft. Aquatopia is located next to SeaRider.

Indiana Jones Adventure is highly recommended (upper left). It is located at Lost Delta, right under a huge pyramid (upper right). Well, we would recommend to get a fastpass for this ride, as the queue was massive (lower right). The decoration inside the temple was good, but it couldn't compensate the tiredness of queuing. Well, 40 minutes was a bit long for a 5 minutes ride. 

Hanging above the mysterious temple, Raging Spirits is the fastest roller coaster in the park. The queuing time was 45 minutes. So, we took a fastpass for this ride. We returned to the ride after we visited Arabian Coast.

Arabian Coast is a beautiful place. All structures at the coast are meticulously designed to give us a feeling that we are in Arabian world (and not in DisneySea anymore, Ouch!). Simbad's Storybook Voyage is inside a large building (upper left). The beautiful lane lead to a big restaurant with nice curry rice (lower right). We went to Magic Lamp Theater after the lunch. The amazing 3-D effect was spoiled by slow and boring storyline.  

Mermaid Lagoon is built indoor. The building resembles an underwater palace (upper left). We can see King Triton's statue at the entrance (upper right). After the entrance, the whole indoor play ground is just in front of us. King Triton theater is inside this building. There was no queue in this area during our visit.

Disney electric railway provides two ways transit between Port Discovery and American Waterfront (upper row), while DisneySea transit steamer provides two ways transit between Lost River Delta and American Waterfront. We took both transits just for fun, as the queue was short (less than 5 minutes for the railway and less than 10 minutes for the steamer).

There are several good spots for photo taking. Top of our list- the bridge and the gondola at Mediterranean Harbor (upper left), followed by the red metal bridge at American Waterfront (upper right), the street at Broadway beside Mediterranean Harbor (lower right), and on the bridge at Lost Delta which overlooking the whole Arabian Coast.

Big Band Beat Theater is located beside the railway transit, in between Mediterranean Harbor and American Waterfront. We successfully won the tickets from the lottery six times in a row and walked into the theater happily in the evening. Lucky, lucky. If you want to try your luck, just ask any staff in the park for assistance to go to the lottery at Mediterranean Harbor. Without a ticket from the lottery, we have to queue to enter the theater (as we can see in the photo).

2018 marks the 35th years of Disneyland in Tokyo. Cute Mickey statues were placed at certain places in the park for the celebration.

 Photo with Mickey.

DisneySea offers a lot of fun, and it is definitely a worth visit place in Tokyo. We visited the park at the middle of May. The weather was good with strong wind swept away the heat of the sun. We were really lucky as we visited the park right after a super peak week, so the longest queuing time we had was around 40 minutes at Adventure of Indiana Jones. It was easy to get a seat in the restaurant as well. The staff could communicate with simple English, and all the signage were clear. However, most of the stories of the rides and theaters are narrated in Japanese. It will be great if English translation is provided.

DisneySea guarantees a full day of activities. So comfortable clothes, footwear, and bring an umbrella are really important. Bringing some snacks can be good idea to refill our energy in the middle of the queue.

We left the park at around 7:30 pm, and took around one hour to reach our homestay at Ikebukuro. Next, Asakusa and Skytree for our day 2 in Tokyo.

[Tokyo DisneySea] [Asakusa and Sky Tree] [Tokyo Tower and Imperial Palace]

[Ueno Zoo and Museum of Nature and Science]

[Tokyo Accommodation, Food, Transportation, and Shopping]
[All Our Destinations]

Day Trip to Kuang Si Waterfall, Luang Prabang

Kuang Si Waterfall is located around 30 kms south of Luang Prabang. The journey took around one hour by car. Traveling in a group of four, we decided to use tut-tut. Our advice- try to get the price from a few tourism companies to get the best offer. We took the package from Phone Travel Co with the price of  250,000 Kip for 4 people.

The road was not in very good condition, especially after leaving Luang Prabang town area. But still, the journey was not very rocky for a tut-tut truck. There was literally no signboard on road, thus it might be hard to drive there by our own (not sure Waze could be used or not). 

8:30 am sharp, Mr. Teng, the representative from Phone Travel Co came to our hotel together with the driver. The tut-tut was in fact a small truck with two rows of seat at the back (upper right). The road was good in the town area (upper right), but getting worse when we traveled out of the town (lower right). There were nothing much to see along the road, except huts and farms.

We reached the entrance of Tat Kuang Si Park at around 9:30 am (upper left). Kuang Si Waterfall is located in the park. The entrance fee was 20,000 Kip per person (upper left). There were a few rows of shops selling souvenirs, snacks, and drinks beside the ticketing counter (upper right). Kuang Si Bear Rescue Center was right beside the entrance of the park (lower right). Several black bears which were saved from the local poachers lived their good life in the center. The bear rescue center was a part of the waterfall conservation area, thus no extra entrance fee required. 

Souvenir shop at the rescue center.

It might be too early for the bears to entertain visitors. They were sleeping. We could hear the sound of splashing water from the conservation center. The whole center was not big. We could see everything there in less than 10 minutes. There was a path that led us from the center to the bank of the stream. The 50 meter high Kuang Si Waterfall is located some 100 meters away upstream. 

Turquoise green colour water flows through green forest is picturesque. Pools are formed in between waterfalls. Visitors can take a dip in the water in two of these ponds.  

We came across several smaller waterfalls when we walked upstream.

Water flows rapidly in certain area.

A beautiful multi-layer waterfall. There was a restaurant beside the waterfall.

We continued to walk upstream following the path. The thunderous sound of water were getting stronger. We finally saw Kuang Si Waterfall two minutes later.

A bridge was built to provide the best view to the visitors.

Visitors were taking photo from the bridge.

Second and third layers of the waterfall could be clearly seen from the bridge.

Kuang Si Park was clean and the walking path was safe for sandals (upper left). Picnic tables and benches were prepared along the walking path (upper right). Changing area was available as well (lower right). There was a restaurant in the park. The food was a bit pricey, but well, that's the price to pay if we want to take a meal beside the waterfall. The restaurant was located nearby the waterfall.

Ta Kuang Si Park is worth a visit (unless you can find something else better to do in Luang Prabang). The park was clean, organized, with clear signboards reminding visitors to stay safe and stay clean. There was literally no mosquito in the park (at least none of us were bitten). There was no food and beverage sold in the park, except Lao Green Jungle Cafe and Restaurant. The food there was a bit pricey, so you might want to buy some snacks and drinking water at the entrance of the park. Wearing slippers or sandals are advised, and there is no dress code for those who want to swim in the pools. Last but not least, we would have more privacy in the morning, as most visitors would arrive at the park in the afternoon (usually around 11 am - 1 pm). The park would be very crowded in the afternoon.

Well, Luang Prabang might be our last destination for 2017. What's next? We have not decided yet, but, there are a few in our wishlist. We hope you enjoy reading our sharing about Luang Prabang.

[Luang Prabang Old Streets and Temples] [Getting Around Luang Prabang]

[Kuang Si Waterfall] [All Our Destinations]