Japan Day 9 P1

We will walk past this place everyday, as it was just 2 streets from our apartment. Needless to say, we frequent this place quite often during our stay in Tokyo.

24hr shop that provided us with hot piping food at reasonable prices. Lots of patrons frequent the place even when its close to midnight.

Our 1st official breakfast in Tokyo - beef bowls! No more bread as we couldn't find any bakery near our apartment. Leecher had a fun time separating egg yolk from egg white and pouring it over his beef bowl.

Arrived at Tokyo station for more sightseeing. Tokyo station, the main intercity rail terminal in Tokyo & the busiest station in Japan in terms of no. of trains per day. It is the starting point and terminus for most of Japan's Shinkansen and is served by many local and regional commuter lines of Japan Railways as well as the Tokyo Metro network. The whole complex is linked by an extensive system of underground passageways which merge with surrounding commercial buildings and shopping centres. We almost got lost trying to find the right way out from the station.

Due to our profession, we embarked on the Banking & Finance journey today. We first visited Tokyo Stock Exchange (東京証券取引所) ,, which is the 2nd largest stock exchange in the world by aggregate market capitalization of its listed companies, second only to the New York Stock Exchange.

Exchanging for the Visitor Pass at the entrance.

TOPIX (Tokyo Stock Price Index), the weighted average index of the share prices of about 1700 stocks listed on the First Section of the market, is the main indicator calculated and announced by the TSE to communicate the movement of the overall market. TOPIX not only shows the movement of the market, but is also used as a benchmark by institutional investors and others.

I wonder if the traders inside feel as if they are in a gigantic fish tank with onlookers looking curiously at them. The market center is divided into 4 sections:

• TOPIX futures, TOPIX Options & Equity Options
• JGB futures, JGB, Options on JGB futures
• Stocks, Convertible bonds, ETFs, REITs
• Grasp and Analysis of market conditions

So depending on where you sit, you will be assigned to do one of the above accordingly.

As with every stock exchange in the world, there will be a bell to signal trading has began. In recent years, the ringing of the trading bell was glamorized by asking celebrities & significant people to grace the podiums. I vividly remembered watching an ep on SATC in which Sarah Jessica Parker, aka Carrie Bradshaw, decked in a shimmery dress and a pair of chunky Miu Miu's graced the podium of NYSE to trigger the opening bell.

Picture with the mascot as we make our way out to the next destination.

P2 to be continued in the next post ~

Japan Day 8

Today marks the start of the second part our journey in Japan as we prepare to move to our next accommodation in Tokyo.

But before that, a few shot of our current stay at Shinsaibashi Weekly Mansion.

Disarray small but very cozy sleeping area.

Attached bathroom with surprisingly a bathtub!

Microwave to warm up bentos and those Nissins cup noodles. Also the clean water kettle saved us the effort of purchasing drinking water.

Small tv and fridge. Not as impressive as in Taiwan where we get to watch more channels. In Japan, they practice pay per view.

Easy to use air-con cum heater. Till today, I still think the bed and breakfast we stayed in London has heating facilities. Just that Blamer and I were too inexperience to operate it and too shy to ask the owner how.

Sadly, we got to return the tickets.

On board the Nozomi to Tokyo. I think it is the fastest train in Japan because it gets to skip more stations than the Hikari. But the cost is much higher than Hikari tickets.

Yippee after braving the rain and cold and much help from the friendly people of Japan, we finally managed to locate our next accommodation. A word of advice, if you are planning to explore Japan on your own and move from place to place. Travel LIGHT! And I mean really light! I think we lost a couple of pounds lugging and dragging five pieces of luggage through the stations.

First glance from the door, and I guess you can pretty much make out the whole room. Space is definitely a luxury in Japan.

Basin and electric stove.

TV, phone and internet cable.

Small but well equipped bathroom. Again it comes with a bathtub. Yippee!

And most importantly, a big comfortable bed!

Transferring to Tokyo used up most of our time. Another lesson learned when traveling is to avoid shifting accommodations unless absolutely necessary as it usually takes up a day of your time. If not try to arrange for those overnight train rides where you get to save at least one night of accommodation. As such, we only got to visit Mitsui Outlet Park for the day.

And only Blamer managed to get what she wanted : ( I walked away empty-handed.

Guessed I got to cheer myself up at this happy looking restaurant instead.

Blamer still elated over her purchase.

A look at their menu tells me everything is quite economically priced.

And you can pick and mix your own tempura.

I ordered curry rice but am disappointed that it has no meat in it.

Luckily I had some tempura to go with my food.

Blamer ordered their beef udon.

Disappointed but still the curry was tasty enuf for me to clean off my plate.

It seems that the Twilight Trilogy has spread to the Land of the Rising Sun as well. Blamer insisted I take a pic of her with the poster.

On the way back, we came across a long queue of people waiting to buy a box of this chocolate. Suckers as we are, we bought a box too!

Japan Day 7 P3

We moved on to our next destination which we read about many times in history textbooks, the bombing of Hiroshima that put an end to WWII.

At first glance the city of Hiroshima looks normal enough. Completely restored with people going about their daily affairs. However, upon reaching the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, the mood turned solemn. There's a peaceful yet gloomy atmosphere that lingers in the air as Blamer and I strolled through the park.

The A-Bome Dome is the skeletal ruins of the former Industrial Promotion hall, the closest building to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that remained at least partially standing after the blast.

The people of Hiroshima was initially torn between preserving or demolishing the A-Bomb Dome. To some, it brings pangs of sadness as the memories of the loved ones they lost comes back to mind. To others, it serves as a reminder of the devastation that war brings and advocates peace and tolerance among people.

This is a cenotaph holding the names of all the people killed by the bomb. The cenotaph carries the epitaph, "Rest in Peace, for the error shall not be repeated." Through the monument, you can see the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. The Memorial Cenotaph was built on August 6, 1952. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims. The Peace Flame also has an additional symbolic purpose. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on the planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation.