We had to clear the room before 08.30 so they could prepare the suite for the next guests as the ship continues on to Korea, Shanghai and Hong Kong. We had our breakfast outside on the back deck as the sun was shining and the sky was wall to wall blue and a temperature of about 21 Degrees centigrade. At 09.45 we were called forward to collect our bags and go through Customs with our bags and ten minutes later we were in a short Taxi queue . The Hotel is in the middle of Asakusa which is a very popular shopping and tourist spot as it is close to the famous Sensoji Temple (Sensō-ji (金龍山浅草寺 Kinryū-zan Sensō-ji) is an ancient Buddhist temple located in Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. It is Tokyo's oldest temple, and one of its most significant. Formerly associated with the Tendai sect of Buddhism, it became independent after World War II. Adjacent to the temple is a five-story pagoda, Shinto shrine, the Asakusa Shrine,[1] as well as many shops with traditional goods in the Nakamise-dōri[2]The Sensoji Kannon temple is dedicated to Kannon Bosatsu, the Bodhisattva of compassion, and is the most widely visited spiritual site in the world with over 30 million visitors annually.[It ranks among the top 10 temples in Japan for the number of visitors in the new year.and the Asakusa Shrine.
We knew would have to wait for the room as check in was at 15.00 and therefore we took our free time to fully explore the area and try to find some food supermarket's as the Hotel we are staying in has a mini kitchen which would allow self catering. After almost five weeks of ship and restaurant food some home cooked and prepared food is just what we want. This area was buzzing with people even though it was Friday and its here that young Japanese girls come to rent a ‘Yukata’ and then walk around in their beautiful dresses and taking selfies of themselves and some are even using Go-Pro video cameras. There are lots and lots of restaurants and shops where you can purchase almost anything from a scrubbing brush to a beautiful pair of shoes. We also saw some Sumo wrestlers walking along and other students with long samurai knives.We found a supermarket, actually we found two, but the first one is primarily food and is owned by Walmart and the other was a four story shop with some much stuff you cannot believe it. They were selling everything from carrots to mobile phones and there were chairs if you were tired which gave you a back massage. We finished our shop tour and had lunch in a help yourself restaurant and we both ordered the hamburger which can be served cold and or hot, which ever you prefer but we tried it cold and it was very good indeed. We checked in to our toom on the 7th Floor and have a fantastic view over the Temple Grounds and koi ponds and in the distance is the Tokyo Skytree Tower. We decided that although the room is not quite as large as the one we had at Citadines Hotel last time were where, this locations is amazing and full of life an no need to find a bus or train to see something.
After checking in we went back to the supermarket and noticed how empty the shelves were becoming which we thought was strange considering its a 24 hour shop and the place was very busy, we found out why the next morning is that there is a strong Typhoon approaching.
We did some suitcase unpacking and then had dinner of chicken filet, potatoes and salad and a bottle of Merlot wine. The wine prices in the supermarket were so cheap we could not believe it, two bottles of French Merlot for Yen 1000 or roughly £ 7.00 or £ 3.5 each and it was pretty damn good. A short watch of Tv whilst Noel updated the Photo Blog and also the Blogger written Blog and so we are pretty much up to date after being without fast Internet for several weeks. The Hotel has good download speed of 50 Mpbs whilst the upload is an amazing 40 Mpbs which meant the loading of the photos on to the Smug Mug was so fast were could not believe it.
The Hotel room is quite smallish and smaller than out lounge back home, but this has a double bed, a mini kitchen and a bathroom with the typical Japanese toilet where if you push the wrong button you get a jet of hot water in the most inappropriate place which could make you jump.. And so to bed.
