Skip to main content

exploring Akihabara

Ticking off the places I haven't been to in Tokyo that I could easily visit by train (and were still open at night), I settled on going to Akihabara. According to the tourist information websites, this is known as "Electric Town" because you can buy a lot of household appliances here. This specification of districts selling specific items remind me of Calle Raon in Quiapo, Manila. Like Akihabara, Raon is known as the shopping district for electronics. Anyway, I digress...

As I was walking along towards Electric Town from the Tokyo Metro station, I came across these billboards. I was quite surprised because there were a lot of anime characters portrayed on these boards. After looking high up, I resumed looking at street-level and was more surprised to see many women dressed like Sailor Moon and her friends, trying to catch Japanese men's attention. What was going on in here?!?



I learned later, when I looked up on anime culture on the internet, that Akihabara is the centre of otaku (the Japanese concept of computer nerds) culture in the world. These otaku practitioners are highly into computers, video-gaming, and Japanese cartoons and comics. The women walking around in character were apparently promoting "maid cafés" that line the street. 

So walking on, I ended up in one of the bigger department stores for electronic gadgets in Akihabara: Yodobashi Akiba. Good thing too because I was getting tired of the limitations of iPhone photography (It has a really good camera but still can't replace a real one, sorry!) and was raring to get a real camera... not a dSLR though because it's way too heavy to carry around when I travel. As I entered the lobby, I felt I entered Ollivanders wand shop or Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, both in Diagon Alley.


If this was my last stop for this evening's adventure into Tokyo, I would've spent so much time checking out the different gadgets. However, I wanted to see Tokyo from the sky so I only stuck to the camera floor... there are a total of eight floors, I think; it's a shame I wasn't able to visit the other floors. I'm sure that I'll drop by again; if not this branch, another branch in Tokyo... someday.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
4 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more