We're off to Asakusa to visit the Sensoji Temple again, this time in the day time to have a look at the Nakamise Shopping Street. We reached the Asakusa Subway station at 1.30pm and before we walked to the Shopping Streets, dAr DaR and I bought a super big Coca Cola for only 150 yen (S$2). When we reached there the shops are so crowded with people of all ages that its so hard to walk around. I can't resist taking a photo of the scene there and trying to enjoy the crowd and the bustling activity. What is that either the Japanese people there are off from their jobs really early or it's a holiday today, why they have the mood to go shopping..Hmm... But nevertheless the crowded streets add to the ambience of the once in a year Hagoita-ichi.

We started on doing something which starts with a magical "s", SHOPPING!!! dAr DaR is so excited and there is so many things to see there, every shop there is full of Japanese Tradition and arts. Some of the more memorable shops there include:

1) 1 shop which sells 'Ren Xing Shao' which is actually a red bean paste-filled cake. They even have the machines there to make the cakes right there on the spot. And it's cheap too and yummy. What's more, they sell them in old school wrappers and sell them 10 for $250 yen (S$3.20) which is quite affordable and makes a good gift too!

2) There is one shop that sells everything about weapons, swords, Knives, Samurai Swords and other weapons. (Those who watched Naruto should know them) Too bad they don't allow people to bring in these items without a license or else I would have bought them. It's so pretty.

3) Dogs and Cats Shop. Sorry, they don't sell real pets here. They're actually fake pets made to look like the real ones. They even sell pet collars that are so Kawaii. Make us think of PiPi even in Japan.

4)Ukiyo-E Shop. This is actually an ancient form of art by Japan which is a painting on wood. They are so pretty but too bad a lot of things here are touristrised. (being catered for tourist) I saw a lot of the art pieces printed on postcards.

Another thing that me and dAr DaR observed after looking at one super cute boy boy walk, fall down and he stood right up and continue walking and after a few days in Japan - the kids in Singapore are too spoilt. The kids in Japan which even I as a Singaporean must admit, are very obedient and I've never seen one kid that runs around the whole place with the parent chasing all over the place shouting. They follow very quietly behind their parents while holding their parent's hands. They also don't kick up a big fuss when they fall down unlike the "attract attention" kids here. So much for the different kind of DNA under the same yellow skin.

After the shopping, we walked in to the Sensoji Temple to have a look since we are here already. Nothing much to comment about except for the serenity around the compound. Yup, this is supposed to be a religious place, should have the feeling. Got to see other shrine and temple in the area , some belonging to the "Little Cat" (in chinese) Gods there so they get little temples for themselves.

Asakusa is worth a visit during the December, enjoy the bustling life of the shopping Streets and enjoy the serenity of the temple compounds, a rare spot with a combination of two.