Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Day 2 - Kappabashi kitchenware town


This is a must-visit site if you're in Tokyo. Kappabashi Street in Ueno has over a hundred shops selling everything (foodstuff excluded) that you would need in the F&B industry. From crockery to pots, pans, chopsticks, signage, uniforms, you name it.

The street is easily recognised by the Chef's head atop a corner building at the street intersection.

Across the road, two or three buildings away, is another landmark, a building with tea cups for balconies; each cup complete with handle, in a different colour!

There are lots of street map signs very sensibly erected near subway exits and main road intersections, and at the actual places of interest. Not to worry if you cannot read Japanese, just look for the red-coloured label which indicates that "you are here" and take your bearings from there.





The sidewalks are wide and besides the Council plantings (encroached by shopowner's additions) and bicycle parking lots, are common-user paths ie used by pedestrians, wheelchairs, motorised scooters for the elderly, and cyclists.

We have never been hit by a cyclist nor have they passed us too closely, nor have they zoomed by at high speed. We on the other hand have learnt to refrain from making hand-outstretched gestures like when pointing to an object or building, and from making sudden changes in our direction of travel. Mah Bow Tan's Tampines' experiment may work yet; with more help from the MOE.





That shrivelled up fruit is edible; saw it being used in a cookery show on telly the other night. Neat slim buildings on the street is the norm. And very clean considerate construction practice of wrapping up the building under construction to minimise polluting surroundings and people.

The last photo (above right) shows a collapsible barricade in its 'rest' or 'off'' mode. Interesting.




Alright, here goes one of many long wait periods for me as She browsed a shop (above left). Can you guess what those miniature ceramic persimmom are? or for? They were together with other baskets of chopstick rests, so could be for same purpose.




Had to snap this bicycle. Click to enlarge. A baby seat cum basket in front between mummy's hands, how safe is that? And a rear goodies basket - no big deal; but check out its stretchable rubber-plastic full width restraint with built-in clip!





















Please click here to continue to Day 3 - Climbing Mt Fuji,

OR click here to skip that and jump to Day 4 of our Tokyo extension.

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London, Mediterranean Cruise + Milan

London 1/22 ...................................Rome, Italy 10/22 ...........................Ephesus, Turkey 14/22
Barcelona, Italy 6/22 ....................Amalfi Coast, Italy 11/22 ...............Athens, Greece 15/22
Provence, France 8/22 ..................Mykonos, Greece 12/22 .................Venice, Italy 16/22
Cinque Terra, Italy 9/22 ...............Istanbul, Turkey 13/22 ..................Milan, Italy 19/22

JAPAN

Day 1 ....... 2 ...... 3 ...... 4 ...... 5 ...... 6 ...... 7 ..... 8 ...... 9

KUNMING

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TASMANIA

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CHINA

Day 1 ..... 2 ..... 3 ..... 4 ..... 5 ..... 6 ..... 7 ..... 8

PENANG

Day1 ...... 2 ..... 3 ...... 4 ..... 5 ...... 6 ..... 7 ..... 8

HOKKAIDO

Day 1 ..... 2 .... 3 .... 4 .... 5 .... 6 ..... 7 ..... 8

MT FUJI

Day 1 ...... 2...... 3 ...... 4 ....... 5 ....6 ....7 ...8