Today was Cherry Blossom Day! Sakura sakura….
While waiting for the train to take us to Ueno, I noticed that even the queues for the trains are so organised. They stand in queues and wait for people to disembark the train before rushing in. Haiz, if only Singaporeans could be like this.
On reaching Ueno, the sky was dark with a bit of drizzle and we decided to walk around before having a look at the Sakura. So we went to the Ameyoko, the popular streets crowded with stores selling clothes, fresh foods and dried food.
Along the way we found some nice titbits and took the opportunity to gobble up some Takoyaki and this pancake like thing. Both were yummy. The Takoyaki’s a so much better and yummier than Singapore’s. heh.
Before walking over to the park, we stopped by at a Sushi place for lunch. The scallops were to die for! They were like jelly! Soft and nice, full of flavour!
Coming up to Ueno Park, I took some pics of some outdoor banana candy store and ads from the exhibitions at the nearby museums.
Finally, Sakura. The whole place was really beautiful. A bit surreal. There were heaps of locals along the walkway who set up mats and were sitting down in groups eating, socialising, etc. Japs love their parks.
Came across these red arches nearby. They reminded me of the scene from Memoirs of A Geisha were young Sayuri ran through similar arches. I almost wanted to run thru them in the same way. lol
Close by was the Tokyo National Museum which we visited.
The galleries had a lot of old Japanese Artefacts, kimonos, samurai amour and samurai swords. Heh, thats what I really remembered. The museum while huge, did seem a bit too cold and distant from it’s audience. It wasn’t anything special.
Close by was the National Museum of Nature & Science. They had a blue whale in front!! As well as a special exhibition on dinosaurs (in addition to their permanent collection of dinos). A winner!
No matter how old you are, how can you not be amazed by dinos? Or their bones for that matter.
The museum was amazing, a colossal squid! Hundreds of stuffed and preserved animals & plant life. What’s not to like? The way these artefacts were exhibited was the main draw. Top marks to the curator! If only our Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research can take some pointers from them.
No amount of pictures can show you the scale of the museum. There were like 5 – 6 floors in all of the permanent gallery. Huge spaces and exhibits that cover the full evolution of human existence. They had our human ancestors, a Japanese Zero Fighter, and a jungle!
One particular exhibit I loved was the huge oval shaped exhibit that feature heaps of life sized stuff/preserved animals. You could compare different animal sizes and see how they look like up close. This was a truly amazing exhibit.
The museum was simply the best museum I’ve ever been to. The exhibits draws you in for an interactive experience. It is family and kids friendly too. Heaps of kids activities to do. This is what Singapore needs. A natural history museum, it helps to give our young a good start to visiting museums and hopefully that carries on.
After a long day out. We ended up at some dodgy looking underground pub/restaurant eating some of the best yakitori. A good end to a good day. 
