Akihabara

Yesterday was Culture Day in Japan which means another welcome national holiday. Japanese workers have far fewer paid holidays to take when compared to the average Brit, but the large number of national holidays in Japan do make up for it somewhat. I think the next public holiday will be on 23rd November, so not too long to wait.

I have always been interested in Akihabara, primarily because of the numerous electrical shops which are located there, hence the Electric City moniker. After arriving in Akihabara around midday I was in need of some sustenance before I browsed though the many shops. I had settled on getting a burger for reasons of convenience. However, as luck would have it, I stumbled across a Brazilian steak restaurant which I recalled had been highly recommended by one of my colleagues at Weathernews.

The place is called Tucano's and I soon discovered that it was worth visiting Akihabara for the steak alone. A nice big piece of rump steak with a smattering of green beans and sweetcorn cost 880 yen. Not a bad price for a great piece of meat. I of course felt obliged to order an Asashi beer to help wash it down. What a great start to my visit in Akihabara!!!! I will return for another steak in the not too distant future, I promise.

After lunch, I meandered through a maze of large and small electrical shops. I marvelled at the sheer selection of goods on display and could have spent a fortune had I not been careful. Although browsing was high on my 'to do' list, I also intended buying a very capable Japanese-English electronic dictionary. These devices are remarkable and contain volumes of dictionaries, encyclopedias etc. As they are highly capable, I was soon to discover that they also came at a highly capable price. One girl was doing her best to sell me the latest Casio dictionary for 35,000 yen - far too much! I had decided that as the price was so high, I would not end up buying a dictionary after all. However, I passed a small shop on a side street that was selling the previous generation of Casio dictionaries for only 15,000 yen. Quite a saving and it seems that the only difference is that the latest model has a colour screen. The main drawback to this learning tool seems to be the requirement that you need to be fluent in Japanese to use the thing. Quite a painful process indeed....

Well, a successful trip to Akihabara and a great way to break up the week. Other news......yes! I will be off to Hong Kong in early December to attend the wedding of my brother. Not long until that trip and am really looking to a small break away and seeing the family.

Will try to do another blog soon. Till then, take it easy.