My company has put me up in a service apartment in the Bunkyo ward at Yushima ni-chome (2nd section) called Elite-Inn Shimizuzaka. The nearest metro exit would be the Yushima exit on the Chiyoda line (See the vicinity map, although it may not make sense to you if you have not been in Tokyo). This fits me just nice as the Chiyoda line also brings me to where I work at Otemachi, just 2 stops away.
Now of all place Bunkyo ward is most well known to have the most slopes in Tokyo! They even have names for the slopes here, like ghost slope and good luck slope, according to Wikipedia.
Towards the north-east is Ueno, where I can buy souvenir Japanese desserts and food at the Matsuzakaya. That area also houses the Ameyoko bazaar, quite down to earth, a bit different from the upmarket Shinjuku area. It reminds me of Shi Lin Night market in Taiwan. This place is certain worth a visit.
Towards the south-east is Akihabara, the place to buy electronics goods at a relative good price. However, most of the stuff you buy are in Japanese and most don’t come with English manual. However, LaOX discount store caters to also the English speaking foreigners and provides description in English. Some of the goods also comes with English manual, although not a lot. You have to check with the staff there.
And to the west, you have the Dome city and La Qua. Basically that area is just a stadium for baseball and an amusement, with food, of course. Not a bad idea, we could have done this for National Stadium too… wait we used to have Leisure Dome at National Stadium, but it closed. If they want to make it successful, they must make the ride exciting enough. The main attraction at La Qua is the roller coaster rides which runs around shopping complex. Its a high rise to the top and has an almost vertical drop.
The first two places is reachable by foot, but Dome City and La Qua is better by train and its only 1 stop. Actually if you really want to walk its still possible.
My main complain is that lack of a proper open space (precious) around me. They do have a small garden, but its mostly a kid’s playground and the soil is quite slippery. But I guess that if I really want to do my tai chi practice that’s the best I can find. Also I can forget about doing it during winter, unless I am very sure my chi will protect me from dying in the cold!
About 5 – 10 mins walk is a public gym and indoor swimming pool. Its a 25 meters pool (I think) and the gym is like your old community center type non-aircon gym. Of course, I can opt of the better gym like Tipness, but they are not cheap and I don’t know how often I will use them. I have not used any of those facilities yet, as all the signs are in Japanese (duh!) and I need ask the front desk manager about using it. The entrance fees is about 480 yen per entry.
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