Exploring Yokohama Chinatown @ Yokohama, Japan

Yokohama's Chinatown is the largest in Japan and open since 1859. It is touristy, but there are plenty of Chinese grocery shops and food to try on. You can enjoy various Chinese cuisines, mainly Cantonese but also Beijing, Shanghai, and Szechuan dishes, while you may also want to buy some ingredients or goods. The main gate is unique and you may want to see it. With the opening of the Minatomirai Line railway, its easier to get to Chinatown directly at the Motomachi-Chūkagai Station.


Entrance to Chinatown.

Minatomirai Chukagai station.

Antique store.


George and Kawpie clothing store. Mostly selling light winter clothing and shirts.

Souvenir store.


Traditional souvenir items with Thai theme.

This shop selling many kinds of steamed buns.



Not sure what flavour of bun no 2, I decided to try it.


The bun is just ordinary. Its pork with some crab meat and preserved vegetables.

Typical chinese food restaurant.

Surprisingly, there are many restaurants here selling shark fin.

Ma Zhu Miao temple.

Colourful Sensoji Temple @ Asakusa, Tokyo

Sensoji temple also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. This is one of the most popular tourist attraction spot in Tokyo. The distinctive red colour temple with its unique architecture does offers scenery and cultural elements. It is one of Tokyo's most colorful and popular temples. Sensoji temple was completed in 645 and it is Tokyo's oldest temple. The temple was built to honor Kannon, the goddess of mercy.

If you come to the temple using Tokyo subway, you will enter via the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate) which is the outer gate of Sensoji temple. There is a long shopping street called Nakamise which leads from the outer gate to the temple's second gate which is called Hozomon. You can easily get Japanese souvenir from Nakamise street. There are many typical Japanese items on the shops such as snacks, masks, sweets, folding fans, toys and sinbei. For your information, this temple is very touristic and quite crowded during the day.


Sensoji temple quite crowded especially during weekend as this is a famous tourist attraction in Tokyo.

Entrance to temple compound via Kaminarimon or Thunder gate.

Very busy shopping street of Nakamise.

Shop selling Japanese sandals.

Wow, its so crowded and pack during weekend.

This woman selling rice sweet dumplings which is also known as dango.

Rice sweet dumplings covered in grind peanut.

Try the crispy rice cracker sinbei. The rice crackers was grilled on the spot and flavored with soy sauce.

My super crispy sinbei. But this is very expensive at 100 Yen per piece.

Many types of rice crackers.

Colourful masks

Many lanterns similar to the Sensoji temple.

This is really a famous shopping street with many international visitors.

visitors able to purchase good quality of kimono and yakuta here.

Very cute cakes and biscuit. Its too cute to eat it.

Tokyo Skytree tower is within walking distance from Asakusa.

Reached the second gate.

Place to wash hand before entering Sensoji temple.

You may write notes for the temple.

GPS/Coordinate: 35.714752, 139.796676
Entrance fee: Free
Opening hours: 6.00am to 5.00pm.
Public transport: Asakusa station. You can reach Asakusa station via JR Yamanote Line to Kanda Station then transfer to Ginza Subway line for Asakusa. OR Take JR Chuo Line to Kanda Station and switch to Ginza Subway line for Asakusa.

Balmy street murals: Human rights message thru art @ San Francisco, USA

Balmy street murals located in the Mission District of San Francisco offers a virtual outdoor art gallery featuring colourful murals featuring expression of outrage over human rights and political abuse in central America. There were also a few murals featuring themes such as gentrification and Hurricane Katrina. This place is more of San Francisco local flavour and off the beaten path. You don't see it gets crowded like other tourist attraction areas. The alley is best viewed on foot either by yourself or on a guided tour from Precita Eyes Mural Arts. Entrance to the street to view the murals are free and you can learn the local culture as well.


Mural human rights. Most murals here focusing Hispanic and Latin American.

This is a mural on gentrification.

The whole Balmy street filled with murals carrying powerful messages.

Amazing food models @ Kappabashi Street, Tokyo

Kappabashi Street also known as kitchen town is a shopping street between Ueno and Asakusa. It have many shops selling everything needed by restaurant operators such as dishes, pots, pans, cooking utensils, stoves, tables, chairs, signs, lanterns and more. There are also a few stores which sell plastic and wax food samples, used by many restaurants in their show windows. If you ever visit to Japan, you will be amazed that most of the restaurant that you visit in Japan have food models outside their shops. For those who can't speak Japanese, these food models are very helpful when comes to food ordering. One can just come outside and point to the waiter on which food item that you would like to have. Not many tourist come here as mostly think this place only selling kitchen utensils. However, I am interested to know the kind of food models which are available in the shops here. Initially, I thought I can buy some of the food models as collection or souvenir. But when I saw, the price, I was shock of how expensive those food models are. By purchasing one of those actual size food models, I can actually have the real food 6 times!


Reached kappabashi kitchen town. I made a mistake of visiting this place on sunday which many shops closed. However, I was still lucky to be able to find some good shops still open.

Variety of tonkatsu. Don't visit here if you are hungry :-) You can't eat the plastic models.

Beautiful Hagia Sophia @ Istanbul, Turkey

Hagia Sophia is a holy place which during the history of the building it was a church and a mosque. The architecture are impressive. Now it is converted to a museum. Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture. Its interior is decorated with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings of great artistic value. You can learn about the historical event by visiting here. I went there in the evening on weekday during month of December and the queue was short. The ticket cost 25 Turkish Lira. Hagia Sophia is just 5 minutes walk and easily accessible from Istanbul Tram Sultanahmet station.


Huge number of visitors in Hagia Sophia. The left section of the museum were closed for restoration work. Hagia Sophia is the second most visited museum in Turkey after Topkapi Palace.

Medallions and pendant chandeliers.

Interior view of the Hagia Sophia, showing Islamic elements.

Apse mosaic of the Theotokos (Virgin Mother and Child).

An artistic meeting of Christianity and Islam in the Hagia Sophia.

The architecture are huge and amazing.

Islamic elements on the dome.

Interior dome.

Walking thru building tunnel to second floor.


Hagia Sophia interior view from second floor.


The Deësis mosaic. This mosaic depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child, who holds a scroll and makes the sign of benediction.

Another unique mosaic in the museum.

GPS/Coordinate: 41.008559, 28.980164
Address: Ayasofya Square, Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey
Public transport: Sultanahmet Istanbul Tram station.