After having breakfast at Hundred Stay, we headed to Ueno. Having “mastered” the railway system in Tokyo, it only took us 30 minutes from Okubo using the Japan Rail, better known as the JR. Unlike the subways, we were able to see both commercial and residential areas of Tokyo from these above ground trains.

Once we arrived to at Ueno, we made our way to Ueno Park where there were several museums and more importantly a zoo! To be honest, we weren’t expecting much, especially because the entrance fee was only 500 yen, but we were both surprised at how much fun we had. We started with the giant panda (which were just adorable as always), moved on to the lions, giraffes, elephants, terrarium, and even a petting zoo.

Although we wanted to see the all the animals, we were getting hungry and decided to move onto the museums. There were a number of carts offering simple Japanese foods and snacks. We got a little adventurous, and bought a couple of dishes. Very good!

There are a few museums in Ueno Park, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Nature and Science, and the National Museum of Western Art. We decided with to go to the Tokyo National Museum. It seems like they change exhibitions throughout the year, but we were in luck since they were having an exhibition on traditional Japanese prints.

After seeing the Japanese prints, we headed to Ameya-Yokocho, better known as Ameyoko. Again, we were surprised at how different every part of Tokyo was. Ameyoko was filled with small stores down alleys. We sent 30 minutes buying snacks and souvenirs, and another 30 minutes just watching the people there.

Since we were exhausted, yet again; we went back to Okubo. Although we were planning on eating more Japanese food, we were lured by the amazing smell of korean BBQ. Okubo is known as a Koreatown, with many Korean restaurants and stores. We had the all you can eat and drink course, which was relatively cheap for the quality. Fully stuffed, we could only crawl back to the hotel and got some much needed sleep.