We woke up early to try and change our tickets to Shiga, only to find out that the earlier trains were all full. So we went ahead with Plan B and went to Asakusa instead, to visit the famous Sensoji Temple. Located by just a 5 minutes walk from Asakusa Station, it was pretty quiet when we were there. Probably because it was just past 7 in the morning? >.< 
Kaminarimon, the outer gate
Kaminarimon, the outer gate
Along Nakamise, the shopping street If we were there any later, I'm pretty sure we won't be able to see the ground in the picture. It would be filled with people, no doubt and taking a picture would probably be a battle! I'm so glad we got here early!! The only downside to this was that none of the shops were open. But it was something that I didn't mind. So make your own choice - early to enjoy the temple and it's quietness, or shop with hundreds other people and not 'feel' the temple.
Hozomon, the main gate 
5 storey Pagoda in temple grounds Sensoji Temple is built dedicated to Goddess of Mercy, also known as Guan Yin in Chinese in 645 making it the oldest temple in Tokyo. The temple is a hot spot among tourist, receiving thousands of tourist every week. *When we walked past the temple at about 10am, the place was flooded with tourist!* There is no entry fees to enter the temple and you basically walk through the first gate, then along Nakamise street before reaching the Hozomon gate. The main hall is located just after this, and was pretty quiet when we got there which was great as it allowed us to take in the quiet comfortable setting.
After Sensoji, we went over to Starbucks which was a little further down the road to have the caffeine fix. This was the first (and only) Starbucks that I felt made proper coffee. One that I can actually taste the caffeine. Anyway, given the cold morning, any hot drink was welcomed and we spent some time there since most shops weren't open yet.
As we still had a fair bit of time before we're due back at the hotel to check out and catch the bullet train from Ueno, we decided to tour around in Asakusa. We wanted to see a particular memorial there, but ended up detour-ing to a temple on our way there, which wasn't a bad thing as the memorial wasn't open to public that day. The temple that we visited was (I think), one of the branches of the Higashi Hoganji temples in Japan. Really pretty on the inside, but they were having some restoration/renovation works done in the gardens hence the lack of photos (plus my hands were too occupied with the takeaway coffee :P) .
Temple's interior
We didn't spend that much longer in the area after that as we needed to get back to Ueno in time to catch the train to Shiga. But when we walked past the temple again, it was a lot more lively than we were there before. It was as if it was a different place. There were many tourists, the rickshaws, the vendors, the photographers... it was just packed. Quite interesting to watch from afar :).
After Sensoji, we went over to Starbucks which was a little further down the road to have the caffeine fix. This was the first (and only) Starbucks that I felt made proper coffee. One that I can actually taste the caffeine. Anyway, given the cold morning, any hot drink was welcomed and we spent some time there since most shops weren't open yet.
As we still had a fair bit of time before we're due back at the hotel to check out and catch the bullet train from Ueno, we decided to tour around in Asakusa. We wanted to see a particular memorial there, but ended up detour-ing to a temple on our way there, which wasn't a bad thing as the memorial wasn't open to public that day. The temple that we visited was (I think), one of the branches of the Higashi Hoganji temples in Japan. Really pretty on the inside, but they were having some restoration/renovation works done in the gardens hence the lack of photos (plus my hands were too occupied with the takeaway coffee :P) .
Temple's interior We didn't spend that much longer in the area after that as we needed to get back to Ueno in time to catch the train to Shiga. But when we walked past the temple again, it was a lot more lively than we were there before. It was as if it was a different place. There were many tourists, the rickshaws, the vendors, the photographers... it was just packed. Quite interesting to watch from afar :).
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