Going Back to Asakusa

I couldn't think of any good places to go for a quick photo walk, and since I woke up late anyway, I just decided to revisit Asakusa.

Since Asakusa is one of those places in Tokyo that has been so widely photographed you can just get any photo on the internet and call it your own, I wanted to shoot it from a different perspective, focusing on composition more than anything else. I wanted to shoot interesting photos that would elicit any reaction from the viewers besides, "Oh, that's in Asakusa." within a second of seeing them. I think I succeeded to a very satisfying extent. (^-^)v

Here are some of my shots. You can view more of them here.

If I have to pick 2 of my best and favorite shots in the set, I'd have to say that these make the cut.

For the first one, I like it since it captures some of the essence of Asakusa in a very minimalistic photo - the bright red round edge suggesting the big lanterns at the gates and the sake barrels in the background.

For the second one, I like it because it suggests that even though Asakusa has become a point-shoot-and-run tourist destination, for some, it might still remain a revered place of worship.

Of course, we didn't just go there to take photos; we also went there to enjoy the food in the various stalls lining the pathway to the temple. Clockwise from the top left, Marvin and I tried kibidango (sweet millet cakes), sweet potato ice cream burger (which is nothing more than ice cream sandwiched by thin wafers), and agemanju or fried rice cakes with red bean filling. We thought about trying the octopus, but wimped out in the end.

To end the day, we headed back to Kinshicho and to one of our favorite food stops - Shabu-Shabu at Onyasai! Forgive the underexposed photo, but I kind of like its dramatic effect haha!