Ameya-Yokocho: The Last Black Market

Mention "Ueno" and, more often than not, tourists would instantly think of Ueno Park and Ueno Zoo. But not a lot of people know about the last black market in Tokyo: Ameyayokocho.


"Ame" is short for "America", and the market was originally for selling American army goods after the second world war. Now, Ameyayokocho-- or Ameyokocho for short-- has opened up to an entire range of great bargains.

Japanese locals are usually very quiet and space-conscious, so it was a nice cultural icebreaker exploring a rowdy, crowded place where you can get good deals for clothes, shoes, souvenirs, street food and fresh sea goodies (a bag of maybe 6 big pieces of juicy salmon costs only 500 Japanese Yen). My eyes were wide open as I walked from stall to stall. I was especially impressed to see fruits on sticks (for at least 100 Japanese yen) as street food. I also had the best matcha ice cream to date. Of course, I tried eating as much as my pocket could handle it. Some vendors even made efforts to speak in Filipino! How refreshing.

The market is open daily from around 10:00am to 8:00pm. Try not to go on a Wednesday as a lot of the shops are closed during that day. Getting there, just take the Ueno Park exit (signs are very easy to read as this is a popular tourist area) and just look for the "Ameyayokocho" arch (you can refer to the first photo of this post).

Central Perk in China

If you've watched even just a couple of episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. then Central Perk is going to ring some bells! Obviously, the TV series was filmed in NYC, but if you happen to be in Beijing, China, you might want to visit a quaint, little replica of the famous cafe.



The owner did a pretty good job in copying the original and it's got the F.R.I.E.N.D.S. vibe all over the place, with framed photos of the cast on the brick walls, cupcakes named after the characters, a guitar to release your inner Phoebe and even a cat called-- you guessed it-- Smelly Cat.