TOKYO—You won’t visit Akihabara when you are here, it’s like going to New York City without walking on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, if not lazing by a leafy glade at NYC’s Central Park not far from where John Lennon was felled by a madman’s bullet by the gates of North Dakota mansion.
Skipping Akihabara is also like bypassing May’s Organic Garden in Pahanocoy when in Bacolod City; this mini paradise of flora and fauna has become a must-visit, especially to organic buffs like Bert Bravo and me.
Simply, it’s a crime not dropping by Akihabara, Japan’s electronics capital. It is also like climbing up to Baguio and not having a bite at historic Hill Station, or grabbing a raisin bread at Baguio Country Club. A mortal sin, indeed.
And so it is that almost each time I cover the biennial Tokyo Motor Show beginning in 1993—the last nine editions as guest of Toyota Motor Philippines—there is in the itinerary a whole-day binge at Akihabara.
Over there, you will see everything, anything, about electronics—literally. Include cameras, watches, and practically all gadgets, not to mention thingamajig and bric-a-brac and what have you. It’s not just a one-stop shop, it is also a one-stop wonder—a magical place for people eager to explore everything seen, available, under the sun, especially the kind that Steve Jobs had technologically revolutionized.
To be sure, I didn’t only buy the usual pasalubongs like I-pads, tablets, head phones or cameras. Buys at Akihabara always come at a steal. For example, a Casio G-Shock costs P3,000 cheaper each than Manila’s offerings.
But in a famous shop at Akihabara called Yodobashi, an imposing 12-storey panorama of all kinds of electronic buys at dizzyingly amazing bargains, I bumped into a Filipino dude hunting for a Rolex watch.
I ushered him to the fourth floor. He was very thankful.
“In that floor, virtually all kinds of branded watches are available,” I said to him.
When he learned that I was a sportswriter, he asked: “Does Manny Pacquiao wear a Rolex watch?”
“I am not sure but let me make a guess,” I said. “I think he does. With his billions, the most expensive, diamond-studded Rolex would just be a mere drop in the bucket for Manny.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I trust your instinct. Excuse me while I buy one for myself.”
(alsol47@yahoo.com)