Sayonara
Wednesday February 8, 2017
As I make my way to Narita Airport, I'm well and truly satisfied with my time here in Tokyo. I've had such a good time despite not knowing the local language, and I will definitely be returning some day to explore the rest of this beautiful country.
I covered a lot of things in my time here. On Sunday I was ahead of schedule so I decided to check out Tokyo Tower and Tsukiji Fish Market. My feet were still tired from all the walking so it was good to take it easy. At night, I remembered that I needed to book tickets for the Square Enix Cafe, so I enlisted Amy's help to navigate the website. It took a while and a bit of back and forth, but I ended up having to go to a Lawsons store to print out and pay for my ticket. What a hassle this turned into - there were no English instructions, I didn't know which numbers to put where, and I ended up having to ask the store clerk for help. He asked me to write my name down so that he could translate it to enter into the machine and FINALLY I got my ticket.
Amy had also given me a recommendation from a food blog for this place in Shibuya, but there when I arrived, the alley was dark and deserted, and there was no signage. I thought to myself this will be an adventure in itself, so I went in and enjoyed a very good and satisfying meal.
On Monday, I covered Akihabara, Ueno, Senso-ji and Tokyo Sky Tree, getting myself a Senor Don Gato plushie from a claw machine in Akihabara and a Pikachu in Mega Gardevoir hoodie from the Pokemon Center. I think this would have been my favourite day, just because of all the excitement of the arcades and the Pokemon Center. There were so many soft toys and figurines around, some massive models of Solgaleo and Lunala, the Sun and Moon mascots, as well as the three starters, Rowlett, Litten and Popplio. A special limited time Pikachu with Alolan Vulpix hoodie and Pikachu with Regular Vulpix hoodie were also available, but sadly I didn't have enough luggage space to buy everything I wanted.
I spent the late afternoon and early evening at the Tokyo Skytree, watching the sun set over Mt Fuji in the west. The expanse of buildings is phenomenal and watching the city lights slowly flicker on as night fell was magical. I had a tempura dinner back at Akihabara and then it was home for the night.
Yesterday I spent at Tokyo Disney Sea. Though the sun was out, it was rather blustery, making the day quite cold indeed. It meant that queuing outside for various attractions very unpleasant and it also meant that the final show, Fantasmic, had to be cancelled midway through. I did manage to go on Journey to the Center of the Earth, Indiana Jones, Tower of Terror, Raging Spirits and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with my only regret being the Raging Spirits rollercoaster. All in all, it wasn't too bad, just a bit sad that the day had to end with that cancellation.
This morning I was up bright and early to check out of the hotel and make my way back to Akihabara to go to the Square Enix Cafe right in the middle of Tokyo rush hour. After all the hassle of getting that ticket, I was determined to enjoy my time there and treated myself to a Moscow Mule cocktail and some snacks upon arriving. It was okay I guess, the food was nice and the merchandise was cool, but mostly focused around Final Fantasy XV.
Final thoughts: it would have been nice to know some basic Japanese or at least travel with someone who does. I managed to survive fine but probably missed a few things, especially food. The Japanese are very polite and orderly, and they are very advanced in some things, but other things, like e-commerce, are still lacking. There are vending machines everywhere but no rubbish bins. They really like queuing here. I need to come back with someone so I can go to karaoke.
Posted by Jeremy at 4:34am on Wednesday February 8, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 