Our last day.

We had a late start to the day.  There was no real rush, so we got up, and went across to Segafredo for our last breakfast.  Once back at the room, Kaoru decided she wanted to re-pack the bags, so I put them up on the bed and she shuffled things across the three suitcases.  I had a shower, and finished off a couple of things that needed doing, and thought about how we would spend our last day here.

We checked out of the hotel a bit before 11 (which was check out time), leaving our bags at the hotel, and we caught a train to Todoroki Valley.  This is an area close to Mio’s and Kozue’s house.  It was a short walk from the train station, along which we went to the super market for a drink.  The valley was a little foresty area in the suburban jungle.  A stream ran through the middle of it.  It was a peaceful area, and very picturesque.  We even saw some artists down there painting.

We got to a temple (no surprise there), which we had to walk up several steps to see.  We had a bit of a walk around, and then started the walk back.  We didn’t want to stroll around the suburban area as we would get too far away from the station.  So we started walking back.  There were mosquitoes down here and Kaoru was getting bitten.  We saw a sign pointing to a tomb, so we ascended a truck-load of steps and followed my GPS to get there.  This was not what I had expected.  It was an above ground mound, maybe 50 feet high.  We climbed to the top and there was a description of the person buried there, and his weapons and armour also buried with him.

We managed to find another way back to the train station, so we didn’t need to go back down to the forest.  We caught a train a couple of stops, and then had to do the one thing we had not yet done this trip – sushi train.  We noticed an advertisement for this place on the train ride to Todoroki Valley, and Kaoru managed to find it.  It was only a 5-10 minute walk from the station.

Content that I had now completed all I needed to in this trip, we caught the train back to Shinagawa.  We still had some time to kill so stopped for a cold macha latte at the station.  We got our bags at the hotel and caught the bus from the hotel to the airport.  With 3 suitcases we didn’t bother with the train.

We were at the airport about an hour before check in opened.  So we posted off the wifi hotspot we had rented and passed the time.  We noticed the line was forming – even the business class one!  So we joined that about 15 minutes before check in opened.  Eventually we were able to check in.  Baggage was fine and all got Business Class labels on them.  We went through customs and waited in the business lounge for our flight to be called.

A fantastic holiday.  A bit too much work, unfortunately.  Especially Fitgenes.  But we got to see a few new areas, and the Marikart was an awesome experience!

We had a bit of a sleep in this morning. We met Michael and Leila at 9. They had checked out of the hotel so we had a last breakfast together at the bakery. Kaoru got food from the bakery this time but I stuck with my eggs benedict. Michael and Leila did the same as me.

After brekkie we came back to the hotel and Kaoru showed them a souvenir shop. But then it was time for us to say goodbye. It had been a most enjoyable 2 weeks (almost) and we certainly saw and did a lot.

Kaoru and I went back to our room to brush teeth and have a shower and then we left for our activities for the day. We caught the train to Harajuku and walked to a place Kaoru saw advertised on the tv when we were in sapporo. It was a tea museum.

The tour started with us trying a couple of teas. One was certainly more bitter than the other but they wouldn’t tell us why – that’s what the tour was all about!  We went upstairs and watched a few slides about tea and then listened to a talk. We were able to smell and feel a few different styles of tea. We were told (as far as i could tell through the translation) that all styles of tea come from the same plant, and the difference is in how it is treated – both during growing and processing.

The final part to our tour was a bit more interactive. We made the two teas that we had at the start. The first thing we did was measured a teaspoon of tea leaves in to each of two pots. We then poured hot water in to one of the cups in front of us. After half a minute we poured it from the first cup to the second cup. The instructor felt the second cup a couple of times and when she thought it was the right temperature we poured it in to the pot, waited 30 seconds and then poured it in to the cup. We then poured boiling water in to the cup, straight in to the pot, waited 30 seconds and then poured it back in to the cup. This showed the difference between brewing with 70 degree and 80 degree water. The taste and look were so much different. The lower temperature one was sweeter and clearer. Amazing to experience the difference.

Our last test was pouring hot water in to the cup, straight in to the pot, and straight back out. This had a different colour and taste again, and was probably my favorite, followed by the low temperature one. So all in all it was a very educational morning.

We left and headed towards takeshita street, looking for somewhere for lunch. We looked in a couple of places but it was all so over crowded with long lines. We found a place that sold japanese style spaghetti for lunch, which was delicious. We ordered a bolagnaise and a mixed (with egg, bacon and sesame) and shared them both.

We did a walk down takeshita street and went in to a couple of shops for some last minute items. We then caught the train from Harajuku to Shinjuku to do some more shopping at takashimaya department store. We took longer than expected, which included a tea stop as well. We didn’t get back to the hotel until after 5.

We had a short lay down but couldn’t postpone the inevitable any longer. We put our suitcases on the bed and got them unpacked and then packed properly for the flight home tomorrow. It took us until after 7.30 before we were complete, and we had some spare space and weight allowance so we were pretty happy with that.

We went for dinner above the train station. We saw people eating meet off a hung skewer, like when we went to the meat and wine co in Melbourne. So we were sold by that. It was a nice meal but not enough. We walked around Shinagawa a while and got back to our room, watched tv for a bit and went to bed.

I woke up feeling pretty seedy this morning.  Kaoru went out for coffee and bought me an electrolyte drink and a bun.  About 9.30 I got out of bed and went to Segafredo for some breakfast.  I messaged Kaoru and she joined me there.  We then went back to the room so I could have a shower.

Michael and Leila messaged saying they were going to Segafredo now.  So once we were organised we went over and joined them.  They both looked pretty tired too.

First job of the day was to go to the Shinkansen ticket office and arrange Michael and Leila’s tickets for the next part of their trip.  They could do it, as the ticket office speaks English, but it’s so much easier when Kaoru does.  It didn’t take long at all to arrange.  We then went upstairs and had an iced tea to decide on the rest of the day.

Plan A was that we were going to go to Shibuya and watch the AFL grand final, as Michael is a Richmond fan, and this is their first grand final in 35 years.  But then yesterday Gary had sent me a link about a sake festival and Michael was happy to miss the game to do that instead.  But this was all before a big night last night, and now we didn’t really feel like drinking all day.  So we came up with Plan C, which was to go to Ginza.

I needed a massage as I was quite sore.  I don’t think the pillow was very good at the hotel.  The others were all OK, so they weren’t interested, but Kaoru took me in to the place in Ginza to see when I could be done.  I couldn’t get in for 70 minutes though, so we made a booking, and then wandered around Ginza for a while.  At first we weren’t sure if Michael and Leila had been to Ginza before, but parts looked familiar once we were there.  We went to a few stores, got a bite to eat, showed Michael and Leila where the station was, and then Kaoru took me to the massage.  She was able to get one as well, which was great!

After the massage Kaoru had some shopping to do, so I went back to the hotel by myself.  I caught up on my blog, and then it was time to go to Mio’s. I bought a vitamin b drink on the way as i was going to need all the help I could get! We caught the train and walked from the station. My blisters were starting to really get sore.

Kozue, Kenichi and Minami were already there, as was Tomoko (a friend of Mio’s who I have met on a few occasions in the past), and another couple – he was a kiwi but has been living in Japan for 21 years so speaks fluent japanese, and she is japanese. They have 3 kids but they didn’t come.

After saying hello and exchanging gifts we made a start on the feast Mio had organized. At one stage Yoichi had to duck out to pick Arisa up from juku but after that he was allowed to start drinking. His birthday is tomorrow so a part of tonight is to celebrate that. And this was done in usual Mio’s bar form, by opening a bottle of vintage Dom Perignon. It was delicious. We also went through a bottle of Ichiros Malt (one which Mio had bought back in march) and put a dint in another bottle. We gave Yoichi his birthday present – a bottle of Hennessey XO, which is the expensive one he likes. We can never repay them for all they do for us so a good bottle that he appreciates is justified.

At around midnight we thought it was time to leave. I was getting a (dangerous) second wind, and Michael and Leila were struggling to stay awake. So we called a taxi to take us back home.