When I woke up, I dealt with some work issues, and then Kaoru and I went to Tully’s for breakfast. Then the two of us went to Uniqlo to do some shopping – they had a sale that starts today, and also if you spend ~AU$100 you get a free thermos. And of course it’s duty free shopping. So I stocked up on clothes, as did Kaoru.
On our way back to the room we bumped in to Paul and Lyn at the Apple Pie shop, where they had enjoyed breakfast. I was having food envy! But we then returned to our room to get things packed and ready for the day. We met down in the lobby about 11.15 to check out (we had late checkout – 12.00! As Kaoru joined their membership program) with all our bags, and the 4 of us made our way to the train station. There we saw “The Royal Express” train. Apparently this train costs about AU$4K for a 3 day journey. Yeah, nah….
We caught a train from Yokohama to Shinagawa, which was absolutely packed. With our bags we were standing in the corner of the train, which was a bit of a trick, particularly for Lyn. At Shinagawa we made our way to the Prince Hotel, Annex Tower – a walk we knew all too well. They had done a lot of renovations in the lobby – however the structure was still the same, and it reminded me of the first day I met Kaoru.
Our intention was to drop our bags, but because Kaoru was a member, we were allowed to check in immediately – both rooms! So that was great, as it was only 12.15. We went up to our rooms to drop our bags off – we had adjacent rooms, but nothing as extravagant as what we had been in the last few nights. And it was more expensive, but that’s the price of Tokyo. We then went back to the station, and found somewhere for lunch – beer and a burger will do just fine today, thank you very much.
We wandered around the shops in the train station, which Lyn thoroughly enjoyed. It took us quite a while to get to the platform, and board the train to Harajuku. From there we made the journey through Takeshita street, which was as crowded as ever. We stopped at the Daiso for some shopping, and looked in a few other souvenier shops. Then it was off to Togo shrine (our wedding place) for the customary walk around and pray.
We went back to Takashita street, and bought crepes – the reminder of Kaoru’s childhood.
Then we made our way back to Harajuku station, and to the cafe above the station which we had found when we were here late last year. After a macha latte for me, a coffee for Paul and Lyn, and an iced tea for Kaoru, we decided against doing Meiji Jingu shrine, as Paul and Lyn had already done that, and we made our way to Yoyogi park where there was a night market / festival on. We made our way through that – I bought a “David Hazy IPA” but they served me a porter! I queried it and they insisted it was the the Hazy – obviously people who had no idea.
At the other end, we were in Shibuya, so we went to the Shibuya scramble, and up to the Starbucks to get a photo / video of the crossing – because no trip to Japan is complete without seeing it!
After a bit more of a wander through Shibuya, we made our way to dinner at Shibuya Yokocho, where we enjoyed a beer and some food, as well as a good sit down after all our walking! Next we did the scramble and went to the station, for another food court where Lyn bought some food. Then a short trip to Hotanda, to give the “Far East Brewing Company” a try.
They only had 12 beers on tap – not 22. And no decent hazy. The beers actually came out flat. There was a “wine by the glass” which Lyn had, but we only stayed for one drink. Then it was back to the train station, and we returned to Shinagawa. But instead of going to the hotel, we went to the Queens Iseten food court and bought some food and drink. Because it was end of the day, a number of things were on sale, but it wasn’t as good as other times we have shopped there.
Finally we made our way back to the hotel, and called it a night.