We woke up early (surprise, surprise) and I said Tanjoubi Omedetou to Kaoru. I then went for the morning walk with Ottosan and Okaasan, this time it was *me* ringing the bell to scare away the bears. I tried another conversation with Ottosan – telling him about David’s new 4wd and that we would be taking it camping when I get back. The air was fresh, the sky was blue – couldn’t ask for a better start to the day!

Back at the house, Okaasan made breakfast – pizza toast. The another piece of toast with honey on it (which Kaoru had given them, from Beechworth). It was already half empty! Then it was time to get our bags packed (we took it slowly), and we left the house (after taking our usual photo) about 8.30.

There was already a bit of traffic on the road – since it was such a lovely weekend lots of people were coming up from Tokyo. That’s part of why we were leaving so early – so Okaasan and Ottosan can get back hopefully before the traffic gets *too* bad. We said goodbye at Kuoriso station and boarded our train, which was already at the platform (it gets there early as it’s the start of the line). We left on time (of course) at 9.15 to Nasushiobara, where we were able to leave the station and do a bit of shopping, before going back in and getting on the Shinkansen. Again, we didn’t have reserved seats, but we were able to get a row of 3, so our suitcase fit there. After a stop or two the train got quite full, but luckily we didn’t have to move our bags.

Once at Tokyo station we did a bit of shopping at Uniqlo, and then went to Suidobashi station, and went to our hotel (Richmond Hotel). It was about 12.00, so we weren’t able to check in, but we left our bags at the desk and then went next door (conveniently) to Don Quoite, where I wanted to buy a new suitcase. It’s so hard picking one the right size, that isn’t too large for domestic flying. And I also wanted one that my fins will fit in, for scuba diving. Ultimately I had to get one that wouldn’t hold the fins, but it seemed like a good case, and a decent price.

That actually took longer than expected (we looked around the shop at other things, too), so it was now a few minutes before 2.00. So we checked in to our room, grabbed a few things, and then wandered across the road to Tokyo Dome, for our first baseball game! We were there to see the Tokyo Giants vs the Yokohama DeNA Bay Stars. We signed up to be “Giants” members, and got a free orange towel as a momento. Once inside we grabbed some food (it was quite a late lunch) – some takoyaki and a tuna don bouri – and found our seats. I called one of the “beer girls” over – they were everywhere – and ordered a beer. We then ate our lunch and enjoyed the game. It was already bottom of the 3rd, and a 3-3 draw. There was some interesting entertainment between some of the innings, include a rice race

Leaving after the game felt like it was going to be near impossible. We all had to go through a one-person-at-a-time revolving door. They only had 4 of them operating. Somehow it actually flowed quite well, and eventually we were outside the ground.

We returned to our hotel, and I went to the front desk to ask if they could call “our restaurant” in Fujisawa. Since it was closed last time we were there, we didn’t want to go all the way and not be able to eat there. The receptionist called them, and they answered, but unfortunately were full. I’m sure they would have made room for us once we walked in, but given they were full, it meant there would probably be smokers there, so we gave it a miss. Instead we wandered around the area looking for somewhere local. There were lots of Chinese restaurants, but eventually we managed to find an Izakaya. There weren’t any japanese working there though. In fact the whole area seems to be a gaijin area. But we enjoyed Kaoru’s birthday dinner, even though it wasn’t as good as we had wanted.

We wandered around, since we over-ate again, and found a supermarket where we did some tax free shopping. I had left my passport behind, and they didn’t seem to know how to do it for people on Japanese passports, even though Kaoru gave them the piece of paper she had to pay to get from her local council area. Eventually they got it sorted, and we returned to the room for a bath and bed.