The conclusion - pictures to come

Thursday.
Thursday was the first day that I had a proper guide (sorry Brian) since Tamie had left for China. Tamie’s dad spent the day with Brian and I, showing us the sights. The day started off quite early with a train ride out to the middle of nowhere, where we met up with Tamie’s dad to grab the bullet train (Shinkansen) back into Tokyo. While it took us an hour and a half to get out there, it was less than an hour to get back into Tokyo, and we started 40 minutes outside of Tokyo, so it was much faster. The train was awesome, and far roomier than any other mode of travel I’ve used, other than a limo. When we arrived at Tokyo Station, we wandered around the platforms taking pictures of the different types of Shinkansen trains as there is apparently more than one. They even have a double decker…it was neat.

After that, it was off to a giant bookstore to pick up a guide book and some postcards for me. A big thanks to Mr. Akimori-san for that. Then off to the Imperial Palace for a quick tour (most of it is closed to the public) and some pictures. Since there isn’t all that much to see at the Palace, we grabbed a cab to the train station, stopping off at the Diet buildings (their Parliament buildings) for some pictures. After quick train trip to Kudanshita (I think, I kinda forget which stations we stopped at), we stopped for a traditional Japanese bento lunch. Or something like a bento lunch…I think bento implies takeout. It was pretty good, although I must admit that I’m not a fan of tofu. Then it was off to Yasukuni shrine, a memorial to all of Japan’s war dead. More pictures, a brief stop at a museum, then off to Asakusa.

Asakusa is a really cool place in Tokyo…there is a large shrine there, but leading up to the shrine is a market street lined with stalls where you can get all sorts of traditional (and not so traditional) Japanese gifts. Again, Mr. Akimori-san was far too generous, and picked up another gift for me. Man, I swear I’ve got to send him half of Ontario to show my appreciation for the time he show me. We wandered around the area for a while, taking lots of pictures and seeing cool things before deciding to call it a night. Rather than just take the train back to Shinjuku, we hopped on a water bus and got a new view of Tokyo. Only problem was the boat was designed for Japanese people…I hit my shoulders on the roof when I stood up straight. At the station, Brian and I parted ways with Mr. Akimori, as we were heading back to Akihabara to find me a maid café.

Getting off at the station, it was promising when there were half a dozen maids passing out flyers outside. We asked for a picture with a group of three, but were quickly informed that had we tried, we would be cuffed and arrested. Either that or they wanted us to handcuff them…I hope we interpreted correctly. After that disappointment, we headed off in search of the maid café from earlier in the week. Problem with finding it is that we didn’t really remember where it was. After about 20 minutes of wandering, we found the place, but to my disappointment, the cute English speaking girl wasn’t working. So we hurried through our drinks and took off, as being ignored wasn’t the experience I was looking for. We then decided to ask all the girls in the street to see if we could find one where they do speak English. Ten minutes later, we discovered how anti-English the maid cafés really are…not a single one spoke English, and all seemed very pleased when we left.

To put this disappointment behind us, I decided that tonight would be the night that I finally try sake, so after a dinner at an Izakaya (Japanese-style bar…we had to take our shoes off), we headed back over to Brian’s usual haunt, Cathy and Edwards. Exxon guy was there when we got there, and I was informed that we would be getting a special sake treat, care of him. He had picked up a bottle of high end sake from a friend, and had given it to the bartender to take care of. Both Brian and I ended up getting two free drinks that evening, which in a normal place would have cost around $40 a glass. Pretty sweet deal, and the sake was awesome. Too bad I’ll never find any near as good in Canada.

All in all, a fantastic day, and a big thank you to Tamie’s dad for being our guide.

Friday.
Friday was a Kevin goes exploring on his own day, as Brian had to go back to work. Up at 9:30, a quick shower, and out the door I go. I decided to check out the beach on my last day in Japan, so it was down to the train station for an adventure. Thankfully all the stars aligned, and I pretty much just had to catch the first train at every station to get where I was going…I swear, it worked out perfectly. If only the weather had been nicer…it cooled off in a hurry in the afternoon. Anywho, I got to the right station easily enough, and then made my way towards the beach by following anyone carrying a surfboard. Worked like a charm. This is where Brian goes surfing, and the waves were pretty good in my opinion, although it was a windy day, so they might have been a bit larger than normal.

Walked down the beach a bit, then walked out to Oceania Island, which is a nice nature preserve and tourist trap rolled into one. A lot of eagles flying around, riding the thermals, and I got one or two nice pictures. Wish I had more optical zoom, though, as the pics could still be better. Up and down the island I walked (a lot of hills and stairs), and I even got to take some pictures from atop a tower on the island…an awesome view, but it was a bit cloudy and hazy, so I’m sure it could have been better. Still, well worth the $5. By this time it’s around 3:30, so I head back towards the beach, stop off at Denny’s for lunch (much different from North America), and give Brian a call to see what the plans for the evening are.

I’m pretty much beached out, and it’s getting cold (at least for the t-shirt I’m in), so we decide to meet up at Machida (station by Brian’s place with a lot of shops) for dinner. A bit of wandering around the area leads us to a mall for dinner. Good times were had by all, although I should have tried harder to pick up the waitress, even if just for funniness factor. We headed back to Shin-Yurigaoka to find a bar, and hit two places. The first was a total sausage party, so we didn’t stay too long, then it was off to the second place where there were at least some women. One of them even spoke English and tried to help us order (the bartender was trying to ditch us). Unfortunately, she turned down my offer to join us . Oh well.

Back to Brian’s where I finished packing and burned a DVD with all of the pictures that both Brian and I took, and it was off to bed. After all, I had to be on the 8AM bus in the morning, so I needed my sleep. I was woken up during the night by an earthquake though, just to make my experience complete.

Saturday.
Up at 7:30, a quick shower, and out the door. Said my goodbyes to Brian, caught the bus with plenty of time, and had no problems at the airport (thankfully). All in all, a great trip, and I can’t wait to go back, whenever that may be.