Japan Day 18: Farewell Japan

Wow I can't believe we are leaving!  The trip was a whirlwind and I am definitely ready for a rest but will miss Japan very much.

Eliza and I awoke at the regular time and we went downstairs for another pastry breakfast with my parents and Chieko.

Eliza and I wanted to get something for Chieko so we went to the local grocery store to buy some flowers. While we were there Eliza visited the candy aisle and picked up a huge bag of candy for her friends and family back home.

We hussled back home to deliver our gift and then it was back out the door to the train station. Chieko and my parents walked us there and we had one last group photo before heading on our way. It was sad saying bye to my parents after traveling with them for so long and having such a good time (they are great travel buddies and I'm lucky they are cool to travel with!). However I will he seeing them in less than 2 months so I know it will be quick to see them again!

Eliza and I hopped on a few trains to get to the airport and after a bit of a stressful no-ticket situation on the airport express we made it to the airport on time.

We had enough time for one last curry katsu and hulk float before we were sitting on a plane bound for Taiwan!

Our Japan trip was over, but the unforgettable memories, generosity of our relatives, and friendships made will last a lifetime!

Japan Day 17: Parasite Museum, Tokyo Tower, Ginza, Asakusa, Harajuku, Sumo Dinner

We awoke early from the cushions on  chieko's bedroom floor. This was our last day we had to tour around Tokyo.

We had a nice meal of pastries, coffee, and eggs together in chiekos kitchen before Eliza and I headed out for the day.  We had a packed agenda so we had no daylight to waste!

We started with checking out the parasite museum, something that Eliza had been requesting to see months ago.  Unfortunately I didn't take note of directions to the place and we had no internet access.  However I did remember the are it was in, and after asking a lot of people we made it to our destination!

Inside the museum were a whole bunch of little liquid filled jars with all sorts of weird and creamy looking things preserved inside.  Everything had little descriptions but everything was in Japanese so we were left to our imaginations.

After taking a pic.with a giant tape worm we were off to Tokyo tower!  It was only a few short stops away.

The metro let us out about 1km away from the tower, but we could see it in the distance the whole time as we walked towards it.

When we arrived we bought tickets to head up to the observation deck.  Whe took a glass elevator up and when we arrived we were treated to a nice panorama of the city.

We lingered around for 20 min or so before making our way back down. On the way down we found some kiddie rides.  Picture time!

After pictures we left the building.  We didn't get very fat however because there was a monkey show going on outside. This monkey could do everything! Stilts, handstands, jumping while hand standing, and best of all, slapping its trainer :)

After the show we had lunch for very good prices. 550 yen for a curry rice and soba noodle soup.

Then it was off to the famous Ginza shopping district. When we arrived we went straight to the famed 4 Chrome crossing. The first thing you see in all directions are huge expensive stores. It looks as if they close the road everyday or on weekends because umbrellas and chairs were set up on the road with people sipping their espressos.

It was neat to see but Eliza and I aren't really big shoppers so we headed back to the train and off to Asakusa.

Asakusa has a famous temple and giant tourist trinkets market. Being Saturday it was packed!  So many little stores to buy souvenirs and other neat things. Eliza and I did the majority of our gift shopping here because the prices were reasonable and the stuff was neat.

It was getting late so we sped off to see our last place in Tokyo: Harajuku. It's on the opposite side of town from Asakusa so it took a good 35 min to get there.

It was dark by the time we arrived but that was ok because we got to see all the fancy lights!  We walked up and down the main street through crowds of people and then checked out a side street.

We found ourselves quickly inside a Kiddieland store oogling at all the ghibli and rilakuma toys.

The second floor had equally cool stuff but more focused on an older demographic and much more neat electronic stuff. I could have easily spent lots of money there.

After the toy store we were getting tired so we headed home to Chieko's house for a fantastic home cooked salty sumo hot pot!  Chieko had even bought yuba and sake for me.  It was the perfect meal to cap off our incredible trip to Japan including a nice surprise birthday cake for me. Thanks for the great meal Chieko!

After diner we chatted further and then headed to sleep after getting our bags ready for the flight home the next day.

Japan Day 16: Nikko, Yuba, Chieko's for Diner

We had a leisurely start to the day despite having to wake up for 8am breakfast downstairs in the hotel.  The hotel served a traditional japanese breakfast mostly consisting of a big piece of salmon with rice and other small stuff.  It was probably the biggest breakfast we'd had on the trip since we were used to having a piece of pastry on the go.

that building is the ryoken

After breakfast we got ready and checked out of the ryoken and headed back to the main city of Nikko.  Nikko is a small town known for its beautiful natural forests and old temples.  We left our bags in a coin locker at the train station and took a bus to the temple area.

There are a handful of different temple areas all within walking distance, and each requires a fee to get in.  They are expensive if you go into each and pay separately so you can buy a "combo pass" that lets you get into almost everywhere for only 1000 yen (~$12).  We opted for this route and started checking out the temples.

It must have been another school field trip day because the little coloured hats were invading the space again.  It wasn't so bad in some temples, but in others it made it quite busy!  Eliza and I started to wonder if the kids in Japan actually go to class or if they just tour around the country :P

photographer grimace filling in

I didn't do any research on the area prior so I don't really know too much about the specifics of each temple so I'll let the pictures describe what it looked like:

After seeing the temples we were getting hungry and headed into the restaurant area for some Yuba, a local specialty.  Yuba is the skin on the top of the tofu when you make it.  This skin is then collected and wrapped into a tight roll and soaked in dashi (japanese soup stock base), then the roll is cut into slices like a jelly roll.  The Yuba was delicious and very soft to bite into.  It's a shame that Yuba is a very local thing so it's not easily found anywhere outside Nikko and for sure not found in Canada.

After lunch we started making our way back to the train station.  Along the way we walked past a famous bridge.  It was parked right beside a busy street intersection which took away some of it's magic.  However when you looked at it from a different view across the street, it did look quite beautiful.

Ok, back on the train for our multi-train trip ride back to Chieko's house close to Higashi-Nagasaki on the Seibu-Ikebukuro line.  Chieko wanted to stay home and eat but we insisted to take her out so we went to a great yakitori place (fried chicken on a stick).  Everything on the menu was $3 including large glasses of beer. All the chicken dishes were great and we had a really nice time with Chieko.  She is a really fun person!

After this it was back to her house where she had set up futons for us on the floor.  Eliza and I slept on the floor in her room (she slept downstairs in another room) while my parents stayed in an upstairs tatami room.