Japantics

So, I am pleased to announce the published version of my Japanese trip, just moments after my return to New Zealand.

No, really, excuse the tardiness. Hopefully I can recall the trip adequately enough to do the reading of this justice.

Alex and I had our trip to Japan planned for a couple of years. We did the Northland-in-a-Campervan thing to afford this 'big trip' the year after. Usually, we would go during the expensive and busy Christmas holidays, but Alex had been invited to Canada and the US with her parents for roughly the same time, so we wrangled it so that she would galavant off skiing first, and meet me in Tokyo during the Term 1 school break.

I was unimpressed.

Not only was her holiday better than mine, but I would have to fly over there alone. Again. Considering the amount of travel I have done, I have never yet flown to a destination anything other than with Mother and Father, or solo. The last big trip with Ma and Pa was Hawaii when I was 15, and since then it has been 'Single Tori', being SO brave and travelling alone. Don't get me wrong, I have met friends (usually Alex) at the destination, and it is great, and totally worth it. But just ONCE, I want to be going through the airport, all excited and discussing possibilities, sharing an armrest with someone whose name I know, getting a second opinion on the deciphering of public transport after 20 hours of sleep deprivation, and, to be totally honest, someone to indulge in the free alcohol with. Instead, I was alone again, using my headphones as a visual 'leave me alone' signal, asking for water rather that wine and struggling to put on my flight socks without elbowing the 4 year old next to me in the face.

Despite my petulance at the solo flight, I landed at Narita Airport as the sun was setting, getting a glimpse of fading cherry blossom trees lining the runway. We were at the tail end of the season, and were counting on luck to see the trees in all their glory. By the time I had cleared immigration and picked up a data sim for my phone and my rail pass, it was dark, and my train journey into Tokyo was view-less. Using ingenuity and Google Maps, I made my 3 connections and the 2km walk in the dark and the rain to the hostel. It was hard to find, but incredibly worth it.

The Train Map. My first snap of the whole trip.

The cool bag security on the airport train. All the instruction were in Japanese, so I was very proud of myself for figuring it out.

The alley to the hostel. I was a bit uncomfortable here - obviously a tourist with my wheely suitcase and my expensive phone out, following Google Maps. Wouldn't do this in many countries.

Toco. Hostel is set off the big roads and is a authentic and traditional Japanese building that was built nearly 100 years ago, and impeccably maintained. The international staff were the epitome of Japanese courtesy, and it was a lovely place to adjust to the quirks of the country that we were not expecting, such as heated toilet seats. (Seriously, it felt like someone had just finished a long sit, every time.) If you want to stay in cheaper accommodation in Tokyo, stay here. It is a little out of the centre, but worth it.

The hallway. To the right was 'mini Mt Fuji, made with rocks from the mountain during the settlement of Tokyo, and a shrine to it.

My bed - really private with curtains and screens. Yes, Linda, my bed is not made. I know.

Beds from the outside.

Hand stitched signs - everything was created and made with the utmost care and love.

These were a challenge.

The first night was just me, Alex was flying in early afternoon the next day, so I got some dinner in the hostel bar, and made a few friends that I spoke to for a couple of hours (I know! I was proud of me too) before getting an early night.

The bar of the hostel. Anyone who knows me can see immediately why this place was such a hit with me.

The next day was a bit of a puzzle - I didn't want to do anything that Alex would want to do also, so I discounted all the 'must do's' and looked up some more 'hidden gem' like spots. I found what I was looking for quickly. Yanaka is an old suburb, with a huge old graveyard, old tea shops and a cute shopping district.

I used my trusty phone to look up the trains, and realised quickly that my 500$ rail pass didn't cover most local trains in the city, and it was a looong walk. But everyone was on bikes, so I got one of those, hooked the automated American GPS up to my ears and took off. Soon I was through the business district, got a bit stuck getting over the rail tracks, huffed my way up a huge hill, and into the graveyard. It was so stunning I parked up the bike and just sat on a bench. The blossoms fell continually, it was like it was snowing. The ground was completely carpeted in the light pink, and lurching out of the ground were these rustic, old tombstones. It was stunning.

The little pedestrian streets wound through traditional houses, with shrines every few metres. I turned off the GPS lady and let myself get lost. I was pretty at ease, and when I stopped, a few bum-bagged and foldable-map ridden tourists mistook me for a knowledgeable local.

A model posing as a geisha just above the main street.

The giant mistake I bought for lunch. It was way pinker than this. And way worse than you think.

After consuming one bite of the pink monstrosity in a concrete urban playground, I went towards the centre, through Yoyogi Park, which was on the last day of the Blossom Festival. There was a wide and winding path through the trees, and on each side were groups of people on big blue tarpaulins, letting the petal fall into their drinks, as they proceeded to get drunk. The recycling bins were the size of cars, the music was loud. It was like the whole of Otago Uni was lying under the trees. It was great! At the bottom was a man made park, with pedal-able swans, and my first view of really quirky fashion.

I was having an awesome day, but I still had quite a bit of time to kill. Expecting Alex about 4/5 ish, I needed to do one more thing. So I decided to let my day take a turn for the worse.

Close by was a big shopping district, so I headed down. It was seething with tourists, and I immediately second guessed my decision. I dismounted and walked my bike through the press of people. There were people outside their stores trying to get you to go in the store. 2 absolutely towering black men stepped in front of my bike, and one stopped it by grabbing the handlebars.

"Dayum, girl, look at your bod-ay!" He said in a voice dripping with the United States of Asshole.

"Na, bro, I am all about her butt." His friend said from behind. Seething, I politely excused myself, and moved on through the crowd.

A tour leader with a flag led a bus load of elderly folk down the middle of the street, and I moved closer to a stall to avoid hitting them with my bike, and my jandaled toe tried to part with my foot. See my artist impression below:

This is a remake of the original Snap I sent, for some reason I did not save the first one. The red arrow shows the problem.

My pinky toe entered something similiar to this, and was therefore obstructed as I tried to move forward.

Pain. There was lots of pain. But there was also lots of people. So many, in fact, that I couldn't even see what condition my foot was in, or bend down to touch it. Using my bike as a walker, I made it to a quieter corner, making whimpering sounds and clenching my teeth so tightly they could have flattened diamonds. And the foot looked fine. I decided to head back, convinced that it was one of those things that hurt a lot, but only for a short amount of time. (Hint: It wasn't)

So I biked back to the hostel with my heels, asked for some ice, and sat in the last rays of sun, waiting for Alex.

Beauty drinks.

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Dinner after she arrived - on the floor, raw fish, straight into the culture!

The next day I rhapsodised about the benefits of biking around, and how great it was the day before, and I was dubious at how far I could hobble on my foot, so we set off on matching bikes.

In stark contrast to the mid-20s day before, it was drizzly and quite cold, but spirits were high!

Our first encounter with plastic food. The beer was the funniest.

Art installations in a fancy fashion store that we weren't rich enough to enter.

An Urban Rooftop shrine we stumbled across,

The view from the shrine

Legitimate wares for sale in the fancy store.

The moat around the Imperial Palace.

Naked ladies by parliament

Fun Engrish in the Harajuku district.

You have probably heard of 'Harajuku Girls' - a bold fashion choice, where (predominantly) girls dress up in bright, doll-esque fashion, with big petticoats and bonnets. It is actually the name a suburb in Tokyo, and the shops are a bunch of fun to wander around. Pure Japanese pop culture.

Close to Harajuku, we had booked to see the 'Robot Restaurant' at the recommendation of a friend, and it is hands down the biggest 'must see' from any trip I have ever taken. If you are going to Japan, go. Book ahead, turn up early. Don't miss it.

We missed our show. We didn't turn up early. Luckily, they let us in to the late show, so we killed a few hours with dinner as the Tokyo night came alive. Standing, contemplating a menu we heard:

(For the old people: Press the orange circle with the white triangle)

Looking up high, very high, we saw him...

Look carefully.

Pop culture was everywhere. It was thrilling.

Soon I found a bar:

It was that sign, a dark stairwell and a cover charge. I had to go in. It was so mysterious!!

Alex took a bit of convincing, but I won. There were lockers with futuristic keys, low lights in blue and red, cave-like hallways and cages filled with cushions for you to sit in. The drinks were themed after the solar system and all had floaty things. One had gold flakes, and another had glowy red balls.

We had quite a few, they were yummy, and we suspected the Robot Restaurant would be even better under a slight influence. Soon, it was time to leave.

Exiting Mysterious Bar. To be clear this is taken about 11.30pm. It is not daylight outside. That is just the brightness of Tokyo.

What follows might be distressing for some viewers, for it's sheer awesomeness: I suggest you look at the following images while listening to German Techno.

Outside

The waiting room.

The band kept us entertained while we waited.

The toilet.

Sarah Philp - for you. Norman Reedus is a fan of the Robot Rest!

The stairwell.

Opening act.

The flashing lights are obvs in this panorama.

That is King Kong, swinging from a spark-spitting flying Mothra, next to a scantily-clad spiderweb riding an electronic giant spider.

A massive robot snake that was literally bigger than the stage.

Scantily clad real women, riding a scantily clad robot woman.

I have so, so many more photos. It was the most neon moment of my life. But I won't overdo it. We emerged from the show a bit shell shocked, a bit drunk, and a bit tired. And we were about 10km from our hostel, with bikes to get back. So off we went.

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To this day, I am not sure what happened. The GPS on my phone was a dit dodge, and then my battery died. After about one and a half hours of biking, for some reason we were still 10 km away.

To put our predicament in perspective this is a screenshot from Google Maps. We were close to Tokyo Tower, at the bottom, a 10.8km drive from our hostel at the top, indicated in red. It was 3am. We had no familiar references. It was cold. We were sober. And as Google Maps helpfully points out, cycling is not available.

First we tried to fit the bikes into a taxi (no dice), abandoned them outside a Police Box, using the major landmark (Tokyo Tower) as a reference point we could easily find the next day and spent $50 on a taxi. We took our bike seats in the hope that that might deter thieves. The bike locked through the wheel - there was no way to secure them to anything. So fingers crossed, we headed to bed.

The next day dawned, and we looked at the train timetable. The last train we could catch to our next destination left about 4. I found a website that said we could take bikes on trains if they were in 'bike bags'. As it was so far, raining and about 2 degrees, this was the preferred option. So we checked out, collected the bike covers from reception and headed into the city. Two lovely Aussie girls managed to take this photo in between bouts of laughter:

We saw the Tower. Would the bikes still be there?!

We barely spoke, we were both worried...

They were there! We had both been issued with a ticket, but in Japanese form, they were just a warning.

We tried to get them on the trains. We didn't even come close. After this I stopped taking photos. What followed was the most miserable experience of my travelling history. I cannot convey how cold it was, how wet it was. My legs were already on fire from the 2 days of biking before. We were worried about making the train. We hadn't eaten yet. It took hours. We stopped at every intersection to check where we were, terrified of getting lost. I was wearing open Birkenstocks, as I was unable to get my hurt foot into closed shoes. Alex's leather jacket wasn't waterproof. Halfwayish, we stopped for a coffee because we literally couldn't go any further. We got tea and as my toes began to warm up it was so painful, I was legitimately worried they had become too cold. It was the only time I enjoyed the heated loo seat.

We got through it by being relentlessly positive, and accepting the fact that "It just has to get done." and "It will be a story worth telling." Alex was awesome, and I don't think either of us could have done it without the other.

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We made the train, bought a bunch of crappy rail food and finally relaxed as the sun set.

Finally able to take a photo - ordeal OVER.

The next two nights we stayed in Takayama, a small prefecture in the mountains that we found by looking at the Gecko Tour Itinerary (a good travel tip!).

We were quite excited by this leg, as we had splashed out for a Ryokan stay on the second night. So night one was in a fairly useless hostel with smelly communal showers, but we checked out early and explored the misty and sleepy town. This was a milestone for me, because this was my first day in shoes. It took ten minutes of whimpering to get them on, but I did it, and once the blood flow cut off, I could limp fairly fast.

The town was strange. It was clean, but deserted. Super pretty, but dead quiet.

Eventually we crossed the river and found a morning market with some people. We wandered through the shops and enjoyed the authenticity of the place. There was a ramen shop which came highly recommended, so we stopped for lunch and the decor was great.

In the afternoon we caught a local bus to an open air museum. I had been to one in Latvia, and thought they were great - it is like a time capsule village - preserved just the way the culture used to live.

Crazy roof from the bus.

The lady took this with our camera, and then tried to sell the one she took. This one is good, ta.

The old buildings were beautifully preserved, though you had to take off your shoes in each one. Considering how much I had gone through to get them on, I mainly loitered in the doorways, yelling at Alex to tell me if it was worth taking my shoes off.

That night we stayed in our Ryokan. It was such a luxury to have the space. Alex nabbed this pic before our suitcases exploded everywhere. The hostels have juuuussssst enough room to lock your bag away and for one person to grab their stuff out quickly and the large room was bliss. We had the proper floor, paper doors, a green tea station and complimentary kimono. We signed up for the special in-house dinner and used the private Japanese bath (in togs oops - classic kiwi modesty). In the privacy of our room, I even got up the courage to try the bidet. All the buttons were in Japanese, and while I managed to get the thing going, I didn't know how to turn it off. I got the giggles, and the more I giggled, the harder it was to turn off the very invasive, and quite aggressive stream of water. Alex eventually heard and that made the giggling worse. In the end I hit the power button and turned off the whole seat. Who needs a 'smart toilet' for goodness sake.

Marking territory in the lobby.

A helpful sign in the bath.

At dinner (which was awesome) we ordered wine as a treat. It was served in the SMALLEST glasses and was super, super bad. How bad? Look at Alex's face.

A little candle was under the pot and you cooked it yourself. There was the most delicious sauce hiding under the beef.

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The next day was our longest train, all the way south to Hiroshima.

The first leg (Orange) was in a slower train with huge windows, and the views thought the mountains were breath taking.

The last of the cherry blossoms. (All the Tokyo ones disappeared on the day of the Dreaded Bike Return)

For the second train we were on the shinkansen (bullet trains). For an easy speed reference, the shinkansen is the blue line on the map above. Both journeys were took the same amount of time to complete (within 10 minutes).

Shinkansen

Japan's high speed trains run at speeds of up to 320 km/h and the shinkansen are known for punctuality (most trains depart on time to the second), comfort, safety (no fatal accidents in its history) and efficiency. I usually monitored the time closely, and there was one train on the whole trip that was late. It was one of our last trains, and by that time I was so used to it being exact, that I was horrified. (It rolled in less than a minute late.)

This is the slowed-down-for-platform speed. Standing this close blew my hair everywhere.

Alex taking some risky shut-eye on the shinkansen.

The hostel in Hiroshima was gorgeous, a close second to toco. It was owned by a lady who had studied in New Zealand, and she was lovely to talk to, and again, the place was looked after with so much care and love.

I just really like this shot. It is of the wooden steps to the hostel with tiny houses, back lit with fairy lights.

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I am not going to go into too much historical detail about Hiroshima, though it is worth independent exploration. The cliffnotes:

August 1945 the United States dropped a nuclear bomb in the skies above the city in an effort to end WWII. The precise location, day and weather was chosen to ensure maximum effect. The precise number of casualties could never be calculated, because of the far reaching consequences of the nuclear fallout, but casualties numbered at least 129,000. Couple with the bombing of Nagasaki, it remains the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.

For me, the following are things that I have taken from visiting the memorial sights and learning more that what I already knew.

The weather patterns were studied extensively before the date was picked so that conditions would allow the maximum impact.
The two cities were selected due to the fact that they were mainly unscathed, and therefore the impact would be bigger and less expected.
Planes carrying scientists accompanied that war planes, to observe the detonation.
The sheer calculated, ruthless and criminal nature of the way that the United States planned the bombing, treating the deaths of more than a hundred thousand people as a scientific experiment, and have been held minimally accountable for their actions.

The 'A-Bomb' dome is directly under the in-air detonation site, the downward (rather than sideways) force of the blast allowing most of the structure to remain intact, when the rest of the surrounding infrastructure was completely destroyed. The temperature in the building directly under the blast exceeded 4000 degrees celsius before a second had passed.

The memorial park was extensive, and beautiful.

Sadako Sasaki was two when the bomb was dropped. Years later she developed Leukemia due to the fallout, and during her hospitalisation, she folded paper cranes. The belief is that if you fold 1000, you can make a wish, and it will come true. Despite folding many, many more than 1000, Sadako's wish of surviving her cancer did not come true, and she died in 1955 at the age of 12. Some of her cranes were on display.

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A lot of the traditional buildings were rebuilt after the war, and the Hiroshima Castle has been done in the most authentic way.
(Also - finally a warm day! This was the only other day that was warm and not overcast/drizzly/torrential.)

Awesome wall art by the tram stop.

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The next stop was Osaka, with a nice 5 night stop, as we couldn't get accommodation under a few hundy a night in Kyoto, the plan was to commute in and out for the days we wanted to visit (only about an hour, with a few train hops).

In Osaka, we stayed in a cubicle hostel which was crazy cheap - it was $100 for the 5 nights. We we very trepidatious about this, but to our delight, each capsule was in it's own 'room'. It was loud, the showers were pretty gross, and the bed was hard to navigate, but we had room, and privacy. It was good. And it was right next to a train station as a bonus.

Actually using my washing line!

Dotonbori - we come back here. Very awesome shopping arcade.

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So. Here we are. UNIVERSAL STUDIOS.

It is early. It is FREEZING. Again.

I. Do. Not. Care.

I AM GOING TO HOGWARTS.

I was soooo excited about this, I don't actually recall asking Alex if she wanted to go. She just got informed. I read all these other travel blogs on advice on queues etc, so made us get up really early, like an hour before the park even opened, to stand in line for tickets.

If you go (you really should go), make sure you shell out for the Express Pass. We got the $80 (ish) one, on top of the tickets, so I think we shelled out about $150 each, but it lets you skip the queue for 5 of the biggest rides, including the Harry Potter Ride and the Spiderman Ride. Considering the HP ride had signs saying "2 hour wait", it is worth the money.

Now this may not seem exciting for you, but even if you don't like either Harry Potter or Spiderman, the rides are literally the best in the world. The Spiderman lost its title as the 'World's Best Dark Ride' after twelve consecutive years, only when the Harry Potter ride came along.

And it pays to remember that the whole thing is in Japanese. So you have Spiderman and Harry Potter simulations yelling at you in Japanese the entire time you are on the ride, and if that doesn't give you abs from laughing you are dead inside.

Still 1km from the gates.

We are IN!

Lunch was expensive and crappy. DO NOT RECOMMEND. If you can stand the wait to gt in, eat in the Three Broomsticks.

Here it comes...

Harry Potter World.

My lasting impression of Japan was the care and attention to detail that was consistent absolutely everywhere. It was so nice to travel and not see rubbish all over the streets, and that public places were taken care of. Even the people presented themselves flawlessly, even if you could tell they weren't affluent, they looked beautiful. The same held true for Universal Studios. Everything was immaculate. There wasn't a tiny hint that I wasn't walking down a real British street in winter. Close up inspection of walls showed real wood and what I can only assume was very well made fake stone. It was stunning. It really didn't take much to suspend belief.

This was moving. JUST LIKE THE BOOK!

I think this is my favourite photo. It is very real.

Sorry - too much effort to rotate it!

I do not know how I didn't pop from excitement on this one, but there was the whole rest of the part to explore.

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We actually did this one first. It was old, but it was boss. I screamed super loud and I am glad this one was first because I was actually quite nervous about the rides. The last time I went on anything like it, I was still a kid. I was not nearly as nervous after this hit me with a roaring t-rex that I wasn't ready for, and while looking up at that, dropped us a full few stories.

The Jaws Ride.

This one was on a boat, with a real Japanese actress, who screamed in a very piecing way, and used a fake shotgun to shoot fake gas tanks, which exploded in a very real, and very singed-eyebrows kind of way.

So. Pink.

The Hello Kitty museum:

We met Hello Kitty and paid for the photo. My ears are still ringing from her voice.

Yooooooh! Neu Zulund!

*sigh* best day ever..

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The next day we visited Kyoto and started with the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which covers a whole mountain, with over 4km of path with these bright orange gates placed like dominoes. There is thought to be about 40,000 of them, and it felt like more. They just kept coming!

Ooh what is that?

Oh yea. They are called Tori Gates.

The view from the mountain.

Heading into Gion, hoping to spot authentic geisha, we got lost, again.

But sometimes getting lost is the best thing you can do when you travel.

First we found the most incredible antique store. It was so packed full of curios, they had stuck stuff on the ceiling.

They also had a valuable collection of very old erotic Japanese pottery, which entertained us greatly. It is good fun trying to hide your snickers from the proprietors.

But then, around the corner, was the real find. Opposite the 'oldest Zen temple' in Kyoto (Kennin-ji Temple) was Ichimura Mamoru's museum.

If you go to Kyoto, please, please go see this place. He was the most beautiful soul, and his work was stunning.

(Google Maps Address)

He came out to say goodbye, and then waved us back for a photo with his sign, which he was very proud of.

My stealthy picture of the pretty kimono ladies just focussed on my boo-boo.

Late night shopping in Dotonbori - incredible sprawling basements of vintage clothes.

Day two in Kyoto was shrine and temple day. Major landmarks were not that easy to get to on public transport, and we found it hard to fit much in with the continual travel. We made a list and went to the best ones and worked our way down.

Stop one - Arashiyama

We started with a walk through the zen garden on the Tenryu-ji Temple. Stunning, stunning gardens.

At the top of the garden, there is a short walk, and you are in the bamboo forest.

After the forest, we hunted out the Iwatayama Monkey Park. This might not surprise you, but we got lost. We walked, and walked, and gave up and got a bus, and walked some more, and then we found a sign that said "This is not the entrance to Monkey Park."

I was veerrrryyy close to a tantrum when we found it, and not far off it when I found out it was up a massive hill. My feet were a constant burden, I was still limping from the toe-incident and I had favoured my good foot, which had messed with that one. But it was worth it, and Alex put up with my moaning, which I did strive to keep at a minimum.

The view was worth the hike.

This was the single most ominous rain cloud I have ever seen. It does not translate to the picture. We did actually get caught in it, and while we had umbrellas, the splash of the rain on the concrete had us wet to the thighs.

Next was the Kinkaku-ji Temple - which I am sure you recognise.

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Pro Tip - Check department store basements for a conglomeration of quality food stalls, like a gourmet food department store.

We found the only good coffee in two weeks sandwiched in between two big stores. This was so exciting I have dedicated 2 photos:

A bit over the commute, we stayed in Osaka the next day and visited the pretty Osaka Castle .

And for something different, the Osaka Aquarium.

This thing was HUGE. I could have easily got my head in the mouth.

A slice of home!

A terrible photo, but I had never seen a sloth before!

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On our last full day, we traveled back to Tokyo, via Mt Fuji. Again, I was stunned at how hard it was to visit such a massive landmark. It was harder coming from the south, I think, but it was still 3 trains, one of which was agonisingly slow.

This is the route we took (roughly - this is the car route, it is too tricky for Maps to calculate the train.) You can see our long-distance assumption that we could effectively 'stop-off' at the mountain, right?

Wrong. See the blue line? Shinkansen. See the orange? Torture. Hard to find torture. With a station change at "Fuji Station". With a name like "Fuji Station" you would think we were in the right ball park. Nooo, we had to crawl up to "Fujinomiya", which as a town is very average.

Now we rolled into this special wee town about 1pm. My weather app said that the sky would clear at 3. Mt Fuji is notoriously shrouded in cloud. So you can imagine after our vexatious journey, we were hoping for payoff. It was cloudy, and the lady at the info centre told us there was no hope. Daunted, we headed off to someone's house for recommended food to pass the time.

Then we went to the park she said had a good view. We faced where we thought the mountain was, and sat down to wait.

The view at 3.30. I discovered my phone took clearer photos than my camera - hence the extreme rectangle. This was with a filter for contrast.

We made some jokes.

And waited some more.

We visited a nearby temple.

After 4pm, we could see the left slope.

We headed back to the station. I was gutted. I knew I would feel as though I had missed out. It is such a well known and significant landmark.

And just then, my penchant for shopping paid off. (See Linda, it IS a skill.) I dropped into a pottery store, bought a plate with the mountain painted onto it, to try and regain some happiness, and when we came out, no idea how, but there was blue sky. There were a few wispy tendrils of cloud. We rushed back to the park, and the last vestiges of cloud clumped around the summit. But we could see it.

The longer we stood there, the better it got.

And it was beautiful. I said it when I saw the Taj Mahal, and it was the same for Fuji.

Pictures don't prepare you for the presence of great sights. To stand in front of something that you recognise instantly, but are seeing for the first time, truly takes your breath away.

Unfortunately, due to the insignificant nature of the town, we were now risking missing the last train.

On the way back, frustrated by the hideous 1970's horror architecture blocking nearly every shot of the mountain, we snuck up an office building to try and get some height.

Unfortunately, the accountants who owned the building had blocked the view with metal lattice, and in a neat twist, put the toilets on the top floor, with the offices on the lower floors with no view. Sure. Logical.

Sneaking back down.

After we almost got caught.

On the slow train back to the shinkansen, the mountain cleared totally. The pictures came out badly, and you can clearly see why I swapped to my phone, but it was awe inspiring in person.

And then, from the tiny airplane windows of the shinkansen, long after we had said goodbye to it, Mount Fuji pulled out it's quintessent view.

Getting of the shinkansen for the last time, memorialised by this gem.

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Last night! We returned to toco.

Caught in Tokyo rush hour. The only reason I look like I have room it because my suitcase is in there, somewhere.

One of my biggest travel tips is to always ask locals where to eat. And on our last night it paid off BIG time. We went to this tiny room with no English. In the corner was a vending machine. The lady gave us a laminated picture of the machine, with Engrish written by each button. Things like 'green onion', 'pork', 'cheese'. Making our best guess, we pushed a bunch of buttons, fed it money and it gave us a ticket. We gave it back to the lady, sat down, and very shortly had 2 bowls of The Best Noodles Ever. There were also condiments, which had been lacking all trip. Alex was excited.

Before chilli.

First bite.

Immediately after finishing, and agreeing that we were fairly full, we got another round.

The last night.

The next day we said goodbye to the hostel. I enjoyed the symmetry of staying in the same place at the beginning and the end.

We had the whole day to kill in Tokyo, so we headed to the famous 'Shibuya Crossing' - a pedestrian 'scramble' when all SEVEN feed roads have a red light, and all pedestrians cross at once. The Starbucks opposite is almost as famous for the view it gives, so against our usual creed, we picked up a terrible coffee and snagged a tight window spot. Turns out 9ish on a Saturday is less of a scramble, and more of an amble. Still, it was worth the trip!

Then we went back to Harajuku to see it in the daytime. And the queue of girls waiting for shops to open on Saturday morning, was incredible. (Shops open at 11am. Wtf?!) So while we waited for anything to open, we watched the weekend crowd.

Took this for my students. I have put it on the box I carry around with my resources.

And just like that it was time to head to the airport. We loaded up on the train. I scraped my suitcase through on the weight limit, as usual, and settled in for a nice 12 hours of no sleep.

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BONUS PHOTOS:

My Snapchat reel from the trip:

Beauty drinks.