One last morning in Tokyo

The previous post in this series is here.

We came back from Shinjuku and packed for a good hour.

The next morning we were planning to relax, go around the malls near the Tokyo Dome Hotel, then take an Uber to another Indian restaurant for one big meal before making it to Narita.

We got quite a scare when checking out. My friends son was walking right next to me, all happy that we were going back home that day. I made the mistake of letting him walk ahead for two seconds only to see the elevator door close before I could get in. The Tokyo dome hotel does elevators do not show which floors they are stopping at! So we had no idea where the kid got off. After some frantic searching, we were finally back together as a group. I kept kicking myself for a few hours for that mistake. Apple maps should also automatically have a feature to track which floor a person is in with the Find Me app. Showing everyone standing on top of each other in same location doesn’t help!

After checking out and leaving our luggage at the hotel, we had a nice breakfast at a bakery right below the hotel. Then we walked to a local mall and shopped some more! Then we made it to this Jain restaurant which was cramped but had great food. We were the only ones that early at the restaurant and we ended up talking to the employees for some time and heard their life stories.

It was then time to get an Uber back to the Tokyo dome and make our way to the train station. Had to take 3 trains (we got on a wrong train first!) and eventually made it with plenty of time to spare at the airport.

That helped because we all had extra Yen left in the SUICA App we had loaded just that morning to help with the wrong train situation! We could have listened to Jr. and done it on day 1.

There is a store in the Narita airport that accepts Suica cards. So we shopped that the store to account for every last Yen on that app which ended up being a fun exercise. here are a few photos from day 8

The entire trip was a great experience! Only wished the little one could have joined us. We will get her on our next family trip!

8 days in Japan, a good three months to blog about it!

Last evening in Tokyo- Skytree tower and Shinjuku

The previous post in this series is here..

After spending the morning and early afternoon at Mt. Fuji, we made it back in 2+ hours back to Tokyo and were dropped off at the Sky Tree tower. It was indoors and we were happy to go up the tower, come down and also walk around the little “mela” that was going on at the base of the tower. Got to eat some ice cream, folks had coffee and tea and before we knew it, it was almost dinner time. So we went from Skytree tower to Shinjuku station.

My buddy was very particular that we go see this iconic station.. also he had visited it a long time back. It had two huge shopping blocks on either side.

Jr. had already planned a dinner at a vegan chain called “Plantmore”. It took us sometime to find it because there were two buildings with the same name on either side of the station and we were in the wrong building. After a good 30 minutes of wandering around we finally found the place and were treated to a delicious dinner. We walked out and saw a bunch of kids performing on the street. Then it was time to go back to the hotel. BTS had finished the concert at the Tokyo dome by the time we came back and that was a good thing!

Here are the photos from the last evening in Japan..

The skytree tower is amazing. They even had a mascot for the building! The shops were cute, the crowd vibrant and the high speed elevator ride was memorable!

Here is a video highlight..

We had a lot of packing to do, even with the extra suitcase that was purchased in Japan and get ready for the return the next afternoon..

The mother of all crossings at Shibuya- Japan Day 6

The previous post in this series is here..

After visiting the electronic city, we were going to Shibuya crossing to experience the worlds most not so pedestrian pedestrian event..

There was a request from the ladies to stop two train stations earlier and walk through a market which had beauty supply stores in Harajuku area. There was yet another uniqlo store there and me and my friend both got more pants (dont ask!). There was more eye rolling from the ladies and we made a mental note that sometime an extra suitcase purchase was required before the return trip.

we did stop by a few stores to get an idea of suitcase prices and made the long walk from Harajuku to Shibuya. We spent a good 30 minutes at the crossing, going from every point to every other point with the crowd and taking pictures and time lapse videos. Was very proud of the group for holding as still as possible for the time lapse videos.

Then we tried to get food there but we were not lucky. I was also reminding that group that while they could always get something to eat in the hotel (there was a Sizzlers and Starbucks at the Tokyo dome which some group members were eyeing since we checked in), I had to deal with wet clothes that needed laundry. So off we went to the hotel. While everyone else went for dinner, I ate a packet of Parle G biscuits, grabbed change and went to the laundry in the 7th floor. Waited there for 2 hours and by the time the clothes dried and got back to the room at 11 everyone was asleep.

While we were in electronic city earlier, our driver for the next days event called us and asked us if we could be ready by 4:30 AM the following morning. We told him “no way” and said 5:30AM was the best we could do.

the video highlights of Shibuya crossing..

We were to get up at 5 and be outside the hotel at 5:30. So I came back with the laundry and crashed.. Day 7 was going to be interesting..