jEn route...: Last Few days in Tokyo

View of Tokyo (Lost in Translation hotel on left)

Our last few days in Tokyo were spent doing things we hadn't had chance to do the first time round. We visited the hotel where Lost in Translation was filmed and got a lift up the tower next to it for awesome views over Tokyo for free! We even saw Mount Fuji, which I was really happy about as I had wanted to go on a day trip there but we didn't have time. It was such a clear day, we say almost all of Tokyo, Mount Fuji and the surrounding mountains. The night before, we had paid to go up a different tower, but there was a typhoon and the visibility was very poor. We had walked for miles to find it and were starving by the time we got there. It was torrential rain (a typhoon) and we wanted to find a MOS burger, but in the end we were so hungry we ended up having a McDonald's. We calculated that during our time in Japan, ½ of all our meals have been burger-based. That is to say, we stayed in Japan 3 weeks, and ate 10 burger meals in that time (Maccas, Burger King or MOS burger).

Looks like NYC, but no, its Tokyo

On our second to last day, we intended to get up early to experience Tokyo fish market but we got there too late and all we saw was them closing down the stalls. So we decided instead to set out to find Joyopolis – a games world that Jemma had read about. It took us quite a while to get there, but we got to ride the monorail and saw a completely different side to Tokyo by the sea, which was nice. We eventually found Joyopolis, but it was closed, however, there was lots of other stuff to keep us entertained in the same area.

I love Japan

On our second to last night in Tokyo, we had a lovely leaving party with our friends, who treated us to a meal at a Japanese restaurant where they had traditional dancing and entertainment. It was absolutely the best night of my whole trip and I could not believe how lucky we were to have met such kind and welcoming people. They ordered so many different dishes for us to try, including chicken gizzard! They also ordered these big chickens that the waiter had to cut up with garden scissors and they bought us drinks all night. When the bill came at the end they insisted on paying. The entertainment was excellent, and everybody did a kind of conga dance around the restaurant. Words can't describe it so I have added in the video at the bottom of this page (more videos on my youtube channel).

It was the best cultural experience ever and everyone was so lovely. At the end, one of our friends won the prize for best dancer and we all had to go up with her for a photo, at which point they told the whole restaurant about who we were (Yoshie's English friends she met in New Zealand). I have never experienced hospitality like it in my life. At the end of the meal, we were really sad to leave them, and they gave us a goodbye present (our own set of posh chopsticks). It was so cute. It really left us with such an amazing lasting impression of Japan.