Japan - Back to Tokyo

Bamboo along the way


As we became a little weary of travel, so I'm becoming weary of retelling the tale and I wouldn't be surprised if you may be becoming weary of the tale yourself. Sooo...back to Tokyo we go. We decided to leave sleepy Takayama a little early so we could rest up and indulge in dinner at a popular tofu restaurant in Tokyo. Doesn't that sound enticing? Well, Serena knows about these things and she hadn't steered me wrong yet.

We arrived back at the Kinuya, same hotel, in Ueno Park, conveniently located by the train station. After a shower, some down time and tea we bravely set out to follow the directions from the Lonely Planet travel guide book we had been using for reference from time to time. Off the train, a few ambiguous turns and we wandered for maybe a half an hour before we zeroed in on the destination, Suzuya. The irritability resulting from being mislead vanished as the staff welcomed us at the door and literally took out shoes off for us. We were led into a simple dining room and sat on the floor one more time next to a waterfall. I have to admit the food was exquisite and varied.

Ueno Park Zoo was lit for Christmas.


Four thirty am on our last day the alarm went off so we could decide on the "now or never" experience, go down to the Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the largest in the world. OK, let's go for it! We stepped out into the light rain to find the subway station. The tunnels were deserted except for a few sleeping homeless. We bought tickets at one of the machines and tried to go through the stile. Wrong! We stressed for a while trying to make sense of the maze on the map. As luck would have it a little gentleman in a light blue outfit with white gloves came to the rescue. After a lot of gesturing and few key words the little guy pressed a button and summoned whoever was in charge behind closed doors. Soon we had money refunded, new tickets bought and a personal escort to the right platform with instructions for how many stops before we get off. All at 5:30 in the morning! You gotta love these guys.

And the art wasn't bad either.

By time we got to the market the rain was coming down pretty hard. The place was bustling, we toured some stalls but somehow missed the entrance to the grand warehouse. After all that, we had really had enough challenges and headed back.

School girls

Still in decent spirits but our energy balloons deflated we grabbed a McDonalds before packing for home. I NEVER eat at McDonalds!

We planned plenty of time for the Tokyo Airport so we could eat our last soba meal and spend our last yen.

Tokyo Airport




A cappuccino at last! Do we look glad to be home?


Text and pictures © 2008 Mona E. Dunn