Final day in Japan! We caught the bullet train in the morning back to Tokyo – might sound weird as we have gone back and forwards but originally we had a flight booked with AirAsia from Osaka but they rescheduled our flight, delaying it by 14 hours which would have meant we would have missed our onward flight to Bali. They told us this before I left the UK so I rebooked the flights entirely to put us on a flight from Tokyo Haneda. At least Haneda is much easier to get to than Narita! We left the bags at the station – not the place I was hoping to leave them that I spotted last time we were in Tokyo but the station is actually a maze so couldn’t find the left luggage place!
We decided to do a few more touristy things in Tokyo that we hadn’t had time for last time we were there. First stop: Senso-Ji, Tokyo’s oldest temple, originally opened in 645AD but bombed and destroyed in WW2 and rebuilt as a symbol of rebirth. To enter the temple complex, you go through the Thunder Gate, Kaminarimon. It’s absolutely huge with an incredible paper lantern hung in the entrance with a beautiful engraving of a dragon on the underside, hidden from view.
Walking from the gate towards the temple buildings, you go through an absolutely packed tourist market selling various knick-knacks from phone charms and key rings to clothing, slippers and robes. The crowds are just immense, and it’s hot without anyone near you; with so many people in close contact, it’s absolutely stifling. There’s also a nursery school on the left hand side; I pity the poor parents trying get through the throngs of tourists to collect their children! We then came to the temple proper, which was impressive but again so many people!
We went on the metro over to Ikebukuro, so I could visit the Mega Tokyo Pokemon Centre. Yay for Pokemon merchandise!!
For our last meal in Japan, I took mum for her first okonomiyaki at a little place on the 8th floor of an anonymous building. The lift opened directly into the restaurant. We cooked the okonomiyaki ourselves at the table. So delicious!
Our time in Japan had ended… Thank you to everyone I got to see while here, and sorry I couldn’t see more friends! We got the bags, headed to the airport to check in for our flight, and at 11.55pm got on our red-eye flight to KL. Bye bye Japan, hope to see you again soon!