Yesterday I purchased an eye mask for bed, it is stripy and looks like something out of Beatle Juice. I slept well. We decided to go an activate our Japanese
Railway Train passes - little did we know what was to follow. The Japanese are very efficient and we activated our rail passes to work from Thursday then when we tried to make a reservation for our next destination, Kyoto, we heard the words, 'tomorrow is a public holiday, the train is full, no reservations being made, however there will be one non-reservation carriage per train' welcome to my world here on Planet Japan.
Obviously, this took us back a bit so we decided to go and eat and think about it. Sigh. Thai food, my favourite. No tofu, no vegetarian option so I ordered crab curry and according to the photo it was chopped up crab. Guess what, nope, huge chunks of crab submerged in curry. I had to perform an autopsy on the dead thing to try to get the meat out. Every meal is a challenge. Next stop was Shibuya.
This was on my list as it has the most made pedestrian crossings ever. We stood for ages watching the world (and his wife, mistress, partner, son, daughter et al) cross the crossing. Amazing. Then we looked around the area, utter crazy mad land. Lights, shops, loads of people. Utter madness.
We then caught the tube up to Shinjuku and come across an amazing department store. I guess it was a cross between Selfridges food hall and Fortnum and Masons. I got so excited when I saw a croissant, I mean really. If I could have stayed there for the next day I would have been able to have so much choice of food. But that was not going to happen. We then walked to the government building as we had read that we could go and see the skyline free of charge. The views were stunning. Tokyo is a huge place and I guess I really did not appreciate how big it was. However, apparently, there are 13 million people who live here (around 7.5 million in
London). Yet at times, it seems so peaceful, organised and quiet. It has a totally different feel to it than London. Yet so many people.
We then caught the tube back to Ueno, where we had been to activate our train ticket and went to enquire again. Same story, you have not got a hope in hells chance in getting a train! It was time to make some decisions. We decided to make a reservation for our final journey back to the airport. As for tomorrow, we had a few ideas and decided to go to dinner to have a think.
Once again was this going to be easy! No. We opted, reluctantly for Italian. Previously in the day we saw the Japanese version of a British pub. Trust me when I say this is not pub I have ever seen or food being served in a British pub. Back to the Italian. Still very little choice if I am honest but I opted for a four cheese pizza. All was going well until the person on the next table ordered a lobster. It was delivered to her
on a tray for her approval (obviously still very much alive). Then it was taken off to meet a grisly death. I felt sick. Pizza arrived along with honey to put on it! Yes honey. I mean really. Honey on cheese pizza. Needless to say I did not put honey on my pizza. Like I continually keep saying, nothing is how it is here. Then the table the over side ordered a lobster and yes you guessed it, it was served for approval before it went off to die a boiling death. I am back to Bridget Jone's mother in my head 'such cruel race'.
We decided to go back to our room and have a case conference about tomorrow and what, if any, options we have. In the end we have decided to get up at 6.00, get to the station either by tube or Uber as they have given heavy rain and thunderstorms tomorrow - of course they have. Get down the station and wait and just get on with it. We have no choice. It is a three day holiday in Japan. We have accommodation in Kyoto booked, we need to be there even if it means we have to stand up all the way not the train. I mean, it will be no different than getting a 125 up to Manchester. It will be fine, it has to be. We really do not have a choice.
I then went to the hotel's onsen bath, after watching a video on Youtube as I did not have clue what the etiquette is. Onsen are Japanese public baths with warm
(40 degrees) water. So up I go to the 14 floor, take my shoes off, strip naked in front of a load of other women. Go into a wash room. Sit on a plastic stool and wash and scrub myself and wash myself in warm water. Andy had covered up my tattoo as they are a big no, no. After I washed, I walked, stark naked, into another room with a huge tub with the warm water in. It was so lovely and relaxing. I went to the outside tub which was lovely too then back into the inside one for about ten minutes. By now, I was beginning to feel like said lobsters earlier on so got out, showered down and dried off and come back to the room. It was such a lovely, relaxing experience and I am so pleased that once again I took the opportunity to experience this.
So I am going to say good night now. I have a very busy, I suspect stressful day tomorrow which will result, I hope in my arrival at some point in Kyoto. Until then.
Obviously, this took us back a bit so we decided to go and eat and think about it. Sigh. Thai food, my favourite. No tofu, no vegetarian option so I ordered crab curry and according to the photo it was chopped up crab. Guess what, nope, huge chunks of crab submerged in curry. I had to perform an autopsy on the dead thing to try to get the meat out. Every meal is a challenge. Next stop was Shibuya.
We then caught the tube up to Shinjuku and come across an amazing department store. I guess it was a cross between Selfridges food hall and Fortnum and Masons. I got so excited when I saw a croissant, I mean really. If I could have stayed there for the next day I would have been able to have so much choice of food. But that was not going to happen. We then walked to the government building as we had read that we could go and see the skyline free of charge. The views were stunning. Tokyo is a huge place and I guess I really did not appreciate how big it was. However, apparently, there are 13 million people who live here (around 7.5 million in
We then caught the tube back to Ueno, where we had been to activate our train ticket and went to enquire again. Same story, you have not got a hope in hells chance in getting a train! It was time to make some decisions. We decided to make a reservation for our final journey back to the airport. As for tomorrow, we had a few ideas and decided to go to dinner to have a think.
Once again was this going to be easy! No. We opted, reluctantly for Italian. Previously in the day we saw the Japanese version of a British pub. Trust me when I say this is not pub I have ever seen or food being served in a British pub. Back to the Italian. Still very little choice if I am honest but I opted for a four cheese pizza. All was going well until the person on the next table ordered a lobster. It was delivered to her
We decided to go back to our room and have a case conference about tomorrow and what, if any, options we have. In the end we have decided to get up at 6.00, get to the station either by tube or Uber as they have given heavy rain and thunderstorms tomorrow - of course they have. Get down the station and wait and just get on with it. We have no choice. It is a three day holiday in Japan. We have accommodation in Kyoto booked, we need to be there even if it means we have to stand up all the way not the train. I mean, it will be no different than getting a 125 up to Manchester. It will be fine, it has to be. We really do not have a choice.
I then went to the hotel's onsen bath, after watching a video on Youtube as I did not have clue what the etiquette is. Onsen are Japanese public baths with warm
So I am going to say good night now. I have a very busy, I suspect stressful day tomorrow which will result, I hope in my arrival at some point in Kyoto. Until then.
As always, with my love x
Comments
Post a Comment