I changed my plans a little bit because Erez’s new hiking shoelace broke. Not sure how it happened, but he tried to fix it and it made it worse. I had the receipt (I forgot leave it with him). I checked out of the hotel, and then headed for a chai latte in Tully’s cafe again so I could use their fast wifi. My room wifi was inconsistent, so it made it difficult sometimes to efficiently upload photos. Besides, I had to check out. As soon as the store was open I went in and talked to the salesperson who remembered seeing us the day before.
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With my Broken Japanese and the salesperson’s non-existent English, 15 minutes later, it was all sorted. Now I could head to Tokyo, albeit a tiny bit later than planned. On the way to the station I had passed this dapper looking sculpture from above many times, but never really had a chance to stop and look, so today I did – to my surprise it was of Hans Christian Anderson – apparently the other sculptures around the clock tower were characters from his stories. I am glad I took the time to find out.
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The trip back to Tokyo went fairly smoothly, I made my connections ok, and this time I realized that having a non-reserved ticket did not tie me to a particular train, so there was less stress about catching a certain one.
A Shinkansen leaving the station (slowly). When one barrels through at top speed it takes your breath away.
Here are a few observational photos from my journey and when I first arrived and wandered in my hotel neighbourhood.
An amazing shirt worn by a man in the station – I want one 🙂
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Shinagawa station when I got off the Shinkansen (bullet train)
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Outside view when I got out of Hamamatsucho Station to walk to my hotel. Notice the living green wall at the bottom of one of the buildings. It is called “The World Trade Centre”.
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To check in, I was directed to a machine, but the staff mostly did it for me.
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Originally, I thought that maybe I would take the evening to chill out and work on my blog and take it easy before the trip home, and then I decided…Who am I kidding? I have one night left, I am going to enjoy it, even if the forecast is for rain :). I packed up my umbrella and my small pack and hit the town…
I researched a few vegetarian restaurant options and found an interesting one not too far away by train, in Ginza. I walked by this sushi bar inside the station that I had seen on my way to the hotel, so I decided to stop there for a pre-dinner meal (it was fairly early – maybe 3:45pm). Wow – it was delicious!
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The above Aburi (torched fish) was really great.
This billboard was emblematic of my trip, then I noticed it was for Tokyo Disneyland. The dot on the “I” should have been the giveaway.
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9251-1024x768.jpg)
The restaurant was in the Ginza Shopping district. Wow has it ever changed in 28 years!
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In the photo below is the UNIQLO flagship store. It was huge! This is just the front that you see in the photo – it extended most of a block – it is 4 floors of only Uniqlo and then has a bonus Daiso (100 yen store) and a few others on the 5th floor. The 6th floor is food 🙂
I am not a shopper, but I had fun browsing there, picking up a few last minute things to bring home, now that I didn’t have to carry my purchases around with me for three weeks, and now that I had Erez’s bag to check.
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A couple of photos from the Daiso store:
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Here is the Kura Revolving Sushi Bar on the 6th floor – I would have loved to try it but I was still too full from the excellent sushi I ate in the station.
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Cool Mikimoto building:
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9267-768x1024.jpg)
Next I found the 2Foods vegan restaurant. I don’t know what kind of witchcraft was involved, but it was really good – usually I do not like vegan cheese, but this was great.
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9268-1-1024x768.jpg)
Next, I hopped on a train and tried to find an illuminated garden that I saw in some of the promotional materials in my room. It was at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa. I didn’t realize that there were many different Grand Prince hotels, all having slightly different names, all owned by the same company. It took a bit to find it, but when I did, it did not disappoint. Here are a few highlights:
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This was in another part of the hotel complex – I guess an intact historic building with a vintage car parked out front.
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More observation photos on my way to my next destination – the Tokyo Tower:
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9300-768x1024.jpg)
Zojoji Temple – I wish I had been there this time in the daylight – I probably have pictures from 28 years ago though – will check when I get home. It was pretty eerie at night with no lights.
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The Tokyo Tower was worth the walk – it was a warm night and it was beautifully lit up. I think last time I was there during the day.
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9308-768x1024.jpg)
There was a whole hangout area around the base of the tower which I don’t remember seeing before. There was an amazing looking crepe place – even the plastic food looked good, but I was already too full from my other two meals. This double decker bus was an eating area 🙂
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9311-1024x768.jpg)
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You can see how humid it was by my fuzzometer:
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9313-768x1024.jpg)
I was walking away from the tower, turned around for one last look and the lights had totally changed so I had to go back.
![](http://www.koren.korenscreativearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_9323-768x1024.jpg)
Overall, a great night out and about. I think I milked enough out of my last evening in Tokyo. I got home around 11:30pm, and I was still vibrating with energy for quite awhile.