Day 14: The Last Day

Jessica and I head out around lunchtime to the Imperial Palace because Jessica has been in Tokyo for about half a year and has not seen it yet.  This was my third visit.  We were going to go try a famous soba shop, but while walking through Shinjuku Station succumbed to the smells of freshly baked breads.  Eventually, we were so hungry we decided trying to make it to the soba shop was futile and just ate at a little café in the station.  It was quite good actually and I had something that I haven’t tasted in many months, a pesto chicken sandwich.  It was almost too good!

We strolled leisurely through the palace grounds snapping up a few good pictures of early blooming Sakura (cherry blossoms) and scenery.  The palace closes pretty early around 3-4 PM so afterwards we went to Roppongi Hills, a famous shopping plaza that was in our guidebooks and was a place neither of us had been to.  After admiring some strange spider sculpture and a few of the buildings we went up to the observation deck.  This was the fourth and best observation deck I had been to in Tokyo and is my personal favorite as far as observation decks go in Tokyo.  I frantically took pictures before the sunset, during and after the sunset to catch great views of the city, Tokyo Tower and Mount Fuji.  After the observation deck, we went to see a jewelry exhibit that was being featured in the same building.  Not that I have a particular interest in jewelry but it was a double ticket and actually it turned out to be pretty cool.

 

We decided to wait for Will to get off work to eat dinner together.  Jessica and I walked around street level and explored some of the plaza and found a great spot where lit up trees lined the street.  Just beyond in the distance stood Tokyo Tower just peaking over the horizon of the cityscape. 

We met up with Will in Shinjuku and decided (after extensively researching through 3 guidebooks) to eat at a Thai food restaurant.  Thai food is just one of the many foods that I miss and I took my chance while I was still in the international city of Tokyo to eat something I might not get a chance to eat in a while.  This will be a little ironic later.  Jessica ordered pad thai that didn’t really taste like any pad thai I’ve ever had.  It wasn’t bad, but it just had no familiar flavors or peanuts or sweet and sour sauce.  Will ordered a stew that was way too spicy for him and he decided to order a second dish.  I also ordered another dish with him so that he wouldn’t have to eat alone and because I still wanted more food.  We had a nice evening chatting, reacquainting myself with old and new friends alike and eventually said our goodbyes.  I went back to my hostel and had an interesting time catching my flight home.  That story is in the beginning in case you missed it. 

Conclusion:  These were definitely some of the best weeks of my trip to Japan, maybe of my life.  I’m lucky to have so many great friends to share many wonderful experiences with.  Tokyo is a fascinating city filled with thousands of new things to discover every day.  But its hectic fast-paced lifestyle is intense and a little too much for me to handle on a long term basis.  But it will always remain as one of my favorite cities to visit and tour.  I hope to come back to you soon, Tokyo.