The taxi had already waited in front at quarter past 4. It was a 10-minute taxi ride to Tsukiji Shijo during which time I had a very pleasant conversation with the driver about Tokyo in general and the sushi breakfast that I was about to partake in my very halted nihon-go. The market was already bustling with activity and I made my way towards Sushi Dai. I got a little lost initially thanks to the wrong direction provided by a tourist from, err… NYC. Got back to the guardhouse, was given a map and I was on my way to sushi heaven. Which only happened an hour an a half later which ain’t bad compared to people who wait for 3-4 hours (that’s what happens when you come late). How was it? Hah – I will write about this in a separate post. It was superb, I’d give you that for now.


Meandered about the dry market area and got some omiyage for ayah. After that delicious asagohan, I wasn’t too bothered to return to the wet market section. Took the Metro to Hibiya for a post-breakfast stroll in the park on Hibiya-kōen and the southern part of the Kōkyo (Tokyo Imperial Palace) called Kōkyo-gaien which is popular with running Tokyo-ites. As this was effectively my last day in Japan, I thought of hitting areas I haven’t been. Kind of a whirlwind tour of the city on foot and by Tokyo Metro[1]. It really didn’t matter – yesterday was spent doing second visits to parts of Tokyo that I had been to but they had to be done for completion.

I started with Roppongi which is apparently popular with expats, and of course better visited in the evenings. The Metro took me into Roppongi Hills where the Mori Tower 「六本木ヒルズ森タワ」 stood. One could buy a ticket for the Mori Art Museum which was doing an Andy Warhol exhibition at the mo, and this includes the opportunity to go to the observation deck just one floor above (the museum’s on the 52nd floor of this 5th tallest building in Tokyo). As I had already slept in a hotel room on the 43rd floor once on this trip, I gave this a pass. The grounds of the tower had a quaint little park complete with a pond surrounded by cherry blossoms. Had a nice view of the Tokyo Tower although in hindsight I should’ve gone to Azabu-Jūban for a better view.



From Roppongi, it was only a few stops on the Metro to get to Naka-meguro (Nakame to the locals) to catch more hanami. I read that Nakame was very popular with locals as opposed to tourists who’d flock to the more obvious Ueno or Yoyogi. I guess if I had arrived in Kyoto much later, Gion would’ve been like this (Nakame’s modern, though). The white sakura lining the Meguro-gawa was in abundance with shedded petals flying in the air and into the river. This view lasts for a fortnight at most which explains the fascination of the Japanese with hanami[2]. From Nakame, I just enjoyed the sights whilst walking towards Ebisu via Daikanyama which was about 2 km. Daikanyama’s a quiet suburb that has cafes and boutiques peppered here and there – the kind of place to check out up and coming local designers if you are into that sort of thing. This walk reminded me of my Barcelona trip – pretty but a tad boring. I had in mind to drop by a cafe but looked at my watch and thought that I should head straight to Shinjuku for that ramen lunch I missed yesterday.

And boy was it worth it. Got to Menya Kaijin at quarter to twelve so as to avoid a queue with the lunch hour crowd. With a ramen eaterie, you sit, you order, you eat and you go. Took quick shots of the place but didn’t think it’d be polite to get FB updates on the iPhone whilst sipping cold water when a queue was slowly building at the door. I just pointed to the picture of the ‘spicy’ ramen and the staff asked what reberu (level) I wanted it to be. Result? The fish ramen broth was simply gorgeous.


Walked about Shinjuku near Kabukicho which was in a way another missed opportunity as this was better visited in the evenings. Perhaps Tokyo should be visited at night and I should’ve just slept in the day eh. I wanted to do that second rethink about guitars and I then proceeded to BIG BOSS at Ochanomizu one last time for this trip. After much deliberation, I decided against bringing a guitar back despite of the cheaper price and the fact that you cannot get these models elsewhere[3], as I cannot imagine lugging my luggage with a guitar in tow to Narita tomorrow morning. Perhaps if I had come to Tokyo with one bag pack. Perhaps…

After a lil’ pick me up with some coffee and ミルクレープ at a Doutor at Harajuku, I then trundled back to my hotel wearily as it had been a very long day.

Had a quick nap and packed my bag, and then it was a last night out in Shibuya for makan and a last ditch attempt to get stuff at Tower Records. I returned to Genki, the first kaitenzushi I went on this trip and ate to my heart’s content, despite already having sushi this morning.

At Tower Records, there was an autograph event for a visual kei band (which I found out much later to be MEJIBRAY) with what I thought was the most pitiful queue of fans ever (about 5 girls). On the way out, I even bumped into the pink-locked bassist looking at his mobile phone on his own, without being mobbed. Things must be hard in the J-Rock industry these days I guess.

Very unhappy. Taxi booked. Alarm clock set. Time to sleep.

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[1]My JR pass expired last night.
[2]At the time this entry was posted, my favourite girls from SCANDAL had their hanami here only two days ago as they were working nearby. Sigh.
[3]You could but it won’t be off the rack. Davis in Singapore is my best/nearest bet if I were wanting to buy an Edwards on my trips back home to KL.