Tuesday 15 April 2008

Back in Tokyo


Had a rather relaxed morning today as we were traveling back to Tokyo, there were plenty of trains during the day and its less than a two hour ride. We headed out for breakfast and found a great cafe under the station called the Mermaid Cafe. It was fantastic as it had an espresso machine and made real coffee. Nothing as good as you get in Sydney or Melbourne, but real coffee none the less.


It would seem espresso coffee is rare in Japan (maybe except for a seasoning on steak, ick). At home they are on every corner on every street in the CBD, but not here. There are even a couple of espresso machines in Heathcote !


After breakfast we headed back to the hotel to pack, then headed out to shop for an hour or so before Sharon's brother arrived for the trip to Tokyo. We went to the same department store as yesterday where I could drool over all the neat gadgets. I bought a few small items, again from BIC Camera.


We caught the Shinkansen back to Tokyo, it was a little easier as we had Chris to help with the luggage. That was the last Bullet train trip with all our luggage. Although I will miss the bullet train, I won't miss carting all our luggage around. We do have way too much stuff.


Back in Tokyo, I was a little annoyed, as the Hotel had run out of internet modems, and couldn't give me one. They do have a wireless access point in the lobby, but its not the same as being at the desk in the room. I later found out there was one in Paul & Sue's room, so I snaffled that one.


We had a few hours before dinner, so whilst my rail pass was still valid, I decided to go down to the bullet train platform and take some pics. There must be a closet train spotter in me crying to get out.


Came back to the hotel to collect the others for dinner, and went down to the "Wired Cafe" again to have dinner (we had lunch there last week). The good news was that my meal was free, the bad new is that it was free as I was sharing the salad with a small snail I found looking up at me. Unfortunately I'd already eaten 90% of the food.


On the way back I snapped some night shots around the hotel


Todays pics


http://flickr.com/photos/sg_harrison/sets/72157604547806772/



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