The Last Day (Tokyo Pt 6)

We shelled out for an extra hour at the hotel and slept late. The hotel was willing to hold our baggage while we kicked around our last day in Tokyo. So unburdened, we proceeded to run all over the city.

We wanted to see New Year's Day at a shrine, so we went to Senso-ji Shrine. We got to indulge in street food- Japanese street food is absolutely fantastic! We did yakisoba, kara-age, and a pita-like thing. We browsed the many shops, picked up more souveniers, generally just enjoyed ourselves.

Hit Ginza, but being uber-swanky, most shops decided to close down for the day. So off to Roppongi we went. Nick and Jenny went to TGIFriday for dinner, while Aaron and I had Chinese. At some point during the day we returned to Shibuya to pick up some good beer to take home [Rogue Mocha Porter and Chimay].

We wanted to be sure we could find the Night Bus pick up, so we grabbed our baggage and headed to Tokyo Station around 7:30. Now, the Night Bus is a private company, and while they do have a set loading area, said area is not marked in any way. We wandered a few blocks looking for familiar signs/lights/anything. Then Jenny broke out her digicam to reveal that she had taken a picture when we disembarked the bus! I admit thinking she was camera-crazy at the time, but her photo helped us find the place with no trees, strange windows, and a loading sign! I will never doubt anyone taking set-the-scene pics ever again. We then camped out at the station til it was time to board the bus.

8 hours later, we were in Kyoto, boarding the train to go home. Once we got home, we went to a fantastic onsen nearby [Yakuno- a bit more traditional feeling than the Wadayama onsen] to clean up. Then home for a loooong nap. Aaron and I were thrilled to come home to 2 package notices and several New Year cards. The next day found us with tortillas from Lynn and comics!
Hooray for care packages!