Last day...and back to the USA!

I woke up late on my last day and had no real plans except souvenir shopping! I repacked my huge backpack for the very last time, checked out of my hostel, and headed back to the Sensoji Temple. Since I had been there once before with the  organized bus tour almost two weeks earlier (!!), I knew there were lots of souvenir shops near the temple.

A "frozen beer" garden

I bought a few trinkets, but discovered I had spent all my money, so I went in search of an ATM. I found a 7-11, took out more money than I should have, and grabbed a rice ball for breakfast. Rice balls are fun little scoops of rice that are stuffed with something, usually fish or veggies, and then wrapped in seaweed. They are better than they sound, and the one I chose ended up being stuffed with some sort of salty tuna.

Japanese people sleep
everywhere!

I had seen some fun looking shops the night before in Akihabara, so I caught the train and headed back to the “Electric Town.” It was slightly less deserted than the previous evening, but I still didn’t see any real characters. I did find a few fun stores, and spent the early afternoon accumulating gifts for my family. I have a pretty short attention span for shopping, so after a little while I decided to go see what the Imperial Palace Gardens were like. You can’t get into the Palace itself, but the gardens are free and open to the public.

For some reason I decided to walk there, and as usual I had underestimated how far away it was. Tokyo is a large city, and I was constantly amazed at how long it takes to amble from neighborhood to neighborhood. But even though it was a hot day, it was fun to spend a while wandering through the huge buildings. I love visiting big cities and really enjoy just staring up at the huge skyscrapers!

I found the Imperial Gardens, and spent an hour or so meandering through the hydrangeas, around the koi ponds, and through the flowering trees. It was really cool to be in such a historical and serene place but look up and see the towering, modern buildings of the city over the stone walls of the palace.

After grabbing a snack (green tea flavored donut and an iced coffee), I headed back to the shopping area near my hostel. It was late afternoon, and I spent the rest of my day shopping…like I said, I’m not a skilled shopper, and it took me forever to decide on everyone’s souvenirs! By the time I was finished it was after 7pm, and I had a midnight flight back to LA, so I headed back towards the hostel to collect my bags and get to the airport.

Ramen ordering machine!

On the way, I stopped for dinner. I had been craving ramen, and decided it was good enough for my last meal in Japan! I found a restaurant with plastic models of bowls of ramen outside, and went in. To order, you had to use an electronic ticket machine. It looked a lot like a vending machine, so I put in money and I pushed the little buttons for the bowl of soup I wanted and a small beer, and it spit out two tickets.

I had no idea what to do with them, so I sat down at a booth and handed them to the first waitress that appeared. She asked me a lot of questions in Japanese, and apparently my blank stare in response wasn’t enough….she brought over a picture of a bottle of beer or a glass of beer, and I pointed to the glass. Soon enough a huge steaming bowl of noodles was brought over and they were yummy!!

Sensoji Temple by night

After dinner, I hurried back to the hostel. It had been a long day of walking in the sun, and I was happy when I inquired about taking a quick shower - the hostel staff was nice enough to let me take a brief rinse even though I had already checked out. I took a refreshing cold shower, changed into some clean clothes, attempted to shove my overflowing bags of souvenirs into my pack, and caught an amazingly easy direct express train to the airport!

I checked in and got through immigration and security really quickly, so I had tons of time in the airport. I also had a lot of leftover yen, so I spent a while getting rid of my “extra” money in the duty free stores. I bought lots of candy for my lab (and some for myself :) and some other small trinkets. After checking out, I decided to count up all my coins (everything up to 500 yen [about $6] is in coins!), and I still had about 3000 yen! With my pocket change, I grabbed a bottle of sake and called it quits.

The many toilet options of Japan

I made it to my gate with too much time, and I’ll admit I sat there and pouted. I was definitely looking forward to my own bed and seeing my kitten, but I really enjoyed Japan and was reluctant to leave! The end of a trip is always so bittersweet to me, but most of the time if I were given the option to keep traveling I totally would, and Japan was no exception!

But I got on my plane, had a long (10.5 hour) but easy flight back across the Pacific, and was on the ground in LA soon enough. I had made it a mission to stay awake the whole way home in an attempt to beat jet lag, and successfully remained conscious even though the flight took off after midnight Japan-time. I landed at “5pm” California time (it is so weird to land 7 hours “before” I took off – the International Date Line is so crazy!), made it through customs, and back to SD.

It was good to be back, pet my kitten, shower in my very own bathroom, and crash into my (comparatively) huge comfy bed! Overall, it was a great trip, and I am really glad to be lucky enough to get to visit such an amazing place!!