So here we are, the finale of our trip. What a whirlwind 2 weeks of travelling and sightseeing. As with most trips it started up slowly at a steady pace before building up momentum and sure enough 2 weeks had passed within the blink of an eye. So here we are, the final day in Japan. Somewhat regrettably I can say that I'm more than over Japan.
7:35 am - Head, so light. Throat, so sore. Feeling so weak. I'm, getting sick. Yesterday's sleep in was a teaser and soon enough we were back to a schedule of early wake up calls. This was far worse than what is expected of me for work! In saying that everybody has their own definitions of holidays. We had spoken to the concierge of the Kent Hotel and thankfully they had agreed to hold our luggage for the final day after checkout. I managed to jam everything into my luggage, looks like we wouldn't have to buy extra bags.
One thing that we had drastically miscalculated was purchasing a 14 day JR pass and being in Japan for 15 days. As previously mentioned we had received good value from our JR passes, today we would have to purchase one more bullet train ticket. The ticket that would take us from downtown Tokyo to Narita Airport. We packed our bags and brought them down to the foyer for safe keeping. A net was thrown over our luggage, the ultimate in baggage security technology. Today like the previous day was no different. The rain fell lightly but consistently as we made our way to Shinjuku station, given the time few people were on the streets. The weather today was shocking and probably an appropriate way to leave Japan. I was not looking forward to dragging my luggage through the rain later today. We purchased ¥3110 tickets for the 3:42 pm train. We were set, all we needed to do now was kill half a day.
Luckily we still had access to the Lonely Planet. The solution? The Imperial Palace! Well actually the palace itself was closed but the surrounding gardens were open. We caught a train to Tokyo station, by this time the crowds had substantially picked up despite the earliness. The town planning had some very obvious western influence. We had breakfast at a small fancy looking cafeteria that had a touch of French elegance. Huge glass walls encapsulated the eating area and the staff were dressed in black and white. After a light French style breakfast our final sightseeing destination would be the gardens. Other tourists had bared the weather and were trudging along inside the garden quarters. Maybe it was the weather or possibly my low health bar but I found the gardens to be a huge let down.The cold had finally caught up to me, I felt light headed and not particularly keen on conversation or exploration. The rain had picked up and now came down heavily and my umbrella was starting to feeling the strain of being purchased from a 100 Yen store. Sinus clogged, we headed back to Shinjuku and did some light shopping and had our last bowl of Ramen at the same place we had tried on our first night.
It was around this time that my umbrella finally gave way and decided that it no longer wanted to serve its function in keeping me dry. Drenched to the bone we finally decided that it be best to make our way back to the hotel. We had outstayed our time in Japan. The weather wanted us out! 3:00 pm, if I wasn't going to get sick, this was definitely going to test my attrition levels. My feeble attempts to dry myself off with toilet tissue paper and the hand drier wasn't happening. Blink. This bites.
Again we managed to get some people's attention rocking up to the adjacent cafe with wet clothing and water streaming down our faces. The waiter seeing our situation brought us the menus and some hand towels to soak up some moisture. We indulged in some afternoon tea and made the trek back to the Shinjuku station.
4:42 pm: Puddles, wet. Oh so miserable. Currently on the Narita express, couldn't get out of Japan soon enough. Had a brief talk about the highs and lows about our trip. What would be done again, what would be done differently. Outstanding items were, "not to come back in summer", "Stay in Shibuya", "try Kobe Beef", "Go to Fukuoka" etc. Our last bullet train, we snapped some photos with the trusty notebook (Actually all the smiles and hand gestures probably used up 100% of the remaining enthusiasm for that day). Arrived at the airport at 5:10 pm a little earlier than scheduled but we were warned to arrive at least 2 and half hours prior to take off. Gathered our items, changed into some thongs, made necessary changes and then checked in. Over the course of the 2 weeks I had managed to bolster up the weight of my luggage to a healthy 27 kgs. Again our flight has been delayed, rescheduled for 9:10. Even when we want to leave we're still stuck here? For dinner I had some simple Chinese congee, which was very tasty. Time to board QF22...
