So long, farewell
Good evening from Tokyo!
Lucinda here updating our last blog post whilst in Japan, as we leave for home tomorrow morning.
These have been two of the best weeks of my life, in the country we both love, with fabulous company. It's unlikely that we'll be able to return to Japan again next year but we will in the future, and hopefully our blogs have inspired some of our friends and family to make the trip and enjoy themselves as much as we have.
Our leaving present from Japan is that we both woke up full of the cold this morning - not ideal! Hopefully it'll go away soon.
For breakfast this morning, we had freshly baked melon pan, which is a sweet bread shaped like a melon and filled with whipped cream. It was delicious and a great way to start the day. We'd tried the one from the supermarket last time we were here, and it was nice, but the ones from the market stalls are much better and fresher.
For lunch, we took the train to Shin-Otsuka to visit the restaurant that George had mentioned in the previous blog called Nakiryu, which holds a Michelin Star for its very special ramen.
We waited for well over an hour in a queue outside to get in, as there are only 10 seats inside, but for the standard of food and how reasonable it is, you can certainly see why it's so popular. When you get near the front of the queue the staff hand you a menu to look at. Then, you order and pay at a vending machine inside before you are seated.
Our eyes were way bigger than our bellies, so we ordered a bowl of tantanmen ramen each with all the toppings included, then ordered more pork, noodles and some seaweed as well!
It was so good getting to sit at the chef's pass and watch them expertly piece together our ramen bowls. We both managed to finish them but were so full afterwards, and realised that we didn't really need to order any of the extra things that we did.
We added another funny moment on the way back from the restaurant as George almost hit his head on the ceiling at the subway station - it turns out Japan wasn't built for the likes of him.
Our feet are very sore now, and in a way we are looking forward to getting back so we can rest them again for a bit. One of the last activities of the trip was a short train journey to Ueno to sing some more karaoke - we sang everything from Metallica to Celine Dion! So much fun was had.
The plan for tonight's dinner was to go back to our favourite okonomiyaki restaurant. We knew it closed at 10pm, so fitted in some last minute souvenir shopping in the area first.
We turned up at the restaurant at 9.10pm, only to be disappointingly told that they were now closed for the night. That's one thing we've noticed about some restaurants in Japan - when they advertise closing at a certain time, they mean that the lights will be out and the staff will be gone.
George very kindly guided me to a taiyaki stall that was open, so I could get my last fix before home. I have found my love in food form - it's so amazing!
With okonomiyaki off the menu, we opted for some supermarket food, final packing and an early night at the hotel, as we've got a long day of travelling tomorrow and I still needed to update our final blog post.
We hope you've enjoyed the blog - time for bed with a hot toddy!
さようなら
Lucinda
Lucinda here updating our last blog post whilst in Japan, as we leave for home tomorrow morning.
These have been two of the best weeks of my life, in the country we both love, with fabulous company. It's unlikely that we'll be able to return to Japan again next year but we will in the future, and hopefully our blogs have inspired some of our friends and family to make the trip and enjoy themselves as much as we have.
Our leaving present from Japan is that we both woke up full of the cold this morning - not ideal! Hopefully it'll go away soon.
For breakfast this morning, we had freshly baked melon pan, which is a sweet bread shaped like a melon and filled with whipped cream. It was delicious and a great way to start the day. We'd tried the one from the supermarket last time we were here, and it was nice, but the ones from the market stalls are much better and fresher.
For lunch, we took the train to Shin-Otsuka to visit the restaurant that George had mentioned in the previous blog called Nakiryu, which holds a Michelin Star for its very special ramen.
We waited for well over an hour in a queue outside to get in, as there are only 10 seats inside, but for the standard of food and how reasonable it is, you can certainly see why it's so popular. When you get near the front of the queue the staff hand you a menu to look at. Then, you order and pay at a vending machine inside before you are seated.
Our eyes were way bigger than our bellies, so we ordered a bowl of tantanmen ramen each with all the toppings included, then ordered more pork, noodles and some seaweed as well!
It was so good getting to sit at the chef's pass and watch them expertly piece together our ramen bowls. We both managed to finish them but were so full afterwards, and realised that we didn't really need to order any of the extra things that we did.
We added another funny moment on the way back from the restaurant as George almost hit his head on the ceiling at the subway station - it turns out Japan wasn't built for the likes of him.
Our feet are very sore now, and in a way we are looking forward to getting back so we can rest them again for a bit. One of the last activities of the trip was a short train journey to Ueno to sing some more karaoke - we sang everything from Metallica to Celine Dion! So much fun was had.
The plan for tonight's dinner was to go back to our favourite okonomiyaki restaurant. We knew it closed at 10pm, so fitted in some last minute souvenir shopping in the area first.
We turned up at the restaurant at 9.10pm, only to be disappointingly told that they were now closed for the night. That's one thing we've noticed about some restaurants in Japan - when they advertise closing at a certain time, they mean that the lights will be out and the staff will be gone.
George very kindly guided me to a taiyaki stall that was open, so I could get my last fix before home. I have found my love in food form - it's so amazing!
With okonomiyaki off the menu, we opted for some supermarket food, final packing and an early night at the hotel, as we've got a long day of travelling tomorrow and I still needed to update our final blog post.
We hope you've enjoyed the blog - time for bed with a hot toddy!
さようなら
Lucinda
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