Our last few days in Japan have
absolutely flown by. We took the bullet train from Osaka back to Tokyo, to jump on the express train to our final stay in Japan, Narita. I’d made sure that we were sat on the left side of the carriage so that we would be able to spot Mt. Fuji on our way past, although the weather had turned pretty cloudy by this point.
Yesterday we decided to spend our last full day in Japan back in Tokyo, as there wasn’t going to be a lot to do in Narita. We didn’t really plan the day before we left though, so we pretty much made it up as we went along. We started by taking the train into Tokyo station to get some lunch. Let me tell you, hanger is a thing and Saf gets it bad. Having spent two weeks non-stop with him, I’ve now learned to let him get on with grumbling and complaining, but by 2.15pm, it was clear he needed feeding.
I cannot explain just how drastic the change is in a person (Saf) once he has started eating a little rice and spiced fish. It’s like a whole new person. Once he was suitably full, we walked past the station to the park, with the intention of taking a look at the Imperial Palace. We didn’t make it to the palace as we went through the gates into the Palace East Gardens and found ourselves walled off from the rest of the park. This wasn’t so bad though, as the garden was so pretty, with the last of the cherry trees holding their blossoms, and bamboo groves shading the paths.
Once we left the park, we had plans to find a Sakura festival which was due to be held that day. We walked for probably 25 minutes, walking in the wrong direction and doubling back on ourselves for most of that time (we’re not great at maps), and eventually found that the festival was long since over. It was kind of disappointing, but not the end of the world. We walked along the path on the edge of the water that surrounded the park, (is it a moat? I’m going to call it a moat) trying to think of something to do that meant we hadn’t wasted the day. As we were walking, Saf spotted a dock where people were hiring row boats and pedal boats. Between us, and I’m not actually sure how we ended up saying yes, we decided to spend our last yen on 30 minutes in one of the rowing boats. Since my back is still bad, Saf took the oars. To be honest, the minute our boat was pushed from the side of the dock and out into open water (the moat) I thought we’d made a terrible choice. I was convinced the boat was going to overturn and we’d end up plunging into dirty moat-water, camera/phone/wallets and all. Also, Saf is an awful oarsman. After about ten minutes, we’d moved maybe seven metres, and spent most of that trying not to crash into passers by. Finally though, Saf sort of got the hang of it (I’m sure it was me barking instructions at him that did it) and he managed to row around part of the moat and not drown us. By the time we’d been in the boat 25 minutes, I was sort of starting to relax and enjoy it. Saf, maybe not so much.
We were planning on being in Tokyo until later but since the weather wasn’t great and we were flying out the next day, we decided to head back to Narita to get everything packed and ready. We picked up dinner on the way, and by this time, we were both happy to spend the evening in watching Netflix.
Today we flew from Narita to Singapore, where we’re spending the next couple of days before going to Sydney. We arrived in Singapore into 30 degree heat, so our air conditioned studio was a welcome relief once we finally made it there. We’re staying near Chinatown, so that’s where we aimed for for dinner. In the end, we ended up on the very outskirts of main Chinatown, but by that point we would have eaten anything, so the little restaurant we ended up in was just fine.
Tomorrow we’re going to see how much exploring we can manage in the humid 30 degree heat. Our host has given us some recommendations so hopefully we can get a lot done!!
Ciao for now!!
X
Claudia Bow 