Tokyo

When one trip ends…

Posted on by helenhmk

On the last day of a holiday you always have your mind on the time… from when you get up to packing the suitcase for a final time (aka – I’m sure I fit one more item in of if I try hard enough..), checking out, to calculating the time you need to be back at your hotel to get your bags (no… do I really have to move them again) to travel to the airport. Today was that day.

We enjoyed our last cycle to Toyasu to catch up with a friend for lunch – sushi at the new fish market. The weather was perfect… a great day to be on the bike… and the sushi was fabulous- better than what we get in ADL and fitting last meal in Tokyo.

… now we just need to plan the next one 😉

Final breakfast

Posted on by kymdt

For those of you concerned that I might not say anything anymore (based on my capybara experience), rest assured that only related to the fact that no words are needed for a looping video of a capybara!

Today’s breakfast is courtesy of NHK World’s Dive in Tokyo which takes you to a different district of Tokyo each show.

We saw Bakery Bank on the Kabutcho episode. The bakery makes delightful pastry and other bread products. The coffee (and ceramics) from Coin downstairs are the perfect accompaniment.

Afternoon tea and night lights…

Posted on by helenhmk

We booked a traditional afternoon tea at a function centre which looks out onto a small tradition Japanese garden Happo-en.

As you can see by the photos it’s a real delight. The Koi fish were amazing- we could have spent hours watching them.. and their colour was amazing!

While enjoying the afternoon tea, we realised this was the very first garden we visited on our very first day in Japan back in 2008 when we had a goodwill guide provide a half day tour.

We finished the afternoon tea just on sunset. At this time the garden is lit up in red, highlighting the garden. This is only done in autumn and it really highlights the features of the garden.

Snacks…

Posted on by helenhmk

Ah… Anthony Bourdain (chef come TV travel explorer) recommended the egg salad sandwiches from 7-11.

While the crusts are cut off – I must admit it was pretty good.

Here is the taiyaki snack we had down the road afterwards…

…super yummo

The unplanned is a delight..

Posted on by helenhmk

While half the fun of a holiday might be the planning, there are those times when everything just works out. Today’s ride was one of those.

The ride was a 25+km loop ride planned by Kym while on the train as we went to Hirai Station from Suidobashi. Before we started we bought a snack of a small cake from the shop in the station, un-covered the bikes and then set out on the route. As you can see by the map below, it took us along the Arakawa River, more recent housing development on the opposite side of the river (not as interesting as the old suburbs as there are less laneways, shops etc)… the Kansai-Rikai Park ( good views of Mt Fuji when there is no cloud), and back along and across the river (not forgetting to use the elevator to access the bridge) to the train station.

Here are the pictures taken along the route..

…. And we ended perfectly to time the sunset for the view- could not have planned it if we tried.

Great day of cycling..!

Time to relax after Izumo…

Posted on by helenhmk

After three days away in Izumo cycling with friends… we are tired. So today is a relaxing day walking in the local neighbourhood and some cycling to keep the legs moving.

We’ve already had one coffee… but it is time for a coffee flight at Glitch.

Only in Japan…

Posted on by helenhmk

At our brief stay at the Hotel Metropolitan at Haneda Aiport… the most welcome sign after a long bike ride was the roof top foot spa. It also came with a view of the airport. If you didn’t have a towel- don’t worry there was a vending machine for that too… ah perfect ending to a perfect day!

Riding continued…

Posted on by helenhmk

On Saturday the riding continued with our friends after the Brompton in Palace event. We went to a place which did handmade udon noodles. Ah the taste was fantastic….

We then continued down the Tama river (same route we did on Tuesday)… which is a high embankment which enables you to see great views along the river (flood plain) and into the distance. Along the way we stopped for some coffee and doughnuts.

The little shop was in between a bunch of residential houses (planning laws in SA would never allow it – but it’s 🥰). It certainly was a good way to warm up.

We did around another 10km, said goodbye to our friends who went home… and continued for another 10km or so until they left us at Futako – Tamagawa station… and we continued onto the airport.

It was interesting to see a local ignore the signs we spent time attempting to translate… thankfully we managed to walk down the embankment despite the lack path or steps.

The path to the airport was similar after the train station… however it’s a little like there path is done by one council on one side and a different on the other. In some places it was just crushed rock… and maybe the dirt bike would have been better for that couple of KM’s.

As we were cycling along we passed usual Saturday activities such as baseball, soccer, and golf practice. Baseball seemed more popular… while you can’t see it from the photos there were a lot of dog walkers, and kids on bikes.

The final destination was the airport as we had an early flight the next day.. we ended the ride having done 46km. while long it certainly was very satisfying!