A very personal Decade of Dreams tour! UPDATED 6/5 About This Page:

[rlb38]

Wonderful pictures. I am going to guess right train, wrong car for the next installment

[OhToodles!]

What neat photos you had leaving the city and going out to the country. Gives you a totally different perspective. Interesting about the ‘trough’ toilet. I think I’d do the same as you though and use the other one if it was available – or I might wait until it was.

Amazing photos of Nikko! Especially the Toshu-gu Shrine! Love the monkeys too!

Oh no! I don’t like the sound of what’s to come because of you missing a ‘potty stop’.

[belle0517]

Great pictures!

[pamcarey]

Absolutely amazing pictures of the shrine! It must have been almost mindboggling to see in person.

[KMB733]

The photos are so beautiful!

[goofysdtr]

Beautiful updates, Cheryl! Not sure I want to hear what comes next, though.

[lauren-roxy]

Great photos!! The sepia colored ones are really nice too!!

[mcc0313]

Wonderful pictures, I love the black and white verisons, the shrines are indeed beautiful. Glad you found the bus quickly but your sneak peek has me worried....

[christiejay]

Just getting caught up on this day. The train ride out of the city sounds nice, I loved seeing the mountains getting closer and closer. So, this shrine, is that the origin of the see no evil etc. monkeys? Love all your pictures, it was kind of weird to go from your solo WDW trip report back to this one where Mark is present! Looking forward to reading your next installment, although a little worried at the same time.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by christiejay

Just getting caught up on this day. The train ride out of the city sounds nice, I loved seeing the mountains getting closer and closer. So, this shrine, is that the origin of the see no evil etc. monkeys?

It is indeed.

[chezp]

Thursday 2 April – part five: what do you mean, that’s the train to Asakusa?!

I had assumed that we would follow the same pattern on the way back that we had followed on the way here, but I was very wrong. We got off at the next station, where we had got off before, but that was where we were stumped. Now what? Fortunately, I asked someone what time the next train was (in Japanese) and he asked if it was for Asakusa. I told him yes and he pointed at the train that we had just got off. Suddenly, it all became horribly clear to me. This was the train we would be on all the way back to Tokyo. Of course, that explained why we had only upgraded on the way out and why we didn’t have an express ticket for the way back. It was all making sense, but a little too late.

Of course, we had given up our seats on the train, which was packed. Now they were taken, but we managed to grab somewhere to sit. It just didn’t have much room and was right by the doors, so it was cold every time we pulled into a station and boy, it was a slow train that stopped at just about every station on the way back.

We were also seated near the restrooms on the way back. At least that gave me the chance to see that they were less than desirable, shall we say. I was now regretting not going when we left Nikko. Still, there was nothing I could about it now.

Fortunately, about an hour into the journey, more people started to empty off and we were able to find a four seater to sit at, which was much more comfortable. By the way, that’s how the Japanese appeared to work. There was no-one asking to join people at all and some people were even content to stand, rather than share with others. It’s not like that at home at all.




As we headed back, I could see what we were paying for with the express service. Not only are the seats much bigger, but it’s a smoother ride and you get additional services, such as people offering snacks and sandwiches (for price of course!), but there’s nothing like that on here. As a result, I found the journey back a bit more painful. It took longer, but it felt like a lot longer too. It wasn’t nearly as relaxing as on the way out. Still, it was interesting to be sampling both and I’m glad we got to go express on the way out there.

We got back to Asakusa station about two and a half hours after leaving Nikko and quickly found our way to the subway station, where we got our tickets and were able to get a seat, as it was the start of the line. It’s probably just as well, as once again, it got really crowded just as we neared our station and I was very glad we were sitting down and had some personal space, as I saw people being squashed closer together than I would’ve liked to have endured.

We headed back to the room for some down time. When we got to the reception, I asked for some stamps for postcards to the States and the UK, as I had written a fair few of them on the train on the way back. The guy had to thumb through a huge book to work out the price and eventually he came up with 90¥ for the States and 110¥ for the UK. It’s the first time postage has ever cost more to the UK than to the States for us.

We went up to the room and a couple of minutes later, the phone rang. I thought it was my dad, as he had been threatening to call us, but it was front desk, ringing to tell us that they had given us the wrong stamps and they were apologising profusely. A couple of minutes later, there was a knock at the door and there was the guy we had spoken to with the correct stamps, still apologising profusely for the mix-up. Now that’s what I call service!

As the sun set, we had a beautiful view, including over Mount Fuji:





Eventually hunger drove us out. We walked over to the main road in Akasaka and, as we emerged from the subway station, the difference here at night, compared to when we had walked down here a couple of days ago, was amazing. It was as if this place had really come to life now and it seemed brighter now than during the day. Neon signs were everywhere, with people bustling around. There were people on most corners, offering cards, some of which we think were for girls, so I guess it’s a bit like Las Vegas in that respect. It was a bit bizarre to see a restaurant and a massage place all in one, but we did see that.





We headed to the same shop that we had got breakfast from a couple of days ago and were gutted to find that the doughnuts we liked weren’t there, but found a couple of other things that would do us for the morning.

Then our next quest was to find somewhere for dinner. I had a place in mind that not only had sample dishes in the window, but also gave details of the dishes in English. Eventually we found it and it turned out to be a French patisseries called Ginza Café corner, so in we went and got a table in the no smoking area. Here is where Tokyo is behind a lot of the rest of the world. I can’t believe the restaurants, as well as fast food places, still have smoking and no smoking areas in them.



We studied the menu, which was written in both English and Japanese, very helpfully.



We both went for their pot pies, with me getting the seafood stew and Mark having the beef one. When they turned up, they looked pretty impressive, although there wasn’t much underneath it when we pulled the top off the pasty. Still, there was plenty for me, although I don’t think Mark felt the same about his.




We had some drinks to go with our meal, with Mark getting a beer and me getting a glass of their house white wine. When it turned up, there was a very small glass and a small bottle of wine and it looked just like a sample bottle, if you know what I mean!



After a very good main course, we just had to try dessert, as it was a patisserie after all. I went for the strawberry parfait, while Mark had the pudding a la mode, which was a custard dessert surrounded by fruit. Mine was essentially a sundae and it was lovely. They did justice to their French roots here.




Fully satisfied, we paid the bill, which came to 5610¥ (about £40), which wasn’t too bad and certainly a lot more reasonable than some of the places we had seen so far this trip.

Ginza Café Corner:

Main course 8 7
Dessert 9 8½
Service 9 9
Atmosphere 8½ 9
Value for money 9 8½

Average score: 8.55

We walked the short distance back to the hotel and that was it for another day.

Today we walked 2.19 miles
The weather today was sunny and a lot clearer, but more windy with the temperatures in the 50s.
The best thing today was Nikko.
The worst thing today was how cold we got towards the end of the afternoon.
The funniest thing today was seeing a Japanese style toilet for the first time.
Today we tried taking the express train
And the result was it’s a really luxurious way to travel.
The most magical moment today was walking into the Toshu-gu shrine.

Next: off to see Mount Fuji

[Wendyismyname]

I still can't get over how quickly the postcard came! Four days!!

Your dinner sounds lovely, especially the dessert!!

[Desurae]

Mmmm your dinner looked delicious! Such beautiful pics of the city at night!

[Colexis Mom]

More great pictures!! The food looks yummy! I agree, the postcard did come very quickly!! Takes longer to go from the East Coast to the West Coast with our service!!

[Mauimouse]

Just caught up with your trip over to Japan. What a lovely time you both are having. Love all the photos, thanks for sharing.