We got up early as is the norm when we travel. We had made reservations for the early train out of Tokyo Station. So we caught the 5:04 train from Yotsuya Sanchome.
We had mixed feelings about leaving Tokyo. We'd had such a great time and loved the vibe and very distinctive personalities of the various districts we were able to visit. We both felt a tinge of sadness….you could live here for decades and still only scratch the surface. It is both crazily busy, but with an order to things. Everyone goes left on the escalators, no one talks above the barest whispers on the trains and subways……"never trust a person who eats while walking". You stop and eat. The cleanliness, for a city this size…..
We had spoken to several folks; Reiko and the couple while having coffee near Tsukiji. They mentioned missing the "last train" out of Tokyo and having to stay up in a coffee shop to catch the first train out in the morning. And the young ladies here seemed to be a prime example of that.
We were amazed to find that folks would just nod off upon sitting…..this is the other side of life here, it can be hard and tiring. Just as quickly as they'd doze off, they'd snap to attention right before their stop!
Man, Tokyo Station was buzzing, even this early in the morning. The Missus went to grab some drinks and this was the check out line.
I was intrugued by the Ekiben stands. Man, the plastic food looked just delicious. The Missus decided we should get one; just to see if the bento actually looked like the plastic food.
You know what….it pretty much delivered….
And did bear an almost eerie resemblance to the plastic version.
I tried to, but couldn't really fit in an overnight trip to Hakone. Next time I told the Missus. She was disappointed in not getting to see Mount Fuji. But guess what……
She got Her photo from the Shinkansen.
Kyoto was up next…..
nice shot from the shinkansen:)
“Just as quickly as they’d doze off, they’d snap to attention right before their stop!”
So true! I did this nearly every day and only missed my stop about 5 times in total during my summer internship in Japan. 🙂
Wow the real food really does look like the plastic version!
Hi Kat – That made the Missus happy!
Hey Hao – It was amazing to watch folks doze off immediately, only to get up instantly right before their stop.
It really did, CC……kinda strange…
How was your ride on the Shinkansen? Just curious, what is the premium compared to a conventional train?
Hi Jan – It’s very smooth, tons of legroom…and fast. Now our JR Pass wasn’t good for the Nozomi or Mizuho trains, but the one’s we caught were really fast and comfortable.
😀 yes, I was also surprised at how fun and relatively delicious the train bentos were. They were such higher quality food than I expected.
Hi Lynnea – Yes, we had a couple of these and they all were pretty good.