A fitting way to end the tour

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Our last day in Tokyo...

Early morning. We were up at 6 to head out to the Fish markets in Tsukiji. Despite 2 weeks in Japan our JR pass had expired so this was the first day we had to deal with buying a normal ticket for the train. Only that only took us FOREVER. It was about halfway through the whole process that we realised that the ticket machines had an 'english' option. Surprisingly this made the procedure a whole lot easier!

But we got there in the end and spent a few hours walking around the fish markets which was pretty interesting. There were little carts going everywhere picking up crates and rows and rows of fish and crabs and octopus... We spent quite a while wandering around cehcking it all out. Most of the auctions for the fish take place around 5am so we had missed those but we still got to see all the buyers cutting up their purchases and selling it off. And there were definitely some mighty big fish! And some mighty big knives being used to cut them with! The whole thing didn't really bring out an early morning appetite for sushi but it was a good morning none the less.

Afterwards we headed back to have a shower and check out of our hotel. Our flight wasn't until 9pm so we had most of the day to kill. We were both tired from our long day the day before so it was a bit of a struggle when all we wanted to do was have a sleep! We went over to Shibuya, the neighbouring suburb, to have a look around. They have a Starbucks overlooking a 6 way intersection. Coffee and traffic. Always a good mix.

Then back on the train to Harajuku. Harajuku is basically the 'hip' suburb of Tokyo - where all the harajuku girls, or cos-play-zoku, hang out. Remember those girls that hang out with Gwen Stefani? They're Cos-play-zoku. Its is basically this subculture of mainly teenage girls who 'rebel' against Japanese society and spend their weekends dressed up in all manner of goth and punk hanging out in Harajuku. Most of the girls are only around on the weekend so we didn't get to see the full spectacle, but there was definitely a good selection of girls dressed up in french maids outfits and S&M gear.

Somewhat ironically there is a large shinto shrine, Meiji-Jingu, just around the corner from the main street of Harajuku. Its a bit surreal to walk from the centre of Harajuku into this large park (it was formerly an Imperial garden) and see the massive Torii gates made from cypress. I have to admit that by this time I was getting a little over the shinto shrines but it was none the less very peaceful and relaxing.

We still had a little time to waste so we spent a bit more time walking around Shinjuku before grabbing our stuff and heading out to the airport. We figured the plane wouldn't be full being an overnight flight on a Monday but we were too tired from the day to just keep wasting time so we got there a little early. And in the end it was pretty lucky cos it turns out the flight was overbooked. We were initially a little worried that we would actually get on the flight at all!!

Then the check-in lady saw us.

She obviously noticed that we were a little worn-out after 2 weeks of being the tallest people in Japan. She saw that we were wearing trackies, that we had no ticket (with that special life-or-death number) and that our luggage was about 15kg over the limit.

But instead of charging us for excess baggage, asking if maybe we wanted to have a shower or you know, actually have a ticket.......she just let it go.

And then upgraded us to business class! Love the Japanese!

So it was a very comfortable trip home. I have to admit that once we got those complimentary slippers on, and had a few complementary beverages, we pretty much just slept most of the way home. But those big reclining seats were definitely worth it all....

And so it was back to Sydney once again....

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