tōkyō : part two.

As usual, when I say “I will blog tomorrow” it invariably turns into the day after. Sorry. In any case, back to Tokyo!

The next day we rose bright and early to meet another school friend, Jess. She has been living just out of Tokyo, and has turned into somewhat of a guru. When we mentioned we were coming to Tokyo, she was kind enough to offer to take us around for the day! We met for brunch in Shibuya, and went to an amazing sushi place. Its Jess’ favourite, in part due to the head chef who is quite a performer. Since Jess has turned into a bit of a regular, we got the best seats in the house to watch our sushi being assembled in front of us. I really should have taken pictures, but… I was eating. Next time!

From the adjacent building there was a good view of Shibuya crossing, sat and people-watched for a while. There weren’t nearly as many people as there had been the previous night, but I felt compelled to take a photo anyway.

Despite good intentions to be obedient tourists, the day fast turned into a food crawl, broken up with wanderings, and occasional stops for shopping.

Jess took us to a great cake shop where I opted for some kind of banana, chocolate, hazelnut cream tart thing. Something about the slightly nautical colouring and the brightness of the space really made me feel as though I was just at a café at home chatting with the girls.

The afternoon was mostly spent shopping, during which I showed great restraint. We stopped for my first real coffee since being in Japan, which was blissful. Having sat chatting over coffee for a couple of hours we decided it was late enough for dinner.

Jess had a report to write, we said big thank yous and sad goodbyes. Thank you again, Jess!

Natalie, Georgie and I lazily made our way back, enjoying Tokyo at night.

Naturally, as it was my last night in Tokyo, we stayed up into the early hours chatting and giggling.  

The next day we headed over to Roppongi for Sunday brunch (although by the time we got there it was really lunch). The cuisine was my choice, and as Tokyo has more foreign food than Gifu, Italian it was!

In the afternoon, it was time for me to head back to Gifu. It was so hard saying goodbye to Natalie and Gina. I think I was somewhat ignorant to the extent to which I have been missing my friends in Australia. By some miracle I managed to tear myself away to get the train. In order to buy myself a little more time in Tokyo, I decided to splurge on the shinkansen on the way home.

My camera couldn’t keep up with the speed of the train.

At dusk, feeling a little sad and lonesome, I made it back to home, sweet Gifu.

I think perhaps on my first trip to Tokyo, I ticked very few of the ‘must-see, must-do’ boxes. That being said, I regret not a moment spent we spent chatting in cafes instead of playing tourist.  I will get to those things another time I am sure, but what I really loved about Tokyo was the different feel of each area. I cannot wait to go back, Tokyo has a new fan. Although, I do have a sneaking suspicion my enjoyment may have also been in part due to the company. Missing you.