A very sad day indeed, my last day in Tokyo.  Well, not even a full day, it was half a day; my plane was departing at 4:30PM from Narita International Airport, so I had time to go for one last mini-trip.  That being said, I’d gone to Shibuya already, but it was one of the closest major cities to my hotel.  Plus, I hadn’t been able to explore the area during the day.  Actually, I had another reason to go to Shibuya…I was running low on Yen, and didn’t have enough to use the metro to get to Tokyo Station in order to buy my NE’X (Narita Express) ticket.  I’d asked at the hotel if there was an ATM near by, and they told me there were a few options: the ATM machine at the convenience store, buying the metro and JR tickets at a small shop (that accepts debit/credit cards), or go take the US Dollars I did have, and go to the currency exchange shop at the bank to convert it to yen.  So with all that in mind, I went back up to my room, got everything ready, came back down, and asked if I could go ahead and check-out but leave my bags at the front to pick up later.  That way, I could go to Shibuya for a bit, and not carry two huge luggage bags!  They were happy to hold them for me and gave me a small numbered ticket to use to get my luggage back later.  First, I went to the 711 convenience store to use the ATM.  The metro station was closer, so I decided to go ahead and go to Shibuya, hang out and also look for a bank/exchange shop there.  I still had a little bit of credit left on the Suica card, so I got to Shibuya and decided to go ahead and look for the bank.  I had a small map of Shibuya and tried finding the bank, but you better believe that it was impossible to find it!  I got to the area, but unfortunately, the exchange shop was on some floor in one of the buildings nearby, and I didn’t know which floor.  Even though each building had a directory to say what was on each floor, I couldn’t read the signs.  The English ones were for restaurants and other establishments that I was not interested in.  All in all, I gave up and decided I’d go to the bank in Kojimachi and exchange my dollars there.  But I told myself I’d handle that later.  Afterall, I was already in Shibuya!

Hey now, it's not raining! j/k

The building make the people look oh so tiny!

waiting to cross the street...

It's funny how less busy Shibuya is during the day!

One of the many streets that merge into the main intersection

Your just surrounding by buildings and cars..and people...here in Shibuya, lol

Seriously though, these buildings make people look so small, lol

Pachinko!

So it was exploration time!  I went to Lumine and walked around all 3 floors.  They have a lot of interesting fashion shops.  Some even have their own online shopping websites!  The shops had funny names like Under King, Woop’ –de-doo, Revelations, Erotica, Tourque, Chapter, etc.  The stores merchandise includes such things as undergarments, sunglasses, watches, custom street ware, shoes, and other general fashion garments.

Cool clocks!

Lumine is pretty cool, a lot of different shops inside

You know, you gain a better appreciate for the layout of Shibuya during the day.  The first time I went, I was dazzled by the amount of people, the noise, and all the lights.  Not to mention…the layout of Shibuya didn’t make the most sense to me as it kind of sprawls out from a singular point (near Shibuya station).  If you look at your hand, the intersection would be your palm, and your fingers would be the streets; that is almost the exact shape and direction of the main area, haha.  Anyways, during the day, I was able to see a lot more, and appreciate all the small alleys that had clothing stores, shoe stores, restaurants, etc.

At this point, I was a bit hungry.  I’d seen signs for Tokyu Food Show (yes Tokyu and not Tokyo).  Anyways, the signs and ads featured images of tons of different food stands; all independently owned; as seems to be the custom in Japan – which I find very appealing.  The ads said that the Tokyu Food Show was located below Shibuya metro station so I headed back there.  As I went down again, I looked for signs and followed them to one of the entrances.  I walked in and immediately was hit by the wonderful smell of freshly baked breads.  Taking a quick glance around, the place was packed and was literally comprised of rows of rows of these food stands that sold different foods.  But of course, the breads to my right caught my attention the most; so I decided I’d start there and work my way back.  Something that was very important to me at the time was that every stall accepted debit/credit cards!!!  So running low on cash was not a problem here, haha.

The entrance to the Tokyu Food Show...yes it is Tokyu!

The bakery was one of the larger stands and was comprised of three areas.  The first was the bakery area that was surrounded by glass; allowing people to watch the bakers work.  The second area had all the baked goods for sale on display – in baskets and on serving tables.  Of course, the third area was comprised of a roped off section to make line, and then a row of about four or five cashiers.  The breads consisted of pretzels, donuts, Italian & French breads, sweet breads, breads filled with eggs or meat, cheesy breads, etc.  I’ll admit though, bread in Japan is typically sweeter than what you might find in the states, but they do have “salty” breads too.

So many baked goods to choose from!

YUM! I bought a lot from this place!

Walking around, there were stalls selling yakitori, buns, cookies, cakes, sushi, prepared vegetable entrées, jelly & jam, honey, fresh produce, fish, fresh cuts of meat, and so much more.  The prices can be moderate for bread and fruit to very expensive for a jar of jam.  In fact, I asked if that stall sold jam or jelly made of fig, but unfortunately not.  Regardless, I bought a few things to try and to also take home.  I figured since they all pack each item well, they would hold up on a set of airplane rides back home (and they did!).

Everything looks good...

...here too!

Ordering from one of the stalls

Looks like takoyaki...I think? haha

so much steam!

Everything is tempura!

This fruit was so delicious! They had some samples!!

Asian Pears! Everyone comes packaged, crazy!

Look how bright these are!

Fruit salad and melons galore!

Leaving Tokyu Food Show, I bid Shibuya farewell, and returned to Kojimachi.  Once I arrived at the hotel, I got my luggage and then headed to the bank…I was running a bit late!  The reason I didn’t go to the bank first was that the hotel was on the way to the bank, and there was a metro station entrance by the bank.  Too bad, my luggage weighed a ton more now than it did when I first arrived in Tokyo; I guess I bought too much.  Anyways, I arrived at the bank and then had to take an elevator up to the third floor to make an exchange of US Dollars to Japanese Yen.  The process was too long in my opinion.  Although, I might think that since I was running late!  Either way, I had to grab a form, fill it out, turn it in, grab a number, wait for my form to be processed, go to the front to talk with an attendant, take another number, and then sit and wait to be called again.  The second time, I was able to exchange $60 for the equivalent in Yen (minus the bank’s commission).  I thanked them and left to go to the metro station below.  I entered, added money on my Suica, and then took the train to Tokyo Station in order to buy my N’EX (Narita Express) ticket.

People waiting on the metro

And more waiting...as I sit in my train! lol

This is how much space I had in front, lol

Pretty comfy ride...that one guy sure is staring at the camera!

He can see me out of the corner of his eye, scary!!

My Suica and N'EX passes

Going back to NARITA International Airport

Random buildings and apartments

Interesting architecture huh?

The attendant was checking certain people for tickets...to make sure no one was free-loading, haha

A Ramen restaurant @ the airport

My bowl of ramen, simple but delicious!

Haha, awesome miso broth

Planes loading and unloading

My last sunset in Japan...great way to end a wonderful trip!!

Wow, Tokyo Station was so busy.  I was so tired from the week and the walking of the prior day in Harajuku that I bought myself a coffee drink – you know, the Georgia (ジョージア) coffee, haha.  So good, I will definitely miss those!  Anyways, I went down to board the NE’X train and then took the hour train ride back to Narita International Airport. Once I arrived at the airport, I returned the phone I’d rented from Mobal, and also returned my Suica card and got my deposit back.  After that, I headed to the main area to print out my ticket and turn-in/check my luggage.  My last view of Japan was a wonderful sunset that I witnessed from one of the terminals as I was coming out of one of the checkpoints.  Lastly, as I arrived at the terminal from which my plane would be departing from, I decided to order some Ramen from a stand nearby.  It was good and fitting end to my trip in Japan.  Other than that, I made sure to stop by the few duty free stores they had and bought a few things for my parents.  As I boarded the train, I looked out to the bushes spelling out NARITA, and immediately felt so thankful for the opportunity to visit a very traditional & modern society that had so much to offer, and that I’d only experienced an nth percentage of it all!

FIN

Filed under: Travel by Giancarlo Deleon