Last full day in Japan

Both Ross and I were pretty exhausted by the pace of the last week in Japan. While Warren and Julie headed back to work, we lazed around the house in the morning and finally got organized to go and do something about 11.30. We caught to train to Kichijoji and spent the day wandering around there.

First stop was the technology mecca of Yodabashi. Ross had been there with Mark and Warren during the week and I was really keen to check it out. We landed in the camera section and I spent a while looking at lenses and light boxes and other camera accessories. We managed to find a really helpful salesman and although he did not speak English we managed to bumble our way through to purchase a macro lens, a remote shutter release, a new camera strap, a lens protector filter and a small light box. Not too bad!

We went up the various other levels but nothing else really grabbed our fancy. Julie had mentioned there was a bead store on the top level so I headed up there to take a look. They did have plenty of beads but nothing overly unique and it was really expensive compared to KL. So I left a bit disappointed but happy with my camera haul.

We walked around a few more malls before getting hungry and so we started looking for a place to eat. We wanted Japanese food as it was our last day but the first restaurant we went into did not have an English menu, the menu had no pictures and they couldn't speak English so really Ross and I were stuffed! We walked around for a while more before getting too hungry to think straight. We finally decided on a resturant upstairs which seemed a bit like a do it yourself tepenyaki place. We soon found out that it was a tepenyaki savoury pancake type place. Again with no English menu or anyone who could speak English, we managed to stumble our way to order with the help of the pictures. The waiter was kind enough to show us how to cook one of these pancakes and then Ross followed suit with the other. We also cooked our own gyoza on the hotplate. The food was delicious though and really hit the spot.

From there we walked back to Isetan and we made our way to the supermarket section. I had offered to cook dinner for Warren and Julie and thought I would buy the ingredients to make the salmon dish that Kyoko showed us at the cooking lessons. I had the recipe and Kyoko's shopping guide to help me but we still had to ask fo help for a few things but we managed to get everything.

So with food in one hand and camera accessories in the other, we made our way to the main park of Kichijoji. It was beautiful and built around a big lake. The afternoon was sunny although cold and we really enjoyed the slow saunter around the lake watching the locals go about their business. It was a nice way to end the day. As the sun made it's way down, we headed to the train station for the journey back to the Lavender's.

Warren and Julie were home when we arrived and after taking them through our day, Julie and I got busy preparing dinner. It was delicious! After dinner we chatted, watched TV and had more strawberries (yum!) before heading to bed. It had been a great last day in Tokyo with friends.