Land of the Rising Sun Day #14. “Our Last Night in Japan”

The hours are counting down but although it will be good to get home it will be difficult to say goodbye to Japan.  I am sad to report that our hotel in Hiroshima was a huge disappointment. We were at the Granvia Hiroshima which is located at the train station (big plus), has a gorgeous lobby, and a wonderful staff.  The room was awful. It was very small with a bathroom that makes your typical European bathroom seem spacious.  Also the breakfast was very disappointing.  I’m sure you remember me raving about breakfast every day of the trip, well this was the exception. 

We left Hiroshima early because the bullet train to Tokyo is a 4 hour trip. Finding the train was easy (damn we are getting good at this). Our trip company alerted us that we might be able to see Mt. Fuji from the left side of the train. They wisely got us seats on the left side and we got a great view of the mountain which now has a slight snow cap. The train was moving too fast for us to get a decent picture but we enjoyed the view even if you can’t. The bullet train zips along at quite a pace in order to cover about 520+ miles in 4 hours (with about 4 stops prior to Tokyo). In order to achieve these incredible speeds and still maintain a comfortable ride the train takes advantage of “semiconducting maglev” (short for Magnetic Levitation). As the train leaves the station it is rolling on wheels. But as it speeds up, the wheels retract, and the power of magnets allows the vehicle to hover 4 inches above the ground. This is what permits the train to reach high speeds but still maintain a smooth ride. I hope that is clear to you. I know I can get a little technical at times when we discuss science. (Patrice here: I can’t believe this guy, the last section was copied and pasted from the internet. I am sure you probably already realized that).

Immediately upon exiting the train in Tokyo we were met by our “Tokyo Greeter” see below.

The young man welcomed us to Tokyo then took Patrice’s rolling backpack. The two of them started walking to the car. Patrice was quite concerned about me carrying my heavy backpack as you can see from this picture.

We then had a short ride to the Conrad Hotel and were able to check in (nice surprise). This place is amazing. Our room wasn’t going to be ready until 5 PM so they upgraded us to a suite. I feel like we went from the basement to the penthouse when we compare our Hiroshima accommodation. Here is the view from our room.

With the help of the concierge we went on a little outing. First we went to Yelo (recommended by my friend, Fred) and had Kakigori (shaved ice). This was spectacular. See below.

We then set off for the “Times Square of Tokyo” called Shibuya Scramble Crossing. It was reminiscent of the New York landmark. See for yourself in the 4 pictures below.

You might recall seeing it in the Bill Murray movie, “Lost in Translation”. If you prefer to see the area in live action, check out this video.

Our last dinner in Japan was at a fantastic restaurant called Guyan (6 Chome-13-6 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061) which was recommended by the hotel concierge. We both had Kobe beef filets and they were scrumptious.

If you would like to read about Kobe beef and what in the US we call Kobe beef but is really “Kobe-Style” beef here is a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

Time to call it a night since we need prepare for our departure tomorrow afternoon. I will have lots of fun photos for you tomorrow and a very important question I hope all of you can help me answer.

Until then, sayonara.