Last day in tokyo, not a great day.

So originally I was intending to stay in Tokyo for a total of 5 days but after being invited to another Airbnb get together I decided to extend through Monday night, Tuesday and then Tuesday night and depart Tokyo that Wednesday. I am currently sitting on the shinkansen on my way to Kyoto from Tokyo since I have 2 hours to spare I decided to write this all down while it was semi-fresh in my memory.

My Tuesday in Tokyo had some of the best aspects of my trip thus far and also some of the worst aspects in recent memory.... I decided to take the train (which I'm getting rather good at despite what happens later) into Yoyogi and check out Yoyogi park since I failed to see it on Sunday as I originally intended. As it turns out Yoyogi Park was a bit of a disappointment for me, the shrine was lovely but I went there specifically for the "Park" aspect, which to be completely frank I found incredibly lacking. The vast majority of it was blocked off to the public and the one part that looked as though it might find interesting was closed for some reason. Though I understand it is winter it was simply not as impressive a sight as I had been hoping for, honestly it wasn't even close to Hundred Acres back home.

After that I went for a walk through the busy area in Shibuya, I got a hot chocolate from Max Brenner's that didn't hold a candle to the ones I'm now accustomed to due to Deb's Seriously Chocolate (if someone could pass on that comment it would be much appreciated) and continued along the street, checked out some cool looking shops and just had a general peruse of the area. I explored a Church and was then promptly asked to leave which I found a little confusing. Disregarding that, I continued on my way towards what google declared was a "Park", bought some grapes to eat there and eventually arrived at the "Park"... It was a concrete area outside of a hotel with a handful of shrubs planted in dirt patches.

The thought that some people actually regard such locations as a "park" depresses me to no end. Whilst there I realised that I no longer had my rings on. I realised that I had left them at the church when I washed my hands and tried to relocate the area. I had been walking aimlessly through side alleys and back streets so it was a bit of a mission but because I had been paying attention to my surroundings (aataren orn) I was able to recall if I had or had not seen something previously.

When I arrived at the Church it was still locked and after going next door and talking to a gentleman in the french restaurant I was informed that the church was not open today and that I would have to come back tomorrow. Instead, I went to the 7-11 that was on the corner and bought a pen and notebook, I slipped a note explaining everything (primarily in English with some sentences in Japanese) asking that if he found some rings if he could email me or give them to the Police. I then decided that I really needed somewhere peaceful and went north into the National Garden. This was the first shining light of the day. This Park was glorious, it had pictures of the different flora that could be found in the park, large open spaces as well as lovely clusters of trees and a beautiful little lake with one of their shrines right in the middle.

While admiring the little Lake I received an email from the man at the church and he explained that he spoke no English and that he had used google translate to construct the email. He had found the rings and had dropped them to the police box on the main corner in Shibuya near the train that I would be using to get to the party. I departed from the garden with a coffee and a box of cookies and caught a Train back to Omote-Sando (I think?) station, filled out the paperwork and collected my rings (which I haven't worn a week later from fear of losing them).

From here I made my way to the meeting place for the little party. Sadly when I put in the address that was on the hyperlink into google maps it sent me somewhere else, the same street, the same number (for the most part -_-') but totally different place. After significantly longer than I'm going to admit I googled the cafe and used the address on their website, I was 1 street away, maybe 30 meters.

I had a ball at the Rhythm Cafe, shout out to Yumi and Elizabeth for hosting yet another magnificent Airbnb get together. If you are traveling around I'd suggest going to these gathering if you have the choice or do as Lily does and join the "Airbnb Experiences" she is off to a "Samurai Swordplay Airbnb experience"..... there are words for people that tell me about samurai related things as I'm going to the station.... anywho after about 2-3 hours there I rustled up some people to go to a Karaoke Bar. Lily, Angela, Tristan (birthday boys 21st to boot), Andy, Hatsches, Brendon and myself belted out some tunes for 2 hours after which I departed so as to catch the last train to my accommodation.

Whilst lost in thought I boarded the wrong train and found myself very far west of Tokyo. At the speeds that their normal trains go it doesn't take long to get very far from your desired location. I explained my predicament to some of the guards and they told me to turn around and catch a different train back to Nakano. From there I was only 13kms from my accommodation at 1.30am. I attempted to walk some of it but decided screw it I'll grab a taxi, all train and buses are shut down between about 1-5am. After promising my first born and a nation's treasury to the taxi driver I managed to get home at about 2am. This has been a very education albeit costly experience.

The karaoke was amazing, the company grand and the park beautiful. Other than that I hope to never think of this day again.

I will hopefully never zone out when boarding trains in Japan ever again, but life is all about experiences, both good and bad. Honestly, if that's the worst thing that happens to me in the next 6-12 months in Japan then how could I possibly complain.

Now I wrote all of that a week ago when on the Shinkansen but after stopping to admire the sight of Mt Fuji I stopped writing and fell asleep. So that is a very delayed recount of my last day in Tokyo. In retrospect I actually thoroughly enjoyed Tokyo even though I am definitely not a fan of the crowds in the long run I must admit that staying in Tokyo for a short time was an experience I would do again, especially if you have the cash and time to kill while running around. Having other people with you would also make it a lot more entertaining.