The last day. There were only a couple of things on the agenda. Head to the local market and shrine, zip past Akihabara one last time to pick up a couple of things and get to the airport.
Looking out the window of our hotel in Tokyo, there were a couple of things that you could see. A little amusement park, a temple and pagoda, what appeared to be a covered market and a giant golden sperm. Yep, a giant golden sperm. I didn't bother trying to find out what it really was, it would likely only disappoint me. I'll let the photo speak for itself.
We headed out to the covered walkway that we expected to be the local market (as confirmed by some brief research) only to be massively disappointed. Most of the shops were closed and those that were open didn't hold out much hope for the final souvenirs that we were looking to pick up.
Under limited protest from the kids (apparently they weren't happy to be going without food) we went to the shrine and pagoda instead. It quickly became apparent that if food wasn't found soon that there'd be a mutiny so we set of in search of sustenance before returning to the shrine. We were briefly way-laid in our pursuit by a small group of school kids and their teacher from Shiba to be asked where we were from and a couple of other simple questions. They were 12 years old and one of the young girls (the shortest of them) was devastated to find out that Emily was only 11 and about a foot taller than her! It was all very cute.
It proved to be a good move for two reasons. One, the food improved the mood markedly and two, we stumbled into the actual local market, full of little stalls selling all the little touristy knick-knacks that one could ask for. We trawled our way through the markets, finding even more stuff to jam into our luggage before heading back to the shrine. As we paused to take photos we were accosted by a group of about 10 Japanese teenage schoolgirls who asked if they could take a photo with us. I say us and it was us, (I stepped out to try and get a photo of them taking photos of the rest of the family but was quickly asked to get in the shot again) but clearly Michael was the one they wanted. It was quite hilarious to see a couple of the girls go weak at the knees as they continually sneaked smitten peaks at the tall, gangly blonde haired lad. I'm sure that there's going to be some serious cropping of some of those photos.
Sam attracted his fair share of looks as well, though I think that his number of looks was split between those who couldn't believe he was walking around in shorts (it was about 6C) - something he'd done for the entire trip when we weren't skiing and those who wanted to take him home to meet Mum.
There's clearly a lot of Tokyo that we didn't get to see (I think that could take a lifetime) notably missing out on a couple of attractions:
Seven stories of Karaoke? How did we not do that?
We left the shrine and made our final visit through Akihabara to purchase some last-minute essentials before heading to the airport.
And the last weird drink for the trip? Warm Pikachu juice (chocolate milk?).
The rest of the trip was sitting in airplanes and waiting. We're glad to be home and wondering when next we might be able to afford a new adventure. Maybe if we leave the kids home ...
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