My first lie-in came on the last full day of the holiday. Decided to go for a run first thing, so made my way to the Imperial Palace at about 9.15am, which I had cycled past on the way in to Tokyo on Friday. Looked like a nice place to run and there had been a few runners there then. Was it a good place to run? Well, put it this way; if you can only go running in one place in Tokyo, let this be it. Once I got to the Palace perimeter, the number of runners picked up, and by the time I had made my way round, it became apparent that this place was THE place to run. There were literally hundreds of runners! All going at their own pace and with their own style. Apart from a couple of foreigners, all the runners had the 'gear'. Obviously it's important to look the part here.
What I also noticed was that there were quite a few road cyclist going around the perimeter, and the traffic was minimal, which made me think about Serena, cooped up in the hotel with a heavy lock shackling her. If she had seen this, she would've been chomping at the chain! So I ran home, summoned her, and took her for a spin, luggage free. Oh, the difference! She was a totally different beast! We flew up to the palace and hammered it round. When we'd got half way round, the road that goes in front of the palace was closed to traffic, but I'd seen some other cyclists within, and squeezed through. Suddenly I was in he midst of some kind of cycling event, with hundreds of cyclist of all shapes and sizes riding along. Took a shitty video, which you can see here.
It was so much fun! Some of the other cyclists, particularly the ones with race bikes, did throw me some strange looks, probably because I just kept smiling at everyone. They probably thought I wasn't right in the head. Serena and I chilled there for a while, going round and round the 'course', then I remembered I hadn't eaten anything yet so made my way back to the hotel. A lovely experience, and a great start to the day.
At around midday I finally fill my belly and ponder on what to do on my last day. I decide it should be shopping. I needed to find a fridge magnet, and to do some further research on the lunchbox phenomenon. I have only one thing to say; if you need any bunny-face-shaped eggs in the future, I'm the one you need to come see.
I hopped on the train to Shinjuku, and was entertained for the entirety of the journey by a man, who looked like John Lennon, fighting sleep while standing. There were head rolls, and lots of knee bends (a bit like your stereotypical British policeman). Eventually, one station before we both got off, he managed to get a seat, promptly fell asleep and did some chewing in his sleep. I wanted to hug and thank him as I alighted the train, but I resisted. Wish I had now, he probably would've thought it was part of a dream! Or nightmare, perhaps more accurately.
Shopping in Shinjuku was a bit less hectic than Shibuya, but that doesn't mean it was quiet, by any stretch of the imagination.
Once my back ache, which I inevitably get from meandering around shops, had got too painful to bear, and I'd finally made some purchase decisions, I got myself a coffee and people watched for a while. I reflected on my time in Japan and if I would've done things differently should I have the time again. Yes, is the answer. I wouldn't have done as many miles each day, and I wouldn't have bothered with the tent!
On the way home, it struck me how many people were asleep on the train. They must've been very sure of where their stop was!
Back at the hotel I packed my stuff, knowing full well that it's likely to be overweight. I'm just hoping that the SAS staff go easy on me. I guess all the toiletries I've stolen from the hotels will have to stay in Japan.
After packing, I decided to try to find a TV channel, or website, that was showing the London Marathon. Failed on that count, but as I was searching the room started to move. It felt like a train was going underneath me and, coincidentally, I did hear a train at the time. So I listened out for more trains to see if I could feel them, but not at all. The tremor, confirmed by Japan's Meteorological Agency, lasted for maybe 5-10 secs and registered as a magnitude 1 in Tokyo on the Richter scale (10 being the strongest, in case you were unaware). How very exciting! Just so you know, I'm sensitive. Says so on Wikipedia:
| Magnitude | Description | Mercalli intensity | Average earthquake effects | Average frequency of occurrence (estimated) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Less than 2.0 | Micro | I | Microearthquakes, not felt, or felt rarely by sensitive people. Recorded by seismographs.[15] | Continual/several million per year |
Scared that my stomach would simulate an earthquake in the very near future, I headed out for some dinner. My search for sushi failed and I ended up with a burger, topped with an egg, and some rice and Japanese coleslaw. Bloody delicious it was too!!
So, that's my holiday in Japan, done! Thank you all so much for sharing the experience with me, knowing you guys were reading it every day was amazing. Out of curiosity, what was your favourite day?
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