“It feels like home” he said . . .

. . . as we stepped off the train at Shinjuku defying the throngs of people surrounding us as we expertly made our way to the correct exit and to the correct floor in our hotel for checking in, in record time.

Having done the “historic cultural side” of Tokyo first time, these last few days were all about the modernity and cutting edge electronics and graphics. We had an arrival slot of 14:00-14:30 at TeamLabs Borderless and a two train and 32 min ride to get there. So bags dropped and 10 minutes later at 13:00 I got us totally lost in Shinjuku station trying to find the Marunouchi metro line, so much for “being home” 😂. Nevertheless we found it and made it on time. What an experience TeamLabs is. There is no map to get round and as you don’t know what you don’t know, it is possible that you could leave without seeing everything. It’s a good job that I’m curious by nature and so wandered off down every tiny corridor so I think we found everything. There are a couple of photos but being honest its a place best represented by video and you can see the general TeamLabs Borderless video here and as the queue to create your own sea creature had magically disappeared when we arrived, there is a very special TeamLabs video here.

We’ve also had time to relax and wander through the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. It’s beautifully Japanese and an oasis amongst skyscrapers just like Central Park in NYC, although at 145 acres, it’s a sixth of its size. My favourite part was actually the “Mother and Child’s Forest” which has been specifically designed to be suitable for children with its paths round a large pond, large stepping stones over streams and a small forest and meadows. Its vegetation has been specifically chosen not only to be attractive to humans throughout the year but to be a habitat for a variety of insects, birds and animals that appeal to children. It was lovely to see families out with their children enjoying the autumn sunshine.

Tokyo has its own B&H rival in Yodabashi and we couldn’t resist a visit. Whilst we spent a good hour there, we didn’t spend a single yen! In the evening we went to Ikebukuro and Sunshine City. This is a huge entertainment centre with anime and video game themed shops where we relived our, or our children’s, past. Pokemon was massive – not just with two mega shops but a separate store for video games, a separate area where they played the card games and of course a Pikachu’s sweet shop, which had the longest queue! Jigglypuff is clearly popular as there were only a few left . . . Whilst we recognised Sesame Street and Sylvanian Families there were other themed stores that we had no idea about but clearly meant something as the crowds were huge. It was only one stop from Shibuku and the train and the crowds on the street were some of the largest we’d seen when we arrived. It was even busier than Dotonbori in Osaka. This had to be more than just an ordinary Saturday evening. And it was – there was the Girls Anime Festival happening in Sunshine City which brings together everything of interest to girls – costumes, games, actresses, books and of course anime. It’s an annual event and this year’s theme was Peace and there was a film showing in the main hall – in Japanese naturally. The evening finished with my favourite vegan Rainbow ramen and a lesson by a doting father to his very cute, tiny daughter, and therefore to me by proxy, on how to eat ramen properly with chopsticks and a spoon. With not a single splash anywhere I passed and am signed off as competent!

So it’s been great to be back in Tokyo and in the same hotel. It’s actually the perfect ending to the trip. They’ve changed all the decorations from Autumn/halloween to winter/Christmas and I think they’re quite tasteful. The view from our window is different too – we’ve substituted Godzilla for Mount Fuji.

Of course we had planned to visit Kabukichō and Godzilla and saved this for our final day with some essential last minute photos, videos and shopping. Sadly the weather was rubbish and I’m kicking myself that I never took the photos of the area around the hotel etc when it was 21°C and sunny. Anyway you can see a grey video of the lift ride up to the hotel lobby on the 20th floor here, it’ll probably bore you but means something to us.

More interesting is a video of Shinjuku’s meowing cat here.

As for the last minute shopping that consisted of a couple of the Ikea blue bags as we were passing so saving us a tedious trip up the M62, and some last minute Saké tasting and purchasing. We had done some Saké tasting earlier in the trip but stupidly had done it in the morning which meant that the afternoon was a bit sluggish and hazy. Much more sensible to do it in the evening when you need to go to sleep early for an 04:30 alarm to get you to the airport on time for your flight home. However it was supposed to be a joint tasting – Steven had ostensibly gone to the park next to the Government Metropolitan Building and was going to message me on his way back so that we could meet. Imagine my surprise, not, when I got a phone call “I’m in a basement, I think it’s “Hands” department store (it wasn’t) and I’ve been tasting Saké. I’m drunk can you find me”. Thankfully he wasn’t too hard to find – it was the department store next door where we were actually supposed to have met anyway. I confirmed his choice of Saké and now for my final 4 hours of shopping time in Tokyo I have a loyalty card for “Takashimaya” and nothing to use it for.