2 October 2026
A day of doing stuff we didn’t manage to fit into the last three days. 10:15 out of the hotel and trying a new breakfast place, Caffé Veloce just down the road. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or better said a jelly sandwich and a peanut butter sandwich which I mixed up together. The bread was the least dense bread I have ever seen, like air, and the crust was removed. So this will not hold together for long with the café latte.
We try station guessing to get to Tokyo Station. That means no Google Maps, just guessing where we have to change. We miss by one and have to check, since the maps in the station are all in Japanese.
Tokyo Station is a maze. To find where to get out is difficult. Getting two stamps here, then finding out we’re on the wrong side of where we wanted to be. This was the high-rise business district; we wanted to see the old station building from 1914. So back through the maze and to the other side. This doesn’t really fit in with the high-rise area here.
Towards the imperial palace, there’s a broad street with a walkable median. A geocache here, and then another at an info station, where I drop off three travel bugs.
Now to the imperial palace. There are people sitting on the side. First we wanted to do this on our first full day, but forgot and moved it to one of the unplanned days. Good that we did. What we didn’t read is that you must either send an application online or be one of 300 visitors who can do a guided tour twice a day. We sit down on the side with others since it’s only 20 minutes until they give out the tickets (free). We get ours at 12:30 and are told to come back between 13:00 and 13:20 to get in. Passport must be shown, and you fill out name, age, nationality, and telephone number for registration purposes.
Time to get a snack at one of the 2,900 7-Elevens in Tokyo. I try the famous egg sandwich, which is terrible white toast with egg salad. OK, but not the best. I also wanted some veggies and chose some sticks with a miso mayo dip, I ate the cucumber, carrot, and radish dry
We have to get back to the gate at the palace, where all the ticket holders have formed a long line. We get a necklace with a number and are let in. One of those bag checks again, where they just open it, look inside, and let you go.
Inside a building we give out our filled-out ticket and sit down. There are introductions in Chinese, Japanese, and English about the tour, and then it’s meeting up outside by language. The English group is really big, and the guide has one of those headsets with a wearable speaker that you can’t hear unless you position yourself correctly.
We have to walk behind her, and all the places have older people with these Japanese jobs, just standing and watching; the ones here have an official red cone light to guard the side of the road.
That said, they like giving people a uniform and useless jobs. Like standing guard on two sides for someone cleaning something on the street and a third watching at a more distant point. Everywhere are people standing and they like pointing at stuff they check.
Back to the tour. We walk towards the main palace building and get some information about the place. An impressive area, unfortunately we can’t get inside the gardens, since they’re closed on Mondays and Fridays. No invitation for dinner, even when they serve “Flench Cuisine,” you cannot unhear it. 😀
Photo options along the way and areas not to step on because of security. 1 hour 15 minutes until we’re back at the gate and can leave.
Next stop, Tokyo Waterfront, or whatever you want to call it. An area that must have been harbour some time ago and was transferred to a development with flats, offices, and entertainment. But it’s a longer walk to the station. Like always, “just a small walk.” 😂
First stop is the Toyosu Market, where you can see fish and tuna auctions in the morning. So that’s not anything we can see here. But Tim wants to eat fish and found a restaurant that seemed to serve meat. It didn’t. He got 1.5 sweetwater eels (as the menu said, it looks like a snake but tastes different 🐍, how do they know?) and I ordered an ice cream dessert, and we had sake. He offered me to taste the eel and I politely declined the offer.
After that we made a short trip to New York. Or let’s be honest, a small copy of the Statue of Liberty. But a tourist must take every option to take a picture that he finds. This is at Odaiba Marine Park.
Then we hear an announcement, and people are standing at the elevated terrace towards the waterfront. We’re in time for an amazing water-light-music show… Not so amazing. Too little water, no good choreography, maybe too bright outside. So no need to stay.
Into the Aqua City shopping center. Nothing of interest there. We walk around a bit and decide to go towards the hotel and find some dinner. First we try at Shiodome, without luck. Back at the hotel I chose a udon shop close by and it was a fail. I got udon in a broth that tastes strange (I later find out it’s based on dashi, ugh) and fried tofu, which was absolutely terrible, because it was in syrup. A fish-based stock with noodles and syrupy cold fried tofu? Let’s call it an experience and leave it.We have to go to bed early, because we have to get up early for our trip tomorrow.
