Introduction

For the earlier installments, see:

It had already been four days since Chestnut arrived in Japan, and the time had slipped by before I even noticed.

Since the first few days had been pretty exhausting, I decided to take it easy on the final day.

One Last Breakfast at the Regency Club

Since I had an early flight the next morning, this was probably my last chance to have breakfast at the Regency Club.

First, here’s a shot of the room key. That’s what it looked like!

I thought the breakfast here was pretty good: salad and ham, and especially that potato salad, which was seriously delicious.

If the experts in the group want to say it was just average, I won’t argue. Honestly, I haven’t stayed in that many hotels, so I can’t really judge it objectively.

PS: In the past, when traveling, I usually either crashed in a classmate’s dorm, stayed in a hostel, or just took an overnight train sleeper... The reason? I didn’t want to spend money on lodging that violated the second law of thriftiness for miles-and-points people. (That kind of expense can’t be recouped.)

Classic Coca-Cola.

The coffee machine — in Japanese, coffee is just called コーヒー, “ko-hi”...

Shibuya

Same as usual: I power-walked to Shinjuku Station to catch the train.

I took the Yamanote Line. From Shinjuku to Shibuya on the inner loop, the stops are: Shinjuku — Yoyogi — Harajuku — Shibuya.

That’s three stops total.

Here’s the front end of a Yamanote Line E235 series train... opinions on this train’s design are mixed. A lot of railfans say JR East’s taste is going backward.

And here’s the rear end:

It reminded me of a video on Youtube —

An old Yamanote Line E231 train asks the new E235 train: “Why don’t you have a face?”

The E235 replies: “Check the LED display above for my expression!”

After exiting the station, this was the Ginza Line, Tokyo’s oldest subway line.

Because the tunnel clearance is extremely low, it has to use third-rail power. On top of that, its 1435 standard gauge means the line cannot through-run with other lines!

To enable through service, you’d need special trains capable of both third-rail and pantograph power collection, plus wheelsets that can adapt between 1435 and 1067 gauge... wow!!!

The legendary loyal dog statue at Shibuya Crossing.

Looks like things were pretty good today — at least it wasn’t so packed with tourists that all you could see was people and not the dog itself.

A newer sculpture — children playing on the Earth.

The famous Shibuya Crossing. You can also find live camera feeds of this place online.

I went to the huge Loft in Shibuya to buy some stationery.

The Japanese version of Wendy's.

But I didn’t try it... I spent six and a half years in Ohio, where Wendy's was founded, and I’ve eaten it countless times. Even though the Japanese version might taste different — maybe even better than in its home country — it still felt like a waste to come all the way to Japan and eat this.

In the end, I went to Matsuya instead. It cost less than 500 yen.

So, what do you think? Is that cheap enough for a true bargain hunter?

Food in Japan really isn’t expensive...

Aoyama

I tapped in and took the Hanzomon Line, going two stops to Aoyama-itchome.

I came up from here.

Japanese mailboxes are red.

Aoyama Park.

The pedestrian sign looked so heartwarming! It really made me miss those childhood days when Mom and Dad held little Chestnut’s hand... tearing up here...

So fluffy? I really wanted to pet it — it must feel great!

Narrator voice: “Chestnut, what is wrong with you...”

Edogawabashi, Shinanomachi, Shibuya... I’m sure everyone knows how to read these. These three are easy. (If you’ve watched that much Conan and still don’t know Edogawa is read えどがわ, then what are you doing?)

Miyakezaka... now that one is hard. I couldn’t read it either, so all I could do was laugh awkwardly.

I caught a Tokyo Metropolitan bus in a photo. Compared with trains and subways, buses really have a much lower profile.

It was actually headed to Shinagawa Station Takanawa Exit. Wasn’t a new station being built over there? Takanawa Gateway — opening next year!

The Restaurant Hidden Inside Shinjuku Station

When it was about time, I rode back to Shinjuku Station and discovered that the same Sendai beef tongue place I had eaten at with an old classmate the day before also had a location inside Shinjuku Station, so I decided to give it a try.

But then came the frustrating part. The map clearly showed the correct location, yet after walking in circles three times, we still couldn’t find the restaurant we wanted. What was going on?

...Only at the very end did we realize... the restaurant was inside the ticket gates! So I had no choice but to buy an "admission ticket" from the ticket machine, basically the equivalent of a platform ticket in China.

I was almost in tears — I hadn’t seen a platform ticket back home in at least ten years... my youth...

Haha, that familiar taste from the day before was back again!

1650JPY per person.

Originally, before heading back to the hotel, I was planning to return my Pasmo and Suica cards and get the deposits back. But it was rush hour, and the line at the JR ticket office in Shinjuku Station was insanely long, so I couldn’t be bothered to wait.

PS: Later I asked in a Japanese railfan group, and it turns out both cards remain valid for ten years after their last Activity... so whatever. I’m definitely going back to Japan within ten years, and when that happens, I’ll just reload them and be good to go again!

One Last Late-Night Snack at the Regency Club

On the long walk back to the Hyatt Regency, I ran into this — the legendary anime-wrapped truck!

When I got back, I found that the Regency Club was still open, so I went in for one more round. (The previous few days had been way too intense, and I’d been getting back so late at night that I hadn’t really gotten to Enjoy it.)

Everything looked small and delicate, and it tasted pretty good too.

Conclusion

And with that, Chestnut’s Japan trip had basically come to an end.

The next morning, I had to head to HND early to catch my flight to Beijing!