We got back to our hotel in Tokyo late, but thankfully it was the same hotel so we were already familiar with everything. We had one more full day in the city to explore before Matt had to fly out late that night, so we had a lot of ground to cover.
We started at the Tsukiji Fish Market and I immediately regretted having eaten breakfast that day. I was expecting to see lots of fresh fish, but it was all kinds of seafood and fruit and veggies as well.
We had to try food at several different stalls but nothing beat this monster oyster. It was incredible.
We had squid skewers at this stall, grilled fresh while we waited.
Could not resist some steamed king crab and it even included a place to sit down and rest for a minute.
We wandered to our next stop and fully enjoyed seeing signs of spring everywhere. The day was overcast but the weather was wonderful.
We made our way over to Sensoji buddhist temple and enjoyed all the activity in the area.
The one thing I'd hoped to see while we were there - cherry blossoms!! It was early in the season but the weather had been warm and the forecast said we had a good chance of seeing some of the early bloomers.
It was a gorgeous peek of what the city would look like in just a week or two. But based on the crowds that were already gathering, it wasn't such a bad thing to be enjoying it all early.
Everyone was out enjoying the blossoms and the crowd around the tree was huge and very diverse.
As close as we got to the Tokyo Tower but beautiful from a distance
Love all the little odd and cute things in Japan
We wandered over to Ueno park and enjoyed all the blooms there as well. Most were still budding but some of the trees were incredible already. They had tons of crowd control measures in place already so the hordes of people weren't far behind us.
I can never pass up a free monkey show!
We were totally wiped out by the time we got back to our hotel. Between skiing and walking, our legs were all wasted and we were so happy that we'd booked dinner upstairs in the hotel! Ben's main request was to have really Japanese Teppanyaki and it was quite an experience.
It had several different courses, all beautifully presented with care. No onion choo choo or flying shrimp at a real hibachi grill!
Our chef carefully cooked and arranged each course and made sure we took the appropriate photos!
Unbelievably fresh and tender scallops
Beautiful wagyu steaks waiting to be cooked
One of my favorite parts - we each got a slice of the crispy rice bits that stuck to the grill. Even that was precisely quartered and served with care.
We had to say goodbye to Matt after dinner and he headed back to Jakarta.
The kids and I slept in the next morning and I thoroughly enjoyed a quiet cup of coffee on a cold and rainy day. We knew the weather was coming and had done all our outdoor exploring already. We got so lucky that the rain never spoiled any of our plans!
The boys and I did make one outing by subway to visit a robot restaurant. It sounded like a perfect Japanese lunch, but sadly it was reservation only on Saturdays. Turns out none of us were terribly disappointed and we went back to relax in our hotel before our flight.
A few last Japanese treats and we were on our way back to Jakarta as well. It was a fantastic week full of fun new experiences and a lot of appreciation for a unique culture and beautiful country. Always thankful that trips like this with so many moving parts can work out so well!
