Sayōnara Tokyo

We had a well-deserved sleep-in after our massive day at DisneySea, and for our last full day in Tokyo, after some of Willow's favourite breakfast (chicken and rice - happy if that continues back home!), we headed straight to Kappabashi Street in Asakusa. Kappabashi Street is a kitchenware street that has everything that you would need for a home or restaurant kitchen. Each shop specialises in something, be it bills and receipt books, or open/closed/toilet signage, or chopsticks/toothpicks etc. Ryan's mate had previously brought back a special knife for him from a famous knife shop, Kamata, and Ryan had been busting to go back to get another. A chef is only so good as his tools apparently, so Ryan needs the best and who am I to stop him?! Ryan also bought a knife for our mate, Luke, so after much discussion, both budding chefs decided on what they possibly couldn't live without, and Ryan bought a nakiri knife. Of course the shop also sold Frozen knives and chopping boards, which Willow thought she possibly couldn't live without, but thankfully I convinced her she could.

Kamata knife shop

Making friends outside the knife shop

We then plodded on to the ancient Buddhist temple, Senso-ji, which was swarming with tourists and locals. There were many women dressed up in full traditional Japanese gear, which I was later told was if they were young and dressed in colourful gear it was probably more for Instagram, rather than it being for more of a pilgrimage type of occasion. Nevertheless, they looked beautiful, and for the most part I resisted taking photos of them.

Willow and I (being tiny) outside Senso-ji

Look carefully for the beautiful girls in traditional dress

The area around the shrine is a complete tourist trap, with lots of souvenir shops, but we had not really seen any so far on the trip so it was good to get a souvenir magnet for home! We had to swiftly pull Willow away from the Hello Kitty merchandise, so wandered a few streets away for some lunch. Ryan enjoyed a very large beer, and we got an assortment of Japanese dishes, which although wasn't the best meal we'd had in Japan, was still pretty damn good since the bar has been set so high.

Happy times

Onwards through the shopping markets and onto the train back towards Roppongi. The sun sets at about 4:30pm currently in Tokyo, and for our last night I had my heart set on going up the Roppongi tower (Tokyo City View) as the sun went down as it is one of my favourite things to do in any city around the world. There was virtually no lineup so we went straight up to the observatory for incredible 360 degree views of Tokyo, as the sun set. We were lucky it was also clear enough that we could see Mt Fuji! You really do get a feel for how massive Tokyo is... as Ryan keeps telling me, Tokyo is a city of cities, and Sydney is a city of villages.

Family selfie up high

Never-ending metropolis

Mount Fuji

Elsa loved it too

Admiring Mt Fuji

After the sun had set, it was a touch too early for dinner, so wandering around the bright lights of Roppongi and looking for somewhere to have a drink before dinner, we stumbled across a HUB British pub, which brought back some funny memories of when we were here with mates in 2010. Such a cultural experience. But we enjoyed a drink, and Willow enjoyed some fish fingers while playing peek-a-boo with some salarymen at a nearby table. Hilarious. Finally it was dinner time so we went back to our favourite place, Men-shou Taketora, for the third and final time, for another delicious meal. We spent an incredible 10 days in Tokyo, and I feel we barely scratched the surface.