Our trip has dwindled down to our final days. With a Shinkansen ride from Kyoto, we find ourselves back in Tokyo, in Sumida City. We find our last AirBnb of the trip, check in, but head right back out to find a late lunch. Located near the SkyTREE in Tokyo, we have many convenient dining and shopping options within walking distance.
We choose a quick bowl of ramen and next go for some R&R. We find a foot massage located nearby, it was the most delightful 30 minutes to just completely melt the aches and pains away from all of the walking we had done on the trip. Following the massage, we found another bathhouse to extend our time of relaxation. An outdoor bath, even in Tokyo, is quite a rich experience.
Following our R&R, we land back at the AirBnb for some more rest before dinner. Our AirBnb was located right around the corner from a highly rated yakiniku place. Spoiler: it was so good, we went two nights in a row.
It’s rich, fatty wagyu beef seared over a live flame grill, soaked in some sauce. It was so delicious with the beef just melting in your mouth. Accompanied with some kimchi, salad, and beers, it’s a well-rounded meal. Asa and I have a final nightcap (or three) at a nearby wine bar, specializing in natural wines. It was extremely cozy, with warm lighting, wood decor and a bar that only sat 5 people.
Asa navigated the whole conversation as the owner’s English was minimal. We learned a bit more about the wine culture in Japan, which is also a bit minimal in comparison to beer, whiskey, and sake. We also learned of the owner’s travels to Eastern Europe, where he experienced and learned more about the natural wine-making process. This was a sweet way for us to wrap up our nearly over trip.
The next day (our last full day) we actually go up into the SkyTREE. We rise, rise, rise within 15 seconds 1,148 feet above Tokyo. We see the city stretch as far as the eye can see.
On the clearest days, you can even see as far as Mt. Fuji! An unexpected treat we hadn’t planned on ended up becoming a great way to end the trip, just to see how vast Tokyo (and Japan!) is and how small we are in this great, wide world.
Following the SkyTREE, we get one final round of conveyor belt sushi and some last-minute shopping in the Asakusa area, and head back to the Airbnb.
Our final send off included another round of dinner at the yakiniku restaurant and one final stop at a Karaoke bar a few doors down. Sean really urged for this stop, which Asa and I both felt hesitant about. I popped my head in to see a small room fairly empty, except for a group of girls in their early 20s. I immediately had additional apprehension.
As we decided to pivot, the owner of the bar flagged us down, stating his apologies for not speaking English well, but adamantly inviting us in. We shrug our shoulders and turn around to enter the bar. Well, when we entered the bar, which we had planned for just one single song to be sung by Sean, we discovered there was a cover of 500 yen. So then we once again changed our minds to leave….
Only to be flagged down once again by the owner, who informed us that another extremely kind patron was willing to cover this for us. We couldn’t say no to this stranger’s charity. So back into the bar we entered for a second time.
Well, Sean sang his song… and another… and then I chose to sing a song… and another. And sure enough, we found ourselves sitting at the karaoke bar for about two hours. Thoroughly entertained by both the group of girls who could legitimately sing and the kind patron who paid for our cover and insisted on singing a slow love ballad every time… and sometimes with Sean. We’re not sure who had more of a crush on Sean – one of the girls or this patron, who was a man in his 40s, continuing to down a second bottle of some clear alcohol.
It’s around midnight that Asa and I say our goodbyes to this small group of singers. Sean stayed behind and continued to chase the night with the others.
Our final day has arrived and we pack up to depart back to the US. We have some time to burn, so we have one final bowl of ramen and one enormous cake to celebrate the end of a great trip.
But making our way to the airport easily would have just been too simple. What’s some extra drama to wrap up the trip?
We go to leave the shopping area of SkyTREE to get on our direct train to the airport. Well, Asa doesn’t have enough yen to cover the trip on his IC Card. Okay, no matter, no matter, we’ll load up the card with hopefully a credit card. We swear we had done this once before. But at the ticket machines, it’s cash only and we’re 200 yen short of the trip fare.
If only I hadn’t just spent 200 yen to win a Pikmin at a claw machine….
Well let’s just get 1000 yen from the ATM. But no, the ATM requests a minimum of 10,000 yen to be withdrawn. And our train is leaving in 10 minutes…OKAY – let’s just get the 10,000 yen. Wait, we have to break the 10,000 yen bill because the ticket machines don’t take that high of a bill.
Ask a shop attendant to break the bill, but NO – they can’t just break the bill, we have to buy something. 7 minutes…Asa grabs an onigiri (onigiri count at this point in the trip: 54 maybe? we lost count) and waits in line… waiting… waiting… he checks out – LET’S MOVE!
Back to the ticket machine, the fare is added and we go through. Wait, I’m blocked because my Suica card on my phone doesn’t have enough for just the base fare. I see Asa and Sean race ahead… I tap quickly to add the fare (thank you 2025 technology!). DING, transaction successful and I’m through the gates. Meanwhile, 1 minute to the train.
Asa and Sean spot me as I arrive on the platform from the top of the escalator and just point at the train to the right, I nod my head. A hop, a skip, and a jump and we’re on the train as the doors truly close right behind me. WHEEWWWW. Okay! We made it, and we ride the train for the next hour.
We arrive to the Narita Airport – we did it! We step off and realize, wait, this is the wrong terminal. And we can’t just get back on the train to ride it another stop, so we have to take the (free) bus to our actual terminal. When we finally step off at terminal 1, then we can say we have made it. Luckily the drama ends there.
We make it to our gate, board our flight, and have made it home safely. Another adventure in the books!
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