We both had a nice soak before returning to our room to find it transformed again.
This time it was back to a dinner setting where we found breakfast waiting for us.
Sarah had ordered the Western Breakfast whilst i went for the traditional Japanese.
Sarah was presented with a mixture of Croisants, pastries and toast, along with the scrambled eggs ordered the night before. I was amazed when my selection arrived.
1 - rice
2 - Miso soup with fried tofu
3 - Tofu from Koya-san with mountain vegetables
4 - Japanese Omelet
5 - Grilled fish
6 - Small river fish in Miso
7 - Japanese Pickles
8 - Japanese Pickled Plums
9 - Japanese Tea and sweet biscuits
what a Breakfast!!!! ive never had anything like it, it was delicious!
As this was our last morning in Kyoto we had a couple of must do things left on the agenda.
1. Nishiki Market
2. Find our Tanuki to take home.
After breakfast I asked Tomoko about Nishiki, as it turns out it was very close to where we were staying so we decided we would shoot off and have a look around. The other thing we wanted to do was buy a Tanuki!!
Our first day out in Kyoto we saw many tanuki for sale (so assumed they were everywhere) but since then they have been a rare sighting in shops. We told Tomoko that they were available at Kiyomizu and she explained that they are harder to buy these days and we should probably go back there.....so we decided to hike back up the mountain in search of our new son after Nishiki Market.
Nishiki - This was an amazing experience, we saw just about every type of food on offer in Kyoto for sale here, from fish to meat to every type of pickled and fresh vegetable to Candy and Japanese cakes. I had to take heaps of photos as there was just so many nice things on offer!!
We spent about 1/2 hour wandering up and down this culinary extravaganza before heading back to the Ryokan where we jumped in a Cab to the start of the Kiyomizu Mountain. As we were in a hurry we rushed around the quaint little shops and evntually decided on a nice Tanuki! We were so happy but we couldnt get the Tanuki without his best friends could we, so we found a nice owl and frog to accompany him.
Back to the Ryokan where we said our goodbyes to Tomoko before heading off to Kyoto station for the last time. Upon arrival we went straight to the Shinkansen tracks where we discovered the next Hikari train wasnt for another 1/2 hour. Well we couldnt jump on the train without a Bento now could we...so off we went in search of our lunch. Sarah found a nice Tonkatsu Bento whilst I opted for a traditional mixed bento.
We soon jumped on the train and before we knew it we were on our way to the biggest city in the world!!! The trip went through Japan's beautiful countryside and gathered speeds close to 270km per hour. The weather was nice today and we had hoped to see Mount Fuji on the way but as its very rarely seen we were not too optimistic. A little way past Hamamatsu our dreams came true when i turned behind me to see Fujisan in all its beauty!!! this was one of the most amazing sights ive ever seen. Made the mountains in New Zealand look very ordinary let me tell you. We were moving so fast at the time so we didnt have time to mess around, we quickly grabbed some snaps and video before she disapeared into the clouds.
It wasnt long after that we arrived in Shin Yokohama and then finally Shinagawa. We left the Shinkansen for the last time in Shinagawa as we then changed to the metro Yamanote line.
We jumped onto the packed train and before we knew it we were in the heart of Tokyo and Shinjuku Station (largest in the world). We jumped off the train and luckily for us the nearest exit was the most convenient to our hotel. A 5 minute walk through the south terrace and we arrived at our hotel. The positioning of this place is unreal, so close to the action yet so well priced!!
We checked into our room, changed clothes and set straight off to the station again, this time we were going fishing!!!
Once we were at Shinjuku station we were to jump on the Toei line to Kudanshita which we did and the on the Tozai line to Minami Sunamachi. Well about 45 mins from Shinjuku station and we arrived. A quick call to our Captain and we were soon picked up and heading for the Marina.
It felt a little cooler tonite so shorts and t-shirt might have been a misjudgement haha, ah well i had a hoodie just incase.
We were soon on the water and heading out to Tokyo Bay.
Just as we arrived at the Rainbow Bridge area we were given a spectacular view of this magnificent city! the sun was setting and Tokyo tower was lit up in all its glory!!! what a place!!
We started fishing and soon after a Japanese SeaBass was onboard. We ended up fishing all around the Tokyo Bay that night and caught some great fish! This is a cracking fishing spot, its hard to believe there are so many fish around in a city of so many people.
The highlight of the night was being pulled in by the water police for fishing too close to an international cargo ship. Apparently you have to be 30m away so parking right underneath it and casting against it is probably a No No haha. Anyways it turned out they were conducting anti terrorist work and thought were were a threat. Needless to say we got off after they boarded the boat searched us and realised it was a couple of keen fisherman from Australia.
Captain Uchida was unreal and helped us get right amongst these great fish, again they are so different to anything back home so without him i dont think we would have caught anything.
He gave us some great info on Tokyo and Japan even with his limited english.
We jumped back on the subway line after we made it back to station and around an hour later we were back in Shinjuku. After a quick bite to eat from the konbini it was time for bed it had been a long day!
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