Day 10

I think I can honestly say that was the best night’s sleep I’ve had since landing in Japan

Thank bloody goodness

We met up at 9 to try to find somewhere for breakfast

Is was raining so made for some unpleasant walking conditions 

Everywhere had queues so we decided to go to the busiest place on the planet - the Starbucks that overlooks Shibuya crossing






The crossing doesn’t look much here but it was early on a rainy, Sunday morning

We then did some souvenir shopping at the Don Quixote mega store


And Hattie got some stuff in H&M before we went to 7/11 to buy things for lunch back at the hotel

Lunch eaten, we took 3 trains to get to the Ajinomoto Stadium, home of Tokyo FC

Even the local train station was supporting the team

At the ground both Hattie and I bought a team shirt and I also bought a scarf/towel, to show I was a fan 👀



I have to say the stadium didn’t disappoint













Weirdly their song was “you’ll never walk along” which you can hear halfway through this video - with my assistance


Both sets of fans were extraordinary - so much louder than the premier league

Special mention to the Kyoto fans who were outstanding considering they lost 5-0

For every Tokyo goal there were actions to be performed but I got the hang of them too late to truly join in


At halftime we had 🎵sausage on a stick🎵


But we missed the start of the second half as the freezer of iced water that contained the cans of Kirin beer had frozen over so the poor bloke had to chisel them out


After the game (it had stopped raining) we saw our first real display of Sakura - the cherry blossoms





Before we headed back on the 3 trains and through Shibuya










We had a brief rest in the hotel so I could put the hair dryer into my shoes then it was off to dinner

Not, however, before we heard the doorbell ring at home and it was Eloise !!!



It’s just extraordinary that despite being 6k miles apart we can still talk, through a doorbell!!!

Lunch was decidedly Japanese with the takeaway we bought so tonight we went Korean




Kieren had an omelette-y pizza whilst us others had cheesy bibimbap - bloody delicious 

I love those places off the beaten track where the locals go

Everyone was feeling a little tired and emotional then so we bought snacks (beer) and called it a night


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