Final day in Tokyo! 

Slept in a bit since the only deadline we had to meet was the 10am check out time. Panicked a bit when I woke up and realized that the laundry I did overnight still hadn't dried. Which was one problem we had throughout our time in Japan coz I had expected it to be somewhat like Korea - where it's cold and dry and clothes dried effortlessly. Here it's cold and probably humid coz clothes dry really slowly. Blasted it under the heater in the bathroom helps, and reasonably dry enough by the time we had to go. 

Restored the room to its condition when we arrived and headed off to the bus terminal to stash our luggage. Then it's a long one hour ride to Tokyo Teleport station, where we caught a shuttle bus to Odaiba Oedo Onsen Monogatari.

To be honest I wasn't keen with onsen coz of the idea of showing my body in public - because of my skin condition rather than the fats. And here you literally walk around as naked as the day you are born. Kevin wasn't keen on it either, reasons I never get to find out but probably the same reason (except the part about skin condition). Val initially was on our team too but went "eh, since I am here already might as well" and deflected to the onsen team. Thankfully this place is actually a complex of onsen, footbath, massage etc so even if you don't go into the onsen area, there are other activities to fill your time. 

How it works - get a wrist tag upon entrance, change to yukatas which is the default "uniform" in the complex, then head off to the activity of your choice. For meals and activities that require extra cost, they will scan your wrist tag and when you check out eventually, it will all be accounted for.




So changed and headed into the complex, and the girls skipped off to the onsen area. I think they went in to check out the area and never came back hahaha without agreeing a meet up time. KH went off to the men's area while Kevin and I head off to footbath. Which was outdoors, and it was also drizzling so the footbath provided a much welcomed warmth on a rainy day.




There's only so much time you can spend soaking your feet though. Thought of doing the rock salt sauna but the idea of lying down on a bed of cold rock was very off-putting to Kevin so we didn't in the end - instead of a massage we also settled for a massage chair in the relaxing area. Oh well. Maybe some day I will get well enough to be able to display some skin in public, but not now.



Eventually met up with the rest and we headed off for lunch. There isn't much to do after that so we paid up and left.

Plan was to go to Miraikan so we walked over but found that they are closing in an hour so decided against it - since we won't have enough time. Instead we headed over to the Toyota City Showcase, which is full of probably every single model of Toyota cars with interactive games and shows too. Pretty interesting to know that cars here aren't that expensive, at least the base cost isn't. Also checked out the life-size Gundam statue which was days from being taken down for good.

Headed back to Shinjuku and plan was to eat dinner there - ended up splitting up into three groups. KH headed back to Shibuya's Uniqlo to pick up his altered clothing, San and Kevin wanted to try Yoshinoya but Stel couldn't, so I accompanied her to a vegan-friendly place instead. Verdict: pleasantly surprised. Food was good and ambience was good!

Met up with the rest early to withdraw our luggage from the lockers. Fee is calculated by hour so we had to be quite precise to withdraw it at a certain time to avoid incurring additional cost. And basically hung around the waiting area for our bus. 

Idea of an overnight bus came after much deliberation coz it seemed to be cheapest, plus we get to save on one night of accommodation which was enticing at the time we were planning. There were concerns with whether we would be able to get much sleep on the bus but this was so comfortable - plenty of space between seats to recline our seats, leg rest, and curtains even between passengers seated next to each other. And because it's a night bus they basically switched off all lights and the curtains can't be pulled back so it's kinda dark and very very conducive for sleeping. I think there were more expensive versions where there's even a toilet onboard hahaha but I think that's a bit too luxurious la. Bus also made regular stops at rest areas along expressways for toilet breaks but after the first couple of stops, they stopped switching on the lights during breaks so that those who are sleeping won't get disturbed. Very impressive service. All of us slept like logs hahah.

And just like that, we left Tokyo behind us. Kyoto next!