Reid Main

Today was our final travel day of the trip where we will end our journey in Tokyo. By now we are masters of the Shinkansen ticketing system, so after grabbing some bentos we easily boarded the 10:21am Nozomi to Shinagawa Station. Shortly after 1pm we disembarked and were checked into our hotel before 2.

I know I said the Ritz Carlton Fukuoka was the fanciest place I had ever stayed, but the mesm Tokyo is definitely giving it a run for its money. Located in the Minato ward, a short walk from Hamamatsuchō Station, the mesm is another ultra modern hotel that resides in the upper floors of a skyscraper, similar to the Ritz Carlton. Our balcony has a beautiful view overlooking the Hama-rikyū Gardens and the spacious bathroom contains the all important Toto washlet.

We had plans to go out in the evening so we decided to take the afternoon to relax and watch the entirety of day 14 of sumo. A little after 6pm we boarded the Ōedo line and met up with Elsie's colleagues from VShojo at an izakaya. I'm not comfortable publicly naming where we went but it was this quaint little building, literally from the Edo period, tucked between two modern towers. You instantly forget you are in the concrete jungle of Tokyo once you step inside.

We ate and drank (Chita whisky highballs go down smooth) until 10:30pm before getting kicked out. We then took the subway back to our hotel and promptly fell asleep.