Final Days – Tokyo

Friday 28 February – Sunday 1 March, 2020
Day 12-14 | Tokyo

[Missed the previous post? Check it out here]

Our last few days are spent exploring the big city before our long flight home. We discovered a some new places as well as revisited others that we enjoyed when we first arrived.

BALLON FALAFEL
As mentioned in our first post from this trip, this is the best falafel I’ve ever had so of course we had to return. This time I made Cheye order one for himself.
https://www.ballontokyo.com/

PREMARCHÉ GELATERIA
This place has lots of unique flavours and has Japan’s largest select of vegan and dairy free gelato. I ordered the Rice Milk Caramel and Pineapple Sorbet. It’s not the best gelato I’ve ever had but they have an interesting range of flavours including edamame, Canadian hemp seed with Japanese hemp charcoal, and something called ‘Oriental Baby Skin’.
https://gelato.organic/

DON QUIJOTE
We stopped by this place many times throughout our travels, this time was to stock up on snacks and gifts to bring home.
https://www.donki.com/en/

HAKUHINKAN TOY PARK
Located in Ginza, this massive toy store features five levels of all sorts of play things under one roof. Great for kids and kidults to spend a few hours, especially if you’re a fan of anime or Studio Ghibli. The building also had a theatre that features monthly performances.
https://www.hakuhinkan.co.jp/

ARCADES
Playing arcade games is one of our favourite pastimes and we discovered there were a bunch of them on Ikibukuro. I love the claw machines and gem pushers, and managed to clean up on a few of them.
ADORES https://www.adores.jp/
SEGA ARCADE https://tempo.gendagigo.jp/en-top.html
TAITO ARCADE https://www.taito.co.jp/en/

ABBEY ROAD
Home of the Japanese Beatles cover band. If you closed your eyes you wouldn’t know any better and would thing it was the real band performing before you.
http://www.abbeyroad.ne.jp/

LITTLE MERMAID BAKERY
A chain of bakeries with branches all over Japan. We made a brief stop here between arcade visits. We also visited this place in Onomichi when we finished cycling the Shimanami Kaido.
https://www.littlemermaid.jp/

POMPADOUR BAKERY
Another chain bakery scattered throughout Japan, similar to Little Mermaid.
https://www.pompadour.co.jp/english/

UNU FARMERS MARKET
A great little market selling lots of local products and produce. It operates weekly on Saturdays and Sunday and a great way to support local businesses.
http://farmersmarkets.jp/

CAN DO 100 YEN STORE
One of those variety stores where you can buy almost anything for just 100 yen. Great place to pick up gifts and random things you don’t really need.
https://www.cando-web.co.jp/e/

SOME RANDOM PHOTOS TO FINISH…

That wraps up another cycling adventure! It’s been over two years since this trip ended back in March 2020. COVID was just starting to make the news and who knew the world would be affected in such a way. It’s great that international travel is opening up again, but it has not only changed the way we travel but also the way we live day to day.

Our next trip will be in South Korea late 2022 where we plan to finish our cycling passport. Till next time, stay safe!

Belinda & Cheye

[Want to read about our other cycling trips? Check them out here!]