Tokyo, Japan
Jami and I had planned for a long Tokyo layover on our way back to Seattle from Indonesia. What we didn't plan for the the over night stay in Tokyo we were forced to take on the way to Indonesia from Seattle. We flew United on Christmas Day and due to mechanical difficulties the plane couldn't depart on time. We were five hours delayed and we missed multiple connecting flights. First we decided it was out of our control. Second we decided to talk to customer service. After they tried to reroute us but couldn't find any alternate routes we decided again that it was out of our control. We flew to Tokyo for the night and made the most of it. When we got to the lobby of the hotel we checked in, passed the dancing robot (because of course there was a robot) on the way to the elevators, dropped off our stuff in our rooms, and went to the hotel restaurant for a late meal before they closed. The next morning we ate breakfast at that same hotel restaurant and got back onto the shuttle to the airport. That was our first experience of Tokyo. Not the real Tokyo, but just an airport hotel with a dancing robot.
The return trip. Our second time in Tokyo was much more pleasant. We branched out from the airport hotel and made our way by train to downtown Tokyo. Our first stop was Shibuya Crossing. We got some coffee at the Starbucks with a great view of the crossing which seemed a lot less crowded than I've seen in photos and videos. Maybe it was too early on Monday morning. Maybe it was because it was Japan's Coming Of Age Day. Tokyo seemed to be uncharacteristaclly deserted. Well, anyway we had a few things to tick of our list before heading back to the airport for our flight home.
Cat Cafe MoCHA. A short walk took us to this cat cafe located on the top floor of a high rise building. It's without a doubt the nicest cat cafe we've been to (I can't believe I've been to enough cat cafes to have a favorite). With great views overlooking the city and great decor within. Oh yeah, all the fluffy cats were cool, too!
Ramen and sushi! We were on a mission to find lunch. We made our way through Cat Street (confusing name because there weren't any cats, just a bunch of great shops lined up along a pedestrian street) to the Harajuku area of town. We walked by some amazing crepes and couldn't wait for food any longer. It was dessert first at Santa Monica Crepes. We walked up and down the crowded Takeshita Street still looking for a place to eat ramen and sushi that was open at the time. We ended up at McDonalds to hop on the wifi and finally find a nice little hidden ramen spot near by. Ramen Dining Jingu. It was delicious. You order and pay on what looks like a vending machine (completely in Japanese, of course). We picked the only one with a picture, handed the receipt to the cook, then took a seat while waiting for him to prepare the meal.
At that point we decided it was time to make our way back to the airport (even without getting sushi). We walked back to Shibuya Crossing to take the train back to the airport. Actually it was a different airport. To get the long layover we had to do a self transfer from Haneda to Narita. It was worth it.
