Two Zero Days in a Tokyo Suburb

2 - 3 June 2023

We awoke in the hotel after a great night's sleep. We really needed the rest after that long day of travel and all the sushi we ate yesterday.  But, since we ate the sushi at 2 PM and didn't have dinner, we were starving.  We quickly shower, got dressed, and headed down to the breakfast buffet that was included in our room rate.

This buffet was the best buffet we have seen this entire trip.  It was filled with "western food" that Tim liked such as an omelet station, cereal, yogurt, fruit, fresh baked croissants, etc, but it also had a bunch of "eastern food" that I was excited about.  Check out the congee I made for myself with Steamed Mackerel, Seaweed, Bonito Flakes, Green Onions, and Pickled something. I went back and also had some Steamed Rice with Curry and more Mackerel.  I am going to love the food here in Japan.

After breakfast we went back to the room to relax until checkout at 11 AM.  We then caught the 11:30 AM shuttle to the airport where we met up with our friends.  We haven't seen them since we left them in Kuala Lumpur on 10 May...over 3 weeks ago.

Between all of us, we figured out how to buy Suica Cards (the card needed to ride public transportation in Tokyo) and how to get to the house where we will stay for a couple of days to relax and trip plan.  

When we arrive to the neighborhood we were staying we headed to get the key.  An 80-year-old man met us.  What an awesome man this was.  At 80, he is as active as one could be.  He walked us to the house, actually running a bit to catch up, and hung out with us for a little.  He spoke very little English so we spoke to each other using Google Translate.  I don't know what we did before this incredible technology was available.  

He then walked us to a Supermarket where we bought some food for dinner and breakfast since the weather was about to get bad due to Typhoon Mawar.  We returned to the house just before the wind really started blowing and the hard rain began.  I wasn't about to complain about the weather since it was perfect timing for when we weren't planning on doing anything anyway.

I spent the rest of the day working on trip planning Japan and South Korea.  I would usually just plan as we go, however, we need to purchase Japan Rail Passes and I want to make sure we make the most of them.

Oh...In the early morning hours at midnight and 3 AM last night, the emergency alarm went off on my cell phone warning of evacuations not far from us due to rivers overflowing  from Typhoon Mawar.  We woke up to the rain still falling.  And I continued the trip planning...this is not easy!

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out around 2 PM, so we all decided to take a walk around the neighborhood.  

We came across Sen-Yo-Ji Temple and walked the grounds.

We continued walking on some very cute streets with beautiful flowers and little rivers running down them.  This is a very picaresque suburb of Tokyo.

We then made it to the Edo River where we saw some of the aftermath of Typhoon Mawar.  You can see some puddles in the parking lot. 

The timing of the storm was unfortunate because it seemed there was supposed to be a Lily Festival in the park today, but the Lily's, along with the footpaths around them, are underwater.

To the right of the walking / bicycle trail you can see the baseball fields are underwater as well.

We walked along the walking trail for a bit and then headed back into the neighborhood.  I love these trees!

I also love these beverage vending machines that are all over the place.  So many different choices.

We finally got home after at least a 4 mile walk.  Around 5 PM the old man...I wish I remembered his name...came over to walk us to a Soba Noodle restaurant for dinner.  The outside window of the restaurant had menu items in plastic, so I took a photo of the food that Tim and I wanted to order to make it easy for us and the waitress.  Tim picked the Tempura Shrimp Bowl and I picked the Termpura Set.

We sat down and the old man ordered Tim and I a Sake.  I think he knows us pretty well.  Oh...see that man in the background eating with his wife?  When they got their food, we all changed our order to what they were having since it looked so good.

The old man was such a great guy.  He loved to talk and get to know us.  At 80 he goes to the gym 3 times a week, walks around the neighborhood as much as he can, and rides his bicycle when he is too tired to walk.

This is what we all ordered.  Soba (buckwheat) Noodles with sauce to dip the noodles in with a small side of Tempura Onion.   We also got an order of Tempura to share.  It was a delicious meal with amazing company.

After dinner, the old man walked us to the market to buy breakfast for the morning then walked us back to the house where we left his bicycle to ride back to his house.  I think we got home around 7 PM giving me plenty of time to get back to the trip planning.

We were actually pretty tired and went to sleep around 10:30 PM.  Tomorrow we continue relaxing and trip planning and then head to our rental apartment inside of Tokyo in the afternoon.  Until then...