Machida, shopping and nothing special

Since it always feels loud, crowded, and in motion in Tokyo, we decided to change the scenery a bit today. We headed to Machida, a quieter place about an hour outside of Tokyo.

There is a small park, Serigaya Park, which was perfect for enjoying the good weather and intentionally taking a moment of peace.

That’s exactly what we did: walking, sitting, enjoying the sun. In the process, we also stumbled upon a few nice manhole covers – which have become almost a staple of our outings.

Surprisingly (and very pleasantly), there was a coffee stand nearby that offered really good coffee. This helped to restore our caffeine levels to an acceptable range.

After spending a relaxed morning in the park, we strolled a bit through Machida on our way back to the station. We did some shopping too – after all, we want to spend the remaining yen in the last few days. In between, we also had a small lunch snack in the form of fried chicken.

Since today also called for the big finale of souvenir and shopping for assignments, we then headed straight to Asakusa. There are several stores there that offer exactly what we still wanted to get. And lo and behold: We found what we needed and managed to get everything done.

Here's a fun fact: Without realizing it, we walked into the exact same store where we had made a purchase a few days prior on our way to Ueno Park. Some things just seem to draw you in.

Additionally, we stumbled across a store that sells food – but not for eating, instead for display. In Japan, dishes have to look exactly as described on the menu. To ensure this, there are deceptively realistic plastic replicas of the dishes displayed in front of restaurants. And yes: They look surprisingly realistic.

To wrap up the day, we visited a café where the coffee nerd intended to buy freshly roasted coffee to take home. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the right kind available in freshly roasted form – so instead, we just had two cups of coffee on-site. Not a bad consolation.

After that, we had dinner (yes, ramen again, and since you've already seen enough of that, there’s no photo of it this time) and then called it a day.

Not a spectacular day, no packed schedule – but that’s exactly why it was quite pleasant. A relaxing day to breathe before we slowly approach the end of the journey.