Feb 3rd/ 4th

We left our home at 8am, leaving the fluffy little man behind (goodbye, Yokai!). We drove to YYZ, Toronto Pearson airport about 1.5 hours of driving as it was rush hour. We parked our car and took the shuttle to terminal 1. The shuttle stopped at all the parking lots, which is only noteworthy because I had to pee so badly! We arrived at terminal 1 and I RAN to the washroom, it was closed for cleaning! The cleaner could see the desperation in my eyes and told me to use a somewhat hidden family bathroom around the corner, (so nice of her). We then printed our boarding passes and went through security where we of course got the additional bag/ shoe screening (we smile too much at the airport, we ALWAYS get the extra screening!). The two ladies that did the screening though were super sweet and asked all about our backpack crests. They told me we no longer needed to remove our liquids at the security at YYZ, which I heard a few airports might be going that same way, it certainly would be nice to bring a full sized toothpaste when we travel! 

We then walked to our boarding gate (just to check it was there, like good millennials) and then we each ordered an IPA which we drank before walking through the Richard Sierra sculpture and right on to the airplane. So little waiting! I had paid to choose our seats for the very first time ever (against all my frugal instincts), two seats at the back of the plane in the section where the seats go down to a 2-4-2 configuration. The flight was noted as a 14 hour and 15 minute flight, at least we were given some of the best vegan Air Canada food I have ever had (a lentil and rice spicy curry and a tofu scramble). We saw Fuji San from the plane for the second time ever, poking his majestic snow capped peak up above the clouds!

We arrived at Haneda airport (the best airport in Tokyo) at around 4pm on Feb 4th. Customs was busy but quick. Make sure you get your QR code ahead of time! We then topped up our Suica cards with a few 2000 Yen bills (the ones we have trouble using in Japan as they are”foreigner bills”.) We took the Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho station, transferring to Akihabara and then the Tsuba line to Asakusa station. Our hotel was only a few minutes walk away. The area was full of little bars (Hoppy St) and beautifully lit up with street lights at night, casting a warm glow… the tower of Sensoji Temple glowing red and peaking out from over the lower buildings. 

We were staying at a lovely hotel called “Tokyo Ryokan Asakusa Shigetsu”. It was 22,529 Yen a night, about $180 Canadian at current value, which isn’t bad for a ryokan style hotel in the Asakusa area. We checked in and the front desk gentleman showed us to our room. He showed us how to use the heat, the onsen etc, a very complete tour of the accommodation. We settled into our small traditional room. It had two futons set up and a small table with pillow seating. 

We then headed back out to Don Quijote to find some things, mainly toothpaste. We  then headed to a nearby Lawson to pick up some items for a quick dinner in our room later; onigiri riceballs, a grapefruit strong zero, and some spicy cucumbers that I love so much. We retreated back to the room and ate our little dinner at the small table on the tatami mats. 

At about 7:30 ish we put on our yukata, mine was green and white and Jives’ was blue and white, each with a red and green sash. We packed our tiny bags with our towels and headed up to the 6th floor to take a public bath. The baths had signs to turn to show if they were occupied (others can still come in when the sign is turned, it’s just to indicate that the room is occupied). The women’s side was the larger of the two baths (they change each day). I pulled back the red curtain and slid back the wooden door. The changeroom area was very small. There was a sink and a shelf with three baskets for stashing your clothing. I deposited my clothing in a basket and slid back the second wooden door to enter the bathing room. There were three wash stations with stools and plastic buckets that you fill to wash yourself. I scrubbed down at the wash station and then entered the hanoki bath. I love the smell of hanoki so much (the japanese cedar), it might be my favourite scent ever. As I entered the bath I displaced a person’s amount of water over the top of the bath. The window beside the bath had a view of the Tokyo Skytree. The spout of the bath had a stone oni/monster sculpture on it. I soaked for about 15-20 minutes and no one else came into the bath the entire time. I then dried off and met Jives outside. 

We sat on the little roof top seating area and had a drink, watching the neon lights on the skytree and the colourful building lights down below. We then returned to the room. We watched a bit of TV… and Jives decided to go to bed. I decided to have another bath at about 9:30pm, and headed back up to the 6th floor. As before, I was the only one in the bath made for three. It was lovely sitting in the warm water with the steam rising up. I then returned to the room and went to sleep at about 10pm, having been awake for about 28 hours.

Feb 5th

I woke up at 2:30, but happily was able to fall back asleep until about 6:30. At 6:45 I headed up to the bath once again. The men’s and women’s sides of the bath had switched, so I bathed on the smaller side that had a view of the Sensoji five story pagoda. I soaked for about 15 minutes. Onsen are the perfect way to start the day, especially in the winter. I then sat on the roof and watched the rising sun over the rooftops of Asakusa. 

I then went back to the room where Jives was still fast asleep. At about 8am we headed out for a little walk along the Sumida river. The sun was bright, and even though the temperature was only about 5 celsius, it felt warm. We spotted some plum blossoms. It’s so interesting how the different types of sakura bloom at different times. 

We then walked to Lawson again via Sensoji Temple (some police men waved at some young kids we were walking behind, so cute!). We took some photos of Sensoji Temple because despite visiting Tokyo nine times, Sensoji will never not be interesting to me. 

We picked up some coffees and onigiri at Lawson and ate our little breakfast in our room before checking out at 9:30am.