Ikebukuro - al fresco 🌟

It was an onsen kind of morning. Armed with my pj's and birthday suite I headed down to the lower level. This onsen was the best of the trip! It had an outdoor bath overlooking the stream and forest greenery below 💚👍

The schedule was tight as the breakfast service for our whole group was at 7:45. The kitchen prepared another fancy traditional spread. No coffee, so I tried a hot can from the vending machine at the fuel stop. Ticked that box off... It was flavour less 😑

We weaved our way back towards Tokyo. County roads changed to larger ones. At our lunch stop I was happy to find some fresh veggies to snack on 🥕😋! Our last stop before the city was a rest stop. Not a typical one, more like a mini-mall with shops and a food court. The pillions jumped into the van because they aren't allowed on the express ways.

Our final leg was a lot less tunnels than our outbound route. Bikes were fueled up before returning. Then everyone walked back to the hotel, where the luggage had been dropped off by the van.

The farewell dinner was at Hayeruya an izakaya restaurant nearby on the 7th floor. Upon exiting the elevator I smelled cigarettes 🚬 and as we were walking to the table I saw someone smoking at their table 😭 There was no way I could stay for a whole meal, as I was already getting congested 🤧 I wasn't the only only one in our group either. Dad, myself and another couple excused ourselves. Our first attempt was at an English pub in a basement. We couldn't get the QR link to their website to make an order to work, so we left a bit frustrated. Third time was amazing as we ended up finding a street-level outdoor patio for a delicious meal in fresh air 😍 I loved watching the hussle and bustle on the street as we enjoyed our meal 🍴🍻

My brother and I went for a late night souvenir shopping at Don Qiote. It was much busier than last week at 6am. We found some snacks and treats to take home. With it duty-free QR code we saved a few dollars. Strangely they were strick about the credit matching the person who's QR code was used.Read more