The Shinkansen train travels up to 285 km an hour which makes it very exciting looking out the window and seeing everything rush by. We had a bento box for lunch that we bought at Osaka station before we got on the train.
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It was raining a lot when we got to Tokyo and we got a bit wet by the time we got to our hotel, the Dai-ichi Hotel Annex near Shimbashi station, but the little umbrellas we bought worked well. They sell umbrellas everywhere in Japan because it rains so much and they are very cheap. We found out later that there was a typhoon off the cost of Japan that was causing all the rain and wind.
I had arranged to meet an old work colleague in so we got directions from reception to the Wako department store in Ginza which is about 15 minutes walk from our hotel. Unfortunately my friend did not get the message that we would be late so he waited in the rain for 45 minutes, then we arrived half an hour later and waited for him before giving up and going to the underground mall at Tokyo station to see the food court in the Daimaru department store and escape from the rain. Emma was awestruck by the amazing variety and presentation of the food.
When we were tired of looking in shops, we went back to Shimbashi station and found a noodle shop near our hotel. It was cold and windy but we sat near the cooking area so we felt nice and warm on the front but a bit cold on our back.
I was so tired that I was in bed by 7:30pm and asleep by 8pm!
