Final Breakfast

For our final breakfast at the Conrad, we got to enjoy a table with the view of Hamarikyu Gardens, bringing the trip full circle. This time I splurged for the “Guilty Pleasure” Hokkaido pancakes, which were as indulgent as the name suggests. After some heartfelt goodbyes, we set off for Tokyo Station, where the rest of the family set off for the Imperial Palace.

Kanazawa

We ended up getting tickets for the Shinkansen with only 5 minutes to spare, so we missed out on buying bentos for the ride. Still, it was a very relaxing two and a half hours, with the countryside of Japan to view, from coast, to snowy hills and mountains, back to coast again.

We arrived amidst clouds of rain, a forecast set for our whole stay unfortunately. Still, the bus network was simple to navigate, and we found our AirBnB to be warm and cozy. Nestled in a very cute street, whose buildings and road are split by a small creek with little distinct walkways all up and down it, and hugging up against both the old samurai district and a stylish and moody network of alleys and izakayas, we knew we’d made a great choice.

After unpacking, we immediately went next door to the “Cafe DUMBO” (no relation to the elephant as far as we could surmise) for a quick snack and coffee. Refreshed and refueled, we explored the area with an eye for what we’d get for dinner. We settled on Cafe Pino, a very old school stylized 30s aesthetic diner which offered comfort foods like omurice. The delicious ketchup rice, topped with perfect omelette and drenched in a tuna alfredo and then beef marinara proved the perfect end to a long travel day.