Because the first week of the new year is one of the busiest travel weeks in Japan, basically all reserved seats on the Shinkansen were taken for the entire week. We had been extremely lucky to have found 5 seats on the outbound leg (it was a sudden cancellation) but for our return from Kyoto, our options were to stand in line and try to get on a standing-room only car for the 3 hour ride back to Tokyo, or to board a pre-dawn train that still had open and reservable seats. Mind you, Shinkansen trains depart Kyoto for Tokyo probably every 10-15 minutes all day long and into the night, but still, we decided to go the safe route and board that morning 6:30AM train. Too bad we couldn't stay longer in Kyoto, but our consolation was this awesome view of Mt. Fuji from the train.
Back in Tokyo we walked over to a lovely Shogunal Palace garden with a tea pavilion where we sat on the tatami mats on the floor of the pavilion which was on a tiny island in the middle of the small lake. The garden was peaceful and in its Winter color; that is, the lawns were all straw-golden, the deciduous trees mostly dark silhouettes, the ponds and lakes with thin ice sheets. We decided to have the whipped matcha tea in the pavilion with a kneaded bean sweet as a breakfast treat.
That evening Rani showed us how to rock the Karaoke!
Wow,you all have been non-stop. What an incredible consolation to be able to see Mt. Fuji!! Your whipped matcha tea looks delicious, I will have to taste some. Exciting to be amongst the crowd during the New Year.
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