Chapter 6

Strawberry Picking and back to Tokyo

On our drive back to Tokyo, we wanted to eat lunch. My dad drove the car for about forty minutes and reached our destination. We went to an Italian restaurant. Nathan and I ordered carbonara spaghetti with french fries on the side. My cousins and the others ordered the same food but they also ordered large pepperoni pizzas and burgers.

We enjoyed our lunch and good thing it was not cold there because I could be freezing by the weather there. All of us were happy and satisfied after our heavy lunch.

On our way back to Tokyo, the adults decided to stop by a strawberry farm. To pick the strawberries, each person had to pay two thousand yen, but it was cheaper for children. My dad and my grandparents stayed in the car as they did not want to pick the strawberries. We got to pick the strawberries for a maximum of 30 minutes. I picked some strawberries and they were big, red, and looked really fresh. I did not eat them because I did not like strawberries. My favorite fruit is bananas. But I liked to pluck them out of their stalks. Nathan and Emma ate some of the strawberries they picked in the greenhouse. We were given a small tray and some condensed milk to dip the strawberries in. Then, we could also pack the remaining strawberries we picked. I gave mine to my dad and grandparents so they could taste them.

After strawberry picking, we continued our journey back to Tokyo. Nathan and I slept along the way because we were tired and we couldn’t do anything while awake too. By the time we arrived in Tokyo, it was nighttime. My mom and my uncle had to return the cars to the rental shop and they were almost late by a few minutes. Luckily, there were still some people in the basement to receive the cars and they did not have to pay a late penalty.

The hotel we stayed in Tokyo was Pullman Hotel this time instead of the ryokan. I was happy with our room as it was way more comfortable and bigger than the ryokan. There were lots of paintings and activities in the hotel too.

After checking in, we went out to have steak for dinner. Since we did not have any more cars with us, we walked again in the cold. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and we walked past a Korean restaurant named ‘Ban Sui’. It was so hilarious as it was exactly the same as my grandpa’s name. My mom asked him to take pictures with the sign of the restaurant’s name and he happily posed in front of it.

At that time, neither my parents nor my grandparents know about the “COVID-19” virus. So, we were having a fine time during our vacation in Japan and we did not worry about anything. I just remember about my backpack that was left and I asked my mom, “Mommy, is my backpack going to be returned to us?” She said, “The company of the bus driver said they found the bag and will send it to Pullman Hotel, but I don’t know if they can make it in time since it is Christmas time and delivery time will be longer. Also, we are leaving Japan in a few days. However, don’t let it ruin your happiness now.”

We went back to the hotel and rested so we are fully charged for Disneyland the next day.