Japan 2024: D6 (Finale)

 I'm going to miss this country.

Day 1 was settling in to Japan, checking in, etc.

Day 2 was our first venture out to around the area, going to a tourist hotspot fish market nearby Ginza, going to Ginza and then Shibuya.

Day 3 was visiting Akihabara and then an Up Garage in the more rural/residential parts of Tokyo.

Day 4, was a tour; more or less, to visit local attractions and do sightseeing.

Day 5 is primarily a Daikoku tour, but before that will be a trip to Akihabara to pick up on Day 3. 

Day 6, today, is our time to leave.

So, shortly before we check out of our hotel, we'd like a little spot of breakfast before doing anything. To be honest, us folks have already eaten anything local we could try, so here's to pick something more conventional.

Obviously, local food will always beat out overseas versions of the same food.

That being said, we still have some time to walk around and explore before checking out.

Wandering it is. Although we're already decently used to the area, there are a few spots we've yet to explore.

A somewhat interesting model name. I guess Mazda couldn't find a
good name for this, so they just called it what it is, a MPV?
Its quite direct though, so fair play to them.

Another Alpina! 3rd on the trip thus far, and this looks serious, and it definitely is, since its based off the 7-series, this B7.

First generation HR-V! This isn't the unconventional 3-door variant, but
I haven't seen one of these in months.

Another car I don't recognize as a non-American. Its a Cadillac XT5, of which I don't know anything about, since Cadillac as a brand in Singapore is basically non-existent. Face value, its another crossover-thing?

This particular stretch we've been to alot already, but there are some shops that we've not been to, and this area connects to other places we've not walked to or only did once or twice.

We'll look around for a bit, snoop through some shops, and...

WOW. 

Absolutely amazing.

Luck would have had it, although in comparison to many people's experiences my experience has been super lackluster, two beautiful classics are parked in this place.

Again, to be completely honest, in comparison to many people's trips, my carspotting luck has been quite low for the whole of the trip, but I'm just content to see some of these appear. It beats Singapore's even more lackluster vehicle population. Thanks gov!

I brought my cameras for good reason, and once again (Or finally), I can put them to good use. Here's slightly more "professional" photos of the two gems.

BMW first, Z next. I ran out of time for the Z32, so not as much photos as the M3.

Apparently there's a diecast shop here, and their inventory seems to be pretty stacked. Have a look.

Nice, isn't it?

Didn't buy anything here since back at home, my old collection doesn't really have any additional space to accommodate for any extra cars, plus interest of time meant window shopping only. Pity.

Bit of a startling realization we'd probably need another piece of luggage because we pretty much bought too much. While that was being settled, I sit outside watching traffic.

Standard affair thus far, G-Classes everywhere, this Carrera is slightly more uncommon.

Wowie, a diplomat plate!

Seems to be I've been striking gold with Fairlady Z's, they're the more common sports car of this entire trip. But that'd only be because I remember the other Z32 and today's one.

Toyota Mark X Zio! They still look rather odd, but that's only because in my humble opinion, they don't look good in black. In white, though... I think it fits the look.

The Z32! Hope to see you again someday...

And a NC Roadster. Underappreciated and bang for buck in my opinion.

Hmm yes another Exiga. Peek the rear left badging though. What is it?

Oooh. Unlike the best of the best you can typically get, which is the GT, which if I'm not wrong uses the WRX powertrain, this is a Tuned by STi. Maybe you've heard of it for the Legacy. So, what did they do? Power?

Well, according to STi's website:

"For this model, STI ventured into the 7-seater category for the first time, a category of car not normally considered to excel in driving performance, utilising its own chassis tuning technology accumulated over the years. It featured a suspension system tuned by STI, STI pillow ball bush rear suspension links, STI Flexible Tower Bar, Flexible Lower Arm Bar, Flexible Support Front, and Support Rear. An STI front spoiler, sport muffler, and STI 17-inch aluminium wheels gave a sophisticated exterior, while the black themed interior provided a reserved yet sharp image with its black Alcantara seats with cherry red stitching, carbon effect panels, and STI logo accent."

To condense it, mostly cosmetic and suspension modifications. Oh, its also limited to only 300 units, so I think I struck gold again. An elusive car no doubt, I'd love to have a go in one.

High specs? Not this time. Just a standard BMW 320i Touring and a Mercedes SL350.

Ahh, it feels like we're not leaving, but we are. Bringing our new piece of luggage, checking out, and waiting and loading everything into our Uber, I suppose its time for us to begin departing.

I initially never wanted to go to Japan. Mainly because I thought I'd be super conspicuous plus the language barrier would have made a lot of situations awkward, and I'm not very sociable around strangers. Its kind of this that barred any opportunity for years until now. But after this trip, I'd love to come again. My fears definitely were true, but they're momentary, and everyone laughs it off at the end of the day. Besides, it does show that Tokyo's pretty prepared and are adjusted to foreigners, so its not completely hopeless like I keep thinking it would be. Its been incredibly fun, but this is the last leg of the trip.

Here's to the second last bout of carspotting before going off.

I'm surprised Smart and Fiat 500's are well-liked here, since they also don't register as kei cars, but I'm sure there are other reasons that factor into their desirability. This older Ranger Rover is also pretty cool, love the small diameter wheels.

Another French oddity, A Citroen BX!

G-Class blocking a Porsche GT3, full black too.

Dropped off, and now waiting for our bus. Or, well, rushing to it.

Trip's from Shinjuku to the airport, which invariably uses the Bayshore route to get through, same affair as the trip from the airport to here.

A Hummer H3 and Volvo V70. Lucky again, I suppose.

Here we are. What I find is the process here is better than the initial immigration process.

Some hours later...

Boarding, gonna miss this place.

Turns out on the flight is it possible to see Mt. Fuji from the plane. Was on the correct side of the plane, so here's what I managed to capture:

6-7 hours of travelling, zzzz.....

Least KrisFlyer has Bocchi The Rock. Couldn't keep myself to watching the whole thing though.

You aren't going to stay with me for the whole flight, so as narration goes. Suddenly, I'm already back in Singapore. Now's for a ride back, I already see the stark difference in how exciting the traffic is (Its boring here)

I think it really is just because of being too used to being here.

A Mitsubishi L200 van on the left of a Honda E.

With the power of narration, I literally teleport back home. Now's to review everything that came from the trip (Because I bought a stupid amount of things)

There were some more that I'm not taking photos of (I'd rather not lol), but overall, I'd say I bought more than enough from Japan, although I would prefer more, but that'd be being greedy.

Also, that Benetton wheel didn't originate from Japan but something I had from a year ago. I wanted to find a horn button for it, and did. What I suspect is that it lacks some extra items for it to be mounted on a car. It does look decent though, with the red MOMO button.

I don't have much to write home about from here, apart from buying more Blue Archive merchandise (Including a pillow cover, god forbid), I think I'm pretty spent already, so this is probably it. See you next time, and probably next time when I'm still in Singapore again. Bye!

~Efini