City Blackout

We headed out to Ueno for dinner tonight. Whilst on the train we noticed several notices about planned blackouts but didn't think too much about it. There were also men standing on the station platform with loud speakers, announcing messages in Japanese to the commuters. We pushed on, adamant that this was our last night in Tokyo and we wanted to make the most of it.

We arrived at Uenu and the place still seemed to have the same old buzz with plenty of the market stalls in the lanes by the south of the station open. The restaurants were also busy, and our favourite BBQ restaurant, where we sat on the tatami mats, was fully booked out! Darn!

We did however find a cracking little Ramen restaurant very close by, and it was remarkably a dish that we hadn't tried so far in Japan. So we wandered in and ordered some Pork Ramen, spicy rice bowl and dumplings! It was like a traditional wagamamas! All topped off with a couple of Asahis. It was awesome!

We left after about an hour and was quite literally shocked by the lack of light in the streets outside. The blackout must have started, as the buzzing Market stalls were closing up, it was a lot darker and there was a serious lack of neon. The first thing we thought of was our train home, so made a dash for the train station.

Luckily, we got a train back without an issue. On the train home we saw a family of 5, many large bags, looking like they were heading out of the city. There such a mixed vibe here!

The area around Tokyo station was so different when we got back. The billboards by the north exit, usually like Leicester Square, were all turned off. This city just isn't the same with it's lights!