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This week’s B ME Bites Trivia Question:

Welcome to Edition #72 of B ME Bites! If the last edition was all about lavender fields and long drives, this one marks the beginning of our Tokyo chapter.

Hello Kitty buses, neighbourhood discoveries, and the moment our Pokémon Centre quest moved from road trip mode to train adventure mode — with a few unexpected surprises along the way.

(Reminder: B ME Bites is now landing in inboxes fortnightly - well mostly 😉 - while its new sister newsletter, Effortlessly Organic Living, takes the opposite week.)

Japan Adventures Part 9 - Hello Kitty Buses and Tokyo Beginnings

Settling into local life and continuing the Pokémon Centre quest

After the long road trip through Japan and our Hokkaido adventure, this part of the journey shifted gears completely.

The driving was over, the toll roads were behind us, and the next stage of the trip began — settling into Tokyo life with Ririko’s family while continuing our quest to visit every Pokémon Centre in Japan.

✈️ Goodbye Road Trip, Hello Tokyo

The day began with breakfast at the hotel before packing up and catching the shuttle bus to Narita Airport.

From there we boarded something that immediately lifted the mood — a Hello Kitty themed Limousine Bus heading into Tokyo.

Yes, an actual Hello Kitty bus.

It was the perfect introduction to the Tokyo chapter of the trip.

We travelled from Narita to Chofu Station, where Ririko met us and helped us navigate the next leg of the journey — along with our luggage.

First priority, of course, was coffee. After weeks of searching, Starbucks was still the most reliable place we’d found for a decent cup.

From Chofu we grabbed some lunch before hopping on a train to Sengawa Station, the neighbourhood where Ririko lives.

🏡 Settling Into Sengawa

After dropping our luggage at Ririko’s house, she showed us around her local area before taking us to her parents’ home — where we would be staying for the next few weeks.

It felt good to slow down for a moment after the pace of the road trip.

Later that evening, Ririko and her husband brought our luggage over from her house, and we all headed out to dinner with her family at a local Izakaya.

An Izakaya is a Japanese pub-style restaurant where you can order lots of small dishes to share — which meant we got to try a whole range of different foods.

It was one of those dinners where the table just keeps filling with plates.

On the way back, we managed to miss our bus stop and had to get off and catch another bus back the other direction.

But the timing worked out perfectly.

As we walked back toward the house, we crossed paths with Ririko’s parents, Taruho and Reiko walking home — and they remembered me from when I visited 13 years earlier.

It was one of those lovely full-circle travel moments you can’t plan.

🌽 The Vending Machine That Made Us Stop

The next day was intentionally quiet.

We needed a day to catch up on work, reorganise the itinerary, and start figuring out how to fit a few extra destinations into the trip.

Across the road from the bus stop in Sengawa, we spotted something that immediately caught our attention.

A vending machine selling fresh produce.

Inside were corn, broccoli, leafy greens and other vegetables — all sitting neatly behind glass, ready to buy like a drink or snack.

Japan never stops surprising you.

We spent the day working from the local shopping area, trying coffee from a café with an award-winning barista (good… but still not beating Starbucks), grabbing lunch at a food court, sampling bubble tea and Baskin Robbins, and eventually settling into Starbucks for the afternoon so we could use their Wi-Fi.

Not every travel day is about sightseeing.

Sometimes it’s just about pausing long enough to plan the next adventure.

🚄 Planning the Next Stage

With Tokyo as our base for a while, we started looking at how to continue our Pokémon Centre quest.

Japan has 16 Pokémon Centres, and we had already visited several — but we had missed a couple during our road trip.

The best way to reach them?

The Shinkansen bullet trains.

So the next day we headed into Shinjuku Station to purchase a Japan Rail Pass.

These passes can be purchased for 7, 14 or 21 days and allow unlimited travel on Japan Rail lines — including the famous bullet trains.

When you’re planning multiple long-distance train trips, the pass can save a significant amount compared to buying individual tickets.

Once the passes were sorted, it was time to continue the Pokémon Centre mission.

⚡ Pokémon Centre Stops (And Unexpected Sightings)

Our first stop of the day was Pokémon Centre Tokyo Bay, followed by visits to Pokémon Centre Skytree Town and Pokémon Centre Tokyo DX.

Along the way we passed an interesting statue called Hanekame.

The sculpture shows a turtle with wings, which immediately caught our attention because it’s not exactly something you expect to casually encounter while wandering through Tokyo.

Later, when we looked it up, we discovered the statue has a deeper meaning. Hanekame represents Genbu, the Black Tortoise, one of the Four Divine Beasts from ancient Chinese and Japanese mythology. These creatures traditionally guard the four cardinal directions.

The turtle itself symbolises longevity and stability, while the wing-like shapes are inspired by the Minogame, a legendary turtle said to live for 10,000 years. The long “wings” actually represent seaweed that grows on very old turtles — a symbol of long life and good fortune.

The statue we saw stands at Kameido Station in Koto City, representing the guardian of the North.

The other three guardians can also be found around the area:

• Seiryu (Azure Dragon) — guardian of the East, located near Higashi-Ojima Station
• Suzaku (Vermilion Bird) — guardian of the South, located at Wakasu Park
• Byakko (White Tiger) — guardian of the West, located near Toyosu Civic Center

Together they form a symbolic set protecting the four directions of the city.

Naturally, once we realised there were four of them, we were a little disappointed we hadn’t known earlier — because we absolutely would have turned it into a mini mission to track down the others.

One of the most memorable sights of the day was a striking bridge in the Chuo area called Nihonbashi Bridge.

It looked like something out of a movie — a gothic-style structure where a couple appeared to be having wedding photos taken.

Except the bride was wearing a black dress.

It was dramatic, unusual, and very memorable.

After a full day exploring the city and continuing the Pokémon Centre mission, we made our way back to Sengawa for another late dinner at the Izakaya before catching the bus home.

And even the bus had personality — decorated with cute character artwork.

Because in Japan, even public transport likes to have a little fun.

🌸 Travel Lessons So Far

🍣 Family-style dining is the best way to try new food.
When the table fills with small dishes, you get to experience far more than you would ordering just one meal.

🚄 If you're travelling around Japan, the rail network opens everything up.
Once the JR Pass was sorted, the next phase of the adventure suddenly felt much more possible.

🥬 Never ignore a vending machine in Japan.
You never know when it might be selling fresh corn instead of soda.

💬 What’s the most unexpected thing you’ve ever seen in a vending machine?

✨ Looking Ahead

Tokyo life was just beginning.

Next up in the adventure:

Shibuya’s famous crossing
Celebrity crowds and themed cafés
Pokéwaffles and Pikachu sweets
Mario-Kart style go-karting through Tokyo
and a certain famous golden sculpture that Tokyo locals have given a very honest nickname.

Tokyo, it turns out, was about to get a lot louder.

In Case You Missed It: B ME HQ Weekly Recap

🌿 Effortlessly Organic Living – Edition #10

Effortless Low-Tox Essentials: 7 Basics You Can Find Almost Anywhere

Switching to a lower-tox lifestyle doesn’t have to mean complicated routines or expensive specialty stores. This edition breaks down seven simple essentials you can usually find at your local supermarket or chemist — making it easier to start reducing everyday chemical exposure without overwhelm.

Read it here:

Effortlessly Organic Living 10: Effortless Low-Tox Essentials

🌅 B ME Sunrise Bites – Day 78

Brightest Sunrise Yet – Chasing It Through Tokyo

This sunrise didn’t come easily.

The original plan was to watch it from the window… except the view turned out to be a wall. So at 4:30am, in pyjamas and my daughter’s thongs, I headed out through Tokyo’s tiny back streets to find the sky.

Five sunrise frames later, it was completely worth it.

Watch here:

📺 Explore the full journey on the B ME Sunrise Bites YouTube Playlist
(Remember to hit subscribe!)

Resource Roundup

Below is a resource list that has been created with you in mind. Whenever something new that could be helpful is discovered or created, it’s added to the list, so check it out from time to time. If you’re strapped for time, once you open the page below, click on Resource List in the top menu, then click on the “Health Tools” link for a list of items that could be helpful on your path to a better you.

The answer to this week’s trivia question is:

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Shari Ware Chief Encouragement Officer at B ME Bites

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