Japan Spring 2024 - Part 13 Glico Pia East and Last Day In Japan

 

Have you ever wondered how the beloved Japanese snack Pocky and Pretz are made? These have been around for a long time, I remember loving them when I was a kid, when the only flavour available were chocolate and strawberry. Fast forward to now, Pocky has so many different flavours, and also factories around the world. I know Indonesia has a factory, and so does Thailand. 

For our last full day in Japan, I had booked a factory tour at Glico Pia East. Located in Kitamoto, it takes about an hour and a half to get there. I thought, it’s okay we can explore the area while we’re there. On the train we passed by a few strips of beautiful cherry blossom trees. There is also a walking route you can take to see sakura trees in Kitamoto. Alas, after we finished our tour, the previously blue sky started throwing tantrums and we got a rain storm. It was extremely windy, the rain was pouring, and the temperature dropped to uncomfortable points. Even the trains had severe weather warnings. Thus, we ended up going back to Tokyo. I was a little sad because it wasn’t cheap to go to Kitamoto, and so the GlicoPia tour ended up being an expensive one because of transport.

That evening I met up with my old friend from my university days. It was very nice to catch up!

On our last evening in Tokyo, we went to an izakaya near the apartment and it turned out to be really, really good! Soft and juicy pork and chicken, amongst other things.

Then it was finally the going-home day! Our flight was in the evening so we had the chance to visit the Tokyo Skytree and the shopping mall at the bottom. Did you know that there is a large mirror nearby where you can take a picture of yourself with the Skytree? Check it out!

This concludes our trip in Japan but don’t leave yet, I have another post about our overnight transit in Taipei!