Japan (for the eighth time)
My partner and I just got back from 11 nights in Japan with his family, a trip that had been in the works for many months. I have something like 1200 photos (good lord) but I want to try and break it down a bit, this might take a few posts! I did try to journal throughout the trip but every day was so jam-packed, I ran out of time on day two...
Our itinerary was made with an attempt to cater to everyone's interests - being a group of six people ranging from never having visited Japan before to visiting it eight times since 2010 (I'll probably write something about my relationship with Japan another time), I think we got the balance pretty well on point. In a nutshell, we visited Tokyo (inc. Disneyland & Disney Sea), Kyoto (inc. Nara), Atami and Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula (my picks), and ended with a few more days in Tokyo at the end (TeamLabs, shopping, etc).
Day 1 - Arrived in Tokyo in the evening to a lovely view of 富士山 peeping up above the clouds.
We were on Jetstar's JQ9 out of Brisbane after spending the weekend there beforehand, and it was an easy flight. Thanks to some mutual friends of Chris', he and I were able to go and check out the flight deck after we landed in Narita. The 787 cockpit felt super open and big - spacious but also big screens, big buttons, big everything (except for the park brake, that was tiny). It kind of reminded me of the PC12 but on steroids. It was certainly more comfortable than what I'm used to in the Q400 now.
ANYWAY enough aeroplane chat for now. We caught up with the family in the immigration queues inside the terminal, and after a bit of chaos in the train station, we were eventually on our way into Tokyo proper. After a supplies run to the Lawson across the road, we had our コンビニ dinner in the common area of our hotel in Nihombashi and were zonked for the night.
Day 2 - TOURIST TIME. I had initially planned a day of ticking off a few "must-do" things across Tokyo, but we ended up only going to two of the five stops that I'd suggested, which was absolutely no problem. As the trip went on I think we all figured out each others travel preferences and energy levels, so this first day was a good test run! We went to Asakusa/Sensō-ji which was packed (no surprises there) but it was lovely weather and I got my favourite treat of 揚げまんじゅう (deep-fried buns with sweet fillings such as sweet potato, custard, pumpkin, sesame, matcha, etc), enjoyed the smell of burning incense, and entertained ourselves by people-watching.
After some ramen for lunch in Ginza, we aimed for Tokyo Tower, stumbling across the Famima merch shop on the way, but eventually getting up to the 150m high viewing platform to gaze out at the Tokyo skyline. I could really sit there for hours watching each little pocket of life in the area, but we had to keep going. I've been up Tokyo Tower something like 5 or 6 times now and it doesn't get old. I love an aerial view of any place - it gives me breathing space, perspective, and situational awareness of wherever I am.
By now it was getting on in the afternoon and everyone was pretty exhausted and the rest of the family opted to stay at the hotel and eat dinner there. Chris and I love to get out and explore the back streets though, so we went for a wander to do some laundry and scope out a place to eat. We found a sweet little tapas-style place with outdoor seating that wasn't too busy, so we had a beer (me) and some barley shochū (Chris) alongside some tasty morsels including 漬物 (pickled vegetables), sweet potato, mackerel, and hot chips. Finished off the night with OneCup sake and a Hokkaido pumpkin Halloween-themed souffle pudding from Lawson. I love anything pumpkin or sweet potato flavoured in Japan, if that isn't evident already!
And that wraps up the first 24 hours in Japan! I'll keep chipping away at this - when I was first in Japan in 2010, I blogged often about it here, and I love to occasionally go back and reminisce. I've never regretted taking or posting too many photos.
Stay tuned for my next post which will be all about our Disneyland/Sea adventures and making our way South to Kyoto (with a thousand other tourists).
またねぇ～