Japan

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As we board our long-haul flight (and Anna finally realizes that the flight is not a gruelling 11 hours but a mercifully short 9.5) it finally kicks that we are going to Japan!! We have wanted to go for a while now, but haven’t quite made it there with all our travels. A seed was planted in our minds a while back that we should only go if we go with our friends from down under. This seed started the time we all met in Melbourne a short 4 years ago, Our friend Bryce is madly in love with Japan and has visited over 10 times (no I am not exaggerating), he has also been learning Japanese for many years. Also, owns and operates the japlanning.com travel blog regarding, you guessed it Japan. So, our seed was masterfully planted. Who doesn't want to go to Japan with Aussie guides?

Once we landed here we were in Tokyo and our friends waiting for us at the airport with signs in hand, time to adventure. Here is the map of the areas we travelled to:  
First two days in Tokyo was a crazy insane blur! All the buildings, all the colors, all the food, all the people… ALL THE PEOPLE! (38 million to be exact). We walked over to the famous Shibuya Crosswalk (the super famous one from all the movies?) and just watched all the people walking across. It is totally unreal. You feel so little (well not Ali, he is a giant in Japan). Of course we tried Sushi, and of course a robot like machine served it to us on a hoverboard  , and of course we ordered everything electronically. Because how else do you do it in Japan? ;). Oh! And in a classic turn of events that could only happen in Japan, we were approached by a robot theatre troop parading down the street while Godzilla watched from the top of his newly built luxury hotel to celebrate his greatness. I could not make this up if I tried.

2. Sapporo, Japan

After two days in Tokyo, we were off to Sapporo! (north island of Japan ) Sapporo is what Christmas fairytales are made of, 5 meters of snow, German Christmas markets, festively lit displays, peaceful & serene parks, frosty mornings, snowman making, ice walks, hot chocolate, and hot ramen. We were not sure what to expect since even Bryce (our official Japan guide) hasn't been here yet. The truth is we really fell in love with it. For our friends Sam and Bryce, this was their first ever winter wonderland experience as snow coverage in Melbourne ranges from rare to nonexistent (#snowvirgins). The winter initiation started with a snowball fight, continued through to ice walking, and finished off with snowman building. Sapporo is a place I got to cross off yet another bucket list item, to be in Sapporo and drink Sapporo beer! Thanks to the Sapporo beer museum!

Some new things we learned about our new country, breakfast is hard to find, unless it's 11am and it's hot soup. High heels and 4 inches of ice is a completely acceptable pairing, and why aren't you wearing heels?! It will make you look less like a slob! Smoking is still very much acceptable in bars, which was not the loveliest surprise. Also table tax is the funniest interaction you can have with waiters that don't speak English. Table tax is actually a dish of food you didn't order but because you only ordered drinks, they must serve you something. This particular tax came in the form of a big bowl consisting of a large fish and clams. Good luck telling them you never ordered it! Ah the memories.

One thing that was amazing was having hand made gyoza and Japanese baked goods from the market. Some of the best we ever tried

After our winter adventure we arrived back to Tokyo for one night to pick up Sam and Bryce’s friends (Lucy and Richard) from the airport. They will join us for the rest of the trip. Once they were safely on the ground we took another bullet train to Kyoto, down south!

3. & 4. Kyoto & Osaka, Japan

The bullet trains in Japan are something for all of us to marvel on. Simply put, you travel a distance of  513 km  (which normally takes 6hrs of driving by car) in roughly 2 hours. Talk about saving time! Not to mention the first class service, legroom and quiet serene views (Mt. Fuji).
Our week in Kyoto was an incredible feat! As there were 6 of us now, no hotel can accommodate us without breaking the bank, so what do we do? Airbnb of course! A tiny house in the middle of a residential area and next to a school, living like the locals do! This house was everything we needed to accomplish some great game nights and watching J-pop concerts on TV.
The south of Japan was definitely our biggest cultural adventure. Here is just a snip bit of all the activities we explored:

  • Nijo-jo Castle: (1603 -1868, home of the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu) which had special squeaky floors (nightingale floors) so ninjas couldn’t kill people at night!
  • Kinkaku-ji: The famous Golden Pavillion, Buddhist Temple built near the end of the 14th century and a featured wallpaper on every Apple computer for the past several years.
  • Osaka - Universal Studios: Hellllloooo Hogwarts! Even with butterbeer in hand (just don’t drink it unless you like melted toffee in a cup) we explored the town of Hogsmeade recreated in stunning detail.
  • Fushimi-Inari Taisha: The famous shrine, established in 711 AD, includes 4 km of “torii” (iconic japanese gates/arches) to walk through.
  • Suntory Yamazaki Distillery: One of the most gorgeous distilleries and tastings ever, but sadly most of the product is sold out due to the popularity among locals.
  • Kyoto Hyatt Hotel for Christmas Brunch: This was an amazing experience.  We all dressed up in our ugly Christmas sweaters and went down to the Kyoto Hyatt for Christmas Brunch, which included amazing carollers as well
  • Kiyomizu-Dera: This Buddhist temple founded in 733 AD and rebuilt in 1633 AD was constructed without a single nail! This holy place is located halfway up Mt. Otowa.
  • Miyajima Island, Itsukushima: An immensely beautiful and serene island where deer run free and I wanted to explore the whole island by foot, or move in and grow roots. Tomayto tomahto.
  • Hiroshima, and the Atomic Bomb Dome: Where we went to the Peace museum and couldn’t deal with our emotions for a while.


The whole time we were going back and through the central train station. This station has all the architectural grandeur of any station you're likely to come across. The central plaza  is nearly 20 stories high of glass and steel with multiple levels of trains, shopping, and glass catwalks from up on high for superheroes to survey the people and swoop down and save us in case of aliens, or super villains attack. Ali was constantly impressed with this structure every time we came through.

 Last Leg in Tokyo

After our cultural awakening and appreciation for tradition we moved onto the crazy fast paced life in Tokyo where we also stayed at an Airbnb, but this time it was half of a house, affording us a little more space. We explored, ate and shopped pretty much the whole week. Here are some of the highlights from the areas we explored:

  • Ginza: If you thought you have been to a luxury, high end street, than you are mistaken, because Ginza is so large and has so many varieties of luxury stores it's mind boggling. Not to mention the amount of people. It included a Sony museum and a Yamaha concert hall located 7 stories above the street, and a music school on the 10th story above that. Ali was saddened when he found out a pair of drumsticks would cost $40! Sadly, he had to let them go.
  • Gotokuji Temple: This buddhist temple is where the legend of the original beckoning cat (maneki neko) comes from, or as my ma loves calling it, the “Graveyard of Kitties”.
  • Odaiba: A large island that was built (you read that right) in 1853 for the purpose of defence against naval ships, this seaside neighbourhood is now bustling hub full of shopping and entertainment. Did we mention we took a self driving train to get there?
  • Harajuku: Where fashion is hopped up on steroids. This is a great place to people watch and/or shop for the latest in everything
  • Hamarikyu Gardens: A peaceful park right in the middle of a commercial district in the downtown core.
  • Arcades: Being a child of the 80s, Ali wanted to explore the arcades here. Japanese arcades are nothing like North American ones! For one thing, they're much larger (7 stories on average), and 10 times louder! The games are far more advanced and creative here than anywhere else with everything from music instrument games with real instruments, vintage games dating back to the 80s, 90s, and beyond, smoking, arcade carnies, highly sophisticated photo booths where you and your friends can publish a pro quality magazine complete with special effects, and games that will only ever exist in Japan like testing your strength against a sumo wrestling machine, and games where you have to dance the zombies away with J-pop music. Ali's childhood bucket list item was finally crossed off.


As this was our second time ringing in the new year with our Aussie friends, we decided the only way to do it was the real Japanese way…..Karaoke!  We rented a karaoke room; (part of 10 story building dedicated to karaoke by the way) drank and sang out hearts out for 5 hours. Sometimes you just have to be that cliché! It was a wonderful time and a great way to cap off our time in Japan!

Anna & Ali










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