Miss you already, Japan!

So a quick rundown of some highlights of the trip:

Food - we mostly ate Japanese food the whole time, excepting a couple of times eating Japanese-style western food, and a couple of times eating straight western food. It was all delicious; can't recommend teppanyaki, tempura, and okonomiyaki highly enough. And anything with noodles, mmmmmm noodles. *drool* By the end of the trip we'd spent so much on food (argh, but it was so good!!!) that we were living on onigiri 🍙 (rice balls - I took a liking to the pickled plum), hotdogs, and instant ramen 🍜 . According to the Cup Noodles museum, instant ramen has even been in space, as a convenient zero-G meal.

Space noodles! Oh, Japan.

Xmas - the one food I regret not having was KFC, which is apparently the meal of choice for Xmas time (oh, Japan ). Despite our lack of fried chicken 🍗, Xmas is quite unavoidable in Japan - we heard many remixes (and indeed the original) of Wham's "Last Christmas" many times, Disneyland was playing Xmas carols from the carpark onwards and most of the park was Xmas themed. And the large shopping malls had enormous Xmas trees and often pretty lights as well.

Kawaii - cute icons abound in Japan and are embraced as just a normal everyday part of the culture. Hello Kitty and Friends, Minions, Snoopy, Miffy, cats, unicorns, pandas, etc etc etc. The mascots for the 2020 Olympics were already prevalent all over the place, and super cute. Basically, Japan is the land of adorable cartoon animals.

Thanks, Kitty! I'll miss you!

Reflections on a super fun adventure

So we are back in the real world again now!  There are a few things that surprised me about Japan and things I’ll do next time around 

1) actually for the most part it’s not as insane on public  transport as I thought. The weekend is busier than the week and we avoided rush hours though since we don’t have a death wish! 

2) the hotels provide toiletries including tooth and hairbrushes. So that’s less to pack. It turns out  Shisedo does good face wash too - so I’m going to buy some soon!  Thanks Keio Plaza hotel for providing some so I could find that out! 

3) heated loo seats are  the best - and so are all the fun loo buttons. I miss them already. I was also particularly amused that in public toilets you can get the loo to create a rushing water sound for decencies sake. 

4) the food at the convenience stores is nice and you could just eat from there very cheaply. Hotels with rooftop bars are awesome- it’s on my list of things to check for when booking a place, along with “close to transport” and “has a shower that is Emma-friendly”. Hotels with varied restaurants are good after a day of much tourusting - sadly hotel food is NOT cheap!

5) using cash all the time sucks! It’s too fiddly and annoying. I wish I’d loaded up my metro card with buckets of cash since it turned out you could use them in lots of shops and restaurants. I’ll do it next time for sure!!! 

Take me back to Hogwarts

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan is epic! The Hogwarts Express, Hogsmeade (with many of the shops actual stores, and also two functional cafes at the Three Broomsticks and the Hogs Head), an owlery with real postal facilities (but not real owls to carry the mail LOL), a street theatre corner (that does three separate shows), a Butterbeer stall (the hot Butterbeer available during wintertime is the best!), practical spells that work with e-wands (including on the huge Christmas tree), and of course Hogwarts Castle. Finally got to experience a “white Christmas” there, as the fake snow remains all year round regardless of the season. We were lucky enough to catch the wand demonstration street theatre which was very fun and had many exclamations in pig Latin – a little bit of audience interaction saw a mini-Griffindor being coaxed up on stage, but he wouldn’t go without his mini-Slytherin friend accompanying (awwww!). Hogwarts is far larger and more elaborate than the Fantasyland castle at Disneyland, and best of all there is an option to do a Castle walk rather than having to go on the big scary rollercoaster ride. Let’s just say the magic is real, and the paintings in the portrait galleries do move and talk (with a bonus here of being dubbed into Japanese).

The decorations move around and play music when you perform a spell on the tree.

Overall Universal Studios was wonderful; there was a good vibe amongst the crowds, and fans in Japan really enter into the spirit of things (often entering the theme parks already in full costume, or at least with funny Jaws or Godzilla hats). The walkway of Hollywood stars was fun, and I was most amused by the over-riding obsession with Minions and Snoopy (oh, Japan).

After leaving the parks, we had lunch at Mo’s Burgers in the shopping strip directly outside. Best. Chips. Ever! *drool*

Pork cutlet burger, amazing chips, and melon soda - oishii!

Osaka

We came for the Harry Potter but there was actually so much to do we have to come back! 

The first day saw us do our token adulting at a Modern art museum followed by a trip to Dotonbori to try an Okonamyaki restaurant recommendation from lonely planet - it was super popular but very nice. We finished the night at a odd little bar thanks again to lonely planet 

The second day was our trip to USJ and we were not disappointed. It was pretty busy but not as insane as Disneyland. We got to taste butter beer - which was suuuuuuper yum, hit the shops at Hogsmead and visit Hogwarts Castle. Such fun!!  It was rounded off by dinner at an Italian place near the restaurant. 

The next day saw us go on a Ferris Wheel, check out a fake Statute of Liberty and watch tooo much K-Pop!! The last thing was a result of being too tired after a week and a bit of constant hijinx. I also finished a Christmas card too! 

The last full day saw us do to a Ramen Museum - it was actually pretty cool and it was free (unless you count the metro fare to get there). I also achieved my goal of finding a cross stitch shop after dragging Amelia around looking for them. We also went to look Umeda Sky tower. 

Tea log 03

So I ordered green tea at the fantastic okonomiyaki place in Hiroshima (i.e. Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, which is made with noodles - yum!). Turned out to be a huge tankard of iced tea...

...this was tea, I swear!! LOL

Paper cranes ;_;

Probably the saddest war memorial monuments in Hiroshima were for the children. Paper cranes are an icon of the city, accompanied by the wish that such an event should never, ever occur again.

Book nerd mission #2

Akihabara also has a long-standing anime/manga store called Mandrake, which turned out to have several floors (one for gaming, another for manga, also a floor of dolls and figurines, also anime, etc etc!).

YATTA! :-D

Book nerd mission #1

Had a bookish expedition to the Tsutaya Bookstore in Daikanyama, which was wonderfully retro with vinyl records, CDs, and a cafe where you can sit and have a drink and read your new purchases. Tokyo seems to be a mix of cutting edge and old school nostalgia! Tsutaya Books has very eclectic and specific ranges - graphic design, automobiles, architecture, and literature both modern & classic.

Book shops as they used to be - good times.

Hiroshima proper

Tuesday was spent wandering around Hiroshima amidst intermittent showers. It was really sobering to see first hand the places devastated by the A-bomb but on the other hand it’s actually a really nice city with other non-war things to offer. I suspect I’ll be back to check those out one day.   

Here is a picture of the peace done one of the few buildings left standing (if ravaged) by the blast. 

We went to a lovely out of the way peace museum at an elementary school again gutted by the blast but rebuilt and is now a thriving modern school. The main peace memorial Buiding was closed for earthquake restructuring but I think the quiet non-tourist atmosphere was more fitting anyway. 

 

Then we came across a local okonomiyaki place for lunch it was really simple tasty fare and clearly used by locals. Happily the seemed to realise I was not chop stick compatible and offered me a fork despite the language barrier.  

After lunch we took a stroll through a mall and went to Hiroshima castle. Again it wasn’t overly touristy and we found two trees that survived the A-bomb and are there to this day. 

The castle had a sign warning you to watch your head - can’t think why, it was fine if  you ask me 

Dinner was a sushi and tempura feast at the hotel followed by our final rooftop drinks since this hotel in Osaka does not have a rooftop lounge (oh the hardships).

Here was the view from our rooftop drinks table 

Sunday and Monday hijinx

Sunday saw us go to a monster cafe, stay at the robot hotel, visits Akihabara and have diner at a Greek restaurant.  The day started with a trip to a record store as apparently they are still a thing here, and a somewhat futile attempt to find more DMC cottons. We then went through a completely jam packed Akihabara to get the monster cafe. It was an explosion of colour and fun and worth it once just for that. The food took a super long time to arrive and it was kind of ordinary tasting though it looked anything but. 

Then we went across town on the metro system which was pretty busy and checked into the robot hotel.  We had actual human staff though as the robots were undergoing repairs although they were still at the counter too. It was a comfortable enough room and we really loved that it had a chrome cast which enabled you to stream into the relatively big tv screen. It’s something other hotels could do to emulate tbh. Then we went to Akihabara with it’s glowing lights and manga stores. Finally we finished the evening at a Greek restaurant overlooking Ginza. 

Monday saw us take the train to Hiroshima. The train was fairly comfortable but I’m glad we just shipped our bags ahead of us! We arrived in Hiroshima mid-afternoon and took time to unwind before having dinner at the rooftop restaurant.  I have developed quite a liking for restaurants with a view on this trip. Hiroshima was much larger than I imagined and quite vibrant despite its unhappy past. 

Living the high life

Our inadvertent tour of very high places in Tokyo included a drive across Rainbow Bridge (height 126 metres), the Aurora Sky Lounge on the 45th floor of our hotel (160 metres), the observation deck of the Government Municipal building (202 metres), and - best of all - Tokyo Tower! (main deck at 150 metres - top deck is 249.6, and the total architectural height 333).

BTW, if you want a good laugh do a Google image search for the Tower's resident mascot - who we saw as we were leaving.

Can't beat a classic tower design.

Fantasyland Castle

Tokyo Disneyland's magic castle is definitely prettier, no to mention bigger, than EuroDisney. However, there are mice scurrying around in the walls...

Shibuya and Disneyland

Shibuya was pretty much the Japan of my imagination all skyscrapers and busy crossings for all that it seemed remarkably calm and I was oddly at ease there. Here are a few pics of the crossing and a fun food market with everything from ridiculous $300 melons to a reasonably priced $5 meal.  Totally worth a look and I’ll be going there again if (ok when) we go back!

Then we spent the afternoon at Disneyland- thanks to not booking the bus waaay in advance we only had about 3 and a half hours but it was enough to get a feel and a plan  of action for next time. Pro tip Japan Disney is muuuch busier than Eurodisney. It also had a much prettier castle!   We are accidentally becoming Disneyland connoisseurs. 

Then the evening saw the usual trip to a hotel restaurant and drink in the sky lounge to finish the night.  We  have moved to the Robot hotel and miss our lounge already. 

Bumped into some old friends

Amelia, Newt, and Harry at Shibuya.

Tea log 02

Barley tea as a takeaway at the Studio Ghibli Museum. This was not with tea leaves, it was roasted barley - delicious. :-)

Studio Ghibli Museum

To anyone who has even a passing interest in Studio Ghibli, their museum is well worth the ticket price (and worth the plane fare as well if you're an enthusiast). It was far beyond my expectations! Of course with areas that allowed for getting food, let kids play (Cat bus :-D), and buying merchandise. But the main parts had wonderful displays on animation techniques going way back into history, background paintings, storyboards...just a wealth of art & design. There is also the giant robot on the roof garden! Highlight has to be the exclusive short film that plays in their small cinema - a boy buys a star from two itinerant travelling salesmen (science fantasy genre, stunningly gorgeous visuals).

There's a giant robot up there. <3 <3 <3