Roti and Jeff + Japan

  • Kamakura Day Trip/Departure

    On Sunday night, we headed to a nearby mall to chow down. we got a meat pie and a sampler plate of a few different things. The highlight for me was the fries sprinkled with cheese dust. Decidedly not Japanese, but delicious nonetheless. After our dinner, we paid a visit to Muji to buy another suitcase so we could bring home our finds.

    Our hotel
    There was an exhibit showing old phone technology at the Ariake mall.

    We spent our last full day day tripping to the seaside town of Kamakura, about an hour long train ride from Tokyo.

    It was a national holiday – the Emperor’s Birthday – on Monday, so it was a day off of work for a lot of people and they took full advantage. When we arrived in Kamakura on Monday, the people were out and about.

    We settled on burgers for lunch. The small courtyard area with a garden where we ate was a peaceful respite from the throngs.

    Yummy Japanese beef
    And cheesesteak
    And fries
    After our indulgent lunch, we indulged some more. Roti had matcha ice cream…
    …and I had candied fruit

    Some more food pics from our last few days:

    Hazelnut ice cream from a vending machine.
    7/11 snack
    Strawberry ice cream dessert

    It was abitterwui

    We went to Coco’s for our last dinner.
    It doesn’t photograph super well, but it was yummy!
    Go ahead and call it pudding, flan, or custard. It’s all over the place here.
    They had a smoking room. It was being used.
    Egg salad sandwich. So tasty. Will miss 😢
    “Shrimp cutlet” sandwich
    I somehow didn’t gain 30 pounds on this trip. Despite eating some crème brûlée ice cream, a strawberry and cream sandwich, and a cheesecake.
    Is it a hot dog if it’s spaghetti?
    Yummy banana milk from a vending machine in Kamakura
    One last gaze out from the hotel room

    We unfortunately arrived to the airport on time to make our flight. That was then delayed 2 hours. We filled up on lounge food, made one last stop at 7/11 in the terminal, then flew back home. My eyes got a little wet as the plane rumbled down the runway.

    They have lockers at airports in Japan. We in the US could never entertain that these days.

    I’m not sure what I expected from this trip, but after our trip to Canada last September and our 13 days in Japan, I cannot deny that there are other places in the world where they do things better. Every place has its challenges and quirks from the outsider’s point of view and amongst their own populace. But things felt more civilized, less threatening, more communal. Easier to get around, without constant road rage. And the food. Things taste brighter. And cleaner.

    There’s so much more to explore and I know we will.

    – Jeff 🇯🇵❤️

  • From Shinkuju to Koto City

    On Sunday, we moved on from our hotel in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo to the Ariake neighborhood of Koto City, in Tokyo. It’s an artificial, man-made island near the Tokyo port.

    As we waited for our Uber and then rode our way to our next hotel, I snapped these shots:

    The green building is the Korea-Japan Culture and Art Exchange Association. The area we stayed in could be described as a “Koreatown”, like in NYC (but much bigger).
    I wonder how a workday in this building would be.
    We eventually made our way up to that orb.

    Once we dropped our luggage off at the Doubletree in Ariake, we walked around the area and had lunch, followed by a visit to FujiTV’s observation “orb”.

    In both Osaka and Tokyo, we walked past these smoking areas, sponsored by Philip Morris. This one was under some stairs. Smoking in public is mostly illegal in cities, except in these designated areas.
    Korean BBQ with Japanese beef
    This restaurant was a floor below the one we ate at. They allow you to use an electric grill to cook your meal, while sitting in folding camping chairs. They include the word “glamping” in their signs.
    I’m always amazed that people like dippin’ dots. They taste like bow I think flavorless dry ice pellets would taste. Evidently, humans from all over actually like them.

    After lunch, we did some observing.

    We made our way up 25 floors to the observation floor of FujiTV’s headquarters.
    The view
    Spot an American icon in this shot?
    There she is, a little more up close.

    After our observing, we descended for a sweet treat (1 of probably 12 for the day) – this time at a Hawaiian themed cafe with a “Hawaiian donut”.

    Now, time to get our room. We took the metro back to our hotel, checked in, then relaxed before heading to Muji to buy a new piece of luggage to transport our purchased treasures home.

    Cosplaying
    We got these Mount Fuji cookies out of a vending machine at the metro station.
    Good night from Tokyo

    – Jeff

  • Back to Tokyo

    It’s been a couple days since our last post! We’ve been staying busy upon our return to Tokyo. While we’re dreading our return to Our Dear Orange Leader’s America, we’ve been savoring our last couple days, enjoying the tastes and sights.

    Pizza potato chips that actually tasted like pizza
    Another 7/11 haul
    Cheesy rice and shrimp. Yum!
    The streets of Shinjuku
    These Gaspard et Lisa characters are a frequent sight
    These are very interesting. It’s tastes as if you’re eating whole pieces of white chocolate, with just a little bit of apple flavor.
    The grounds of our second from last hotel
    I’ve read numerous theories about the placement of plastic bottles along fences in Japan. It could be a way to keep animals from stopping and urinating. The reflection is thought to scare them away.

    A walk around the Square Enix office campus.

    – Jeff

  • A restful night in the mountains/Back to Tokyo

    We did it big for dinner in Hakone. The wagyu steak was delicious, as expected.
    Our hotel at night
    Yummy ice cream. And tea
    The morning mountainside
    Pre-syruped and margarined pancakes from 7/11

    We took the hotel shuttle back down to Odawara Station around 2:30 PM, then waited around for a little bit before getting on the bullet train back to Tokyo. The following are some photos from the shuttle and train station.

    Tile is everywhere in Japan

    We arrived in Tokyo just in time for Friday evening rush hour. So we decided to take a taxi to our hotel as the metro would likely have been packed. The taxi stand attendant placed us into the smallest possible sedan possible, despite our copious amounts of luggage.

    View when we got out of the taxi in Shinjuku, Tokyo
    Our unmanned hotel has a vending machine on the grounds
    Good night from Tokyo

    – Jeff

  • From Osaka to Hakone

    Today we departed Osaka and took the bullet train from Shin-Osaka Station to Odawara Station in the Hakone area, which is about a 2 hour journey. The trip took us through rural Japan, and we even transversed through a snow storm.

    As we passed by Kyoto
    The slopes of Fuji-san

    After arriving at Odawara Station, we took the shuttle to Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora. We went up narrow, windy mountain roads to get to our spot for the night.

    Konbini (convenience store, this one being a 7/11) on the mountainside

    The sounds of the river that runs alongside the hotel is very calming. I plan to take a soak in the semi-outdoor bath or ‘ryokan’. Roti really outdid himself selecting this spot! – Jeff

  • A cold day in Kyoto

    We visited the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, where we visited the inside of a huge mecha guy and watched a ninja show.

    After our visit to the studio park, we headed to the Kyoto Takashimaya Department Store to visit the Nintendo Store.

  • To the Aquarium!

    After the castle, we kept pushing west to the Osaka Aquarium via a Japanese Uber. The aquarium is home to two whale sharks and plenty of their ocean and ocean adjacent friends. The drive from the castle to the aquarium reminded me of playing PlayStation 1 games like Ridge Racer.

    The aquarium is located in the area of the Port of Osaka. It was very cold outside as we walked around before getting something to eat.

    We had a late lunch/first dinner at KFC. I had a chicken “burger” (the one in the lower left of the poster). Our overall rating was a D-. We expected it to be better than American KFC. It was not. 😞
    The sign says if an earthquake happens, this spot can expect a possible tsunami in 114 minutes.

    – Jeff

  • Osaka Castle

    After feeding some deer and ourselves at Nara Park, we took the metro back to Osaka. We walked to the Osaka Castle and toured the grounds with our fellow tourists, local and foreign.

    Snowed a little while waiting for the train from Nara Park

    – Jeff

  • Nara Park

    We spent some time on Tuesday at Nara Park, where deer roam freely.

    Osaka sprawl from the train to Nara
    Ice was everywhere at this shrine
    “French style hamburger”

    – Jeff

  • A day out in Osaka

    After taking the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka on Sunday – then sleeping for almost 12 hours, except for waking up for a later dinner of Japanese Curry – we awoke to news from that a tree fell on the back of the house after some strong winds came through. Thankfully no one was hurt! Thank you, Mom for holding down the fort while we’re out exploring!

    Mount Fuji from our bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Osaka on Sunday

    After we accepted we couldn’t do much about the fallen free from about 7,000 miles away, we set out for a day in Osaka. It took about 20 minutes on the Osaka metro to get to the main streets of Osaka.

    These are photos from our day out in Osaka.

    Bikes are stored without locks
    Ok
    That tasty apple tea
    Kobe beef is in fact tasty
    We didn’t test it
    Finally found the viral lemon drink
    Sriracha. Made in the USA, selected and packed in Japan

    – Jeff