Day 5 (July 13) - Shinjuku and Nerima: Yer a Wizard Harry!

 Breakfast consisted of the chocolate-filled croissant I picked up at the mall yesterday. We also purchased some unique instant cup noodles from the museum yesterday so I had a Laksa flavored one. I only had Laksa once in my life, at a Malaysian fusion restaurant in the NE section of Calgary. I barely remembered the taste since it was nearly seven years ago, but the instant cup noodles seemed to do a decent job replicating the flavor.

Our first stop was a cat café in Shinjuku called Cat Café Mocha. I've been to one in Calgary, but the one in Shinjuku far outstripped my expectations of what makes up a cat café. First of all, the café itself was quite large and well-furnished. There were a variety of different seating arrangements throughout the large room. The cats were also more active at this location, with a large amount of them strolling around the place, curious to see the visitors. There were also a variety of different drinks that were included with our admission that were self-served from a vending machine. Not everything was rosy though; some of the cats seemed to dislike one another for they would bicker and hiss until a staff member would move one away. Fortunately, we arrived early so there weren't a lot of customers. We also got the chance to see them eat breakfast! There were over twenty cats on the mini stage they had at one section of the room eating. 

After spending an hour at the café, we headed for an early lunch at Gindaco, a well-known takoyaki restaurant. The takoyaki was piping hot, but delicious. After lunch, we stopped by the new Kabukicho Tower. All the posts on social media make it look amazing, but I wasn't thoroughly impressed in person. It could be the fact that we visited during the day instead of at night, but the neon lights didn't really stick out to me. I did, however, win a Pokémon plate through a lottery draw, so that was a nice consolation prize! We made our rounds through the little attractions they had going on in the tower and ventured to Tokyo Metropolitan Government building to take pictures of the cityscape from the 44th floor. I learned on that day as well that you could view Mount Fuji from the tower! I always thought the peak I saw back in 2015 when I went up the tower the first time, was just a normal mountain. We purchased a sumo-themed postcard, which delighted the clerk. She asked if I was a sumo fan, which I don't know why, I answered I was despite not knowing much about the sport. Fortunately, my girlfriend was able to converse with her and learned that the clerk was a huge fan of the sport and was actually going to Nagoya to see an upcoming tournament. (My Japanese is still a work in progress, though I'm starting to understand nearly 10% of conversations... sadly.)

After leaving the government building, it was off to the main attraction for the day: the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo: The Making of Harry Potter. I was never a fan of the movies but immensely enjoyed reading the books. (I used to do Harry Potter marathons in high school and university, in which I would read all the Harry Potter books in the summer over the course of a week or two.) I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the theme park (I viewed it as a large theme park), but it was huge. I believe we spent nearly three and a half hours and weren't able to see everything in full detail. I would definitely recommend people go see this park, even if you didn't like the movies. They had a lot of props and explanations of how the movies were made throughout the building. And of course, we had butterbeer. 

After leaving, we went back to our hotel in Asakusa to relax before heading out to search for dinner. I never knew Asakusa had shopping arcades (streets covered with transparent roofs and various shops on either side), but we found an udon restaurant. I believe it was another chain restaurant, but I've forgotten the name of the place. All I remember is the udon being fairly priced and extremely delicious. I opted for kitsune udon, thus having a piece of deep-fried tofu skin. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to check in for the night. I found it hard to believe that it's already day 5 in Japan. 

This display in the souvenir shop made me feel like I was in Ollivander's shop in the Harry Potter books. 

Day 4 (July 12) - Yokohama's Giant Walking Gundam

 Sleeping did wonders for my back, for I felt back to normal. For breakfast, we opted to stop by the local Lawson for food. I thought I got a pretty balanced meal: an onigiri, hard-boiled egg, seasoned fried chicken, pickled vegetables, green tea, and a matcha roll cake. Once breakfast was eaten, we got ready to leave for our destination for the day: Yokohama. I've been to Yokohama a few times to see their Chinatown and to explore near their harbor. There was also the instant noodle museum back in 2015. For July 12, 2023, there was one particular attraction I wanted to see: the moving RX-78.

It was blazing hot, with a clear sky and no cloud cover, as we walked from the station towards the Gundam Factory Yokohama. You had to pay a fee to enter; Hoping to see RX-78 without entering the premises, I noticed that they had high fences and a large building to block outsiders from seeing the Gundam. Fortunately, it wasn't a disappointment seeing the RX-78 (or more specifically RX-78f00) in person. There were a variety of different "shows" displaying different ways for the giant Gundam to move. We were able to watch three different shows, with the one I wanted to see the most: pointing it's index finger up into the sky. Between shows, we stopped by the gift shop to browse the souvenirs and grab a drink (that comes with a bottle that you can keep). I was hesitating on whether to purchase a 1/48 bust of the RX-78f00. I've been retired from building for a few years (I believe my last build was a RG Sazabi?), but it looked so good displayed in front of the many boxes of busts. After watching the last show (which was the finger pointing towards the sky one), I caved in and went back into the store to purchase the bust. I forgot to mention as well, that there was a museum in which they explained how they got to build the largest moving robot in the world. 

After nearly spending 90 minutes, it was time to leave for our next location. Walking along the pier near the harbor was quiet, or maybe it was midday and people were hiding from the sun. We stopped to take a short breather in the shade. There were pigeons around the place we were sitting, with one of them inching its way towards us. I affectionately called it Hato-san (Hato means pigeon in Japanese). Hato-san was walking around our feet, until it suddenly wanted to fly on top of the stone bench we were sitting on. That caught us by surprise, and I guess our arms flailing and screaming made it fly away, sadly. 

It was time to proceed forward, so we continued walking until we reached, what I believed, was a tourist center. Inside, they were selling soft-serve ice cream in the shape of an elephant. Seeing the need to cool down and sit inside a building with a/c, we decided to get one ice cream to share. Once we were well rested, it was off to continue on our journey to our destination.

The instant noodle museum was exactly like how I remembered. I wasn't able to make my own cup of instant noodles last time due to coming too late, but we had plenty of time to do it that day. Despite a relatively long lineup, they had a very efficient way of getting people through the entire process. It was definitely an experience seeing how they packed the noodles, ensuring that there was space at the bottom of the cup. There was a short documentary nearby, that we watched, that explained how the inventor, Momofuku Ando experimented and researched until he found the perfect way to pack his instant noodles. We spent a good deal of time exploring the museum, including visiting the food hall to try the original instant chicken noodles before heading back to the train station to make our way back to Asakusa. 

After returning to Asakusa, we freshened up and relaxed before heading out to dinner. My girlfriend took me to a yakitori chain known as Torikizoku. Despite going to Japan so often, I could swear that I had never seen the bright yellow sign with red symbols. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long to grab a seat, for I was starving at that moment. The yakitori we got were extremely delicious and cheap. I was able to try a wide variety of chicken parts, with the skin being my favorite. After dinner, we headed to a nearby dollar (or 100 yen) store before walking to a nearby mall. They had some croissants filled with different fillings, in which we purchased a few. There was a Muji as well in this mall. After purchasing a jelly drink (shake the can and the liquid starts to gelatinize), we headed back to hotel for the night.

Another fulfilling day filled with Gundams and food!

Our cups as it made it's way down the assembly line! I would go back and make another one! 

Day 3 (July 11) - Solo Travel in Ueno; Visited Ikebukuro

Unlike 2019, I was able to fall asleep and stay asleep till the sun was up. We got changed and headed out for the day. There was a closer entrance to the subway station than the one we took yesterday, so we ended up using that to get to our first stop: Ueno. 

The streets were relatively quiet as we headed down to Matsuya for breakfast. I got myself a pretty standard breakfast set with natto. I wanted to jumpstart my gut with probiotics this trip and I haven't had natto in a while. Besides the natto, there were pickled vegetables, cabbage salad, miso soup, an egg, a sausage, and a bowl of rice. If I remember correctly, breakfast was around $10 CAD, which makes it quite the deal. The restaurant was filled with businessmen as they ate and got ready for another day of work. 

After breakfast, we walked around for a while before stopping at a small grocery store. We ended up purchasing salt candies, which I hear are good for replenishing salt lost from sweating. It was my first time hearing about these candies and I wasn't sure what to expect. When I popped one into my mouth, it reminded me of the salt fruit drink I had in Sapporo almost 10 years ago. It was sweet, with a slightly salty taste to it that made it feel slightly weird to ingest. After the grocery store, it was off to head to a nearby salon for her appointment. I wanted to get a haircut myself, but unfortunately, they were too busy for walk-ins that day. That meant I had nearly three hours to explore Ueno on my own. The last time I had free time in Japan was in 2019 when my brother and his friend were in Fuji-Q Highland for the haunted mansion. Eager to explore, I set off aimlessly. The salon was near Ameyuko, which is an area I'm somewhat familiar with since there's a candy store I frequently visited to purchase sweets. When I arrived at the store, I noticed that they had expanded across the street. Not wanting to purchase souvenirs so early in my trip, I took a quick glance at their selection before heading out to see some more. 

The sun was starting to feel quite strong mid-morning, so I ended up heading to a nearby electronic store (Bic's Camera) to cool off for a while. I realized that I needed to purchase some hand sanitizer, so I left after browsing Bic's to find a pharmacy/drug store. With my purchase in hand or more in a tiny backpack I borrowed from my brother, I realized that I still had two and a half hours to explore. I headed to a Yodabashi store. Like 2019, their Gundam section did not seem as extensive as what I used to remember nearly 10 years back. I did manage to find some video games from someone, so I ended up purchasing them before heading back into the sun. At this point, I regretted not spending some time to research what I could do around the area. Aimlessly walking around was enjoyable in the sense that I could just absorb the sights/smells/sounds of the area, but my lower back was starting to hurt. I attributed it to the new shoes I was wearing, and/or the fact that I gained a considerable amount of weight without working out properly for a year. I recalled seeing a McDonald's on the main street, so I trudged towards the fast food giant to grab a drink.

After spending time at McDonald's, it was time to head back to the salon. Once my girlfriend was finished, it was off for lunch at Sushiro, a conveyor belt sushi chain that I have yet to visit. I would put Sushiro at the same level as Kurazushi, and just a step lower than Uobei. Once we finished lunch, we headed to the Yamanote line to go to our next destination: Ikebukuro.   

The sun was still bright, thus justifying a Haagen-Dazs before we walked toward Sunshine City. I'm sure there's more to do in Ikebukuro, but that's usually where I head whenever I stop by this district of Tokyo. The first stop was the Pokémon Centre, though there wasn't anything that caught my eye. The nearby Pokémon Café looked interesting, so we stopped by to purchase a drink. Like any themed café in Japan, or from what I've experienced, the drink was ordinary and smaller than what you would usually get for that price. The experience was worth it though in my opinion. After finishing our drink, we headed to another section of the huge complex: the aquarium. I've never been to this aquarium before, thus didn't know what to expect. There were a large number of tanks with a wide variety of sea creatures. Besides the jellyfish with extremely long tentacles, it was my first time seeing an eel live. We spent nearly two hours exploring the various attractions in the aquarium before heading to another new section of Sunshine City.

I had experienced dining in a high-rise building back in 2015 when my cousin took my brother and me for lunch in Tokyo's Skytree. This time, we were on the 59th floor in a restaurant called Hoshi no Naru Ki. It was a fabulous meal set of various fish dishes. We did opt for their cheapest menu, but it was well worth the $100 CAD per person with a drink each. Each of the pieces served was displayed elegantly on the plate. Our server explained each dish in detail. I could barely make out (like understanding only 2-5%) of what our server said, but fortunately, my girlfriend was relatively fluent in Japanese. I don't have a particularly sharp tongue, nor do I really care much about fine dining, but I realized that expensive restaurants usually have a more mellow taste when it comes to food. Maybe it's just me, but there's a more harmonious blend of flavors. Our meal was served over the course of two hours, so we were able to experience the sunset from our semi-private room. 

Once everything was settled, we headed back to the hotel. A very fruitful day with a solo trip around Ueno and a day at Sunshine City. To cap off the night, a wonderful dinner with a fantastic view of Tokyo. No matter what skyscraper I've entered in Tokyo, it always seems like the city stretches on forever.

Technically our anniversary was four months ago, but we were glad they were able to provide this for us for our late anniversary dinner! 

Day 1&2 (July 9&10) - The Start to an Epic Adventure!

 It definitely seems like my blog has been converted into a travel blog instead of my previous content. Instead of making false promises of blogging more often, let's get started reminiscing about my summer break. It has been a long time coming, despite flying to Las Vegas and Ottawa last year. (Vancouver this January... though I don't think I've blogged about my experiences.) Planes aren't my favorite mode of transportation, but I've been itching to go somewhere that was not considered North America. The last time I've been overseas was in 2019, just before the pandemic.

Long story short, my girlfriend and I started planning a trip to Asia ever since March. I should clarify that I've been blessed that my girlfriend took the main role in planning 99% of the trip (I had one section, but I'll elaborate when I reach that day). It was probably the first time I traveled, not including my childhood, where I didn't play an active role in planning and booking activities/sights. Also, this trip would be my longest trip outside of Calgary, with it eclipsing even the Epic 2015 Japan trip. With much of the planning done middle of June, I just had to finish the last couple weeks of school.

Essentially one week after the end of school, it was time to leave Calgary. My dad gave us a ride to the airport; it was a relatively warm day with a lot of sun. We had two checked-in bags, which were quickly dropped off at the WestJet side of the terminal. Getting through security took a while, for it seemed like everyone was traveling that Sunday. After getting through though, we still had a solid... 90 minutes if my memory served me correctly. We stopped at the Starbucks in the international terminal to grab some food and kill time by watching the fourth Harry Potter movie. About halfway through the movie, we decided to head towards the gate early.

Boarding was smooth and I believe we took off on time. The direct flight from YYC to NRT was nearly full. My girlfriend and I were sitting in aisle seats, across from one another. I was sitting beside a middle-aged couple who had their two children sitting in front of them. She on the other hand was sitting beside some young adults. As always, I find it extremely difficult to fall asleep on the plane so I ended up watching a couple of movies on the flight. (I believe she was able to catch some sleep!) To my excitement, I found a Galileo (a Japanese drama that I think I wrote a review way back) movie titled Silent Parade. I always enjoyed watching Yukawa sensei and Utsumi working to solve cases. After that, I finally got the chance to watch John Wick 4; a fitting end to a great series (assuming that's the last time we see Keanu Reeves in that role). Besides the movie, the food served by WestJet was fine, though not as good as Air Canada from what I remembered.

Near the end of the flight, I found myself conversing with the middle-aged couple beside me, who were asking me for advice on Japan since it was their first time traveling to the country. It was great imparting what knowledge I had about the country which I visited quite often. Once the plane landed, we exchanged farewells before my girlfriend and I got our luggage and proceeded to enter the airport.

Immigration was a smooth process since my girlfriend and I got our QR code ahead of time. Grabbing our luggage took a while, but I'm not sure if I haven't noticed it before, but there were staff members ensuring that the luggage on the carousel was all facing the same way (handle towards the bottom to make it easier to grab) and cushioned some of the luggage as they fell from the conveyor belt. Talk about Omentenashi!

At that time, we left through customs and activated our Suica cards via Apple Pay. I was a bit anxious since I didn't know what to expect due to always using a physical IC card in the past. Setting up was a breeze though and it was off to the Keisei line! Before boarding the train, I got my traditional onigiri - ume plum (though from a vending machine instead of a konbini) and green tea. In the past with my brother and friends, we always took the Narita Express (NEX), but this time, my girlfriend suggested we take the Keisei line to Tokyo. It was a fraction of the cost of the NEX, though no specific spot for luggage. Fortunately, it didn't seem too busy on the train as we made our way to Tokyo initially. It did become busier, but not as bad as I've seen the trains before in Japan. 

Instead of a hotel near or in Shinjuku, we were in Asakusa. Unlike Shinjuku, it was not teeming with tourists, which made it a pleasant walk to our hotel (APA Asakusa Kuramae - so many APA hotels in Asakusa). After checking in and dropping off our luggage, we ventured out to get dinner. Like I mentioned before, the streets were relatively quiet, reminding me of downtown Calgary that's away from 8th Ave or 17th. We stopped by Ichiran to grab a meal. The last time I went was in 2017 in... Shinjuku if I recall correctly. Perhaps it was in the Ichiran restaurant I went to last time, but this one had tables for groups. I always thought Ichiran had private solo booths! After a delicious tonkotsu ramen, we headed to walk around Sensoji temple, which was bustling with tourists still despite many of the shops being closed. Walk around, we found a Taito. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck with the crane games so we left to continue walking around the temple. We got a 500 yen candied strawberry stick, which was quite good. As an apparent complement to Japanese sweets, it was not too sweet. A Don Quijote was nearby, so we stopped there to purchase sunscreen and other goods before calling it a night.

All in all, a great start to the trip! 

Tried the long exposure feature with the live shot taken on my phone. Don't mind the blurriness! That's the Skytree in the background.