Day 17 (July 26) - Goodbye Japan 2017

We pretty much lounged around in our room before checking out of our hotel. Like travelling to Japan this year, we were met with rain as we walked towards Shinjuku station. Unlike Calgary though, I find that when it rains in Japan, it really pours. Our bags were soaked, but fortunately, we were able to find an underground pathway that lead us to the station.

We booked seats on the Narita Express train to head back to Narita airport. Before boarding the train, we made one final ekiben (bento boxes at the stations) purchase. The ride, despite the rain, was relatively smooth to the airport. As we arrived at the airport, we returned our routers and head to check in via the self check in kiosks for Air Canada.

While checking in, my brother and our friend did not have a seat, since I’m assuming that Air Canada had overbooked for this flight. Worried, since we never had this situation before, we tried going to the Air Canada representative, but since we were four hours before our flight, they were nowhere to be found.

Filled with apprehension, we sat, waiting to talk to the representatives. As we checked in our luggage, they assured us that they were working on finding seats. We ended up going through security and settling for McDonalds as a meal (I really wanted to try out a Tsukemen place, but it was in a pre-security region and we just really wanted to get our seats on the plane ride back).

After a couple of nerve-wracking hours, we finally all got seats 5 minutes before boarding the flight. I was separated from my brother and friend due to the assumed overbooking, so I ended up being beside a large gentleman (thus squashed in my window seat) and a couple behind me with a shrieking toddler… Definitely a fun ride back to Calgary.

Going through customs in the new terminal was surprisingly quick compared to two years ago. After waiting for my mom to come pick us up, I did laundry and cleaned up my luggage. Not a large haul, but a trip full of wonderful memories. I’ll discuss it more on an overview blogpost later on!

Day 16 (July 25) - Last Day in Japan 2017 = Shopping

We got up late (around 8:30) since it was going to be a day filled with shopping. After breakfast and getting ready, we departed for Akihabara. We looked around the district once again, followed by a quick Takoyaki break before heading back to Akihabara Radio Kaiken, a store filled with otaku goodies. After purchasing a few gifts and spending a couple of hours strolling through the different floors and stores, ranging from cards to gundams, it was off to a new area that we haven’t been to before in Tokyo.

Ameyayokocho (aka Ameyuko) is located near Ueno station, thus being very close to Akihabara. It took us literally three minutes to get to Ueno, and an another three minutes to find Ameyuko. Ameyuko is a shopping arcade filled with goodies. There were stores selling vegetables, fruits, clothing, fake name brand bags and, most importantly to me, snacks. This one store… and I cannot read the name for the life of me, had aisle upon aisle of snacks. We must have spent at least 30 minutes browsing through all the different types of snacks that they had for sale!

Once we purchased our goods, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for a couple of hours. Near 8 in the evening, we headed out to the nearby supermarket to purchase dinner. Once again, discounted bento boxes!! I always picked up a couple small snacks that I haven't ate at all during the trip, such as pudding and grapefruit cups.

Our last full day before we head back home to Calgary.

Day 15 (July 24) - Mount Takao and the start of Shopping 2017

We got up early so that we could make our way to Mount Takao, a sacred mountain that is only an hour away from Shinjuku station. We started at said station, and traveled to Takao station. We had to transfer to the Keio line to get to the base of the mountain, which happens to be Takaosanguchi station. I was initially confused on where to go, since it seemed like the Takao station was purely a JR station, but we later found out that the Keio line was just a floor higher via a set of stairs.

The base of the mountain was cool, but gradually increased in temperature as the day went by. The hike itself wasn't too hard since we took a cable car halfway up the mountain. It prided itself as having the steepest incline of all cable cars in Japan at an angle of around 32 degrees. The rest of the climb took only about 30-40ish minutes. At the summit, it has been said that you’re able to see Mount Fuji. However, I had no luck in seeing the most famous volcano in Japan that morning.

After the hike, we went back down to the cable car and made or way back to Shinjuku. We waited about an hour at our hotel, since our room was being cleaned at the time. Once we got into our room, we dropped off our bags and headed out to find Ikinari steak: a steak house that distinguishes itself by having patrons stand up to eat. Interesting idea, but not something I would do often. For the price though, the steak was relatively good. No where near Saga or Kobe beef good, but still quite tasty. They had quite a number of condiments for you to use, such as mustard, horse radish and steak sauce. I'm guessing that having guests stand up have people leaving quickly (instead of sitting there to chat the day/night away) leads to increased revenue. We sure left right after eating, despite the restaurant not being busy.

After eating, we headed off to Ikebukuro to shop. First stop: Pokemon mart to buy some souvenirs. We bought a pack of Pokemon cards each and a couple more nanoblocks. Next it was off to Loft, Tokyu Hands, and Uniqlo before heading back to Shinjuku to buy food for dinner at the supermarket. I have I say that I'm beginning to be bored of Japanese food, due to the fact that I'm eating quite a bit more compared to 2015. To be clear, each meal is quite delightful, just that I'm craving a bowl of pho, or some other sort of cuisine.

Anyways, one more full day to go before we go back home!

Day 14 (July 23) - Kawasaki's Fujiko.F.Fujio Museum and Nakano

We woke up relatively late compared to our other days. We checked out of our rooms and headed to the station. One of us had to leave Japan early, so he went on his own to the Narita Express. The rest of us travelled to the Chou line to find a way to Kawasaki: place of the Doreamon (Fujiko.F.Fujio) museum.

The total train time was about 45 minutes so it wasn't too bad. There was a train to Shinjuku to Kanda, followed by an another line from Kanda to Kawasaki, and finally from Kawasaki to a station about a kilometre away from the museum. Here was where we learned how to order tickets from Lawson.

The tickets came from a machine that had very little English instructions. I was totally confused and it took us nearly 20 minutes to figure it out. I got frustrated and actually left the convenience store to search up more guides on how to purchase tickets. During my search, my brother and friend figured out how to purchase tickets. The part that I was stuck on (how to put a space between my name) was solved by pressing a "drill" button. Slightly embarrassed, we got the tickets and left Lawsons.

We had 3 hours to kill so we headed to lunch. There was Muten Kurazushi nearby so we went there for lunch. Comparing Kurazushi with Uobei, I have to say that Uobei has topped my previous favorite kaiten sushi (conveyor belt sushi) place in terms of quality. However, Kurazushi makes one mean gyudon.

After that, we headed to the museum to wait for our scheduled appointment time. Our scheduled time was for 4 PM, but they let us in at around 3:30. Once inside, we got a chance to explore. I never watched Doreamon before do it wasn't too significant for me, but one of us did and I'm sure that it meant a lot to him. The exhibits mostly displayed the life of the creator, Fujiko F. Fujio, and his creations.

After spending time at Kawasaki, we headed to Nakano. As I found out in 2015, Nakano is home of rare otaku goods. It's like an Akihabara, but with rarer stuff in my opinion. I was looking for a SR Glaceon, but to no luck. My brother got me an Eevee toy though, so that was good! After Nakano, we went back to the hotel to check into our new room. It was a lot higher than our previous room.

Since there were only three of us, we got a room with two beds on the "main floor" and one located on a "second floor" or loft.

After checking in, it was off to Artnia Cafe since it's located 5 minutes away from our hotel. With nothing to buy, we headed to the nearby supermarket for dinner and breakfast.

A relaxing day nevertheless. Only a couple more days before we go back to Canada!

Day 13 (July 22) - Peater Pan and Maricar, Puns all around!

I initially woke up at 5:30, but I went back to sleep till around 7:30. After waking up, our relatives took us to a nearby bakery to purchase bread for breakfast. The name of the bakery nearby was called Peater Pan. (Pan is bread for Japanese. Not quite sure what Peater is... maybe to avoid copyright infringement).

The bakery was jammed pack with people. It was a decently big place for a Japanese store, but I was having troubles navigating inside. Afterwards, we grabbed coffee from their coffee dispenser before heading back to their house to eat.

I must have had at least 3-4 different baked goods (curry bread, red bean bread, pizza slice, pieces of a melon bread and sandwiches). Each piece was delicious and filling. After resting for a bit, we headed to the nearby mall to shop a bit before a tempura lunch at the station. Unlike the last tempura place that our relatives took us to, this one was dry tempura (one that I'm adjusted too).

After lunch, we said our goodbyes. Like always, it's sad to say goodbye, but I'm sure I'll be able to see them again soon.

The train back to Shinjuku was uneventful. We went back to our hotel and rested before heading back out to seek Maricar: the go-kart tour around Tokyo.

The place was relatively easy to find and that all the staff there spoke pretty fluent English. We got into costumes (I was Mario) and took pictures before heading to the karts. After a brief introduction to the karts, we headed off own karts and got ready to go for out tour around Tokyo. We were slated to go through a lot of the main attractions: Odaiba, Tokyo Tower, Roppongi, Shibuya and Shinjuku.

It was definitely a blast riding down the streets of Tokyo. Quite a few people waved at us, but the initial excitement died after an hour or so. Overall, it's nice to try, but for me, it'll be a one time thing. The karts were able to go at around 60-70 km/h. The thing that got me the most was the lack of knowledge of driving down Japanese roads. I should have checked the rules before attending such an event. Also, like any place, Taxi drivers can be quite aggressive. One last thing is the lack of safety equipment. Not wearing seat belts nor helmets in an open, low slung vehicle is initially exhilarating, but quickly replaced with a feeling of foreboding dread.

Near the end of our three hour tour, I got separated from my group, thus taking a wrong turn and got lost. I stopped on the Main Street for about 15 minutes, hoping that my group would track me down. After realizing that I may not be found, I mustered the courage to hail taxis and asked for directions. The second cab driver I talked to had enough English to point me in the right way. I found a place to do a U-turn and made my way back. By sheer dumb luck, or divine intervention, I found my way back to their office.

After waiting for about 10 minutes, my group arrived and we made our way out for sushi. Today will be a day that I will not soon forget. My overall impression of Maricar is positive, though I believe it's good as a one time thing.

Day 12 (July 21) - Yamanashi and Chiba prefectures

We got up at a relatively early time (what's new for this trip) and traveled to Shinjuku station to wait for our cousin to guide us around. After meeting up with our cousin, we took the Kaiji train to head to Yamanashi station. After arriving at the station, we waited for a restaurant to open up for lunch. Our cousin recommended a noodle dish, that is a specialty of Yamanashi, and one that our grandma used to make for her when she was younger. It was quite delicious, though I can't recall the name of the dish... Houtou if I'm not mistaken? It was like a hot pot, in that there was thick noodles, meat and vegetables. The server instructed us on how to cook the noodles, by essentially telling us that it has to heat at a certain setting (high) for an amount of time before turning down the heat and letting it simmer for a while. While the hot pot was cooking, my brother and I shared our trip pictures with our cousin.

It was a hot day, and eating hot foods made me quite sweaty, but it was delicious nevertheless. I realized that I have a soft spot for thinly sliced beef. It kinda reminded me of the beef slices that I get at pho restaurants, yet slightly different with the fatty beef that this hot pot used.

After lunch, we took a bus to the graveyard to pay respect to our grandmother and other relatives that passed away. The walk from the bus station felt a lot shorter than before, but it's always a nostalgic walk. There seemed to always be no breeze, with a strong sun shining on our backs, but a wonderful scene at the graveyard always awaits for us.

After paying our respects, it was back to the train station to go to Enzan, so that we can visit our grandfather at the nursing home. We stopped at a sweet shop before hand so that my cousin could buy snacks for us to share at afterwards with or grandfather.

At arrival, he wasn't in his room, so we waited for him a few meters away. Very soon, we saw him making his way to his room. He didn't know we were coming, so I hope it was a pleasant surprise for him! We sat there while my cousin talked and interepreted for us. Our grandfather seemed to be in good spirits, though he seemed shakier than before and that he has troubles hearing. If I'm not mistaken, he's 92 years old.

After eating the snacks, our cousin suggested that we take him out on a quick walk. Our grandfather seemed to like the idea, and so we went to walk a block or so outside. It was hot, but a very peaceful walk. The sun was starting to set, making the scene reminiscent in nature.

Soon after we returned, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the station to make our way to our cousin’s house. After 2.5 hours, we made it with our aunt and uncle awaiting our arrival.

Food was waiting for us, and we had a scrumptious meal of sushi, yakitori, chicken kaarage, potato wedges, fresh peaches, melons, edamame, and various other foods. Like 3 years ago, we conversed, but we didn't have to use our translator app as much as before. I'm still far away from being conversational, but my Japanese is slowly improving!

After dinner and some TV, we headed off to sleep. It was another long, but productive and meaningful day.

Day 11 (July 20) - Back to Tokyo

We woke up later than normal and enjoyed some leisure time before checking out of our hotel to head to Okayama station. We took a bullet train to Tokyo station, which took about 250 minutes in total. After arriving in Tokyo, we transferred to a Chuo line train to Shinjuku station. During the ride, I got myself an Ekiben (Train station Bento). It was simply amazing for the price I paid (under $13 CAD).

Our last hotel for this trip was located about 10-15 minutes away. It's in Kabukicho, which is the red light district of Shinjuku. I was worried about hecklers from previous experience, but since it was early (and the hotel being located away from most of the clubs), it was a relatively quiet walk. The hotel was relatively modern, and our rooms were located on the second floor. I noticed that there were a lot of foreigners in this hotel, compared to the other hotels we used in the past.

After checking in, we went to find Ichiran, a ramen place where you eat in booths so that you can focus on the flavour, rather than the environment. We were lucky in that there was no line up, though it became instantly busy once we purchased our meal tickets.

After ramen, we went to a conveyor belt sushi place called Uobei. It reminded me of Muten Kurazushi, except there's no conveyor belts in the premise sushi for you to pick up. Everything is ordered via touchscreen and sent via a conveyor belt. Pretty cheap and decent.

After our second meal, we ventured to Akihabara, and specifically Yodabashi to walk off the food that we ate. Yodabashi is one of my favorite department stores to visit due to the vast amount of technology/gadgets and gundams! I didn't buy any from Japan this time around, but it's always nice to see the new kits. Afterwards, it was back to our hotel after stopping by a convenience store to shop for breakfast.

We will be meeting our relatives tomorrow.

Day 10 (July 19) - Around Chugoku region

Since we only had the one day here in the Chugoku region, we made the most out of it. We started out at around 7:20 so that we can hit the gardens (Korakuen) and Okayama castle. Korakuen is known to be one of the top three landscapes in Japan, according to Japan-guide. The other two being Kanazawa's Kenrokuen, which we saw two years ago, and Mito's Kairakuen, which is on my to-see list. I'm sad that Ritsurin Koen in Takamatsu isn't considered to be a top three, despite it being my favorite Japanese garden to date. Korakuen is quite picturesque, and it was nice to see it first thing in the morning where there were very little tourists.

After the gardens, we went to the castle. Perhaps, since we entered it when it just opened for the day, it was early but there was practically no one in the castle. It was nice to explore at our own pace and without the pressure of moving onward because there's people behind you waiting to take a look.

After the castle, we headed to Onomichi, near Hiroshima city. It's a nice seaside port, though we didn't have time to do the Shimaumi Kaido bike path. We did however scoped out a sushi restaurant that was rated highly by Lonely Planet. It's called Hana Akari and the atmosphere was just as friendly as you can imagine it to be. The servers were beyond considerate and the patrons there were friendly to us foreigners as well. I even managed to have somewhat of a conversation with the older couple beside us via my broken Japanese and his pretty decent English. I learned about his family and he gave us recommendations of places to visit. Very friendly people indeed.

After walking around a bit more, it was off to Kurashiki to see the canals at thee Bikan Historical quarters. It was a nice quaint part of Kurashiki that was reminiscent of Kanazawa. There's a touch of history, while located within a more modernized part of Japan. Okayama is known for their peaches, so I tried a few of their peach snacks. The peach sorbet I had was quite delightful. Also... I think I must have had three different peach flavoured drinks throughout the day...

We returned to Okayama and rested for a bit before exploring Aeon Mall, a mall brand that is popular everywhere in Japan. We ventured to their restaurant floor and located an okonomiyaki restaurant. The okonomiyaki was pretty decent. The chefs cooked up the "pancakes" and placed it onto your flat iron grill in front of you to keep it hot. After shopping a bit at Tokyu Hands, it was off to shop at the mall’s supermarket for breakfast.

Off to Tokyo tomorrow.

Day 9 (July 18) - Back to Honshu! Onto Okayama!

We woke up relatively late since we didn't have much planned besides heading to Okayama.

Breakfast was an amazing feat, I believe we had at least 6 different dishes, ranging from grilled river fish to Onsen tamago rice. For those of you that don't know what Onsen Tamago rice is, it's essentially a soft boiled egg on top of rice. I would eat this daily for breakfast if I could! Overall, breakfast was amazing, and light! Like I mentioned before, there were a lot of dishes, but I didn't feel full after eating all that. After breakfast, we had one final bath in the hot springs before packing up. Out of the three baths we took, the morning one was my favourite. The serene atmosphere and the grey skies (perhaps because it would rain later that day) made everything feel very peaceful. Also, the weather wasn't hot yet, so that's a definite plus!

After checking out, we ventured around Kurokawa Onsen town. Kurokawa can essentially be traveled via a circle route, but we took a wrong turn elsewhere, leading us onto a highway and away from Kurokawa. After walking for nearly 30 minutes, one of us noticed that it seemed weird, so we GPS our way back. While we found our way back to town, the ryokan dropped off our luggage for us, just before the bus can take us back to Fukuoka airport.

Waterfall on the route outside of Kurokawa Onsen. Sometimes detours aren't too bad, even if you're not going to the right place!

We made our way back to Fukuoka airport, followed by taking the subway back to Hakata station. From there, we took a bullet train to Tokyo station. The train was busier than I expected, but we all managed to find seats. After about five hours of travelling (bus and bullet train), we arrived at our destination. Okayama seems like a big city, but doesn't seem as busy as cities like Tokyo. We dropped off our luggage after checking in before looking for dinner at a ramen restaurant at the train station. At the ramen restaurant, I had a demi-glace tonkatsu bowl, which is supposedly one of the key dishes in Okayama cuisine. After dinner, we stopped by the market nearby to stock up for breakfast. Convenience stores are great for shopping for cheap meals, but supermarkets are even better! Sometimes, we would find discounted meals, or get drinks at a cheaper price than convenience stores.

Just a travel day, but we're approaching the last half of our trip.

Day 8 (July 17) - Kurokawa Onsen Town and Yamamizuki Ryokan

I woke up initially at 6, but ended up going back to sleep before I startled myself awake at around 7:15. We were supposed to check out at 7:30 to catch our bus at Fukuoka airport at 9:56. After a hurried breakfast and getting ready as fast as possible, we rushed to check out (fortunately by just depositing our keys in a box) before catching the train from Saga station to Hakata station. From Hakata station, we caught the subway to Fukuoka Airport. Afterwards, it was trying to figure out which bus we had reserved. We first had to transfer to the international side of the airport via shuttle bus. It was a cramped ride, but we made it with 20 minutes to spare or so.

The ride was generally quiet. I think there were only about 12 passengers on board a bus that could easily sit 60 people. At our bus stop at Kurokawa Onsen Town, I was surprised to see that there was somebody from the ryokan (Yamamizuki) we booked waiting to pick up our luggage, even though we requested to have a shuttle bus from the ryokan to pick us up two hours after we arrived. I was impressed by the service, followed by him dropping us off at a sister ryokan for a complimentary bath. It was my first outdoor bath since 2015, and it was somewhat relaxing, despite having people peer down at us just a short distant away. As like before, I was self-conscious initially, but got past the fact that everyone was naked in the baths. Besides the four of us, there was only one other individual in the pool at that time.

At around 1:45, we took a shuttle bus to the ryokan. We were greeted promptly at the door and were given a tour of the ryokan. It was small, compared to a hotel, but had a very upscale feel to it. The floors seemed to be polished quite frequently and the atmosphere was quite welcoming. We were then shown to our room, followed by an initial snack and tea. I was amazed at how spacious our room was, for it had multiple rooms and a private onsen.

We took a bath at the outdoor bath, while admiring the lush nature around us. Yamamizuki is up on a mountain, meaning that we were secluded from the public. That also meant that the bath was semi-private, which is definitely to my liking. Since it was the afternoon, it was still quite hot outside, making the hot spring water somewhat uncomfortable. I could only stand to sit in the baths for about 10 minutes, before feeling like I was burning up. However, the scenery from the outside onsen was simply AMAZING. There was a small waterfall and river just meters away from us. Our onsen was surrounded by tress of various types as well. I'm not allowed to take pictures of the outdoor onsen, but here's one picture from their own website of the men's onsen.

Credits: http://www.yamamizuki.com/english/english.html

Followed by the bath, we relaxed in the living room of our accommodations before heading down to dinner. Dinner was served to us in a private dining room. There, we were served what seemed to be a 10 course meal. Each dish was masterfully presented and tasted amazing. To this date on the trip, I had to say it was my favorite meal. Dishes varied from fish (cooked and raw), vegetables and scrumptious sukiyaki. I don't recall having such amazing sukiyaki before. Our hostess helped explain each meal to us and even cooked the sukiyaki for us (probably because we looked to be total scrubs).

After dinner, it was off to the baths once more. It was better in the dark, for it was cooler. My regret was not wearing my glasses this time around, for I had troubles walking to the onsen after washing myself (about a 10 m walk).

And so that marked our day. Not as much walking, but very relaxing nevertheless. I highly recommend visitors to book a night at a ryokan! It's by far one of my favorite and most memorable experiences in Japan yet.