Day 16 (July 24) - Okunoshima Again!

 Starting off in Hiroshima meant that we didn’t have to wake up as early to go to our destination for today: Okunoshima. The last time I went was in 2015, when we were staying in Himeji (if I remember correctly). Our hotel in Hiroshima offered a bread and coffee breakfast, so I headed downstairs to grab us some food before we prepared to leave for the day. The selections were all similar: three different selections of bread, so I ended up grabbing a few bags to bring back to our hotel room.

At Hiroshima station, we purchased some ekibento on our way to Tadanoumi station. I got a beef tongue bento, and a curry bun from the nearby bakery within the station. After about an hour or so, we made it to Tadanoumi station. Like the past couple of weeks, the sun was blazing down on us as we made our way to the ferry. I can’t recall to well, but it seems like the ferry port had an upgrade: there was a building now where you can purchase ferry tickets to the island. Also, purchasing food bags to feed the rabbits, and bringing back the food bags ensured a complimentary postcard.

After purchasing our tickets and rabbit food, we waited for the ferry to come pick us up. The ride itself was around 15 minutes. Once we arrived at the island, we took a bus to the hotel, and thus our adventures began on the island. It was very much like the time in 2015, though there seemed to be less rabbits from what I remembered. Also, the rabbits seemed a bit more aggressive, in that some chased other rabbits when you offered them food. After a couple of hours, we went back to the hotel on the island to grab a bite to eat. Once full, we headed back out to explore the island. 

After we had our fill of the island, we went back to the pier to hitch a ride back to Tadanoumi station. It was relatively uneventful on the ferry. As we approached the ferry pier, we traded our empty rabbit food bags for our souvenir postcards before making our way to the JR station. The difficulty with unmanned stations is not knowing which side we needed to be to catch the train back to Hiroshima. Unfortunately, we did end up on the wrong side, but the train conductor was kind enough to wait for us and another tourist to cross the overhead bridge to get to the correct side.

Once we arrived at Mihara station, we transferred onto the shinkansen back to Hiroshima. Dropping off luggage, we proceeded to find an oyster bar/izakaya. I would normally not venture to such a place, but fortunately, my girlfriend was able to speak and read the menu on my behalf. We got a variety of dishes, with the chicken cartilage being my favorite. Once we finished dinner, we headed to the nearby 7-11 so I could grab some chocolate mint ice cream.

Not as many places visited today, but onto the next leg of our journey tomorrow! It'll be my first ever homestay/workaway/volunteering experience in Japan. 

A little bit run down from what I recall back in 2015, but it still gets the message across!

After 

Day 15 (July 23) - Kobe Beef and Onsen Town!

 It started off scorching hot at around 9 AM as we headed towards Shin-Osaka station. It was our last day at Shin Osaka Washington Hotel, so we checked out and left our luggage at the hotel. Our destination for the day though was Kobe. The train ride was relatively short. Our first destination in Kobe was a Starbucks in the Kitano region. From what I read, Kitano is known for their traditional western-style buildings. The Starbucks was nestled by some hills, making it very American-like (despite not being to the US that often). We got a ourselves a drink and ventured upstairs to enjoy ourselves, surrounded by the vintage artifacts. After we were finished, we headed out and onto lunch.

I first went to Kobe back in 2015; the main purpose was to eat Kobe Beef. We found the same restaurant, and fortunately, like last time, we didn't need a reservation. It was quite busy, so we were sitting beside another couple. We got one A5 Kobe beef and one A5 Wagyu (which was about 30% cheaper than the Kobe). From what I recall, the Kobe beef was the same price as it was back in 2015! The meal was extremely similar in terms of the dishes served, which made me reminisce as I ate. Since they were quite busy, it didn't feel like we had a full hour with the chef, but it was as good as the first time I had it. Honestly, I enjoyed the A5 Wagyu more than the Kobe beef... probably because it was cheaper as well! 

After our bellies were full, we headed off to a bus station nearby to purchase tickets to Arima Onsen. It was only a 30 minute bus ride, in which I was able to doze off a bit. Arima Onsen is said to be the oldest onsen town in Japan. From what I recall, it's hot spring water is carbonated, with two main types of water: Gold and Silver. The Gold hot spring water was brown in color, due to the iron present, while the silver hot spring was clear. As we got off the bus, we headed towards the windy narrow paths to explore the town. We made a brief stop at a foot onsen bath to soak our feet. Once relaxed, we headed to explore some more. We stopped at the top of the path at a park to enjoy some snacks we purchased. It was quiet, save for the cicadas buzzing around us. There was even a spot where you could drink the carbonated spring water. After spending some time, we headed back down towards the Gold Onsen to soak for a while. Before we made it down, we saw a Shiba Inu cafe (well more of a small cafe that had 3 Shibas). It was the perfect excuse to take a break from the heat. The drinks here were good and one of the waitresses spoke flawless English. If I were to guess, based on her using casual terms like "boba", she was probably raised in North America -- which is a first for me to experience since I rarely talked to strangers in Japan and most people that I talked to had basic English. Once we completed our drinks, we headed back down towards the Gold Onsen. 

Due to it's touristy nature, there were a lot of people within this onsen (in comparison to the one in Yamanashi). After a quick soak, we got out, got some Arima Cider (more like carbonated water), and sat in their relaxation room for a while. Fully relaxed, we headed back out of the town to stop by the small river to soak in (no pun intended) the scenery. 

Our next location was the premium outlet mall in Kobe. We took a train that led us to a quiet part of Kobe. The bus station was on top of a hill, it only took a few minutes for us to climb the stairs to wait for the bus. The bus ride was relatively short, and we were on our way to shop at Kobe Sanda Premium Outlets. It reminded me of the one in Vegas with all the outdoor shops. We ventured for a while, but seeing nothing of value, ended up purchasing nothing. We did get some Gindaco Takoyaki at the corner of the outdoor outlet mall before heading back to Kobe station to take a train back to Osaka.

We arrived back in Osaka to grab our luggage from the hotel. Our final destination for our long day was Hiroshima. The train ride was about two hours, meaning that we didn't arrive till around 10 PM at night. Not sure how long it would take for the bus to come, we waited to catch a taxi. There was a long line of people waiting for a taxi, but fortunately, it only took 5-10 minutes for us to finally get a ride. Our hotel in Hiroshima was relatively modern-looking, in comparison to our last two hotels.

An extremely long day with a bunch of travel, but as always, a fulfilling one. Off to another 2015 location tomorrow!

The river/stream in Arima Onsen!

Day 14 (July 22) - Deer, Amazing Shaved Ice and Quiet Kyoto??

 It has been a busy 10 days with cleaning, hosting, and finally getting a puppy! But back to Day 14.

We started with eating breakfast at the top of the Washington Hotel. It was a buffet-style breakfast with a variety of different foods to eat. After getting a few plates myself, we returned to our hotel room to prepare for our day.

Our first stop was Nara park. It has been almost 8 years since I last visited the deer. (Japan 2019 was to see the shrine instead of the park). OF course, we had to feed the deer, though I didn't feel that they were as aggressive as they were in the past. We also picked this particular day since they apparently released a bunch of fawns they were raising. Unfortunately, we didn't see many fawns throughout the park. We did see a deer that had a twisted horn. I didn't notice, until my girlfriend pointed out, that one of his legs were lame. Unfortunately, and probably due to his size, he was getting bullied by the bigger bucks when people tried to feed him. We were able to lure him away from the others and feed him. Perhaps it wasn't something I noticed the last two times I was here, but almost all of the deer bowed when you bowed and offered them a cracker. 

After Nara, we headed to Uji to eat shaved ice or Kakigori. Unfortunately, the famous shops we tried to visit were near closing time or required a reservation. After purchasing some treats, we found a Tsujiri nearby. After waiting a few minutes, we were able to get a table. Besides kakigori, we got other sweets (or wagashi if I remember correctly). The kakigori was definitely the star of the show. I don't recall having such delicious shaved ice; the matcha flavors were spread evenly throughout the entire bowl.

After feeling satisified, we headed to Kyoto. Fushimi Inari was extremely busy, so we decided not to bother finding the torii gates. Instead, we headed to a quiet part of Gion. It was a pleasant walk from the station to Yasaka Pagoda. The streets were quiet, which is unlike most of the touristy places in Kyoto. It was nearing sunset, which made pictures of the pagoda more magical than normal in my opinion. After spending half an hour in the district, it was off to find a place for dinner. We settled for Coco Ichiban. I didn't have curry all trip thus far. If you ever go to Japan, Coco Ichiban is a must for their affordability and delicious curry. 

With our bellies full, we headed back to Kyoto station so we could take the shinkansen back to Osaka.

Off to another city tomorrow! (Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to write about it!) 

A shot of Yasaka Pagoda from the bottom. 

Day 13 (July 21) - Second Day in Osaka - I'm not cut out to be a fisherman.

 It's been a busy week cleaning and building furniture. I finally have time to continue blogging about our adventure in Asia this year!

Day 13 started late, though I was in a bit of a panic. I either lost or misplaced one of our Osaka Amazing Pass. During the morning, I tried to figure out where it could be; I remembered doing laundry late last night, so we headed down to check the laundromat. Lo and behold, our pass was stuck on the rubber seal of the laundry/dryer machine. It went through a full wash and dry cycle but was still in one piece. The only question now was whether the machine could still scan the card. 

We headed towards the train station and towards the ticket gate. Fortunately, it did accept the card, thus not needing a replacement! Our first location was another Ferris Wheel: Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel. It was bigger than the HEP5 we took yesterday, and had transparent cars! I had to admit it was a bit nerve-wracking to be so high up in the air while looking at the transparent floor. After taking in the views, we headed to the nearby Santa Maria Day Cruise. The cruise was 45 mins in length and took us around the Aji River. Not wanting to be out on deck getting beaten down by sunlight, we headed underneath to their cafeteria. I got myself a bulgogi beef rice burger, which was small, but not bad in taste.

Once the tour was done, we headed off to find a late lunch. We settled for kushikatsu, which is similar to tempura. I never had kushikatsu before (or at least not aware that I did). Personally, I thought it was better than tempura. Once we finished our lunch, we headed toward a nearby Pablo kiosk/store to sample their mini tarts. I have to say, Calgary's Pablo does a really good job of copying the taste of Japan's Pablo. Since it was quite hot, we took a break at a nearby café. I got myself a drink and a slice of cake. 

Once we were able to cool down, we walked toward Tsutenkaku to go down the tower slide. Unfortunately, it was a lot busier than yesterday, probably because we arrived a few hours before closing time. Slightly dejected, but determined to go down the slide, we stopped by the Zaou: a restaurant where you catch your own fish. We spent a good amount of time here, mostly due to the fact that it was difficult to catch horse mackerel (the cheapest fish on the menu). My girlfriend was able to catch one after persevering for at least 15 minutes. Fortunately, she's not a big fan of fish, so I was able to get the kitchen to turn it into a sashimi dish. At this point, I wasn't able to catch anything myself. We were about to leave, but she convinced me otherwise to give it another try. After waiting around 20 minutes without any luck, I started flailing the line and hook in the water. By sheer dumb luck, I managed to hook a fish via it's belly. It tried desperately to get away as I swooped it into the net. I did feel slightly guilty, though I ended up asking the kitchen to make tempura out of this one.

After paying for dinner, we headed back to the tower. The lineup was only about 30 minutes long now, so we ended up getting our tickets to head upstairs. The slide itself was a bit lackluster, but they did film the beginning and end of your journey. 

With our day pretty much done, we headed back to our hotel to rest. I was missing the onsen experience so I ended up soaking in our tub for the night. All in all, the Amazing Pass was indeed Amazing. Not only did it help us save money, but it's quite durable as well! I would recommend this to anyone traveling to Osaka for the first time. 

We passed by Yasaka Shrine as we made our way back to Tsutenkaku. 

Day 12 (July 20) - First Day in Osaka! Osaka Amazing Pass!

 I wasn't able to blog yesterday due to cleaning and moving things around the house. Things are going to get exciting in the next few weeks, but that's for another blog.

Like the day before, we decided to take a later train to Osaka instead of waking up at the crack of dawn to catch a train. It was a relatively short ride of around an hour to Osaka. Once we arrived, we had difficulties finding the right exit that would lead us closer to our hotel. Unfortunately, there were some stairs to climb with our heavy luggage, but we finally found the right path to Shin Osaka Washington Hotel Plaza. It was early, so we just dropped off our luggage before we headed back to the station. 

At Shin Osaka station, there was a small tourist office. My girlfriend recommended we get the Osaka Amazing Pass. For about $35 CAD, you can visit over 40 different attractions. Many transit lines are also free with this pass. I don't recall the exact number we would have spent if we didn't get the pass, but I'm sure it would be over $80 CAD. Once we picked up our pass, we headed to the HEP Five Ferris Wheel. It was relatively early in the day, and being a weekday meant that there were no lineups. I believe the entire ride was about 10 minutes or so, but it was enough to see the views from high up in the sky. The best part for me was that each car was fitted with an a/c unit! After the Ferris Wheel, we headed towards an art museum: Koji Kinutani Tenku Art Museum. Honestly, I'm not sure who Kinutani Koji is, but the art was visually impressive. Nearby, we headed to the observatory within the Umeda Sky Building. The sites were nice to see, but it was quite busy. 

After spending time here, we headed off for a late lunch. From what I know, Osaka is known for its Takoyaki and Okonomiyaki. My girlfriend took me to an okonomiyaki restaurant near the place she used to live while studying Japanese. Also, thanks to her ability to read and speak, she found a small sign that said if you followed them on Instagram, you're entitled to free sorbet after your meal. A nice way to finish up our meal! After eating, we walked down a shopping arcade towards our next stop. There was a food stall that was serving the trendy 10 yen cheese coin. As much as I wished that it was only 10 yen, 500 yen wasn't too bad of a deal. We finally made it to the next art museum: Kamigata Ukiyoe Museum. From my understanding, it was showcasing woodblocks of kabuki. At the very top of this relatively small museum (the size of a medium-sized house), there was a kimono on display that you were allowed to wear. It's my first time wearing a kimono (I'm assuming that men normally don't wear these). It was very ornate and heavy. After taking turns, we left and proceeded to the next stop: the Tombori River Cruise.

We weren't able to get the next available cruise due to the crowds, but we were able to book tickets for the next tour, which was about 30 minutes later. We had time to kill so we strolled along the canal of Dontobori. There was the trendy Cremia ice cream, so we got a vanilla cone to share. Honestly, it tasted like regular ice cream to me that was placed inside a soft cone. When it was nearly time for the cruise, we waited in line to board. 

The cruise was about 20 minutes in length. The tour guide spoke fluent English and gave a detailed explanation of the various sites on the tour. Once the tour was over, we headed towards our last destination for the night. 

The Tsutenkaku tower was relatively short, but filled with tourists. We had a choice of either checking out the observatory or going down their tower slide. I opted for the observatory first. Like the last few attractions we visited, it was full of tourists. After taking some pictures, we headed down to see if we had time to go down the tower slide. Unfortunately, it was closed for the night, so we headed back towards our hotel. Due to our late lunch, we just grabbed some food from a nearby Lawson konbini (attached to the hotel building) before checking in. Fortunately, we had a nice view of the city from our room this time, in comparison to Asakusa. 

I have to admit I was quite exhausted from all the attractions we did, but glad that we opted to get the Osaka Amazing Pass! Before eating dinner, I did some laundry since it was due time to get it done. Interestingly enough, I have a tale to tell, but that's for tomorrow's (hopefully I'll have time tomorrow) post.

Taken from the Ferris Wheel! I'm not sure why, and I know we have them here, but it was oddly satisfying to see this roof parkade/parking lot. 

Day 11 (July 19) - Heading to Nagoya to see Ghibli Park!

 I was a lot busier than I expected yesterday and didn't end up coming back home till late last night. But off to Day 11 of my Asia 2023 trip!

The last day in Asakusa has arrived. We booked an earlier train back when we got our JR passes in Harajuku, but opted to skip that and board a later Shinkansen to Nagoya. Fortunately, we were able to place our large baggage behind our seat (new rules on the Shinkansen for large bags) in an unreserved car. 

After arriving in Nagoya, we first headed to our hotel to drop off our luggage. It was still too early to check in, but they stored our bags for us in their back room. With no heavy luggage to hold us back, we proceeded back to the train station for our destination for the day.

Ghibli Park is a relatively quick ride from Nagoya station. They built the park on the grounds of the 2005 Expo in Aichi. I was disappointed with the Ghibli Museum back in 2019, so I had high hopes for this park. For one, it was a lot grander than the museum. We were only able to book tickets for the warehouse; not the forest nor the Hill of Youth. From what I read, it seemed like the biggest attraction was the park anyway, so we weren't missing much.

Like the museum, the warehouse was filled with tourists. They had some interesting exhibitions, including a vast forest that I'm assuming was from My Neighbour Totoro. There's also a screen room that had a short film playing every 15-20 mins or so. The film in question was Looking for a Home (Yadosagashi). I initially thought it was about camping, but I managed to find an article on Wikipedia explaining what the story is about. I have to say it's a lot better than Boro the Caterpillar that I saw in 2019. 

What was not worth waiting for was the exhibition section of the museum. The line stretched for what seemed like half a mile. We were curious to see why people were lining up, so we decided to wait in line as well. Just after an hour of waiting, we finally got inside to see... mannequins and sets from the various films. Honestly, I didn't think it was worth the wait, but since I apparently had a case of FOMO, I made sure to spend quite a bit of time checking out the exhibits.

Once we left the park, we headed towards a quiet shopping street in Nagoya to find a café that served various chestnut desserts like the Mont Blanc Sweet we had in Asakusa. The café was relatively quiet, but the atmosphere was pleasant. We ordered two separate desserts, with both tasted quite good. After we finished, we left and headed back to our hotel to check-in.

Dinner was at a seafood joint close to our hotel. There were a variety of dishes to try. Even though I'm not a huge fan of seafood, it was an enjoyable meal. Feeling full, we headed back to our hotel to rest for the night since we would be heading to Osaka the next morning.

A lot of traveling today, but it was nice getting to explore Nagoya a bit more with the dessert café, and the park. If you ever get the chance, and you're a bit of a Ghibli fan, I would recommend checking out the park. I believe it's a lot better than the museum in Tokyo. 

I forgot which section of the park this is from, but I really liked the scenario outside the window. 

Day 10 (July 18) - Driving Around Mt Fuji!

 After spending a week in Tokyo, it was time to venture to another location. I was supposed to be in charge of planning our route for the day, but she was able to find a more efficient route. We woke up early to catch a bus from Shinjuku station to Kawaguchiko. My girlfriend was able to snag our front seats on the upper deck of the bus. That meant incredible views throughout the entire trip. The ride was under two hours, and the familiar Kawaguchiko station soon came into view. In the past, I've been to Kawaguchiko station three times, and each of the three times resulted in a hike up the tallest volcano in Japan. This time, however, instead of catching a bus to the 5th station of Mount Fuji, we walked towards the nearest Toyota Rent-a-Car center.

Besides driving a go-kart, and nearly getting lost in 2017, I never drove in another country. Nevertheless, I never drove with a steering wheel on the right-hand side of the car, nor on the left side of the road. I was feeling anxious as we entered the small building. After showing my international driving license and other documents, I signed some papers, paid the fee for the day, and went out to inspect the car we were given. It was a dark blue Toyota Vitz. I remember going around, snapping shots of the car from different angles as a reference for when I returned the car later on. After everything was cleared, we got into the car and headed for our first destination. 

We were looking for the iconic Lawson with Mount Fuji in the background. I picked the wrong Lawson on my GPS, which left us confused since there was no mountain/volcano in sight. Either way, we had to stock up on supplies, so we spent some time purchasing items before heading to Fuji-Q Highland. Fortunately, we were early so there was ample parking space. The nice thing about the Vitz as well was that it was a small car, which made parking a breeze. Just like 2019, you didn't need to pay to enter the park. People just had to register their faces, I'm guessing for security purposes. I wasn't so keen on going on any rides, but my girlfriend found an attraction that caught her eye. After going on the ride, we walked around the park for a while before leaving to head to the famous Chureito Pagoda. 

The roads were narrow and many of them were wide enough for one car. At times, I would stop off to the side of the road to let oncoming traffic pass by. When we got to the parking lot for Chureito, we had to wait a while to climb a narrow path to park. The climb to the pagoda wasn't as long as I recalled. We stopped by the shrine to purchase some a good luck charm, before making it all the way to the top. Unfortunately, Mount Fuji was covered with clouds, so we were unable to snap the iconic pagoda+mountain shot. Somewhat dejected, we made it back to the parking lot to head to our next location: Oshino Hakkai.

The drive to Oshino Hakkai was pleasant. Traffic is light around Mount Fuji, making it easier than taking the bus. I wasn't quite sure where to park, since the last time I came, I did take a bus. Noticing a parking lot near the bus stop, I decided to park there. Oshino Hakkai wasn't as crowded as it was back in 2019, meaning that there were no difficulties getting around and snapping pictures. Also unlike 2019, I was feeling relatively well, thus being able to sample the food and drinks there without worrying about an upset stomach. There are eight distinct ponds, that are fed by glacier melt from Mount Fuji. We were only able to find six before we decided we spent enough time at this location. 

Hananomiyako Park is only about a 10 minutes drive from Oshino Hakkai. You could access the site via bus from what I read, but I don't think a bus came by that often. The park was filled with flowers with Mount Fuji in the background. Once again though, the clouds blocked out the mountain from view. We walked towards the entrance, paid, and continued to walk through the various greenhouses they had on site. Near one end of the park, there was a waterfall that must have been about 100 meters wide. It was very serene, and since it was hard to access this park, very quiet. We spent some time soaking in the sights before going back to the flower field in front of the gate. After snapping some shots, it was time to take a break at another onsen.

The onsen we went too unfortunately took cash only. With very little cash on us, we had to find a nearby 7-11 so that we could access their ATM and get more money. It was a while since we ate a full meal (Lawson in the morning), so we grabbed food from the konbini as well. After getting our fill, we headed back to the onsen. Unlike the one in Asakusa, it was nowhere near as busy. Also, most of the clientele were probably locals. It was nice to soak with only a few people around me. After the bath, we relaxed in their lounge area. Since it was getting late, we traveled to our last destination for the day.

Lake Yamanaka was extremely quiet near sunset. We were lucky as well in that there were no longer clouds surrounding Mount Fuji! After snapping our pictures, we took one last break to stare at the serene sight of the lake and volcano. It was then time to make our return trip to Kawaguchiko. The drive back was nearly half an hour, but fortunately, the trip was relatively smooth. It was quite dark when we returned the car. One of the workers took a quick glance at the car, double-checked that I filled the gas tank (the gas station was just next door), and sent us off with a hearty thank you. The walk back was not as hot as the morning. After waiting for a while, a bus arrived to take us back to Shinjuku station.

What I learned that day was no matter how efficient and effective the public transportation system was in Japan, nothing beats your own personal vehicle. I probably wouldn't drive in a major city, but the next time I'm out in the countryside, I'll highly consider renting a car to get to places. It beats waiting for the bus/train or taking a taxi. 

Finally able to grab a clearer shot of Mount Fuji! This was taken at Lake Yamanaka.