Big In Japan - Feb 2024

February 2024 - Jacob needed to use the rest of his sabbatical before he lost it - what better month to travel than February, right? He chose to go to Japan, so I joined for half the trip while Dave accompanied Jacob for the whole two weeks. I was excited - finally, a chance to visit the country where I had briefly been quasi-famous. I started relearning the dance moves two weeks before departure.

The journey began in Tokyo, a city of sensory overload. The colors, the lights, the distinctive ditty at every train stop. It was a lot, and it was quite fun. After a tasty hotel dinner featuring sushi and teriyaki chicken (of course), we slept off the jet lag so we could have energy for our tour the next day. Prior to the tour, we visited 711 for a quick breakfast, and was delighted by the oddities we discovered there - a hot cooler, a noodle sandwich (yes, literally noodles between two slices of bread), and our favorite - the egg muffin. It is not the kind of egg muffin we thought it would be - but it was fluffy, tasty, and "friendly".

Our tour guide was a very sweet Tokyo local - she took us to the beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen Gardens, a delicious lunch where we received our first chopsticks lesson, the claustrophobic Shibuya crossing, a toy store that contained nothing but vending machines with bubbles containing tiny toys, and the Sensoji temple, where we learned how to properly make a wish at a temple. We capped it all off with a sake tasting!

After the tour, we went over to Ueno, a busy market area with lots of neon lights. It was a bit of a sensory overload, so we played it low key for dinner, with a visit to Wendy's Kitchen.

We started the next day with my number one must-do - a cat cafe. The cats were all so fluffy and beautifully groomed, though they didn't really care for affection from humans. Feeding time was a trip, with one employee laying out food bowls in a half circle while another kept the cats orderly. It was ridiculously cute. Dave even made a friend.

For lunch, our tour guide had recommended a sushi place. This place was a trip - you take a number, then wait in a DMV-like waiting area until a table is available. Then you play a video game to pick your food, which comes out on a conveyer belt. The food was delish - but you had to beware of the crab custard. After lunch, we journeyed to Dave's mecca - a street filled with guitar shops. In the evening, we went back to Sensoji temple so I could "remake" my music video. During one take, some people walked by and started doing the choreo, which was hilarious.

For dinner, we decided to explore a new area, and I had my sights set on a small winery. We were skeptical as we strolled through a residential street, but we found it, and the gentleman working there was our favorite - he poured us tasty wine, cooked us a traditional Japanese meal (curry rice), taught us how to use chopsticks, taught us a ton about Japanese culture, and even wrote out our names in Japanese - Jacob was the winner with "shiny samurai tiger warrior".

The next morning was our final morning in Tokyo, so we bid it farewell with one final navigation through the craziness that is Shinjuku Station. After a ride on a train that had swiveling seats (!), we got on a train that had switchbacks (!) to climb a mountain up to our spa retreat night. It was gorgeous! We had a very intense in room dinner, there was a lovely outdoor hot tub, and I even got a shiatsu massage. We awoke the next day relaxed and ready for the next part of our journey.

The next morning, we went back down the mountain and boarded a bullet train to Kyoto. The bullet train was really lovely, we even had a view of Mount Fuji! The only hiccup was when the emergency brake was triggered when we were about 10 minutes from our stop. Turned out there was an earthquake in Kyoto - not a big one, but big enough to automatically halt the bullet trains. After an awkward bus ride and a short walk, we made it to our lovely hotel. After a day of traveling, we decided to keep dinner simple and see what all the fuss about KFC in Japan was about. As it was Valentine's Day, Jacob and I headed back to the hotel and shared some wine while listening to J Pop.

The next morning, after a fun bento breakfast at the hotel, Jacob and I went on a Gion walking tour. We saw a lot of cool temples, shrines, and gardens. We climbed a lot of stairs and checked out a giant bell, and then enjoyed matcha lattes while admiring early plum blossoms. After the tour, we got a lunch of noodles and tempura, which we learned how to eat by watching the people around us. Upon our return, our room was being cleaned - this wouldn't be notable except for the fact that this happened to us every other day during the trip.

Dave rejoined us that evening for a food hall tour, which our guide graciously rescheduled after our train was late the previous day. We enjoyed a smorgasbord of goodies - squid, gyoza, yakitori, taco balls, egg bakes, rice balls, honey, croquettes. All delicious!

We still had some gas in the tank, so decided to visit a temple that was open all night - the Temple of a Thousand Gates. The hike started out fine - the trail was lined with golden orange gates with the forest just beyond. As we climbed higher, we noticed that the trails weren't marked particularly well, and there were many warning signs about wild life. The first "wild" life we encountered was a cat, who was happily accepting food from some other hikers. :)

Eventually, we passed by an enthusiastic Japanese man walking back down the trail. He nodded, smiled, used his hands to create something akin to devil horns, shushed us, and said something that sounded a bit like "boar". I was not pleased with this development - a bit later we decided we had enjoyed our hike and were fine with turning around.

On the way back down, the signs indicated to go down a path that was not surrounded by the gates, instead one side was open to the forest. I was a bit paranoid at this point, and Jacob and Dave were joking around, so I asked them to walk out in front. Not three steps later, Jacob and Dave exclaim and I hear a rustling - it was, in fact a wild boar. At this point, I was not having it, so I start power walking back up the trail so we can go back down through the gates.

Along the way, we encountered a Japanese couple, and we attempted to warn them about the boar by using the devil horns, and saying helpful things like "boar", "pig", "oink oink." They had no idea what was wrong with us. Finally back under the gates, I see a flash of light. Dave and I were pretty sure it was lightening - confirmed just seconds later by a rumble of thunder, after which the heavens opened up. So now we're drenched and I'm still paranoid, thus we make record time on the way back down.

After a good night's sleep, we had dried off and where ready for a nice walkabout. We visited the separation shrine and the Big Buddha, where we lit a candle at the shrine of the boar. After a crowded stroll through Gion and a shopping spree of cat-themed souvenirs, we headed back to the food market to snack on some of our faves then rested our weary feet at the donut shop. Jacob and I went out for a date night - a hot pot dinner on the very cute Pontocho Alley. The evening was lovely, so we went on a stroll and quite possibly saw a geisha before stopping by a self pour wine spot for a glass.

My last day in town, we had big plans to go take a tour of Osaka. Alas, it was not to be - Jacob came down with a bad case of food poisoning. So it was a me and Dave day - we visited Nujo castle, which was very cool. The floor in the castles was wood that was put together in such a way that it had a very distinctive almost whistling sound when you walked on it. The gardens were also lovely. We then walked back, stumbling into Strawberry Queen before stopping for a final matcha tea latte. Jacob was feeling well enough to accompany me on the Hello Kitty themed train to the airport.

I loved our visit to Japan - the people were so polite and welcoming, willing to even use Google Translate to have a conversation with us. The two cities we visited were so different, yet somehow both managed to capture the spirit and energy of the culture, albeit in unique ways. The flights were sooo long, but totally worth it.