I have always wanted to visit Japan, but the airline tickets from San Jose to Tokyo were always out of reach. However, Inna was able to find an exceptional offer ($439 round-trip) for June, so she purchased 3 tickets on Japan Airlines (JAL) from Los Angeles to Tokyo (Narita Airport). Since we live in San Jose, we also needed airline tickets from San Jose to Los Angeles, and we purchased inexpensive tickets on Alaska Airlines ($120 round-trip).
The best time to visit Japan is in early April to see the cherry blossoms or in November to see fall colors. June is the start of the hot & muggy rainy season, so we were apprehensive about visiting Japan in June. However, June turned out well for us (or we lucked out). We only experienced a few rainy days.
It was Wednesday, June 13, and the beginning of our long trip to Japan. We woke up around 04:15, dressed, and ordered UberX to take us to the San Jose Airport for our 06:30 Flight #3311 aboard SkyWest (Alaska Airlines). We had an easy flight to Los Angeles, landing at 08:10 in Los Angeles (LAX). We ate breakfast, a small lunch at Border Grill, Degree Pizza, and then salads at Larder Tavern. The food was acceptable for airport food, but nothing to write home about.
We boarded the Japan Airlines JAL #061 Flight to Tokyo (Narita Airport) at 12:30 (with a scheduled 13:15 departure time). JAL was flying Boeing 777 wide-body airliners and provided numerous entertainment options. We mostly watched movies and did not sleep much at all. I watched The Greatest Showman (about the rise of Barnum & Bailey's Circus), Red Sparrow, and The Shape of Water. Of the three movies, I really enjoyed The Shape of Water. It was such an unusual movie (though it reminded me a bit of Splash!)
I really wanted to like The Greatest Showman but did not like the music (although I am an aficionado of Broadway musicals - this was not Chicago). Red Sparrow was overly silly and complicated to take seriously. I also tried to listen to my two Audible audiobooks on my iPhone 7 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson.
Aboard the JAL flight, we were offered dinner and breakfast (which surprised me, as I did not expect to be provided free meals). I ate a bit of both but developed a headache later in the flight. Both dinner and breakfast were definitely more Japanese-focused (compared to "normal" American/Western dishes).
Our Japan Airlines flight #061 landed on schedule on Thursday, June 14, at 16:50, at Tokyo's Narita airport. We picked up our bags and headed to the customs to show our passports. There were long lines for many passengers, but the customs/immigration line moved quickly, and we were quickly processed by Japanese immigration officials.
Before the trip, I pre-ordered a Pocket WiFi device from Global Advanced Communications for travel in Japan - so that Alex, Inna, and I could use our iPhones in Japan (up to 10 devices could be connected using WiFi). The device was ready and charged for me at the Japan Post Office on floor 3 of Terminal 2. The rental cost was ¥10,500, which is approximately $95 for 15 days of cellular service. Pocket WiFi uses LTE/4G towers throughout Japan. (For comparison, renting an iPhone SIM card costs USD 40 for 3 GB of data). For our 3 Apple iPhones, Pocket WiFi was cheaper and less restrictive. Before data throttling kicked in, it provided a much higher data usage allowance - up to 3 GB daily.
During our trip to Japan, we used 75 GB of data (and eventually ended up being throttled). However, Pocket WiFi was beneficial for placing calls to the United States (using AT&T call over WiFi feature), using Google Maps, watching YouTube, checking email, photo backup, etc. The battery on Pocket WiFi lasted about 10 hours (and I always carried a spare battery charger for my iPhones and Pocket WiFi, which I needed to use occasionally).
After picking up my Pocket WiFi at the Japanese Post Office in Terminal 2 (on the 3rd floor), I also stopped by one of the airport's ATMs to get ¥30,000 (about USD 300) for use in Tokyo since many restaurants and shops in Japan do not accept credit cards. This turned out to be entirely accurate. I often used ATMs - the ATMs in 7-Eleven were particularly lovely as they worked with my US Credit Union and had low withdrawal fees (¥212 =~ $1.95 ).
In addition to Pocket WiFi, I pre-ordered Japan Rail Passes from JTB USA. These passes needed to be exchanged for actual Japan Rail Passes. Once we found the JR East Office (near the train station), we waited in a short line and exchanged our American passes for Japanese passes (after showing our passports). We reserved a few train trips (to get assigned seats) but ran out of time to catch the next NEX Shuttle to Shinjuku in Tokyo. We did manage to reserve our final return trip from Kyoto to Narita Airport.
The Japan Rail passes came in handy, as they allowed travel without making train reservations in advance. These Japan Rail Passes were very expensive, and we spent $420 for 14-day passes per person. Since we were staying in Japan for 15 days, it would have been excellent for the Japan Rail passes to be available in smaller increments, but only 7-day, 14-day, and 21-day passes are allowed.
Since our Hotel Rose Garden Shinjuku was close to the Shinjuku train terminal, we ended up taking the Narita Express train (NEX) from Narita to Shinjuku at 18:53, arriving in Shinjuku at 19:50. From there, I used my iPhone's Google Maps (and the Pocket WiFi) to navigate us to our hotel, which was about 10-15 minutes away.
On Thursday evening, Tokyo was extremely busy, with crowds crossing the streets. We saw many open restaurants and some young kids studying (the Japanese school year runs from April to July 20 and resumes from September until December 25; the final terms start in January and complete in March).
Arriving at our hotel, we checked in, plugged in all our electronics to charge, and went to bed. (I brought 3 USA to Japan socket adapters - which came in handy. Japan uses a different plug and has a lower voltage 100V vs 115V in the USA). We were exhausted from all of the travel. We decided to skip dinner, as we were not hungry and slept.
Friday, June 15, 2018
In the morning, I woke up early (around 07:00 Tokyo time), took a shower (unique setup), and dressed. We ate breakfast at our hotel's restaurant, In the Garden 135, to save time.
Since this was our first time in Japan, we were unsure what to expect from a Japanese breakfast buffet. We were pleasantly surprised by our menu choices (and for a very reasonable price of ¥1,200 =~ $11.00 per person). In addition to Western dishes, such as eggs, there was rice, miso soup, various preparations of fish, etc. There were many unique items which we had never seen before. We enjoyed our breakfast more than expected (from a hotel restaurant).
After breakfast, we walked to the nearby Shinjuku metro/subway station and purchased 3 Pasmo cards for use on buses and subways throughout Japan. These cards worked everywhere: i.e., Tokyo Metro, Matsumoto, Kyoto, Kanazawa, and Osaka. Each time one uses the Pasmo card, the fare price is deducted from the balance stored in the card. Each card needed to be topped up, and there were machines in each subway that accepted Yen and could be easily topped up.
Our first significant attraction was the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. Getting there required the use of both subways and buses. We had no problems getting to the required Metro stop, but we could not find the required bus stop. Since the light rain turned into a heavy downpour, we hid behind trees and nearby buildings. I asked a policeman about the bus stop and quickly located the correct one. Thankfully, we brought all our rain gear, not all of the umbrellas!
We arrived at the Tsukiji Fish Market at around 10:30 (it only opens to the public at 11:00). There were already long lines for sushi restaurants, and we explored all the various stalls nearby. There were dozens of tiny sushi restaurants with limited seating nearby. Eventually, we decided to try the Shou Tsukiji Sushi restaurant, as the wait seemed more reasonable.
Inna selected the delicious-looking Roppou platter for ¥3,200, while I chose the ¥3,000 sushi platter. The tuna in my platter was out of this world delicious! Inna also loved her platter. It was the best sushi we have ever had anywhere! Even Alex, who was not very hungry, munched on Inna's sushi platter.
After finishing our sushi lunch, we headed to the nearby Hama-Rikyu Gardens. Although there were periods of short, light showers, they did not detract from the serene beauty of the gardens.
We strolled around the gardens, eventually stopping by a tea house to try Japanese Matcha tea.
Japanese Matcha tea is usually served in large bowls, with only a tiny portion. A small sweet snack is provided (and is eaten before drinking tea). To correctly drink Matcha tea for a Japanese tea ceremony, follow the following rules:
After some time, we decided to visit the Ginza district before heading to the famous Akihabara (known for electronics and manga stores).
I stopped by a nearby Apple store in Ginza to replace a defective lightning port cable. The lightning cable cost me $21.52 ($19 in the US). While there, I was surprised by how packed the Apple store was with Japanese shoppers. Apple's iPhones are pretty popular in Japan, and I saw a lot of Japanese using them.
We also stopped by an LL Bean store to purchase a new raincoat for Inna (as hers was no longer waterproof), and we encountered pockets of rain during our trip (though mainly in Tokyo).
I am unfamiliar with Manga but was interested in seeing the latest Japanese electronics. Many electronics stores sold the latest Canon & Nikon cameras and built-to-order PCs. These reminded me a lot of Fry's Electronics stores in California. The same PC components, i.e., Intel processors, Nvidia-based graphics cards, and Samsung SSDs, were widely available.
While strolling around, we sampled some interesting Japanese street food and tested one kind - takoyaki. It was freshly prepared in front of our eyes (as most street food in Japan). Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter cooked in a specially molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.
Many young women dressed in manga outfits encourage passers-by to visit their stores. Many arcades were open and full of teenagers playing video games (Nintendo, etc.)
We strolled around, stopping in one store with elaborate dolls decorated in fancy costumes.
We found one of our favorite desserts in Akihabara - the "Pablo Mini" cheese tart. These cheese tarts were freshly baked, and we could not resist trying them out. They were so delicious that we had to try multiple flavors! Of all the flavors, I really liked the green matcha flavor best. However, the other flavors were also exceptional.
There were stores filled with weird stuff - plastic food, cheap toys, etc. I did not know who bought this stuff?
Getting tired, we returned back to our Hotel Rose Garden Shinjuku.
On the way there, we stopped by a small Ramen stall. We ordered a couple of bowls of ramen for Alex and me, using cash to order tickets from a vending machine (which I then handed off to the waitress). It was the first time I ordered restaurant dishes in this peculiar way.
At first, figuring out which Chinese character to press for the correct ramen combination was hard - as there were no English instructions on the vending machine. With the help of the waitress, I selected the right items. This automated vending machine is an efficient way to avoid having a full-time cashier. The ramen bowls were relatively inexpensive but of no noteworthy characteristics.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
After waking up, we ate breakfast at our hotel, In the Garden 135 restaurant. We had another delicious Japanese breakfast before heading off. This time, I tried hot black tea with milk; it was pretty tasty.
Our first major attraction of the day was the Senso-Ji Temple. It was highly recommended by all the guidebooks.
We took the metro there (using Google Maps to help navigate the complex network of Tokyo subway routes). On the way to the temple, we ran into crowds of people and lots of small shops selling numerous Japanese snacks.
We were curious about many of them and tried them out. There were also many vending machines everywhere, and we purchased some green tea (yeah!), which helped us on a hot, muggy Friday. (There were many days of hot, humid weather in Tokyo and Kyoto).
Senso-Ji was overrun with tourists (most of them Japanese). We enjoyed touring the temple and saw many Japanese women dressed in traditional kimono outfits.
We also saw a traditional Japanese wedding procession at the temple, which was different from what we have experienced in Western countries.
We tried a very delicious sweet bread with ice cream. There was a long line for it (a sign of something exceptional). We were treated to some tasty snacks. The sweet bread and ice cream were outstanding!
After finishing the temple, we visited the Tokyo National Museum. Established in 1872, Tokyo National is the oldest Japanese national museum, the largest art museum in Japan, and one of the largest art museums in the world.
We started in the central Japanese pavilion to look at ancient Japanese scrolls, samurai wardrobes, kimonos, and pottery.
Finishing with the Japanese pavilion, we headed to the Chinese pavilion, which housed a lot of mainland Chinese and some Egyptian artifacts.
There were many other pavilions to visit, but we were getting tired. We eventually decided to visit the nearby Nenzu-jinja Shrine.
Like many other shrines we visited later, this shrine had hundreds of orange gates beneath which one could walk.
We saw many dog owners taking their pets for a walk in the shrine and a few tourists wandering around.
There was the standard handwashing temple and a temple for praying. We explored the grounds for a bit.
From here, we walked toward a nearby park. There was a Hawaiian dance competition, but most people were leaving the park (as it was getting dark). There were also lots of Japanese kids playing baseball in a nearby park.
Finally, we decided to return to Shinjuku (near our hotel) and look for a local restaurant to eat dinner.
We decided to eat at the famous Eataly chain restaurant at the central Tokyo Station. Since discovering Eataly in New York City and Munich, Alex has been excited about dining there again. Since the Tokyo Station is so enormous, it took us a while to locate the Eataly restaurant. The Tokyo Eataly was much smaller than Eataly in Munich and New York City. Alex ordered his favorite "Margherita pizza" and really enjoyed it. After dinner, we sampled Eataly's many flavors of Italian gelato. The pistachio flavor did not taste as good as the other gelato flavors (we used to make our own gelato at home), but Alex was ecstatic.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
We spent most of our time in Kamakura, which I describe in a separate blog entry.
Getting a bit tired from our time in Kamakura, we returned by train to Tokyo and then took the metro to Shibuya to explore one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo - if not the world.
I couldn't believe the total number of people crossing the streets! It was truly stunning. We walked around the area, exploring the various stores and restaurants.
After some research using Yelp and Google, we settled on the well-rated Numazukou Sushi restaurant in the Shinjuku area nearby.
There was a long line to get in, but we managed to wait 40 minutes before finally being admitted.
This is a conveyor-belt restaurant with new plates of fresh sushi moving around. One is charged by the number and color of the plates. We tried many kinds of sushi - some exquisite and others less so. We ended up eating 16 plates of sushi! While I thought it was a lot, we saw many other customers eating more!
Finishing with sushi, we ran into Alfred's Tea Room at the Shinjuku Train station for iced Boba tea.
I decided to try the "Roasted Green Hojicha and Matcha Dream" for ¥750. It was really delicious!
The tea room was packed with young women drinking tea.
It was late - almost 22:00 - and most shops were closing. We decided to return to our Rose Garden Hotel in Shinjuku.
Monday, June 18, 2018
We had another delicious breakfast in the morning at our Rose Garden Shinjuku Hotel's restaurant - In the Garden 135.
Initially, I wanted to see Tokyo from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. Unfortunately, we arrived too early (it only opened at 09:30), so we decided to continue to the beautiful Koshikawa Korakuen Gardens instead. Next time we're in Tokyo, we plan to visit the Government building and take the accessible elevator to the top for a beautiful view of the Tokyo skyline.
We walked around the gardens, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the exquisitely manicured trees. There were moments of light drizzle but no heavy rain (despite the rainy weather forecast).
Finishing with the gardens, we decided to explore the Tokyo Dome.
We were initially focused on just visiting Spa LaQue, but we were pleasantly surprised by all the restaurants, shops, and amusement rides there.
On the way to Spa LaQua, we ran into an Italian-looking pizzeria - Pizzeria Mar-de Napoli. The plastic pizzas on display looked quite appetizing, so we had an early lunch. Plus, Pizzeria Mar-de Napoli advertised being a World winner of best pizza - so we had to try!
The first pizza was so delicious (even without tomato sauce) that we decided to try another DLC winner (now with tomato sauce).
The Margherita pizza with tomato sauce was out of this world! Alex was in heaven. After our delicious lunch, we walked around Tokyo Dome City, discovering many other quality restaurants and shops. Eventually, we decided to head to Spa LaQua.
Alex and I headed to the 6th floor for the leading spa. We put our shoes in a locker and disrobed. We were provided fresh linen pajamas for walking around in common areas.
Men and women had separate spa facilities, and we tried many different saunas (there were no steam rooms), various pools (some with mineral waters), and some outside (quite unique with rain coming down). There were not many cold pools (unfortunately). There were all conveniences for grooming (showers are done sitting down usually), with hairbrushes provided. Since Inna and I were in separate facilities, we decided to meet at the hour on the 5th floor, in the "Relaxation Lounge."
Inna decided to get a massage (massages were reasonably priced), and Alex and I relaxed (Alex tried some match ice cream). At some point, we decided to have a Japanese lunch.
It was a relaxing experience, sitting Japanese style, eating fresh sushi, and observing the roller-coaster nearby (it was not running as it was being repaired).
Since it was raining, we decided to head to the Mori Art Museum, which closed at 22:00. It took us a while to get there by metro. Finding the actual path there also took some time.
I did not realize that the actual museum was so high in the air. The view there was fabulous. Too bad that it was still raining.
After marveling at the Tokyo skyline, we walked around, seeing the city from all sides.
Eventually, we decided to see the Mori Art Museum hosting "Japan in Architecture: Genealogies of Its Transformation."
There were many attractive wooden designs of houses (but I was not allowed to take photos). The view of Tokyo was magnificent.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
After a quick breakfast at the Shinjuku Station, we boarded our first Shinkansen "bullet train" for our 2-hour train ride to Matsumoto (in Nagano, Japan). It was time to say goodbye to Tokyo. There was so much we saw and experienced, and yet so much that we missed. We hope to be back again soon.
Random Observations
The best time to visit Japan is in early April to see the cherry blossoms or in November to see fall colors. June is the start of the hot & muggy rainy season, so we were apprehensive about visiting Japan in June. However, June turned out well for us (or we lucked out). We only experienced a few rainy days.
It was Wednesday, June 13, and the beginning of our long trip to Japan. We woke up around 04:15, dressed, and ordered UberX to take us to the San Jose Airport for our 06:30 Flight #3311 aboard SkyWest (Alaska Airlines). We had an easy flight to Los Angeles, landing at 08:10 in Los Angeles (LAX). We ate breakfast, a small lunch at Border Grill, Degree Pizza, and then salads at Larder Tavern. The food was acceptable for airport food, but nothing to write home about.
We boarded the Japan Airlines JAL #061 Flight to Tokyo (Narita Airport) at 12:30 (with a scheduled 13:15 departure time). JAL was flying Boeing 777 wide-body airliners and provided numerous entertainment options. We mostly watched movies and did not sleep much at all. I watched The Greatest Showman (about the rise of Barnum & Bailey's Circus), Red Sparrow, and The Shape of Water. Of the three movies, I really enjoyed The Shape of Water. It was such an unusual movie (though it reminded me a bit of Splash!)
I really wanted to like The Greatest Showman but did not like the music (although I am an aficionado of Broadway musicals - this was not Chicago). Red Sparrow was overly silly and complicated to take seriously. I also tried to listen to my two Audible audiobooks on my iPhone 7 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson.
Aboard the JAL flight, we were offered dinner and breakfast (which surprised me, as I did not expect to be provided free meals). I ate a bit of both but developed a headache later in the flight. Both dinner and breakfast were definitely more Japanese-focused (compared to "normal" American/Western dishes).
Our Japan Airlines flight #061 landed on schedule on Thursday, June 14, at 16:50, at Tokyo's Narita airport. We picked up our bags and headed to the customs to show our passports. There were long lines for many passengers, but the customs/immigration line moved quickly, and we were quickly processed by Japanese immigration officials.
Before the trip, I pre-ordered a Pocket WiFi device from Global Advanced Communications for travel in Japan - so that Alex, Inna, and I could use our iPhones in Japan (up to 10 devices could be connected using WiFi). The device was ready and charged for me at the Japan Post Office on floor 3 of Terminal 2. The rental cost was ¥10,500, which is approximately $95 for 15 days of cellular service. Pocket WiFi uses LTE/4G towers throughout Japan. (For comparison, renting an iPhone SIM card costs USD 40 for 3 GB of data). For our 3 Apple iPhones, Pocket WiFi was cheaper and less restrictive. Before data throttling kicked in, it provided a much higher data usage allowance - up to 3 GB daily.
During our trip to Japan, we used 75 GB of data (and eventually ended up being throttled). However, Pocket WiFi was beneficial for placing calls to the United States (using AT&T call over WiFi feature), using Google Maps, watching YouTube, checking email, photo backup, etc. The battery on Pocket WiFi lasted about 10 hours (and I always carried a spare battery charger for my iPhones and Pocket WiFi, which I needed to use occasionally).
After picking up my Pocket WiFi at the Japanese Post Office in Terminal 2 (on the 3rd floor), I also stopped by one of the airport's ATMs to get ¥30,000 (about USD 300) for use in Tokyo since many restaurants and shops in Japan do not accept credit cards. This turned out to be entirely accurate. I often used ATMs - the ATMs in 7-Eleven were particularly lovely as they worked with my US Credit Union and had low withdrawal fees (¥212 =~ $1.95 ).
In addition to Pocket WiFi, I pre-ordered Japan Rail Passes from JTB USA. These passes needed to be exchanged for actual Japan Rail Passes. Once we found the JR East Office (near the train station), we waited in a short line and exchanged our American passes for Japanese passes (after showing our passports). We reserved a few train trips (to get assigned seats) but ran out of time to catch the next NEX Shuttle to Shinjuku in Tokyo. We did manage to reserve our final return trip from Kyoto to Narita Airport.
The Japan Rail passes came in handy, as they allowed travel without making train reservations in advance. These Japan Rail Passes were very expensive, and we spent $420 for 14-day passes per person. Since we were staying in Japan for 15 days, it would have been excellent for the Japan Rail passes to be available in smaller increments, but only 7-day, 14-day, and 21-day passes are allowed.
Since our Hotel Rose Garden Shinjuku was close to the Shinjuku train terminal, we ended up taking the Narita Express train (NEX) from Narita to Shinjuku at 18:53, arriving in Shinjuku at 19:50. From there, I used my iPhone's Google Maps (and the Pocket WiFi) to navigate us to our hotel, which was about 10-15 minutes away.
On Thursday evening, Tokyo was extremely busy, with crowds crossing the streets. We saw many open restaurants and some young kids studying (the Japanese school year runs from April to July 20 and resumes from September until December 25; the final terms start in January and complete in March).
Arriving at our hotel, we checked in, plugged in all our electronics to charge, and went to bed. (I brought 3 USA to Japan socket adapters - which came in handy. Japan uses a different plug and has a lower voltage 100V vs 115V in the USA). We were exhausted from all of the travel. We decided to skip dinner, as we were not hungry and slept.
Friday, June 15, 2018
In the morning, I woke up early (around 07:00 Tokyo time), took a shower (unique setup), and dressed. We ate breakfast at our hotel's restaurant, In the Garden 135, to save time.
Since this was our first time in Japan, we were unsure what to expect from a Japanese breakfast buffet. We were pleasantly surprised by our menu choices (and for a very reasonable price of ¥1,200 =~ $11.00 per person). In addition to Western dishes, such as eggs, there was rice, miso soup, various preparations of fish, etc. There were many unique items which we had never seen before. We enjoyed our breakfast more than expected (from a hotel restaurant).
After breakfast, we walked to the nearby Shinjuku metro/subway station and purchased 3 Pasmo cards for use on buses and subways throughout Japan. These cards worked everywhere: i.e., Tokyo Metro, Matsumoto, Kyoto, Kanazawa, and Osaka. Each time one uses the Pasmo card, the fare price is deducted from the balance stored in the card. Each card needed to be topped up, and there were machines in each subway that accepted Yen and could be easily topped up.
Our first significant attraction was the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. Getting there required the use of both subways and buses. We had no problems getting to the required Metro stop, but we could not find the required bus stop. Since the light rain turned into a heavy downpour, we hid behind trees and nearby buildings. I asked a policeman about the bus stop and quickly located the correct one. Thankfully, we brought all our rain gear, not all of the umbrellas!
We arrived at the Tsukiji Fish Market at around 10:30 (it only opens to the public at 11:00). There were already long lines for sushi restaurants, and we explored all the various stalls nearby. There were dozens of tiny sushi restaurants with limited seating nearby. Eventually, we decided to try the Shou Tsukiji Sushi restaurant, as the wait seemed more reasonable.
Inna selected the delicious-looking Roppou platter for ¥3,200, while I chose the ¥3,000 sushi platter. The tuna in my platter was out of this world delicious! Inna also loved her platter. It was the best sushi we have ever had anywhere! Even Alex, who was not very hungry, munched on Inna's sushi platter.
After finishing our sushi lunch, we headed to the nearby Hama-Rikyu Gardens. Although there were periods of short, light showers, they did not detract from the serene beauty of the gardens.
We strolled around the gardens, eventually stopping by a tea house to try Japanese Matcha tea.
Japanese Matcha tea is usually served in large bowls, with only a tiny portion. A small sweet snack is provided (and is eaten before drinking tea). To correctly drink Matcha tea for a Japanese tea ceremony, follow the following rules:
Bow your head while raising the bowl slightly, in a gesture of thanks. Turn the bowl clockwise twice in order to avoid its front and drink the tea to the last sip. Wipe the place where you drank from with your right thumb and index finger, and wipe your fingers with your packed paper.The Matcha tea was excellent, and we enjoyed the hospitality of the tea house.
After some time, we decided to visit the Ginza district before heading to the famous Akihabara (known for electronics and manga stores).
I stopped by a nearby Apple store in Ginza to replace a defective lightning port cable. The lightning cable cost me $21.52 ($19 in the US). While there, I was surprised by how packed the Apple store was with Japanese shoppers. Apple's iPhones are pretty popular in Japan, and I saw a lot of Japanese using them.
We also stopped by an LL Bean store to purchase a new raincoat for Inna (as hers was no longer waterproof), and we encountered pockets of rain during our trip (though mainly in Tokyo).
I am unfamiliar with Manga but was interested in seeing the latest Japanese electronics. Many electronics stores sold the latest Canon & Nikon cameras and built-to-order PCs. These reminded me a lot of Fry's Electronics stores in California. The same PC components, i.e., Intel processors, Nvidia-based graphics cards, and Samsung SSDs, were widely available.
While strolling around, we sampled some interesting Japanese street food and tested one kind - takoyaki. It was freshly prepared in front of our eyes (as most street food in Japan). Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter cooked in a specially molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.
Many young women dressed in manga outfits encourage passers-by to visit their stores. Many arcades were open and full of teenagers playing video games (Nintendo, etc.)
We strolled around, stopping in one store with elaborate dolls decorated in fancy costumes.
We found one of our favorite desserts in Akihabara - the "Pablo Mini" cheese tart. These cheese tarts were freshly baked, and we could not resist trying them out. They were so delicious that we had to try multiple flavors! Of all the flavors, I really liked the green matcha flavor best. However, the other flavors were also exceptional.
There were stores filled with weird stuff - plastic food, cheap toys, etc. I did not know who bought this stuff?
Getting tired, we returned back to our Hotel Rose Garden Shinjuku.
On the way there, we stopped by a small Ramen stall. We ordered a couple of bowls of ramen for Alex and me, using cash to order tickets from a vending machine (which I then handed off to the waitress). It was the first time I ordered restaurant dishes in this peculiar way.
At first, figuring out which Chinese character to press for the correct ramen combination was hard - as there were no English instructions on the vending machine. With the help of the waitress, I selected the right items. This automated vending machine is an efficient way to avoid having a full-time cashier. The ramen bowls were relatively inexpensive but of no noteworthy characteristics.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
After waking up, we ate breakfast at our hotel, In the Garden 135 restaurant. We had another delicious Japanese breakfast before heading off. This time, I tried hot black tea with milk; it was pretty tasty.
Our first major attraction of the day was the Senso-Ji Temple. It was highly recommended by all the guidebooks.
We took the metro there (using Google Maps to help navigate the complex network of Tokyo subway routes). On the way to the temple, we ran into crowds of people and lots of small shops selling numerous Japanese snacks.
We were curious about many of them and tried them out. There were also many vending machines everywhere, and we purchased some green tea (yeah!), which helped us on a hot, muggy Friday. (There were many days of hot, humid weather in Tokyo and Kyoto).
Senso-Ji was overrun with tourists (most of them Japanese). We enjoyed touring the temple and saw many Japanese women dressed in traditional kimono outfits.
We also saw a traditional Japanese wedding procession at the temple, which was different from what we have experienced in Western countries.
We tried a very delicious sweet bread with ice cream. There was a long line for it (a sign of something exceptional). We were treated to some tasty snacks. The sweet bread and ice cream were outstanding!
After finishing the temple, we visited the Tokyo National Museum. Established in 1872, Tokyo National is the oldest Japanese national museum, the largest art museum in Japan, and one of the largest art museums in the world.
We started in the central Japanese pavilion to look at ancient Japanese scrolls, samurai wardrobes, kimonos, and pottery.
Finishing with the Japanese pavilion, we headed to the Chinese pavilion, which housed a lot of mainland Chinese and some Egyptian artifacts.
There were many other pavilions to visit, but we were getting tired. We eventually decided to visit the nearby Nenzu-jinja Shrine.
Like many other shrines we visited later, this shrine had hundreds of orange gates beneath which one could walk.
We saw many dog owners taking their pets for a walk in the shrine and a few tourists wandering around.
There was the standard handwashing temple and a temple for praying. We explored the grounds for a bit.
From here, we walked toward a nearby park. There was a Hawaiian dance competition, but most people were leaving the park (as it was getting dark). There were also lots of Japanese kids playing baseball in a nearby park.
Finally, we decided to return to Shinjuku (near our hotel) and look for a local restaurant to eat dinner.
We decided to eat at the famous Eataly chain restaurant at the central Tokyo Station. Since discovering Eataly in New York City and Munich, Alex has been excited about dining there again. Since the Tokyo Station is so enormous, it took us a while to locate the Eataly restaurant. The Tokyo Eataly was much smaller than Eataly in Munich and New York City. Alex ordered his favorite "Margherita pizza" and really enjoyed it. After dinner, we sampled Eataly's many flavors of Italian gelato. The pistachio flavor did not taste as good as the other gelato flavors (we used to make our own gelato at home), but Alex was ecstatic.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
We spent most of our time in Kamakura, which I describe in a separate blog entry.
Getting a bit tired from our time in Kamakura, we returned by train to Tokyo and then took the metro to Shibuya to explore one of the busiest intersections in Tokyo - if not the world.
I couldn't believe the total number of people crossing the streets! It was truly stunning. We walked around the area, exploring the various stores and restaurants.
After some research using Yelp and Google, we settled on the well-rated Numazukou Sushi restaurant in the Shinjuku area nearby.
There was a long line to get in, but we managed to wait 40 minutes before finally being admitted.
This is a conveyor-belt restaurant with new plates of fresh sushi moving around. One is charged by the number and color of the plates. We tried many kinds of sushi - some exquisite and others less so. We ended up eating 16 plates of sushi! While I thought it was a lot, we saw many other customers eating more!
Finishing with sushi, we ran into Alfred's Tea Room at the Shinjuku Train station for iced Boba tea.
I decided to try the "Roasted Green Hojicha and Matcha Dream" for ¥750. It was really delicious!
The tea room was packed with young women drinking tea.
It was late - almost 22:00 - and most shops were closing. We decided to return to our Rose Garden Hotel in Shinjuku.
Monday, June 18, 2018
We had another delicious breakfast in the morning at our Rose Garden Shinjuku Hotel's restaurant - In the Garden 135.
Initially, I wanted to see Tokyo from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. Unfortunately, we arrived too early (it only opened at 09:30), so we decided to continue to the beautiful Koshikawa Korakuen Gardens instead. Next time we're in Tokyo, we plan to visit the Government building and take the accessible elevator to the top for a beautiful view of the Tokyo skyline.
We walked around the gardens, enjoying the beautiful scenery and the exquisitely manicured trees. There were moments of light drizzle but no heavy rain (despite the rainy weather forecast).
Finishing with the gardens, we decided to explore the Tokyo Dome.
We were initially focused on just visiting Spa LaQue, but we were pleasantly surprised by all the restaurants, shops, and amusement rides there.
On the way to Spa LaQua, we ran into an Italian-looking pizzeria - Pizzeria Mar-de Napoli. The plastic pizzas on display looked quite appetizing, so we had an early lunch. Plus, Pizzeria Mar-de Napoli advertised being a World winner of best pizza - so we had to try!
The first pizza was so delicious (even without tomato sauce) that we decided to try another DLC winner (now with tomato sauce).
The Margherita pizza with tomato sauce was out of this world! Alex was in heaven. After our delicious lunch, we walked around Tokyo Dome City, discovering many other quality restaurants and shops. Eventually, we decided to head to Spa LaQua.
Alex and I headed to the 6th floor for the leading spa. We put our shoes in a locker and disrobed. We were provided fresh linen pajamas for walking around in common areas.
Men and women had separate spa facilities, and we tried many different saunas (there were no steam rooms), various pools (some with mineral waters), and some outside (quite unique with rain coming down). There were not many cold pools (unfortunately). There were all conveniences for grooming (showers are done sitting down usually), with hairbrushes provided. Since Inna and I were in separate facilities, we decided to meet at the hour on the 5th floor, in the "Relaxation Lounge."
Inna decided to get a massage (massages were reasonably priced), and Alex and I relaxed (Alex tried some match ice cream). At some point, we decided to have a Japanese lunch.
It was a relaxing experience, sitting Japanese style, eating fresh sushi, and observing the roller-coaster nearby (it was not running as it was being repaired).
Since it was raining, we decided to head to the Mori Art Museum, which closed at 22:00. It took us a while to get there by metro. Finding the actual path there also took some time.
I did not realize that the actual museum was so high in the air. The view there was fabulous. Too bad that it was still raining.
After marveling at the Tokyo skyline, we walked around, seeing the city from all sides.
Eventually, we decided to see the Mori Art Museum hosting "Japan in Architecture: Genealogies of Its Transformation."
There were many attractive wooden designs of houses (but I was not allowed to take photos). The view of Tokyo was magnificent.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
After a quick breakfast at the Shinjuku Station, we boarded our first Shinkansen "bullet train" for our 2-hour train ride to Matsumoto (in Nagano, Japan). It was time to say goodbye to Tokyo. There was so much we saw and experienced, and yet so much that we missed. We hope to be back again soon.
Random Observations
- I've been to many large cities (New York City, Rome, London, Paris), but Tokyo is the largest city I've ever visited
- For a vast city, Tokyo is extremely clean. (I don't recall any large city being so clean)
- Public bathrooms are clean, accessible, and spotless
- Subways are very complicated but are fast and efficient. They can get very crowded during rush hour, but stay very quiet.
- Buses work very well, but many announcements are usually in Japanese only (need working Google Maps to figure out where to get off)
- One is not allowed to download Google Maps before arriving in Japan. For most European countries, I pre-download maps before arrival (to avoid using cellular or WiFi for navigation). This is not possible for Japan.
- Like in England, cars drive on the left side of the road
- Taxis are reasonably priced, clean, and efficient. I never needed to use UberX.
- The A/C plug runs on 100V - not 115V like in the USA (Japanese to US adapters are required)
- In a high-technology country, Japanese restaurants rarely accept credit cards. Cash was required everywhere (even in the metro when re-loading Pasmo cards for public transportation)
- Separate slippers are required for going to the restroom. This was true in hotels and bathhouses. These slippers stay in the bathroom and are not to be taken out of the bathroom.
- WiFi was rarely free and usually unreliable. I was glad to have my Pocket WiFi with me.
- Numerous restaurants and street food vendors sell freshly made snacks - never need to go more than a block for a delicious treat.
- Most restaurant reviews on Yelp and Google are useless. Thankfully, most Japanese restaurants have such high standards for fresh ingredients, cooking, and presentation that restaurant recommendations are rarely needed.
- There are vending machines on every corner. At first, I thought this was odd, but I later appreciated this convenience, as I did not need to carry water anywhere. I could always count on a vending machine around the corner selling my favorite green tea.
- Japanese men and women dress more formally (than in California) and are generally better dressed than Americans in New York City.
- Japanese women look pretty pale; they make a serious effort to avoid afternoon sunlight (they use umbrellas on sunny days to prevent unnecessary sun skin damage)
- Department stores are full of helpful salespeople who are eager to help
- Most Japanese are not fluent in English but understand a few key phrases and words
- Ordering food is not overly complicated, especially when plastic models are displayed. Besides, restaurant menus with photos of food are shown every day.
- Heated seats with multiple spray nozzles are standard in most Japanese bathrooms. The instructions are usually in Japanese (which makes operation mostly trial and error)
- Food portions in most restaurants are modest - except for Ramen
- Since tipping is frowned upon, eating out costs were very reasonable. For Ramen, we could eat dinner for $8 per person. For sushi, $20 per person was usually sufficient. We never had fresher or better quality food than in Japan.
- Grocery stores have a vast variety of Green teas but few cheeses.
0 comments:
Post a Comment