To deal with jet lag, we decided to have a short afternoon nap after our Asakusa outings. Good intention but we fell asleep until 10:30 pm. Now hungry and looking for food in an unfamiliar place after 11:00 pm. We thought of the train station since train service runs until or shortly after midnight. Wrong! Cafes and restaurants there close between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm. There are some that close later but not where we were. What to do? what to do?…
For convenience, we decided to stay in Japanese apartment hotel near the UENO station because there is a direct train (Skyliner Express) from Narita Airport to the station. Belly full from meals pre-flight and in-flight, we settle in for the night. Next day, we went to Denny’s, our go-to-place if we didn’t have time to look around. Our safety net. The menu here is geared towards Japanese taste, although the usual Western fare is available. And food in Japan is…
It is good to be back in Japan. Back to things we miss and look forward to: self-flushing washlet (high tech toilet) with seat warming, anal hygiene, bidet washing, and deodorizations; Shinkansen (high speed train); depachika (departmental basement food hall); Japanese hotel breakfast buffet; efficient and clean public transportation; Suica card; cherry blossoms; Mt. Fuji; Japanese gardens. And we hope to discover new ones… SUICA is a prepaid rechargeable contactless smart card (electronic money) used as a fare card for most transportation…
We didn’t expect much because we were using Air Canada for our all Transpacific flights for this trip. No Asian airlines this time. There is often some trepidation using AC because they aren’t consistent when it comes to their food and services. In addition, we were too tired to be excited, having less than three-hour sleep before our early morning departure to Vancouver. Are we mentally or physically ready for this trip? Can we do it? Getting good food put…
Some components of the trip may be modified as we go. Stay tuned!
We flew out on New Year’s Day to Victoria to get a taste of winter on the west coast. We were told to expect gray skies and soak-in weather with overhanging clouds for days. Gloom is the word. Bleak is another word that comes to mind. So that is our expectation, or at least our assumption. We finally checked in at 4 pm after a visit to our addiction, Whole Foods Market (or affectionately known as whole pay check market)….
We are going to miss this one—self-warming seat, warm water from bidet spray, self-flushing, self-deodorizer—what a treat to have especially in winter. Here are photos of our friend from Japan.
Every place has its beauty and flaws. How we as tourists perceive a place depends on many factors—weather at that moment, the environment, its people, the place we stay (accommodation), where we go (attractions), time of the year, how we feel (mental, physical and/or emotion)—sometimes we come away being either too complimentarily or too critical. Often, tourists put the exotics into a place especially when they are in a tour group. We were able to sit back and watch the…
What a difference between Tokyo and Kyoto—the change of pace is evident once one is out of the Kyoto Station and the small downtown Kyoto areas. It does not have the pace of Tokyo and shops close early, some starting at 6 pm. Kyoto’s 1.5 million people must be overwhelmed by the masses of tourists at certain time of the year. We felt the difference in the number of tourists once the cherry blossom season is over. No matter—one can…
With 38 million people living in Tokyo (30% of Japan’s population), the world’s most populated city feels like it never sleeps and is in constant motion—an undercurrent of adrenaline rush. It is a shock to the system from where we come from and it takes a few days to adjust especially when using the subway system. It is good to experience the pulse of other cities and places—we become too insular if we stay too long in our little corner…