Japan Day-by-day
Flights over:
- ABQ to IAH
- Neighbor guy was very excited about his trip to meet his "girlfriend" courtesy of foreignladies.com
- A lot of turbulence, but made it okay
- IAH to MCI
- Taco for meal at IAH
- Sent a few messages to family in the area to say hi
- Neighbor from Mexico recently was out in San Francisco
- Across the aisle a librarian of 31 years for the KC School district
- Mellow landing
- MCI to SFO
- Auto kiosks for ticketing were off until 04:00 CST
- Installed updates on my laptop
- Found working power outlet under a water fountain & across from the United ticket counter
- Thankfully, one store was open 24 hours, grabbed a chicken pesto Panini
- Charged my devices, and watched my stories
- Free upgrade to 1st class on the plane
- Slept through nearly everything
- SFO to NRT
- Ate "breakfast" croissant
- Bought my dad his requested liquor, but it wouldn't fit in my packed carry-on
- Plenty of room on the plane though (thankfully)
- A lot of newer movies & some games
- Full meal nearly immediately after takeoff
- Only a 10.5 hour flight
- Custom forms were "fun"
- At least 10 stewardesses
- About 1.5 hours from NRT we got fed again
- Day 1
- Walked to Hotel from Ueno, with only a minor hiccup (construction confusion)
- Taiyaki stop en route to dinner
- Nice art gallery, friend grabbed some postcards
- Found some $150 computers
- Went to Yodobashi Camera Akiba
- Bought a new Nikon camera, and the battery was already fully charged
- Shabu Shabu was different, but still good
- Sent detailed directions from landing to Ueno to hotel for Wohlford
- Day 2
- Just in time for breakfast
- Walked to Ueno
- Browsed at the traditional sweet shop on the way
- saw several "clubs" en route too
- Went to Japan Sword
- perused the museum upstairs
- bought a practice pair of swords and stand
- bought a book about tsuba (hand guard) art
- got a free tenugui (long cloth)
- Stopped at a nearby shrine
- Walked back from Suehirocho station
- Dropped off swords/other in the room
- Taiyaki en route to lunch
- Ramen for lunch
- Wandered around Akihabara (Akiba)
- McMillan bought the nicer camera the lady tried to sell me the day before
- Figure stores galore perused
- Played a Final Fantasy game in the arcades (got our Arcade cards)
- Played a shooting game
- Dinner at Lawsons (convenience store)
- Day 3
- Nearly missed breakfast (again)
- Went to Comiket
- All ads on the train were for Otamart
- Nearly all on day one of Comiket was BL
- Bought a guide though where we found out about the better days to attend
- Yakitori for "lunch" at 14:00
- Went to "Docks" shopping area on Odaiba
- Neighborhood Ramen/Noodle shop for dinner with a Taiyaki stop beforehand
- Other friend delayed at least 3 hours
- Day 4
- Tsukiji
- Found good knives, but you definitely paid for them
- grabbed a pink/white fish paste roll
- not nearly as bad as last time
- too many tourists not even buying anything
- Yoshinobu for lunch, which is an unagi chain store (eel)
- Comiket again
- Wohlford already had blisters on his feet and moved VERY slowly
- closed before we got to the area that was really interesting that day
- Maidreamin
- Free idol show from the last visit
- Made Wohlford get all 3 pictures
- just missed last call for food orders
- PayPal taking care of hotel monies
- Sushi at Ueno Station for dinner
- Day 5
- Missed breakfast (found out if tablet is shutoff the alarm doesn't actually auto start)
- Had meat buns instead
- Zojoji temple
- takoyaki
- bought Hello Kitty masks
- Jizou status trail
- Tokyo Tower
- Went to wrong station (my mistake in old directions was a letter off on the station)
- We walked quite a ways (over 30 minutes)
- found some nice shots
- went to both levels
- got some souvenirs
- Crepes were had out front
- Skipped Sengakuji temple
- Sky Tree
- Eel place for dinner
- Yushima shrine at midnight
- Lost Wohlford, enjoyed some takoyaki though, and found him before we left
- Day 6
- Hard to get the boys up after the late night at the shrine
- at Tansuya got a nice coat to wear with my kimono from last trip
- Sensoji Temple
- enjoyed several shops in the area
- boys got some Good fortunes
- I got a minor bad one - can't get married this year
- We all tied them to the post
- Found Geta & Zori shoes in my size
- Ueno Park
- went to the hilltop shrine
- skipped going into the shrine in the middle of the pond
- foreigners kept feeding the birds, right in front of the don't feed the birds signs
- Zigzagged back to the hotel to avoid > 10 blocks of the line to the Yushima Shrine
- Akihabara
- Wohlford got Kelliker a present
- Kyoei Sport was closed
- at Shosen book store, we all bought a few books
- Had all but one of the remaining JLPT practice exam books
- Nadeshiko Sushi was delicious
- Yodobashi Camera
- Got last needed JLPT practice exam book
- Totoro gifts
- Day 7
- Emperor visit
- Wohlford picked up a chick for the duration
- Emperor still didn't answer when I said "wassup"
- Meiji Jingu Shrine
- Surprisingly quiet near Harajuku
- Harajuku
- Almost missed Kiddyland's Hello Kitty level
- Oriental Bazaar was closed
- at Condomania Wohlford got condoms
- Still no kimono for Wohlford's mom
- Delicious food stalls
- Akiba
- Wohlford scored another fukubukuro (lucky bag)
- Got a Nexus 7 for < $80
- Arcade fun
- found can only use RFID card on one machine at a time (no sneaking extra points)
- Day 8
- Mitsubashi Mae Station
- Tomoya Wakai traditional instruments and harp playing
- Tailor would take through February to make a suit
- Missed Kabuki by 15 minutes
- Laundry day
- Taiyaki for pre-dinner & dessert
- Jonathan's for dinner
- Beef Stew Omelette rice
- All-you-can-drink bar (soft drinks)
- Day 9
- went to Tokyo station
- Got our JR pass (in a very hot room)
- Rode a Shinkasen to Shin-Osaka
- which was faster than the Google guessed
- Got to Koyasan after dark
- Last cable car up for the night
- Thankfully found an open temple with a room
- Too late for dinner though
- Wohlford extra snoring
- Nice Kotatsu in the room though
- Day 10
- Morning meditation for about 1.5 hours
- breakfast in our room (though there was a sign for the breakfast room near the meditation room)
- Went through Okunoin
- vast graveyard
- Rode bus back to cable car station with several large bag-carrying Aussies blocking the aisles
- Made it to Kobe
- Had steak at A-1
- very tasty
- not too expensive (~$140 for 3 meals and 1 drink)
- Capsule Hotel
- HUGE bath
- Large Manga collection & several PCs upstairs
- Vagabond by Inoue Takehito was written down for future reference on a good looking manga
- Day 11
- Hiroshima
- Early morning Shinkansen
- Castle (restored) museum
- Parks
- A-Bomb Dome
- Nuclear museum (very depressing)
- Miyajima
- Torii in the water
- not buried, but stands on its own weight
- Anago for dinner (sea eel)
- Very nice owner of dinning and hotel store
- Went through shrine
- Kyoto via Shinkansen
- Hotel Westin 3 beds @ 23:00 JST
- Only 3 nights available at a great price
- Used card, but couldn't swing the ANA bonus points
- Tried to get a Starwood account to sneak them post-checkin
- Day 12
- Kyoto
- Went to Nat'l Art museum
- swords up close was a 60 minute wait
- Pottery
- Clothing
- Monkey exhibits (year of the monkey)
- Mister donut for breakfast
- Okonomiyaki for lunch
- Manga museum
- tons of manga available for reading
- few exhibits
- Kyoto Yodobashi for dinner
- Noodle shop
- Had some kids books for sale
- A few of the elementary books looked harder than JLPT5
- Day 13
- Kyoto
- Bamboo forest
- Wohlford got a kimono for his mom
- McMillan got fabric owls & bamboo shop owl for his grandma
- lots of traditional shops/goods
- breakfast across in the station
- lunch are near long hike through park
- had takoyaki, ramune and crepe
- stopped back at hotel
- dinner at mall across street
- Ramen
- Got Hip-Hop CD & Phone charm
- Got sword keyring for brother
- Got nice fan with Falcon
- Day 14
- Had to check out of nice hotel
- Omurice for breakfast
- Went to the Inari Shrine
- climbed up to the summit via back way with a waterfall
- climbed down via steps with a lot of people
- Giant serving of Yakisoba for lunch
- went to Goin district, but most shops were closed
- Unagi set for dinner
- Stayed at Ryokan/capsule hotel
- amazing English at front desk
- basically a 1K apartment with foldable foam mattresses
- Day 15
- Tried to stop by traditional food shop recommended by front desk, but it didn't have breakfast
- Mister Donut self-service at the station though
- Killed some time in a bookstore
- bought Shinsengumi book
- Shinkansen to JR lines to Fuji city
- lunch at one of a few open spots in town
- Then to normal Mt. Fuji station
- Walked to Wohlford's "shot"
- JR back to Ueno
- Walked through park back to hotel
- Dinner at the noodle place
- Taiyaki stops before and after
- Laundry
- Day 16
- Ikebukuro wandering
- Stopped at #1 Ramen shop for lunch
- 60 minute wait in line
- Akiba wandering
- found used item store
- bought Balman some sake
- Nadeshico sushi round 2
- Day 17
- Japan Sword round 2
- Joypolis
- Indoor amusement park
- Korean BBQ for lunch
- Akiba to get a tablet for Wohlford
- Split up for dinner
- Random noodle shop en route to hotel
- taiyaki of course too
- Wohlford had McDonald's
- Day 18
- Kabuki
- bento with onigiri for lunch
- two great older ladies were beside me
- Recharged Pasmo 2,000 yen, already had done another 1,000 yen previously
- Afternoon (17:00) Akiba
- No luck on laptop
- lost & found Wohlford
- Dinner at Yodobashi
- Had a whole ika (squid)
- Day 19
- Found out I couldn't mail liquor
- Tokyo Dome City
- Skipped the festival of food
- Did Roller-coaster (Thunder Dolphin)
- Sushi for lunch
- Crepes afterwards
- Jump store was lackluster this time
- Akiba
- Got laptop
- Ueno wandering for dinner
- Okonomiyaki eventually
- Wohlford walked through "yellow light" district
- Found couldn't get 5 tickets to Ghibli museum
- Day 20
- Mailed our swords back home
- Met Matty & Elizabeth for lunch
- Tokyo station Ramen
- Slightly better Jump store
- Another Totoro item
- Went to Harajuku again
- Oriental Bazaar was open
- Kiddyland
- 100 yen store
- Origami "museum"
- Taiyaki
- Shinjuku for dinner with Matty & Elizabeth
- HUGE station caused some issues
- Matty stopped by for a few drinks with Wohlford
- Almost missed the last train back to Shinjuku
- Day 21
- Later start (forgot about alarm again)
- Went to Sky Tree
- McMillan grabbed another candy art to take back
- Stopped at Art Gallery again
- Grabbed ~$80 laptop for my brother
- Ramen for dinner
- Boys went to arcade, while I did laundry & relaxed
- Day 22
- Heading to Sumo put another 1,000 yen on the Pasmo
- Gen Admin were sold out
- Went next door to the Edo-Tokyo museum
- lunch on the 7th floor at nearly 15:00
- Wohlford split ways after lunch and didn't finish museum
- finished museum after lunch
- tried and failed to get to pawn shop (it was closed)
- Back to Akiba
- McMillan got some figures
- Went to Sengoku Cafe for dinnner
- Dude next to us spent over $100 by himself (our combined bill was less than $60)
- Last day
- Sleet/Snow/Rain
- Went to a couple game shops
- including Retro Game
- Met Matty at Ueno for final Ramen lunch
- Went back to hotel to get bags
- Wohlford was powering through and we lost him
- he ended up on a faster/more expensive train ride back
- our train had some delays, but saved us a few dollars
- Met up with Wohlford at the gate for the flight
- NRT to ORD
- GREAT ANA flight
- Enjoyed 2 Japanese & 2 Bollywood movies, plus the food
- ORD to MCI
- Customs wasn't as bad as last time
- neither was security
- Changed clothes & socks
- Grabbed snack
- ended up on a partner/partner tiny plane and had to check carry-ons
- Stewardess was too large to fit down aisle without bumping everyone in an aisle seat
- MCI to DFW
- TSA checked our big checked bags messing up all the packing
- I had a 9 hour layover before ticket gate opened, as it closed 10 minutes before we landed
- Rearranged checked bag
- Tested new laptop
- Went through work emails
- Played new games on the Nexus 7
- Chatted with Matty & more
- DFW to ABQ
- Grabbed a snack, that I ended up finishing on the plane
- Slept from takeoff to landing
posted by Ev|Gen|us at 23:36
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