Throughout our travels in Japan, we had constantly been making and discussing plans for when the next time will be that we come back. We absolutely loved this country, and plan to spend much time in our futures visiting here. Japan is such an exciting place, lots of energy, but not in an out of control chaotic sort of way that we experienced in Bangkok. Everything is very clean, people are quite friendly, speak little English and all the menus are completely, 100% in Japanese. We couldn’t get enough of the food in the country, and our waist sizes will certainly be a testament to that.
Highs/Best Moments: First night in Shinjuku getting a feel for the town with Shane and Asuko; realization that this country isn’t near as expensive as we thought it would be; amazing view from the Park Hotel; our first sushi experience in Ginza; hanging out with Yuki; braving the Japanese Shabu Shabu restaurant in Kyoto; wandering around Kyoto and seeing the cherry blossoms starting to bloom; feeding the monkey’s in Arashiyama, Kyoto; New Otani Hotel; day trip to Nara, especially feeding the deer; Ferris wheel in Kobe’s Harbourland; wandering around Kitano area in Kobe; Passover Seder in Tokyo; ALL of the FOOD, especially the bakery shops and breads; experiencing the surreal sensation of being surrounded by the snowing cherry blossoms in Chidori-ga-fuchi National Garden; KARAOKE; dinner at Suji’s with the gang
Lows/Worst Moments: Not being able to take money out of most ATM’s b/c of our American atm card non-compatibility with most Japanese atm’s; lack of communication with locals, especially when needing directions or help; desperation in trying to book a hotel room in Osaka, which turned out well; 4 hours of searching for an ATM in Kobe, since we used all our cash to pay for our train tickets; sake hangover in Tokyo; taking way too many subways to get to the Shin-Kobe Station that was actually a 5 minute walk away; no English menus or pictures in restaurants; getting absolutely drenched in a down pour while viewing the cherry blossoms in Chidori-ga-fuchi National Garden
Sights: Stylishly dressed people; knee high socks and boots on women and pin-striped suits on men; subways; trains; neon lighted signs at night; cherry blossoms in bloom; temples, shrines, palaces and parks; people texting all the time from their phones; bakeries filled with every delectable you could imagine; mega-malls; umbrellas; bean pastes and jellies; vending machines
Food and Drink: pastries and breads; rice; udon, miso, nebeyaki and soba soups; bento boxes; sushi; teppanyaki; Shabu Shabu; mochi balls and mochi candies; okonomiyaki (Japanese pizza);sake; really good shochu (Japanese-like whisky); red wine at Gin-note; champagne at NY Champagne and Cigar bar; kaiseki (Japanese multi-course feast) in Kobe looking out onto the Harbourlands ; hot coffee drinks from vending machines; men reading manga (comic books) on the subways
Favorites:
Accommodations: Park Hotel in Tokyo; New Otani in Osaka
Food: sushi everywhere; breads and pastries especially parmesan loaf from Royal Park hotel!!!! red bean paste in dumplings and breads
Restaurants: Gin-note in Osaka; Shabu Shabu in Kyoto; Okonomiyaki with Yuki in Tokyo;
Drink: Japanese beers on tap instead of in bottles; Japanese Shochu verses Korean Soju; red wine at Gin-note; canned hot coffee drinks from vending machines
Activities: figuring out the subway system – both frustrating and fun at the same time; wandering through different parks and looking for the Cherry blossoms; feeding the monkeys in Arashiyama ( 嵐山 ) and feeding the deer in Nara Park; exploring many of the temples and shrines, especially Todai-ji in Nara Park;
Internet Connections: Wonderful everywhere!
Least Favorites:
Towns: If we had to choose one, it would be Osaka, since compared to every other town this felt less unique, but that’s only if we HAD to choose one.
Accommodations: Chisun Hotel in Kobe
Food: Weird Sushi roll in Caretta building.
Restaurants: Repeat lunch place in the Caretta building in Tokyo that 2nd time around wasn’t that good – they served us a sushi roll that had a very pungent smelling I think paste inside, with a very weird texture, that actually got me gaggy; tekka-don in Yokohana with strange liquid poured over rice
Drink: cheap sake
Activities: trying to figure out where the heck we’re going on the subways
Internet Connections: Tokyo Kyotu Hotel (even though it was a good connection), only b/c they actually charged us for it for the first 2 nights to use it – everywhere else the internet seems pretty standard to be included
Currency & Exchange Rate: 1 US Dollar = 119 Japanese Yen
