Category: Japan

Aaaaaaat laaaaaaaaassssssst….

This blooooog is almost doooonneee….

And then I have to go and finish writing all the other unfinished trips… But let’s go one step at a time.

On my last day in Japan, Chris woke up early again to head into work. Our quality time was limited, indeed. He’d actually tried to get a day off to hang out, but when he asked his manager, his response was, “No. And you’d better not be late tomorrow.” Yikes.

After a sleepy hug goodbye, I was on my own once again. I dozed a while before managing to scramble up and figure out some sort of plan for the day. Once again, I did my best to dress conservatively without risking overheating, and then I soaked in the view from Chris’s apartment.

My flight was in the afternoon, so I didn’t have too much time, but I like to cut it close, so my first stop was fluffy pancakes in the city!

It was worth the trek. So fluffy. So delicious.

After pancakes, I probably should have called it a day, but nah. I wanted to see some views from up top. I headed over to an office building with free access to a panoramic top floor, where I hoped to catch a glimpse of Mt. Fuji. Before heading up, though, I stopped to peruse a calligraphy and photography installation on the ground floor. When I exited, I was asked to sign the guest book, and I was one of the only names who signed horizontally. I really need to practice writing my Chinese name….

Cutting it ever closer to my departure time, I hit the elevators, and the view from the top did not disappoint!

Such panoramic.

No Fuji, though. (It would be right behind those twin buildings in the above photo.) I wasn’t too surprised. Apparently it is rarely visible due to fog and smog, though due to improvements in air quality, visibility is much higher now than it used to be. Still got a lovely view, and I snapped a pic in front of a fake Mt. Fuji just for kicks.

Now, here’s where the real fiasco begins. There are so many different trains and busses that go to the airport, but I wanted to take the train that was free under my Japan Rail pass, of course. I had to take a subway to get to the departure station, and though I had had little to no issues navigating the trains thus far, this particular train was very poorly labeled and had multiple stations along the line with similar names, so the fifteen minute ride to the station ended up taking over 45 minutes because I kept having to get off, transfer, or turn around. It was so frustrating.

Then it got worse. The (ridiculous) issue with the JR train to the airport is that you must reserve a seat to ride this train, and I was unaware of this until I reached the platform. The train was scheduled to depart in ten minutes, and in order to book a seat, you had to visit an in-person ticketing agent. The machines, for some reason, were incapable of selecting seats for JR pass holders and would only work for people buying a full-priced, standard ticket.

So then I had to run like a madman through the train station to find the ticketing office, only to find a line forty-people long. There was just no way I would catch this train, and the next one was in half an hour or something. I was so frazzled at this point, but my phone directed me to another option, so I hopped on the first of two trains and was off in a flash.

When I reached the station for the second train, though, I learned that this train was not covered under my rail pass, and I had just missed the last train. So I ended up arriving at the airport at the same time as I would have if I’d stood in line at the JR ticket office, except I was out another thirty dollars. Ugh.

I was stressed the whole ride to the airport, but there was nothing else I could do at that point. In the end, I made it to the airport safely, and security was a breeze. I wish I could have gone back in time and told myself to calm the heck down, but what can you do?

As a reward for all my troubles, Japan Airlines blessed me with an exit row window seat directly behind the bathrooms with nobody in front of me. I basically had unlimited legroom.

The sun was setting as we prepared for takeoff, and I was almost immediately served a tiny bottle of white wine and a glass of iced plum wine. Winning.

Dinner was also delightful.

Some hours later, I got to witness a beautiful sunrise while snacking on breakfast/ lunch.

Mmmmm icy window.

And then I got a lovely view of the Canadian Cascades!

I flew round trip from Vancouver to Tokyo to save those moneys, so I spent the next half of this very long day wandering the Vancouver Public Library. 

    

Highly recommend the views from the top!

I rounded the day off with a slice of my favorite cake from my favorite patisserie in the whole wide world.

And then I snoozed for the long bus ride back down to Seattle. I got home around 11 at night and had a job interview the next morning, and that’s all she wrote! Now I’m a working stiff again.

Sadly, this concludes the saga of my 2019 Funemployment, but have no fear; I have plenty of Scottish, French, and Portuguese stories left to tell! Stick around and journey with me on this crazy ride back in time. Until then,

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

Day four in Kyoto was chalked up as my last day on the west. The rest of the group was headed to Arishiyama, and since I’d already visited on Day Two, I was on my own!

We started our day off with another delicious breakfast at our hostel.

Seriously. Breakfast buffets quickly upgrade “okay” hostels to “good” hostels and “good” hostels to “I’m definitely staying here again next time” hostels.

I packed up my stuff and bid the group farewell before heading to my first stop: Nishiki, another covered shopping street. This one is famous for all of its kitchen supply shops, so I figured I’d better check it out despite being kind of tired of shopping.

I managed to pick up some fun little kitchen trinkets and a little sauce dish that I actually use to hold jewelry on my bedside table, but I also gawked a bit at some of the food options including barbecued sparrows and these famous, tiny candied octopus skewers:

On my way to another temple, I passed by several large, open pathways into a temple with zen gardens and could not resist a wander. I had happened upon Kenninji, a large Buddhist temple with sprawling grounds.

Now, when I say I only “happened upon” Kenninji, I mean that this temple was luckily right on my path from Nishiki to my next destination: Kongoji Temple.

I passed by this temple earlier in my Kyoto stay just as it was closing, and I saw an older woman hurriedly opening the gate and rushing people out before slamming the door again. This obviously piqued my interest, not least because I managed to peek some very colorful hanging balls within the temple gates. Because I didn’t catch the name of the temple and had found it originally by wandering I simply Googled “colorful balls Kyoto” and solved the mystery!

This temple was a thirty minute walk from my hostel, so I spent a lot of time trying to decide whether to return, but I’m so glad I did!

Worshipers here can write a wish on one of these colorful balls, called a “kukurizaru,” and then hang it at the temple in hopes that it will come true.

It’s honestly so silly to look back on this day and all the things I did considering I was trying to get back to Yokohama around dinner time…. (Spoiler: it didn’t happen.)

After prying myself from the happiness and color of Kongoji, I wandered north and wound up being pulled in by Chion-in Temple. The main temple buildings were under construction, but that didn’t stop me from climbing the massive front steps to get a lovely view from both sides of the giant temple gate.

On my first day in Kyoto, when I had a small busing fiasco, I ended up missing a spot that I wasn’t sure I would get back to: Heian Shrine. But, like I said, this day was already going way off track, so I decided to make the detour way up north to the massive torii gate that marks the shrine.

Here’s where I had an unexpected adventure. There was a 7-11 outside the shrine, so I popped in for a bite to eat. I was tempted by this sangria, but I settled for a lunch box and a pack of custard buns.

I think I’ve mentioned this already, but people don’t seem to ever eat out in the street. I think it’s generally frowned upon as rude, but I learned there’s a practicality behind it, too! As I was walking to the shrine and finishing up my first custard bun, debating whether to eat another, A HAWK swooped down from behind me, grabbed the package with both sets of talons, and flew away without ever missing a beat!

A HAWK, GUYS. A HAWK STOLE MY CUSTARD BUNS.

I was so flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I turned to a couple behind me to verify that I wasn’t going crazy, but all I could get out was, “He took….” Their awed expressions confirmed that I was indeed, sane, and the woman responded with, “Sugoi!” (I’d always thought this was a Korean word because I had most often heard it from a Korean friend, Cody, but my Japanese friend Chris informed me that was just Cody making fun of him… Hahaha. It means, “Wow!” Or, “Amazing!”) 

But anyway. After a few rounds of deep breaths and a call back home to tell my mom how crazy my life is, I continued into the Heian Shrine. 

So big! So vast! So vermilion! (That means orange.)

Next, I ventured over to Kinkakuji, or the Golden Pavilion. Katie and I tried to visit after closing the day before, but it was hustling and bustling today! I was melting in the heat by this point, so I sat down for a quick soft serve in black sesame flavor. I think this was my favorite to date. Soooo delicious.

And then on to see the famed pavilion! You wouldn’t know it from these people-free pictures, but this place was packed.

Luckily, I managed to smush up to the railing to get some lovely views in. I wish this was more of a park so I could just hang out at a park bench with this wonderful view all day, but that is not the case.

Once I exited Kinkakuji, I had completed my Kyoto activities. Not quite time to head back to Tokyo, though!

Katie had a friend who suggested the Takao to Hozukyo hike as a lovely way to spend a sunny day outdoors. I really hadn’t expected to do so much hiking on this trip, but once this was suggested, I couldn’t say no. I didn’t have nearly enough time to complete the full hike a this point, and I had a SUPER RUDE bus driver who blew past me waiting perfectly at the bus stop, so I lost another half hour of my day right there, but I still wanted to visit the area.

The hike started by the Kiyotaki-gawa River, and a neighboring building had the most impressive slipper collection I’ve ever seen.

The river was lined with restaurants and tea houses that are only open during the spring and fall, as these are the peak seasons for the color-changing leaves.

I followed the river down to see a roaring dam, and then back up to the other side to walk the start of the hike through the most magnificent cedar forest.

The trees were so, so tall and skinny, and they reached straight into the sky without a single curve or bend. Almost seemed otherworldly.

It was amazing how dark it was within the dense forest of cedars, despite how bright the sun was beyond the canopy. I honestly turned around not because I was running out of time, but because I was spooked by the dark! This was also clearly not a heavily-used path, as I walked through several long spider webs spanning the width of the trail.

When I made it back to the bank of the river, I crossed it again and wound my way up a long set of steps to reach Jingo-ji Temple. 

No pictures were allowed inside the main hall, but I was welcomed in by an old man and encouraged to spend time inside. He brought me around the hall and pointed out the various Buddhist figures and shrines, and then he helped me give an offering. It was so peaceful and lovely, as I was the only one in the hall!

This temple is somewhat famous for its kawarakenage spot. Beyond a short path, I came to a magnificent view over the valley, and I bought three kawarake from a woman at the shop. These are small clay disks with an inscription that reads, “getting rid of evil,” and throwing them off the cliff rids yourself of bad karma.

Oh my, it felt so good, and this space was so magically peaceful and lovely.

I lingered and wandered some more through the temple grounds, reluctant to leave the shining “new green” of the maples and the tranquility of the space.

But alas, I really did need to get back to the East. So finally, I made my way back along the hiking route and up to the village of Takao, only to miss another bus. 

I eventually made it back to Kyoto, where I grabbed some snacks before boarding the Shinkansen all the way back to Tokyo and Yokohama.

Thank you so much, Katie, Lea, and friends for letting me join on your Kyoto stay! It was so wonderful, and it’s always nice to travel with friends. (:

When I got back to Chris’s place in Yokohama around 10:30 (lol, definitely missed my dinner-time goal), he informed me he wouldn’t be home for another hour. So, I had a late-night snack courtesy of 7-11, and then I finally tried out this metal bathtub of his! 

Apparently this is pretty standard for a Japanese home, and the coolest part is that you can set the exact temperature for the water, and the bathtub regulates that temperature for the entire duration of your soak! No more getting out because the water is too cold! If I had this at home, it is entirely possible that I would never leave the tub.

Chris came home eventually, and though we were both exhausted, we stayed up another several hours chatting and video-calling my sister back home. So silly.

And that’s a wrap on my last full day in Japan. One more story to go and I’ll have finally wrapped up this never-ending saga. Until then….

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

Good day, my lovelies. I welcome you back to the wonderful world of four months ago. Location: Kyoto, Japan. Destination: Kurama. But more on that later.

We started our third day in Kyoto with another amaze-tactic breakfast.

I really gotta figure out how to make these breakfasts happen at home, but I think I’d need a small army to do all the grocery shopping, prepping, and cooking.

Our plan for this day was to take the train to a village called Kibune, hang out for a while, and then take a short hike to the neighboring village, Kurama, for a little hot spring soak. After breakfast, Matt and Cassie announced they would stay behind because of Matt’s leg. The rest of us went upstairs to get our things, but Lea came to our door to announce that she and Remy had decided they also wanted a little away-from-group time. This meant the day would belong to me and Katie. No problem, there, though! We make a great romantic travel couple, haha.

The train into Kibune is famous for its beautiful colors. So famous, in fact, that half the seats were set up in “theater mode,” so that they faced directly out the windows instead of towards the front or back of the train! The two best times of the year for the colors are the fall and the spring. Luckily, we came right in the middle of the “spring new growth” season, and as we zoomed along through the Maple Tunnel, we were bombarded with some of the brightest greens I’ve ever seen.

The train dropped us off at the bottom of a mountain, and we had to walk up the rest of the way to the main street of the village. This village is famous for its river. During the summer months, restaurants build platforms over the top of the river and serve all of their meals right there! This is a clever (and wonderful) way to keep cool in the heat of the summer. Unfortunately, the official season for this runs from June until August, and we were here in mid-May. We could see some platforms being built and were super bummed about our timing.

But as we continued to follow the river up the main street, I noticed one of the platforms seemed to have mats and pillows set up. I practically yell-whispered in my excitement: “Katie!!!! I think that one is open!!!” We cautiously went up to check, and sure enough, they had just opened for lunch! We were the first ones there, so we got to pick the best table, right on the edge of the platform.

We were immediately served tea, and I cannot tell you how giddy we were with excitement. It felt like we’d won the lottery when it wasn’t even lottery season. (Lol. I have no idea how the lottery works.)

  

Soon, the waitress brought out our trays of food. It was a set menu, so we really didn’t know what we were in for. The tray contained some small fried fishies, some indecipherable yellow blocks (these turned out to be egg), cold noodles, a raw fish dish, another unidentifiable cube, and some boiling soup with tofu. Luckily, Katie asked first, in a hushed whisper, “How do you think we’re supposed to eat this?” Hahaha. I was about to ask the same thing.

Katie then supplied: “If I were to guess, I would say we should put the tofu into one of these (she gestures to the cube and the raw fish bowl), and then we add the soup to the bowl.” I agreed that this seemed to be a fair assessment.

THANKFULLY, the waitress returned before we could act, with a second tray for each of us containing rice, miso soup, toppings, and a flavored oil/ soup. She then instructed us to put the tofu into the flavored oil, and the boiling water could be left alone, as it was just to keep the tofu warm.

Goodness, I can’t tell you how badly I wish she would have come up to us as we were pouring this boiling water into the bowl of raw fish. Bahahahahaha.

As we started eating, we swapped places so that I could get a view of the beautiful platforms and Katie could get a view of the water.

      

The food was sooooooooooooo good! Ugh. Seriously! Take me back! Take me back right now!

After this delightful, delicious, magical experience, we finally continued on our journey to explore the Kifune Temple.

We walked all along the river and peeked into the other platform restaurants that were being set up. A couple others were also open for business, farther along the road. (I think ours was the best, though they all seemed completely divine.)

    

 

   

 

This whole village was built right on this river, too. It didn’t seem like there were any other streets!

After we made it to the top of the street, we wound our way back down to the trail head to make our way to Kurama. The green was otherworldly.

 

    

Part of the hike is famous for the tangled cedar tree roots that swarm the path.

At the top of the mountain between the two villages sits Kurama-dera Temple, a sprawling space with breathtaking views and so much sunshine.

So much sunshine, in fact, that I had trouble keeping my eyes open. Tehehehe.

Though the ascent was much like a familiar trail hike, the descent from the temple was made up of dozens of zigzagging staircases. Thank goodness we didn’t go the other direction!

Katie really liked how dilapidated this temple building was:

Soon enough, we reached Kurama, another tiny village. This one was not centered around a river, but it was small and quaint, just the same. Our main order of business here was to hit up the onsen, so we did just that!

    

Japanese onsens are nude-only; no swimsuits allowed! Therefore, we obviously didn’t get any pictures. Men and women are split up, and visitors must undress and shower off with soap before entering the hot spring. This one was outside and it was so beautiful! The sun was shining through the leaves around us and the water was oh-so warm. I liked that this one was small because it was so peaceful. I almost fell asleep!

But all good things must come to an end, and it was pretty toasty in that water after a while, so we rinsed off, got dressed, took a picture with Kurama’s mascot, and hopped the train back to Kyoto! A wonderful excursion to these two lovely villages.

We celebrated with an ice cream waffle. Yum.

We tried to make it over to the Golden Pavilion on the other side of town, but by the time we got there, it was already closed. Darn these shrines and temples that close at four and five o’clock! Luckily, we were super close to a sushi place, so we walked on over there and grabbed a table.

I’ve never been to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, and it turned out this was definitely the place to try it out! It was so fun to grab whatever looked yummy, and each plate had at least two bites so that we could both try everything. I think my favorite was the crab, but we must have tried at least eight different dishes. And for dessert, we got a taiyaki (a doughy fish filled with red bean paste) and some match shaved ice. Yum! 

Each table also had a make-your-own matcha station coming right out of the wall! You just grabbed a cup from above the table, added a couple tiny spoonfuls of matcha powder, and add hot water from the spout! Voila! I think Katie legitimately had five cups. She has a problem. Bahahaha.

Quite possibly the best part of our sushi meal was that the whole thing came to about seven dollars per person! Craziness!

Full, dizzy with the memories of our magical day in our heads, and completely wiped out, we finally headed back to our hostel to play some cards with the rest of the gang before hitting the hay.

A wonderful day, indeed. Until next time,

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

Three months later, and I’m still writing about Japan! Woohoo!

Okay. Day two in Kyoto started off with a ridiculously thorough, Japanese-style breakfast.

We savored that breakfast real good, let me tell you, and it was a lovely way to fuel the full day ahead!

And then we made it to the main event of the day – Fushimi Inari! This shrine is famous for its thousands of vermillion torii gates. Yes. You heard that right – I said THOUSANDS.

As we wandered the main buildings of the shrine, Matt and Cassie broke off to park Matt’s knee scooter. Poor Matt tore his Achilles tendon about a month before the trip, but he was determined to make it to Japan! With a knee scooter, crutches, and a healthy dose of patience, he made it work. Cray cray.

Once the scooter was parked and the crutches deployed, we set off into the trail of gates. The gates were installed at different times because they are all installed by donation, so some were much more faded than others.

And now for a little culture lesson: this shrine reminded me a lot of the Sasuke Inari Shrine that I saw a few days back in Kamakura. Well, it turns out that Inari (ie: Sasuke Inari, Fushimi Inari) is the Shinto god of rice. The fox is thought to be Inari’s messenger, so that is why all of the foxes are present at these two shrines. Neat!

After a little bit of an uphill slope, we came to Senbon Torii, the official start to the hiking trail and the official start to picture mayhem! We came to a true standstill here as people crowded for pictures at the start of the gates.

It was dizzyingly orange in here. So magical.

When I turned around to snap a pic of Cassie and Remy, I was shocked to see writing on the back of the gates – I found out later that these were the names of the donors and the dates of donation. I thought it looked much cooler facing this way, so after this, I kept awkwardly walking backwards every once in a while.

As we emerged from the first stretch of torii gates and entered another crowded spot, Katie, Lea, Remy, and I ventured off to get away from the crowds for a bit and were met with a lovely bamboo grove on our way to a small shrine.

Another lesson: see the rope wound around the top of that stone? This is a shimenawa, and it is meant to mark the boundary to something sacred. I’ve seen them hanging on gates and trees, as well.

After our little excursion, we returned to the main hiking trail. Cassie and Matt returned to the main shrine area while the rest of us continued up through more gates. Many pictures were taken.

We came to another small shrine with hundreds of much smaller torii gates littered among the buildings and stones. They were so cute! These are for donors with a smaller budget, as the larger gates that we walked through can cost up to ten thousand dollars.

After this shrine, the incline became less gradual, and the sloping pavement was replaced with stairs.

The light was so beautiful up here among the torii gates! The vermillion paint reflected off of everything around us and gave the sunlight a shimmery, golden quality. The crowds were also practically nonexistent here because most hikers turn around before the stairs.

We soon reached the Yotsutsuji intersection with lovely views over Kyoto.

And then more stairs, more shrines, and more foxes!

It took us just shy of an hour from where we split off from the rest of the group to reach the summit. Another shrine was waiting for us at the top of the mountain, and this one was also populated with hundreds (if not thousands) of the mini torii gates. There were so many gates here that there were piles of them stacked together like chairs after a party.

And then the descent!

I enjoyed this part of the hike because it was downhill and we got to see all of the beautiful donor inscriptions on the backs of the gates!

When we reached the Yotsutsuji intersection again, I veered off from the other three to climb up to one last viewpoint. I knew it would haunt me if I didn’t.

The view was worth it, of course!

And then I had a bit of a solo hike back down.

At some point, I came to a little café. It was here that I realized I hadn’t heard from the group on where to meet up, and then I discovered this was because my WiFi device had gone to sleep. For some reason, people prefer to use personal WiFi emitters to data-sucking SIM cards in Japan, and my friend Chris lent me his while he was away on his business trip to Taiwan, so I had WiFi with me all the time!

When I woke up my WiFi device, a small trickle of messages floated in from the twins notifying me that they had stopped at a café. I looked up and was delighted to see that it was the very café in front of me. Such luck!

The group was nibbling on little treats and sipping coffees, but Obsessed With Matcha Katie was indulging in a matcha latte and a matcha torte. She let me have a few tastes. Soooooo yummy. I might have to do some experimenting with matcha in my own kitchen soon.

Our walk back to the main shrine area brought us past a small reservoir that screamed GREEN.

And that concluded our visit to the most famous Inari shrine in Japan! Such an eventful morning!

The group made plans to return home, shower, and get some lunch before heading out, but I was planning to leave Kyoto before the rest of the group, so my time seemed too limited for civilized things such as showers and sit-down lunches. For me, it was go! Go! GO!

To Arashiyama!

I started at Otagi Nenbutsuji, a temple famous for its over 1200 stone raken statues.

So cute! This guy was probably my favorite:

I loved the vibe here, and I loved looking at all the different little statues. Some were bald, others were covered almost entirely with moss, and some had their features wiped completely away by years in the rain. Fake monkey sounds were also being played by hidden speakers, so that added to the strange, magical ambiance.

It was hard to leave this place, but rain was scheduled to arrive any moment, so I wanted to make sure I could see some more of this charming little town before that happened.

As I wound my way down a long, quiet road, I came to a temple that was not on my itinerary but was too intriguing to pass up: Adashino Nenbutsuji. Like Otagi Nenbutsuji, this temple was full of stone statues, but these were not in the shape of little men, and they are meant to pay respect to the souls of the dead.

Next, I wound my way down Saga-Toriimoto, a lovely preserved street lined with traditional shops, restaurants, and townhouses. Though I had read about this street before my visit, I almost didn’t realize I was on it because it was so deserted and quiet! Why? Well, it was right about this time that the rain finally hit.

Thankfully, the rain was just a light drizzle, but it was also windy, windy, windy. I could hardly hold my umbrella properly without it blowing away or turning inside out. Before my trip started, the forecast had called for ten days of sun with bits of clouds here and there, so I had simply not packed for this weather. My only shoes were canvas Keds and some shower flip flops. So there I was, in borrowed Teva sandals (Thanks, Katie!) with a borrowed umbrella (Thanks, Chris!), hoping that the rain wouldn’t get any worse and that the wind would calm the heck down.

After quite a bit of walking, I finally reached Giogi! This temple is famous for its luscious, green mossy gardens.

The trees overhead helped to stave off the trickling from above, and I had the temple mostly to myself, yet again. The temple grounds really were not very large, but I just wandered around and around, practically in a trance.

When I finally awoke from my trance, I explored the neighboring temples before wandering a long, winding path through the town, poking my head into every small temple, garden, and shrine that was free to the public.

Eventually, I came to the famous bamboo forest.

While I definitely found the random sprinklings of bamboo earlier in my day to be more magical, this was the most densely packed and widely-sprawling grove of bamboo I had yet to cross, so I soaked it all in! The wind was especially lovely as it swished the stalks around and the branches whispered overhead.

I then made it back to the main shopping street in town and picked up the first snack I could find – a barbecued chicken skewer. YUM! My only regret is not getting two of them.

I made it all the way to the river before backtracking to explore Hogonin Temple.

I took a winding back route out of the temple and passed by many statues and several museums.

And then I made it to another park and the bank of the river! This would mark the start of a very long bout of scenic rest.

My first fun sighting was of this beautiful crane. He just stood right in the middle of the pathway, and he is honestly the reason I was inspired to continue down this path at all. He wouldn’t budge, though, so after waiting patiently for several minutes, I finally turned my back to him and carefully inched around him on the side of the walkway.

I then became entranced for the fifth time that day, this time by the mesmerizing green of the water. It was just so calming and alluring; I couldn’t look away!

Even when it started to rain again, I simply popped open my umbrella and popped a squat on the sidewalk.

Ugh. Can you even imagine a prettier view?! I can’t. I sat there for a full hour, just watching the water and waving to the occasional passing boat. I also had a little photo session at one point, because why not?

I was sitting very near a trailhead, and while I originally had no intentions of exploring this, I finally reasoned that if I couldn’t bring myself to leave Arashiyama, I may as well do some more exploring, so off I went!

It was so much more rewarding than I could have possibly imagined. It was hardly a hike at all, and in about ten minutes, I had yet another breathtaking view of the river laid out before me.

 

Sigh. Unsurprisingly, when I made my way back through the park, I found myself stuck again on the bank of the river. I think I had a sort of mental block that would not allow me to go home before it started getting dark.

It did eventually start to get darker, and at some point I called Jonathan to show him the view and relay my wish that he and a couch would spontaneously appear beside me so we could sit cozily in the rain together until nightfall. (This wish didn’t come to fruition, but it was a nice thought.)

When the sun truly set and dusk began to descend, I finally peeled myself from the riverbank and slowly meandered my way back across the bridge.

This truly was such a magical afternoon in Arashiyama. I can’t imagine much that could have gone differently to make the memory any sweeter in my mind.

When I returned to Kyoto a short train ride later and was hastily thrusted back into the world of covered arcades, I took full advantage of the food options around me. First, my nose brought me to a small stand selling these delightfully puffy buns, and then my desire for even more energy replenishment brought me back to my second bout of ramen.

A full day, indeed. Even looking back on it, this adventure really feels like two full, separate days. I cannot believe I did so much in the span of about twelve hours! Craziness. No wonder this post took over two months to write, right?

Adventures in Japan continue for a few more days, and hopefully you’ll hear about them before 2020 rolls around…. Until then,

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

Wowzers. I’m not sure why these posts are all so long! I keep thinking I’ll get two or three days into one post, but then I write about a single day and feel I have to call it quits because of all the text and pictures! I think I just packed all of these days so full. No wonder it was such a fun trip.

Sunday was my first day that I really needed an alarm and really didn’t want to get out of bed. I think it was a combination of the jet lag finally wearing off and the fact that I was literally boxed into my own personal little bunk cocoon, but I did not want to emerge as a beautiful butterfly when my alarm told me to at eight in the morning.

I think I finally made it out of bed after a little tossing and turning so I could make it in time for the free breakfast downstairs. It was a very simple breakfast of exactly two toast slices with my choice of two jams and/or butter, served with a cup of black tea or coffee. And yet, it was somehow weirdly formal. The hostel woman used little tongs to carefully dispense my two white bread slices onto a plate and then directed me to a super fancy little water-assisted toaster oven. All very strange, but the breakfast was somehow delightfully relaxing and delicious. Idk man.

Before leaving Osaka, I decided to hit up one area I had missed the day before on my little online itinerary: the Doguyasuji Arcade. This is another covered shopping street, but this one is famous for its cooking supplies, so I thought I would give it a try.

    

It was mostly just an hour of me trying not to buy everything I saw. In the end, I managed to escape with only one tiny wooden spoon and a little ceramic kumquat dish that I’m obsessed with. I think it will just sit on my bedside table and hold my necklaces until I figure out some higher purpose for it.

I also really wanted to buy a fancy Japanese cooking knife but was well aware that this would not be allowed inside my carry-on backpack on the way back home. Struggles.

I mean, seriously. Look at all these beautiful dishes!

    

Luckily, I had my already-uncomfortably-heavy backpack resting on my back to remind me that I had no room to buy a new table set for home. Thank goodness.

On my way to one last area, the Kita district, I was sidetracked by a bakery, so I stopped in to munch on this deliciously buttery, mini pound cake-type thing.

Mmmmm… I should make some pound cake.

The funny thing is, the closest train station to the Kita district was the main Osaka station, and once I got there, I did a little survey of my surroundings and a little Google searching. I realized the Kita district mostly just offered more shopping, and I decided I was kind of tired of that, so I re-entered the train station and wished Osaka a lovely day as I zipped off for neighboring Kyoto!

It was such a good decision.

When I got to Kyoto station, I took a hot second just to admire the main terminal building.

So fancy! It reminded me of King’s Cross in London.

And then I happened upon this mouthwatering dish in a 7-11 and could not refuse.

Look at it!!! It was like three? Four bucks? For such deliciousness! Ugh.

Now, I did have to deal with the weirdness of public eating again, but I don’t know what else they expect me to do! I don’t have anywhere else to go! I literally walked all the way over to the bus bays to find a little one-man bench thing, and then I sat facing the wall so that I wouldn’t have to be subject to the disapproving stares of passersby. It was still delicious, though, and I paired it with a grapefruit juice.

My plan after lunch was to follow as much of an Eastern Kyoto eight-hour itinerary as I could manage seeing as it was now well-past noon. I ran into a little hiccup on the bus, though, because I didn’t realize it was the sort of bus that drove all the way to its (and my) final destination and then immediately reversed the route without so much as a pause or announcement.

After some indeterminate amount of time, I checked my map and saw that we were just a few stops away from my target. Satisfied, I went back to blogging and sight-seeing. After another few minutes, I checked my map again, only to find that we were now somehow further from my target. That’s when my error hit me, and I jumped off at the next stop.

I hemmed and hawed for a couple minutes as I tried to decide if I should pay for another bus to get me back to where I was meant to be, but then I realized I was right across the street from a gorgeous shrine.

Ha! I thought. Take that, itinerary!

This unnecessary gloating was a little premature, though, as I noticed just a few minutes later that this shrine was actually halfway down the itinerary anyway. I was visiting the Yasaka Shrine, and it was bright and shining in vermillion.

Next, I wound my way through Maruyama Park, admiring the greenery, hanging out in the shade, and watching all the photoshoots of girls in rental geisha costumes.

I saw a couple more rickshaws here, too! Poor guys. This was another blazingly hot day.

At the top of the park was a cemetery littered with signs warning of the wild monkeys in the area.

    

Then I paid my entrance fee to the Kodaji Zen Temple which is known for its gardens, especially during the fall color season.

There were lots of fun views to take in here.

My favorite of all, though, was the back of this giant head!

If you recall, a couple days before this, I had a bit of a missed opportunity in Kamakura when I arrived to see the giant Buddha statue right after closing. I saw this giant stone statue in the distance and knew it was my time for redemption!

This realization put a big ol’ smile on my sweaty, overheated face, and my happiness grew even more when I came up to a small bamboo grove.

So pretty. My favorite thing to do whenever I saw these super tall bamboo stalks was to knock on their trunks. It is astoundingly rigid and makes a perfect hollow knocking sound, almost as if it was made of some super durable ceramic. I tried to take a video of this sound, but my phone is silly and does not start recording until a full second or two after the record button is pressed. This means that my video was just me taking my hand away from the bamboo stalk. Not very exciting.

The next adventure was to visit the giant mystery statue!

This statue, the Ryozen Kannon, turned out to be a war memorial and a Buddhist temple. I was nearly alone inside the temple walls, save for one tall European gentleman.

The statue itself depicts the Goddess of Mercy.

I enjoyed wandering around the temple grounds to explore the small shrines and artifacts in the area while also getting different views of the Goddess.

But my favorite view was definitely straight on with the gorgeous green mountains in the background.

Reluctantly bidding the temple adieu, I continued on to the Higashiyama District, famous for its winding shopping streets lined with traditional shops and scurrying little tourists dressed as geishas.

I don’t know why, but when I discovered this store, I found myself wishing I knew someone who was obsessed with frogs so I could buy them some of the cutest souvenirs ever.

This was a fun area to wander because the streets were so full of life right down to the winding, hilly design of the streets themselves.

I was also obsessed with this soap which felt like slimy mochi.

After all my wanderings, I finally came to the good stuff: ice cream! I was going to do another matcha, but I decided to change it up because this place had so many flavors. I went with the kyohou which is a type of Japanese grape. It just sounded refreshing in the moment.

In retrospect, I wish I would have tried the red bean instead, because this was the only time I saw red bean soft serve, and the grape ended up being sooooo sweet! It was difficult to eat the whole thing! It honestly was like eating grape Fanta flavored ice cream. Yummy, but very powerful.

I did some more shopping (and came across some sweet potato ice cream – didn’t get it, though).

And then I arrived at the top of this winding shopping street to reach the breathtaking Kiyomizudera temple!

The area was fairly crowded but still held that magical calm that people possess when they know they are in such a sacred place. It was so wonderful.

    

The vermillion (that’s the orange color you keep seeing) temple buildings in front of me were lovely, but when I turned around, I was met with sweeping views of Kyoto below me! So gorgeous!

There really were so many temple buildings here, though. I think this was one of the largest temples I’d visited so far.

    

    

It took me so long to get that people-less picture.

There was this funny little platform that offered unobstructed views of the landscape below, but when I first arrived there, people were literally waiting in a mushy line to take individual pictures next to the railing. After a few minutes of standing and admiring the view of the silly people, though, there was a second of hesitation during an exchange, and a couple people ran down to take pictures of the landscape at the edge of the railing. I joined them. It was great.

And yet more greatness.

But don’t forget: we were also tucked up into mountainous greenery!

Apparently a lot of that green was pink just a month or two earlier. I can only imagine how breathtaking that view would have been.

I hiked over a little bit to another pagoda and was able to get a view of the main temple across the way which is famous for its wooden stage up on stilts. I went into the temple, but no pictures were allowed. It was nice and cool in there and people lined up to ring a large bowl-shaped drum that sounded like a gong. It was mesmerizing.

Here’s the pagoda:

Another feature this temple is famous for is this “waterfall.”

Normally, a small pool of water will have a calm fountain trickling into it, and worshippers can approach the space and spoon the water into their hands with wooden ladle. There is a short ritual to perform at these fountains: water to the left hand, water to the right hand, drink (seems optional), and then clap and/or bow. The same ritual was performed here, but instead of spooning the water from a small, easy-to-reach pool, worshippers had to use long-handled ladles to reach one of three water trickles in front of them.

I was at the base of the temple now, after hiking back down the mountain, and I was able to get a different view of the spaces I had just visited.

    

As I walked back down the winding shopping streets, I passed by a large pagoda that was part of the Hokanji Temple.

    

And just across from this was a very, very, very intriguing temple that had just closed. All the doors were shut, but whenever someone inside had to exit, a woman inside would open the door just a sliver, practically shove the visitor outside, and then shut the door again. During this funny occurrence, I was able to see bunches and bunches of colorful balls hanging inside the temple walls. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but I knew I wanted to come back and find out. (Foreshadowing.)

And with that, I had officially come to the end of my itinerary. There’s a catch, though: I’d started in the middle! So I jumped on a bus and rode it back up to the top of the itinerary, paying close attention to my stop this time. On the bus, we passed the Heian Shrine and I made a note that I wanted to return here, as well.

The start of the itinerary was Ginkakuji, the Silver Pavilion, but I was unsurprised to find that it was closed by this time. Some temples and Shrines have grounds and spaces that are open all day long with no entrance fees, but the ones that do have entrance fees almost all close between four and five. It was about 5:30 by the time I arrived here.

But no matter! I climbed a bunch of stairs and explored a smaller temple that was open and free.

And then I walked along the famous Philosopher’s Path. This path along a creek is lined with cherry trees, so it is one of the most sought-after locations for seeing the cherry blossoms in April.

Along this path were over a dozen temples and shrines, and every time I came to a sign indicating the direction of one of these, I had to decide whether I would hike up the mountain to see it or not. The first time I went to explore was for the Honen-In Temple.

It is said to be good luck to pass between the two beds of sand that lead to the main temple building.

I was all alone in here, with nothing but the quiet and the wind for company. It was divine.

The space was not huge, but it was cozy and magical.

I do not recall the story here, but at one point, I came across this accumulation of large crystalline stones.

On my way to the next temple, I passed through a cemetery.

    

And a very small playground with a very, very, very short swing. I swung. But it was practically impossible to keep my feet off the ground.

And then I came to Anrakuji Temple, which was backed by a small bamboo grove.

I was alone here, as well, and these gardens were also lovely.

Then, finally, to the Reikanji Temple.

A little farther down the Philosopher’s Path, I came to the Otoyo Shrine.

This one was nice, but it was also a bit spooky because I was still completely alone, and now it was starting to get dark.

I had a really hard time deciding what to do after this, because I wanted to try going back to the Heian Shrine, but it would take me about fifteen minutes to get there on quiet roads in the dark. I walked for another minute or two before I finally decided it wasn’t for me. I’d just have to try to make it back over to the Eastern part of the city on another day. I hopped on a bus and got off in the center of town, relieved to be surrounded by people again.

I got a pork bun at a Family Mart (the best convenience store) because I was pretty hungry at this point.

And then I made my way back to the hostel to meet up with my cousins and the rest of the group! I hadn’t seen them in a few days, so it was nice to drop off my stuff and settle in. They were playing poker up on the roof of our hostel, and it was nice and cool up there.

The group had rented private rooms, with the two couples each in a double room, and Katie had gotten her own room with bunk beds. So it worked out perfectly that I could share Katie’s room with her and split the costs! It was honestly a really nice room. I prefer this smaller, bunk bed-style room (still with a really nice bathroom and amazing toiletries) for less than half the price of a standard hotel. Hostels are the best.

I was tuckered out by this point, and the group had agreed to meet for breakfast at eight, so I knew I had better get some shut-eye for the full day ahead! Stay tuned for more.

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

Howdy ho, lovelies.

You know, even with all the hubbub I had the day before, I’m pretty sure I still woke up today without my alarm. This would be the last time that miracle would occur. I think it had to do with some magical mixture of jet lag, lots of light creeping past the curtains starting at 4:30 in the morning, and the fact that I was basically sleeping on the floor.

Above, you’ll see my first bed in Japan, a very traditional cushioned mat that is rolled up in the morning so that the “bedroom” doesn’t really look like a bedroom at all due to its lack of beds. Kind of strange, but surprisingly comfortable, and it’s probably good for your back.

So again, I was up early early and was able to get all my things together one last time before heading out on my three-train route to Osaka in Western Japan.

Now, I was a little silly. See, these long distance high-speed trains all have a couple cars that are for non-reserved seats, but with my JR Pass, I could also reserve a seat for free. I hadn’t planned on reserving ahead of time, but when I went to activate my pass, the service man asked if I was going to Osaka and then offered to reserve a seat for me. He explained that the train was a bit full, so I could either have an aisle seat on “mountain side” or a window seat, but this was on “not the mountain side.” I decided to go with the aisle seat because I figured that way I could still get a decent view of these so-called mountains.

When I arrived at my seat on the Shinkansen, however, my row buddy had elected to sit in the aisle, so I got the window after all! Yay! I snuggled in and got to figuring out where I would be sleeping that night, since, you know, I was being really lazy on planning for this trip.

It all went wrong when I decided to map my chosen hostel and see how to get there from the Osaka train station, and as I peered at the screen of Google Maps, I noticed that my train seemed to whizz right past the little icon of Mt. Fuji. I looked up and out my window to see yet more farmlands. You see, for the most part, my head was down, trying to sort through hostels, but every few minutes, I glanced up to see the view and continued to puzzle over the fact that though I was sitting on the “mountain side” of the train, I still had yet to see any glamorous mountains. And that was when I realized that the “mountain side” meant “the side that Mt. Fuji is on.

I realized this about five minutes after we passed Mt. Fuji.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYY.

So yeah. That was not my best moment. I pretty much just sulked for the rest of the ride and only picked a hostel as my train was finishing up its two and a half hour ride. I hate missing travel opportunities for silly reasons.

But I keep telling myself that I might not have seen it anyway due to the fog. Meh. Hard to say.

As I finished up my ride, I nibbled on this little sandwich variety pack and wished we had cute little things like this back home.

And then I stuffed my backpack into a locker and went off to explore Osaka!

My first attraction was Osaka Castle, tucked into a walled fortress and surrounded by a moat.

There was one mysterious building that I didn’t check out that seemed to be spilling out children after some sort of martial arts practice.

There was a shrine outside the castle, as well.

And then I got my first good view of the castle!

Gorgeous! Can you even imagine how pretty that would look surrounded by cherry blossoms? I swear eighty percent of the postcard pictures of Osaka Castle are taken during cherry blossom season, but my luscious green view wasn’t too shabby, either.

Osaka seemed big on this cherry blossom champagne, as I saw it around a couple tourist attractions and it was always hard to resist the bright pink bubbles.

And then I approached the castle.

Pictures weren’t allowed on most floors inside the castle museum, but here are some legal ones:

One floor depicted the life of a great warrior and leader in a series of live action characters projected onto three dimensional paper backdrops. Very interesting.

And the top floor had a viewing platform! Yay!

You know how I like my tower views.

I was really into these giant golden fish.

They’re not fully golden anymore, but I believe they were at one point in the past.

Once I had all that out of my system, I marched back down the eight flights of stairs to get another pretty view from the outside of the castle.

I was s-s-s-starving by this point. Like, so hungry that I was walking in circles and hyperventilating every time I couldn’t decide which way to turn. I wanted something ramen-y, but all of the closest ramen places were over twenty minutes away because I had to first get out of this blasted castle fortress! I changed my mind on which place to find three times because I kept going the wrong direction and making my route to one longer and the other shorter, and vice versa.

In the end, I made it to the final ramen place but decided to hit up an udon place one block back instead because it just looked so hit-the-spotty at that very moment.

It was delectable.

The beef was mostly fat and gristle, but I ate it anyway. No regrets. Gosh, I can almost taste it now. I am most certainly going to make every effort to eat udon again in the next week.

Finally satisfied in the hunger department, I made my way back to the city area.

And then, I hit up one of the first things on my Osaka itinerary I found online. (I’ll be honest – I wasn’t super into the itinerary. It was basically just a bunch of shopping areas lined up back-to-back. So either the itinerary was sponsored by all of these shopping areas or Osaka really is just a big old city filled with shopping and tall buildings. Not sure which is worse.)

But anyway, the first thing this itinerary told me to visit was basically just a giant department store. I did a quick lap around each of the eight levels in the hopes that I would find something remarkable, but it was really just a department store.

Okay. There was one thing I got a kick out of, though: the toy food-prep contraptions. Literally so cute and unnecessary.

The first one to catch my eye was a little penguin who bows down to pick up a stick of Pocky before sitting up again with the Pocky in its mouth. So silly. So great.

This one is probably my favorite, though. It’s a stamp that cuts a piece of seaweed into the little black parts on a panda face to make your sushi look like a little panda! Why? Who cares! Look at those adorable pandas!

And this one is a little at-home Sub Zero style ice cream maker, where you pour liquid ice cream onto a super cold plate and scrape it up into ice creaminess.

And this is not food related, but I found a tiny, tiny Pac-Man arcade machine!

EEEEEEEP! I wanted it. But I resisted. I think it was like twenty dollars.

When I realized I just couldn’t possibly find anything in this store better than a teeny, tiny Pac-Man machine, and when I had officially visited all eight floors, I hit the streets again and hit up the next stop on my itinerary: a covered shopping arcade called Bashi-Suji.

I took a couple detours along side routes when I grew bored of the arcade.

And I got some matcha ice cream because I’m addicted.

Bashi-Suji spit me out near a river and a very crowded bridge. The area reminded me of Times Square with all of the billboards and flashing screens.

I lucked out and arrived right in the middle of a girl group performance occurring on the other side of the water, so I stopped to watch until they finished. They were pretty cute and very smiley with all of their preppy, happy dance moves.

They weren’t my favorite part of the performance, though. I had two favorite sets of performers, and neither of them were the official ones in the pink skirt get-ups. The first group was a random scattering of fully adult men in the audience on my side of the bridge who were smiling like it was the best day of their lives while trying to dance along with the girls. It was, um… a bit sad, to be honest. But in an adorable way.

The other unofficial performer who caught my eye was very likely also a man based on this person’s tall and bulky stature, and he was wearing all black with what appeared to be a white lab coat over the top. And to finish it all off, he was wearing some sort of full-head mask that could have been Yoda??? It was really hard to tell from my vantage point, but he was on the same side of the river as the girls, on the other side of their tents, and he knew every single move. It was so bizarre. My fabricated backstory for him is that he wanted to be in the group, but they wouldn’t let him because he wasn’t an adorable teenage girl, so he learned all of their moves anyway and piggy backs on all of their performances. There’s no denying this dude was weird, though.

Once the performance was over, I headed across the bridge into the throng of Osaka Times Square, as I have unofficially named it.

From this side, I was able to see that there was some sort of amusement park on the first side of the water, crowned by a super tall and skinny Ferris Wheel of Death, featuring Perry the Platypus. (???)

Anyway. Back on the Times Square side of things was a bustling food street running parallel to the river. This was a fun spot because I’d been craving some street food! But, it was also poorly timed considering I had just scarfed down a bowl of udon. I took note of the most exciting foods and made plans to return at a later time.

There were smaller arcades along side streets of this food street, but the main attraction was clearly the main road.

A fun surprise and escape from the bustle of the food streets and arcades was the small and mystical Hozenji Temple, famous for its moss-covered Fudo spirit statue.

I found it interesting that this temple was so small and tucked away, but apparently this is because the rest of the temple and surrounding area was demolished during WWII, and this Fudo statue was the only one that survived.

It’s covered in moss because worshippers toss water onto the main Fudo spirit and his two smaller companions after making a wish, and all the extra moisture keeps the moss growing green and bright. So pretty!

Oh, and check out this gorgeous manhole cover.

Never have I ever seen one so glamorous! Osaka Castle and cherry blossoms. Pretty pretty.

After this, I made my way over to Abeno Harukas, a tall office building with a free observatory on the sixteenth floor. The sun was already setting when I got here, so I really had to scramble to the top if I wanted to see anything other than blinking lights.

The observatory was actually a little outdoor terrace and garden, and it really was lovely up here. A bit windy, but lovely.

I only got views in two directions up here thanks to the architecture, as the building went up many more floors on the other two sides of the terrace.

The garden was so nice and peaceful, though! It was a good escape from the crowds on the food street.

I then went upstairs to see what was on the seventeenth and eighteenth floors.

But in the process, without my even realizing it, seven o’clock came around and the terrace closed! Phooey. The sun went down very quickly after this.

Tired and satisfied with my views, I decided it was too early to turn in for the night, so I made my way back to the food street for dinner.

Gyoza caught my eye first. It was soooooo yummy.

And then I ventured over to try some of this takoyaki stuff I’d been hearing so much about. I’ll admit that I was quite disappointed when I found out those delicious rice balls were not takoyaki, because I could eat those things every day. Real takoyaki, as the internet told me, was not a ball of rice, but rather a ball of a milk and flour based batter with a piece of octopus and some other flavorful things inside. Then these balls were covered in various toppings of choice.

There were quite a few stands and restaurants boasting their takoyaki serving abilities, but the one I chose had a long line, so I figured it must be the best. The cooking process was certainly fascinating. First, they greased the half-sphere metal molds with lots and lots of oil.

Then they poured in the liquidy batter and dropped a chunk of octopus tentacle into each space.

Next, they sprinkled some pink stuff on top and then coated the whole pan with these little crispy rice ball things.

And then they sliced the whole thing up into a grid and expertly turned each half-sphere around slowly until a full sphere formed.

There were a bunch of topping choices, ranging from “salt,” to “sauce,” to “half and half.” I went with the sauce option because it sounded exciting, but I think I should have gone with the straight salt. I ended up really not liking the sauce.

I’m not sure how to describe it. I’ve definitely tasted it before. It was just so strong. So yeah. That was kind of disappointing. I ended up eating two of my six takoyaki balls before giving up and walking to the train station.

The problem is that trash cans are nearly impossible to find in Japan, so I was going to have to carry my four takoyaki balls all the way home on the train. This was not desirable since walking around with food is also very out of the norm.

At one point, I was nearly run over by a group of four tall, white American boys, and immediately after we passed each other, I considered running back to offer them my uneaten takoyaki, but I just couldn’t figure out how I would sell it to them.

Unsure what to do, I ate another, but at this point, I decided that I really, really did not like the sauce and could not stomach another bite.

By some miracle, my train station actually had a trash can. There was a young businessman on his phone standing near the trash can, and I could just see him watching me with dumbfounded confusion as I walked up and guiltily disposed of three precious takoyaki balls. I thought about offering them to him, but that seemed out of the question. So, I dumped the takoyaki and ran back to wait for my train.

Sorry, takoyaki. It’s not you. It’s the sauce.

That night, I was reminded what 24-bunk hostel rooms are like. It’s a humbling experience every time. These ones were nice in that they were deep instead of long so that your feet are pointed to the outside of your space as opposed to having your whole horizontal body exposed like a normal bunk bed. The little wooden boxes were honestly pretty roomy, and my thin mattress was surprisingly comfy. Only one night here before I continue this adventure! Stay tuned.

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

So it’s Friday morning, now, and my Japan Rail Pass Misadventures continue to continue. I forgot to wrap up the related events for Thursday: basically, I got home that night to discover an empty mail box and an email informing me that my package had been put on a delivery vehicle to send to my door before being returned to the post office due to an incomplete address. Again.

How?! Why?! I’d given them the correct address twice, and the second time I sent it in both English and Japanese just to be safe, to no avail! So Friday, because of the jet lag, I woke up super early and hatched my plan.

This time, I was instructed to call the post office rather than email the corrected address. The problem here is that I didn’t have the ability to call Japanese numbers, or any numbers at all, for that matter, because my SIM card did not work in Japan. So, I had to download a WiFi calling app and then pay for Japanese calling credits and then wait for the call centers to open at nine. I woke up at around 5:30, so this left me a lot of worry time. I wanted to take a bath, but I couldn’t calm down enough for that.

Long story short, I was miraculously connected to a woman who spoke wonderful English and was able to take down my address (in the exact same format as my first two attempts), and then she said my package should arrive that same day.

By some stroke of luck, a knock came to my door literally two minutes before I was going to leave. I had everything packed and ready to go and was filling my water bottle when the knock came. The FedEx man told me, “Next time, please put street,” and he pointed to the first two address labels. I nodded my thanks and awkwardly watched as he recorded my email down as my name, and then I did a little happy dance.

The frustrating thing is that in the first two address labels, it was clear what the problem was: the address was literally just cut short. Both labels stopped in the middle of the name, “Hodogaya,” where the first one ended in “Ho,” and the second gave up after, “Hodogay.” This is problematic since the street name came even after this. So it was all a mess and it was not my fault and I was angered, but at least I had my rail pass in hand, finally.

I celebrated with a quick bite to eat.

And then I counted out my over twenty dollars’ worth of change that was weighing my purse down.

And then I was off! I grabbed a milk tea for the road. All it was missing was the boba.

I peeked into a bookstore once I got to the city and was a bit dazed by how full the covers and spines were with characters. Most books had more word space than art space. Very interesting.

I had a bit of a mishap at the first transfer station. I was trying to be crafty by bussing instead of training so I could save about fifty cents, but I got turned around and exited the massive station on the wrong side. I thought about weaving back through the station, but I decided it would be more pleasant to just go around.

I was wrong.

It just wasn’t very easy to go around this colossal thing, and even if it had been, it probably would have been better to try clockwise instead of counterclockwise. It seemed the station just never ended, and when it finally did, there was no place to cross the tracks. It took so long to get around that I got hungry again and finally stopped into a 7-11 for another to-go meal. I ate it in a park surrounded by high school students who weren’t in class for some reason. Oh, and there was a natural history museum with this whale outside. I like full-scale whale models.

Finally, finally, finally, I made it to the bus. I didn’t arrive to my destination, Asakusa, until about three in the afternoon. Oops.

The first stop was the Sensoji Temple. The temple had a funny mixed atmosphere because there were a lot of people, but it was still somehow calm and peaceful because of the presence of the temple.

I think this area came the closest in feel to all of the outdoor markets in Taiwan, so that was fun and familiar. Lots of little trinkets and fun snacks were being sold.

While I was perusing some of these stalls, I heard a European accented voice call out, “Young lady! Take my picture! Young lady!” It took until the second, “Young lady!” for me to realize he was talking to me, and then we had quite the photo sesh. Pretty cute.

I also got a great view of the Tokyo Skytree from here.

So tall. So tree.

The gates and side buildings of Sensoji Temple were just as glamorous as the main temple building.

After passing through the main gate, I was spat out onto Nakamise Dori, a long, skinny shopping street.

When I came to a stall selling matcha ice cream, I couldn’t help but get one for myself.

Soooooo delicious and creamy. Yummy. Yummy. Yum. This was the start to a sort of daily ritual for me.

At the other end of this shopping street was the Kaminarimon Gate. I honestly liked the one on the first end better, but I guess this is the famous one.

I was astounded and tickled to find that the main street beyond the gate was riddled with rickshaw drivers. I can’t remember where I first read about rickshaws – I want to say it was The Good Earth, but I could be wrong. Basically, imagine those little carriages that attach to the backs of bikes, and you can pay the cyclist to drive you to your (nearby) destination. The only difference here is that there is no bike! A poor, spandexed man with a sun hat has to hold your carriage by the two wide handles and literally run you to your (hopefully even nearer-by) destination. It looked like hard work, dude.

At one point, I walked by an African American woman who seemed to be literally laughing and pointing at a couple of the rickshaw drivers. I was immediately aghast that she could be so rude, but then I realized she was standing next to a third driver and he was smiling and laughing with her. Then I heard her say to him, “You’re the best out of all of them! Y’all are so sexy!” His face was flushed in a dark red, whether from the forward compliment or the hard work, it was hard to tell.

Next, I explored a bit of the surrounding area as I made my way to the train station.

The train I took was part of a brand new private line, and it was fancy fancy. The length I rode was entirely above ground, and it gave amazing views of both the city skyline and the water.

I was on my way over to Odaiba, a modern, if not futuristic, neighborhood on the water in Tokyo.

I was dropped off in Palette Town, a multi-leveled shopping complex containing a giant Toyota display center.

I’m honestly not super into cars, but this place was pretty cool. Standard cars, racecars, futuristic cars, and cars with their insides exposed were all on display for anyone’s free viewing pleasure.

I was a big fan of this tiny one-seater. This is seriously all I need in my life! Something to get me to the bus stop or the grocery store without lugging all the weight of my tired self or my grocery bags up the hill, and I’d be happy as a clam.

Come on. You can totally picture me in that driver’s seat. Admit it.

Oh, yeah. There were also these little doohickies that are kind of reminiscent of a Segway or one of those Hoverboard things.

Not sure how much I’d like driving one of those…

After this fun little excursion, I was met with a choice. My cousins had recommended this modern digital art museum, teamLab Borderless, and it was right in this neighborhood. I had originally counted it out just because it seemed a bit out of the way and hard to get to, but now that I was a five minute walk away, that excuse no longer applied. My next issues were these: the entrance fee was about $30, and closing time was in about an hour and a half. These are both concerning because $30 is a heck ton of money for a museum. I think I’ve paid $25 once before, and that hurt. The time limit was also concerning because I reeeeeaaallly like to take my time in museums. When the average person spends two hours at Harry Potter Studios, I spent seven. When someone else might get bored of the Louvre after an hour and a half, I spent nearly nine hours there in a single day.

But! I would likely not get a chance to come back here, to this part of the neighborhood or maybe even to Tokyo or Japan, so it was (rushed and expensive) now or (maybe) never! I chose the former.

It was definitely the right choice.

This was no ordinary art museum. Everything was digital, which meant that lights, sounds, and sensations were projected on the walls, floors, ceilings, and spaces around every room.

Where’s Lizzy? Did she become a flower? Is she becoming one with that colorful wall? Indeed. Indeed I am.

And that was only the first space! Other spaces were interactive as well as beautiful.

This space was called the Athletic Forest. The main room was a rollicking mess of uneven floors and moving lights that made it hard to orient oneself. Then tucked into the side walls and corners were different games, activities, and jungle gyms for adults and children alike.

The first one I checked out was a giant trampoline that behaved like a colorful ocean out of some fantastical nightmare. The idea was that the jumpers were creating a solar system with their energy, and eventually, a supernova would occur, signaling the end to that group’s jump time. Pretty cray cray.

This space was made up of a bunch of hanging planks that were sometimes connected to others and sometimes free-hanging. As junglers climbed around, the hanging poles would click and clack into one another as they swayed, eliciting giggles from the adults and making people forget to stay out of the “under 100cm” area of this obstacle course.

Okay. I really liked the next room. This one was basically just crammed with a bunch of light-filled balloons. Seems simple but is somehow so fun and beautiful.

Okay here are more pictures because they’re all so great and looking at them makes me happy.

Wow. Balloons are great. You’re great. Everything is great.

But anyways. I got a kick out of the next area, which was actually just many long tables with coloring pages and crayons. Nearly every seat was taken.

Kind of fun how being surrounded by art, color, and movement can make people feel young and inspired in a way they don’t normally feel on a day-to-day basis. #art.

The next spot looked like another beautiful and messy array of light bulbs, but it was actually another jungle gym. Each “light bulb” could actually be used as a foot- or hand-hold, and they were all attached to floor-to-ceiling poles. Like that other jungle gym, there really wasn’t an objective here besides playing with your surroundings and having fun. This one had a line though, so I admired the fact that the climbers were immediately lost to the piece once they entered the jungle, and then I carried on.

I honestly can’t remember how I even found this room, but the next adventure was a small, dark room filled with these digital water lily type creatures.

Some were taller than me, and others didn’t even make it to my knee. They swished and swayed on their spindles as we walked among them.

So cool.

The layout of the museum was just as unique as the museum itself. At the entrance, there was a little safety video that informed visitors that some rooms were extremely hard to find, and it’s no wonder. Some rooms had doors, others had dark curtains, some were stationed along hallways and others were hidden inside other exhibits. I got turned around multiple times and kept returning to the same exhibits by different entrances, but I did manage to find plenty to explore.

This next space was soooooo glamorous. I could have stayed here a lot longer, but since this one was in a small, enclosed room, there was a line and a time limit for visitors. Hanging lamps filled the space and slowly changed colors from purples to reds to blues to yellows.

And that was just my view from the outside!

From the inside, I was able to see that the floor, ceiling, and walls were all mirrors, reflecting back the colorful lamps tenfold and transporting viewers to another world full of light and color.

I was a little sad that the lights stayed this orangey-yellow the whole time I was in the room, but it was still gorgeous and glamorous, so I don’t have too much to complain about.

The music playing in this room was also so soft and calming that when we were finally (and too quickly) ushered out, I felt distinctly like I was leaving behind a sort of Neverland.

The next space was nearly as magical, though, and in a much fiercer way. Tall, skinny tubes of LEDs hung from the tall ceiling all the way to the mirrored floor and the lights moved with the sounds around us.

Sometimes, it felt like I was walking through a violent storm. Other times, like I was drifting through quiet hyperspace. And other times, still, I felt nothing more than the compelling notion to stand and stare up in stillness.

There were some serious photoshoots happening in here, and I can’t blame them (or me, tehe).

This room also didn’t have any sort of time limit, so I stayed until I was dizzy with the lights and noise.

By no intentional means, I found myself back in the first space again, lovingly titled, “The Flower Forest.”

Soon, though, I found myself in a small viewing area. It was kind of shaped like a long “U,” and we watched from the opening of that “U” as lights and colors came toward us and then swirled away in front of us on the curved walls.

I was confused why we were all standing at the opening of the space instead of being inside the space like the other rooms, and then a girl voiced the same thought before tromping into the center. I followed her, along with a couple of her friends. We made it all of about four feet before we were quickly beckoned by the hidden employee who had been kneeling in front of the onlookers to keep the space clear. Oops. Some spaces are more interactive than others, it turns out.

I believe the most hidden space I found was located behind a curtain so smooth and so black that it blended perfectly with the surrounding walls in the hallway. I only found it because I had been trailing my hand along the soft velvet fabric on the walls when I felt the curtain give way to my touch.

The space was dark and quiet with the soft sounds of marching solders and distant calls. Dozens of screens were lined up with faint, colorful projections of little ancient men displayed on their surfaces. Mirrors lined two of the four walls to make the space seem to stretch far beyond its true boundaries. I was alone in this space save for the one solemn, wandering employee.

The last new space I explored was this wide, cavernous room that seemed to be filled with a digital waterfall.

I was astounded at my perfect timing when, at seven o’clock, the announcement for closing time was called. Turns out I had just the right amount of time to explore. On my way out, I visited the Flower Forest one last time, partly because it was so pretty and partly because I honestly could not find the exit.

When I came outside, the sun was nearly set.

I picked up some dinner and wandered the shopping centers a bit.

Then I made my way to a large park and shopping center called Diver City, famous for its life-size Gundam statue. I’m not entirely sure what Gundam is, but he was pretty cool and was reminiscent of a Transformer or one of the super-sized Power Ranger fighting figures.

I arrived to the area right around 8:30, just in time for the song and light show.

After I ate my dinner, I wandered the park a bit.

Soon, I had a great view of the bridge to the rest of Tokyo with the Tokyo Tower in the background.

Then, just a little ways away, there was a Statue of Liberty replica!

This meeting was definitely a moment of redemption for me since I’ve now been to New York twice and have not properly seen Lady Liberty up close.

So pretty! The weather was perfect, too, so I kind of just hung out in the area for a while, marveling at Lady Liberty and the view across the water before heading back into town and then back to Yokohama.

I’ve also noticed (what I think is) a very strange phenomenon here in the Tokyo area which is that rush hour seems to last well past nine o’clock!

Such crowds! I’m not sure if people are actually working this late, if people are finishing dinner up at this time, or if there’s some other special happenings that wrap up around 9:30, but every day these crowds have taken me by surprise.

When I got back to the apartment, I decided, yet again, that I was too tired to take a bath. I packed all my stuff up, set my alarm, and slept the night away with plans for Osaka on the horizon.

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,

-Lizzy-wa

Well, I was on my own for a while, now. Chris set off first thing in the morning for a business trip in Taiwan (we messed up a little there on timing), so I was left to fend for myself in Japan! The first thing I did in the morning was attempt to figure out my Japan rail pass disaster.

Let me get you up to speed, here. If you’re at all familiar with Japan’s rail system, you’ll know that it is vast, complex, and famous for its efficiency. Most famous of all are the country’s super-fast high speed rail systems. One of the more common stretches is the train that reaches from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka in the western part of the country. The drive between these cities is about six hours. The flight is about an hour and a half. The “bullet train,” as they are fondly called, takes about two and a half hours. Couple this with the fact that the Tokyo airports are way out of the city (plus security and wait times), flying can take about five to seven hours from city center to city center. This makes training by far the quickest (and most comfortable) way to travel between these two urban hubs.

However, those bullet trains ain’t cheap. A one-way ticket from Tokyo to Osaka costs around $130. This makes weekly train passes seem desirable, especially considering the one-week JR pass costs about $260. It’s astronomical compared to most tourist transit passes, but then, most tourist transit passes don’t reach beyond a city’s limits, and this pass spans the entire country of Japan. There are a bunch of crazy rules that go along with this pass, though. For one, they are meant specifically for tourists, which means that Japanese residents actually aren’t even allowed to purchase a pass. The second weird rule here is that you have to buy your pass ahead of time, receive a physical voucher in the mail, and then bring that voucher to Japan to exchange it for a rail pass at a rail office. It is quite a complicated scheme.

So remember how I said I really slacked on planning for this trip? Well, even though a friend told me about the rail pass at least a month ago, I didn’t try to buy mine until I was on my bus to Vancouver, BC. The problem here is that I couldn’t exactly receive a snail mail voucher to my home address in Washington if I was already on my way out of the country. So I had the voucher shipped to Chris’s apartment in Japan and hoped against all hope that it would arrive on time.

Wednesday morning, though, while Katie and I were on our hike, Chris received a series of text messages informing him that the package was stuck at customs because the address was incomplete. So as Chris was packing to leave for Taiwan, we were quickly drafting and sending an email to Japanese customs to attempt to correct this so-called “incomplete” address by sending the exact address I had already included in my original order form. My rail voucher was now delayed at least one day past when I was hoping to receive it, but as long as I received it Thursday night, my plans would still be uninterrupted. Stay tuned on that.

Now, I wasn’t entirely sure how to spend this solo day around Tokyo, but luckily, Chris gave me a tip on an area called Kamakura and its neighboring island, Enoshima. I coupled this with my first daily itinerary taken off the internet (I would come to swear by these in the coming days), and off I went!

One of the main attractions in Kamakura was the main shopping street, and though my itinerary told me to hit this up in the middle of the day, I started here because of where my train dropped me off. There were so many stores that sold such beautiful hair pieces and tiny glass sculptures!

While I walked, I snacked on a teriyaki burger for lunch. It was so yummy and sticky.

Even yummier were these little sticky rice balls. There were many types, but I opted for the prettiest one – each rice ball was coated in a different type of sweet bean paste. Ugh. It was so delightful.

I made the silly mistake of thinking this was the famous Japanese street food called takoyaki. It was not.

This long shopping street dropped me off on a path to the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine. Lots of Tori gates, lots of red, and lots of stairs were the themes for this shrine.

The main attractions were also surrounded by some beautiful gardens. I’m not sure why all the water here is this murky green color, but it is quite striking against the bright new green spring foliage.

After some garden explorations, I made the climb to the main shrine building.

And then I found some other, smaller shrines tucked up around this one.

I had to pass by the main shrine again on my way down, but no complaints here.

Now, here’s where I really started to deviate from my little itinerary. I was supposed to try to find my way over to Kamakura’s famous giant Buddha, but I saw that there was an intriguing-looking park that was sort of on the way. (It wasn’t really on the way in the end, and what I thought would be a fifteen minute detour ended up taking several hours! But travel’s more fun that way sometimes.) The path to the park took me winding through hot, sunny residential streets.

I peeked into gardens and yards, and when I finally made it across the train tracks, I was so thirsty I broke down and bought a grape Fanta from a vending machine.

It seriously hit the spot. So cold and bubbly. The problem is that I don’t really drink pop very often, or sweet drinks, for that matter, so after about six good gulps, I was more than satisfied and more than ready to be rid of this pop can. But I couldn’t just chuck it, for a number of reasons. Firstly, trash cans are essentially nonexistent in public spaces here (I came to find later that recycling bins are present at most vending machines), and secondly, it was so hot that I needed to take in all the liquid I could get. I sat in the shade at the entrance to a small temple and slurped on my Fanta until my breathing had ceased to be of the panting variety, watching some kids playing and an old man sketching the gate.

Then, because I am a sucker for side roads, I went in to explore the temple.

I was rewarded with some magnificent bamboo groves! So beautiful.

The bright, bright green foliage was nearly as breathtaking as the heat itself, and I was surprised to find a cemetery tucked up in the hills behind the temple.

Now, in case you’d forgotten, this was only a side trip to my side trip. The original side trip’s purpose was to find that silly park, and I still hadn’t made it there yet. I found some maps later on that made it seem as though I could have found my way there from the cemetery, but I didn’t see those paths from this end, so I backtracked all the way out and around again, then took another wrong turn, and finally found the park.

It was quite a hike up there, but I was rewarded, yet again, with some beautiful sights.

Okay, dude. There was another thing waiting for me up in that park, something that would come to be familiar on this Japan trip but which would never become welcome: tiny eye-attacking flies.

These little buggers were seriously so frustratingly obnoxious! If you’ll allow me a tangent, I’ll bring it back to the story at hand in a minute.

On a similarly hot, sunny afternoon in the mountains of France last August, my mom, sister, and I wandered past a field of cows and one of them was being plagued by full-sized flies. They were everywhere, practically coating her pure white hide to make her seem almost polka dotted, but the worst of them were on her eyes. The flies were not just near her eyes – they were literally buzzing around and sitting directly on her eyeballs. She tried to blink and scratch her head on a nearby tree to get rid of them, but the flies just came right on back. It was horrible. My sister and I were in shock, mere seconds away from vaulting over the fence to rescue this poor cow from the horrible flying monsters, but my mom explained that it was the moisture in her eyes they were after.

So here I am, trying to enjoy the beautiful views that Japan has to offer after hiking and climbing my way through the heat, and I can’t even keep my eyes open because I have about five of these tiny flies trying to ram into my eyeballs like there is no tomorrow! One of the strangest things is that when I held my phone up to take pictures of the landscape, I noticed that little black fuzzy things were zooming around the picture. That’s when I realized that these horrible nasty things thought my phone camera was an eyeball, and they were trying to get in on that action, too! So yeah. I could only stay up there for so long before I went away running, swatting the space in front of my eyes every couple seconds and hating these bugs with all my might.

Luckily, there were other things to explore in the park.

And on the way back down the hill, I found another shrine, this one carved into the mountainside like a cave.

Oh, and check out how furry the rock wall was with moss!

Some kind of crazy, piney moss. Very peculiar.

I was still making decent time, believe it or not, but I came to another fork in the road on my way to the giant Buddha, and I stood there for several minutes trying to decide if I should veer off to find the Sasuke Inari Shrine or if I should just go find this big Buddha already. In the end, I decided to go straight to the Buddha, but about five minutes later, I turned around and went back to find the shrine. I’m a mess.

But I was also super happy I turned around, because this shrine was very unique and the pathway up to it was lined in stunning red torii gates.

This special shrine was protected by hundreds and hundreds of tiny ceramic fox statues. It made for quite the sight, and I was all alone up here, save for some construction men working on part of the shrine’s pathways.

It was like a magical fairyland. So strange and vibrant. I couldn’t stop smiling.

And then I found this intriguing muddy formation whose handrail suggested it was meant to be climbed. I’m sure you can guess what happened next…

I’d somehow found myself on a hike, and when I reached the top, I was informed that the giant Buddha could be reached from here, so there was no turning back, now!

Yet another side path that I couldn’t resist took me to a magical terrace café carved into the side of the mountain, and I couldn’t resist sitting down to read and enjoy some mouthwatering ice cream topped with berries.

I seriously live for this stuff. Supposedly, the owner was a rich man who built his home up here, but because of the hiking trail, people would often stop in to ask if they could use his restroom, ask for directions, etc., so he finally just made a business out of it!

So, as wonderful as this café was and as magical as this day had been thus far, I did run into some trouble. The trouble here is that when I finally peeled myself away from the terrace café and made my way down the mountain in search of the giant Buddha, I passed a temple-looking thing and wanted to explore, but I told myself, “No, Lizzy. Enough of this. You need to find this silly Buddha.” So I marched on and on and on, ended up on another shopping street, bought a couple trinkets, and after about ten minutes of this, I thought, “This doesn’t feel right.” So I checked my map, and sure enough, I was going in the wrong direction.

And then I went in the wrong direction another couple of times, and long story short, that “temple-looking thing” I had passed earlier was in fact, the Buddha. But by the time I figured that out and made my way back there, it was closed. This was the best view I got:

Bummer, dude. But also kind of funny and so predictable that after a day of side trips, the one time I prevent myself from taking a side trip, it ends up being the main event. *Sigh.* You win some; you lose some.

I hung out near the Buddha for a while as I tried to puzzle through what to do next, and I eventually decided to make my way over to Enoshima, the small island nearby.

The sun was setting by the time I arrived, and it made the whole island seem draped in a layer of calm.

For a dinnertime snack, I had a croquette, for which the area is somewhat famous, and I was surprised and alarmed at the color inside.

Still not sure what I was eating, but it tasted good enough, so I tried not to think too much about it.

I found a playground and swung a little while I watched a man feed all of the stray cats in the park. Pretty cute.

After swinging, I climbed up another mountain to find the Enoshima Shrine.

And some more gorgeous views, this time of the sea.

The shrine was the start to several sets of staircases which lead to the top of the mountain. Here, a garden, more views, and a lighthouse named the Sea Candle, could be found.

I paid the small admission to the garden and wandered a bit in the twilight.

I was obsessed with this beautiful gazebo.

And there were so many little touches in the garden which made it a delight for romantic (solo) wanderings.

Thankfully, the Sea Candle observation deck was still open, so up I went!

This observation deck boasts one of the most beautiful nighttime views in Japan. The bridge to the mainland and all of the lights on the shore were mesmerizing, but it was also fun to see how the shoreline seemed to hug this little island in on itself, since Enoshima is tucked up in a bay of sorts.

On my way back down the mountain, I explored a few more spaces on the Enoshima Shrine grounds.

And then I had a dark, quiet walk through the city streets that are normally bustling in the daytime.

When I reached the bus bay, I was met with another choice. I could hop on a bus in four minutes, or I could… not.

So I didn’t! The beach was calling me, and I couldn’t bear to leave it unvisited. I wound down this cobbled path and stood beneath the bridge, letting the waves wash up around my ankles and reveling in the evening breeze.

I felt fully fulfilled after that, so I wandered back up to let my feet dry before walking across the bridge to the train station. When I was dropped off in Yokohama, I explored the bright lights of the downtown area a bit before heading back to the apartment.

I had planned to take a bath when I got back, but I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to brush my teeth, and then I was out. More adventures to come.

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,
-Lizzy-wa

Daaaaaaay two! I’m gonna use lots of ‘a’s because I’m just so excited. I was planning to meet cousin Katie (yay! cousin time!), and she likes to get moving early, so that meant I was up and out at the same time Chris left for work. Smack in the middle of rush hour!

It’s cray cray out there.

Side note: Wendy’s sells bubble tea here. Jealous. Haven’t tried it yet.

Breakfast was a blueberry and cream cheese sandwich and a little seaweed-wrapped rice ball.

And then we were off to climb Mt. Takao! (I didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the first of many hikes in Japan. This may be my most active trip yet!)

There were several different trails, but we chose the paved one because it rained the previous day and the trails can get dangerously muddy. It was so steep! We had our work cut out for us.

The views were worth it though! Not even all the way up yet.

It was also a bit confusing because the weather forecasted chances of rain and chills today, too, but it just got nicer and sunnier as the hike progressed. We were stripping layers like there was no tomorrow, and soon we were the most naked people on the hike. (Mind you, the locals were all wearing the standard long skirts or pants and high-necked layers galore, paired with hiking or tennis shoes. No yoga pants or sports bras to be seen except on us!)

We veered off the main path about halfway up to take a trail with a suspension bridge. It was beautiful and tucked into lots of green.

There were also bunches and bunches of caterpillars on this hike. Like. So many. It was cute at first. See?

So cute. So innocent. But then we stopped for lunch. (Yogurt and a matcha-red bean bun.)

The next thing I knew, I looked down and there were four caterpillars crawling around my lap and my right arm. “Ohhh!” I said, still amused. I began trying to remove them in a friendly way by having each one crawl onto my finger so I could replace them on the other side of the bench. But then Katie mentioned that there were some on my left side that I hadn’t noticed before. She began trying to remove those with a stick while I continued my work with the original stubborn four, who had somehow since multiplied to five.

Before I knew it, there seemed to be at least ten caterpillars on my lap-arm-torso region, and it was getting a little out of hand. I felt like saying, “Ha, ha, very funny guys. You can go home now!” But before I had the chance, Katie said, “Oh, and there’s this little guy,” and she pointed to another creature on my left arm that was very much not a caterpillar.

It was the shock that finally did me in. I reacted at this unknown specimen with my usual bug-filled terror. (A friend once commented, “I’ve heard you see a bug,” as proof that he knew I could scream loudly.) I jumped from the bench like it was iron-hot and began a dance to try to remove all things from my body that did not belong there. I imagine it was a bit of a scene for those passing by.

The sad thing is, it wasn’t until I’d sufficiently calmed down that I registered the extra fella who set me off had been a baby stick bug! I’ve never seen one in the wild before, and I just shook it off! Sad. Believe it or not, my first ever pet was a stick bug who I named Camo, so I’m definitely pro-stick bug. Poor little thing. I would have held her if I hadn’t been so surprised!

But anyway… Shortly after this fiasco, we made it to the top!

Ooooohh… Aaaaahh… So pretty!

Mt. Fuji’s somewhere back there, but he was hiding in the clouds. Apparently he does that a lot.

Katie had heard that eating ice cream at the top was the thing to do, so we did just that!

Instead of having a standard soft serve machine where you pour a bunch of liquid ice cream into the top and the machine freezes it on the way out, the stand manager grabbed a little cup of ice cream from a freezer and placed it in a little box. When he pulled down on a lever, the machine pushed the ice cream out in a swirl! Low-cost, pre-rationed soft serve. Pretty fancy.

We enjoyed the views a bit longer because they really were so gorgeous.

And then we went to explore the temples on the mountain. A ceremony was just about to start, so we saw many people filing in to sit and wait, and then later, we saw the geishas head in, too.

Then we began the descent.

Remember when I mentioned the friendly boys on the plane over? Well I told them we were doing this hike today, and they decided to do it, as well! We ran into them on our way down as they were heading up. Pretty funny.

Our next stop was the monkey park.

74 Japanese monkeys. It was so interesting to watch them clean each other. One would just walk up to another and flop down, and the other monkey would take that as its cue to get to cleaning! I wish my family would take their cues to give me a back massage whenever I sit near them. Bahahaha.

There were also hilarious descriptions of the monkeys on the wall inside. Some favorites include:
-“Frequently angry. Gonorrhea.”
-“He is adult but he love to play.’
-“It is a girl. But it looks manlike face.”
-“Handsome.”
-“No. 3 popular with girls.”
-“Weak and at the inconspicuous place.”
-“She has a crooked waist. Boss’s ex-girlfriend.”

Next, we stopped at a restaurant with an outside bench table that faced this gooooorgeous view!!!!

We split a bowl of super yummy udon. Mmmmm.

We met up with the boys again when they returned down, and they gave us the great idea to take the chairlift down to save our tired knees. 10/10 would recommend.

It was scary being on a chairlift without snow underneath! Never done that before!

It was so cute with the colorful chairs, and I was sitting there wishing we could have coordinated to have someone riding up take our picture on the chair, when out of nowhere, a little man on the side of the lift took our picture! It was so cute, too. One of those pictures they try to sell you at the bottom, and it had this little border and was less than $7! They’re usually so much more expensive. I wanted it, but Katie and the boys just walked on by without taking a second glance and then went on to talk about how silly those pictures are. I was so flustered that before I knew it, we were way on past the pictures and it felt silly to go back.

Well, it’s been a week since then and it still makes me sad and mad at myself for not buying it. Ugh. I really need to learn to take a second to catch my breath when I want to do something and the rest of my group doesn’t. I’m really bad at it, and then it nags me for ages… )’:

Okay. Sorry. I just went to go pout for a half hour. (If you think I’m joking, you’ve never seen me lament about not buying something. I once had a pair of yoga pants haunt me for over a year.)

Ugh. Well, once that happened, I was a bit sad and quietly grumpy (I bet Katie didn’t even notice!), so when we got to the train station, we parted ways with the boys because they had to buy tickets and I was not feeling friendly… Oops. Sorry, boys. (The next train came like five minutes later, so it’s not like we were hanging them out to dry.)

Soon we were back in Tokyo where we met up with the rest of Katie’s travel gang: cousin Lea, Remy, Cassie, and Matt.

Our first mission was bubble tea. So yummy. Bubble tea isn’t super huge here, so there still aren’t very many places that sell it. The ones that do often have crazy lines though! If you ask me, they need to build more bubble tea places! (And could they please sell them for $1.50/each like Taiwan??? Thanks in advance.)

We wandered a bit more with our bubble tea…

And then we found a sake bar! It was pretty neat. For about $10, we were given free reign of three fridges filled with different varieties of sake. All we could drink in 30 minutes! Not a bad deal. I managed to try six different sakes, plus ice cream over sake and a sake cocktail! Quite a steal.

When I got back to Yokohama, Chris met me and we walked around the Yokohama waterfront.

So flashy! He also showed me Japan’s very first international shipping port.

And then we walked over to a port that is currently in use – I think it’s where passenger ships come in??? I can’t quite remember. But the structure was supposed to be shaped like a whale.

And then we hit up Mos Burger! They had these in Taiwan, but I never got to try one. I was so excited, and my rice-bun burger was everything I’d hoped it would be.

Yummy yum yum.

After our late dinner, finally, it was time for bed. A busy second day in Japan! Stay tuned for more.

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,
-Lizzy-wa

Welcome to Japaaaaaaaaan!!!!!! Every day or so, I stop for a second and say, “I’m in Japan.” I say this out loud and with a mix of shock, awe, and delight. I’m not sure I would have ever believed I’d make it all the way over here if you’d asked me even just a year ago. I know I’ve been bouncing around Europe a lot, but Japan just seems like such a faraway, fantastical place, and now I’m here!!

First, I should apologize that I have not finished the blogs for my last trip. I was only home for two weeks, and I felt like I could barely catch my breath before I was on a plane again. I’ll get to the rest of Scotland and my adventures with The Boy once I return home from these shenanigans.

I actually wasn’t even sure I’d get to blogging Japan at all while I was here. It is just so time consuming and the process can be very tedious, so with all of the action-packed days I’ve been having, I haven’t given myself even one second to type anything up. I even considered just waiting until I got home to do any sort of writing on Japan. Buuuttt…. It really isn’t the same. There’s a reason I can write a blog every couple days when I’m travelling, but then it takes me a week or more for each blog once I get home, even though I have a computer and more reliable internet there. It’s basically the difference between calling home to talk to a friend about my trip versus meeting up with them when I get back. When I’m here, I want to tell every story and relate every scene. I want to make you feel like you’re here with me because, frankly, sometimes I wish you were! But by the time I get home, it’s old news. You ask, “How was your trip?!” And sometimes you even say, “Tell me everything!” But after a couple minutes, you want to move on to talk about what’s new with you, or where I’m going next, or the latest gossip in the group. From over here, my blog’s a stage, and you can’t interrupt. Muahahahahaha! (Although for the record, when I get home, I want to talk about all that other stuff, too. That’s why it takes so long for me to write about my past travels.)

So, I decided to take some time to write. I won’t get caught up since I’m already several days behind, but it will certainly feel better than waiting another week to start.

I ‘planned’ this trip about a month out, but when I say, ‘planned,’ I actually just mean: “I bought plane tickets and did absolutely nothing else until I was already on my way over.” This was the least-planned trip I’ve had to date. There’s a reason I like to plan ahead a little bit: it’s easier, it’s less stressful, and if I wait until the last minute, there’s a much greater potential for things to go wrong.

I decided to bus to Vancouver, BC and fly out of there to save over $200 on my round trip airfare. Not a bad deal, even though I told myself in 2017 to never do this again. It wasn’t as bad as the last time, though, thank goodness.

The bus ride was easy and quiet, and when I got to Vancouver, I had time to find some lunch, buy a watch (my last one stopped ticking and I haven’t had time to get a new battery), and walk around a bit before heading to the airport. Somehow I didn’t take any pictures. This is understandable since there wasn’t really anything pretty to take pictures of except these tulips:

So I took one picture. And then I headed to the airport for my nonstop flight to Tokyo. There were some big fish in a very tall tank at the airport, but I felt pretty bad because they clearly needed more room to swim. They all kind of just sat there staring into space.

The flight attendants were adorable and answered every one of my requests with a polite and gentle, “Certainly!” Instead of a glass of wine, I got my own little bottle, and dinner consisted of butter chicken, rice, green beans and corn, salad, green noodles, an apple and ham salad, fruit, and miso soup. Gosh! It took me so long to eat. They also came around with ice cream and hot green tea partway through, and the flight attendant held out another bottle of wine to me before I could assure her that mine wasn’t even yet half empty and was only hiding in my seat back pocket.

It was honestly a great flight. I had a window seat and our row only had two seats, so I only had to bother one person to get out. Plus, the guy I sat next to, a photographer named Christian from central Canada, ended up being super friendly and we even exchanged contact info at the end of the flight. More on that later.

I watched one movie: Pad Man, a Hindi movie on the pad movement in India. I studied abroad with a girl who helped produce a documentary short on one village’s experience with this man’s invention and how it is affecting the women in their community, and it won an Oscar this year!!! It’s called “Period. End of Sentence,” and it’s available on Netflix, so go watch it! I’m super interested in the movement now, so I was excited to see that this movie was available on my flight. (Highly recommend.)

Unfortunately, I only slept about half an hour, and then they came around with breakfast, so I wasn’t about to sleep through that! We got a small tuna sandwich, a spicy macaroni salad (kind of a strange choice), and fruit. I had some iced plum wine (yum!) and some kiwi juice (double yum!!!).

**Side note: I’m on a city bus right now, and I think there’s a pigeon nest in the roof of the bus? Not sure how that’s possible, but I keep hearing pigeon noises above my head! So strange.**

I landed in a pretty sleepy state, and I slept most of the way on my two hour bus ride to Yokohama, where my friend Chris lives! We had an Asian best buddies group freshman year of college (hahaha… Not sure how else to explain it), and he moved to Japan last year for his first job after graduation. (He’s half Japanese, and his grandparents live only a few minutes away from his little apartment, so it’s not as crazy as it sounds.)

Chris met me at the station (yay! Reunions!), and then we set off in search of food.

He took me to a famous ramen chain where you have to buy an order ticket from a vending machine and then sit at a tiny little bar with dividers between you and the other diners around you. A waiter appears under a little curtain in front of me to tell me a lot of things in rapid Japanese and Chris quietly responded with a few “hai”s, before my ramen was delivered and the curtain closed completely. I guess people really value their privacy?? The ramen was delicious, though. Yummy yum yum.

Oh. And all the toilets are fancy. My favorite part is that some of them have a “privacy” sound maker that you can turn on in your stall to make it sound like constant flushing or rainforest noises. Uh… Brilliant! Even with all the fancy toilet stuff, though, the majority of restrooms don’t have soap at the sinks, only a few have hand dryers, and not a single one so far has had paper towels. Cray cray.

Then it was back to Chris’s place because we were both exhausted. I was also a bit disappointed to see that I would have a hard time fitting in clothing-wise. I examined my limited wardrobe meant for sunny days and light packing: two dresses, a romper, my black skirt, a pair of (short) shorts, leggings, and some tops. The standard in Tokyo so far seemed to be long skirts and wide-wide legged pants. For tops, it was all modest-modest necklines and practically no arms showing despite the warm weather. I had even thought about asking Chris what girls wear, but I got lazy/ decided against it. Soooo this would be the start of ten days of me kicking myself for not packing any of my long skirts or flowy pants that make me stick out at home but would help me blend in here. It would also be the start of ten days of me trying to refrain from clothes shopping. Gah!

But anyways…. Off to a good start!

私はあなたに最高を祈ります/ best wishes,
-Lizzy-wa