Fall 2024 (10/25-11/9)

Day 5- Ginza

Started the day around 7am and did a load of laundry. It took forever, so we checked out a nearby bakery for breakfast called Nemo bakery. The bakery itself was very cozy looking and had lots of fresh pastries. I grabbed a few random ones and they all were amazing. Once my laundry was finished, my friend and I headed off in the rainy weather to check out shops in Ginza. The first stop for myself was Asics Tokyo Ginza as the shoes I brought were not doing my feet any favors. I ended up buying some Gel-Nimbus 26 and they were so cushy. They became my go-to shoe for the rest of the trip. Definitely invest in some comfy footwear! Afterwards, it was time to check out DSM, Ginza 6 mall, and Beams Ginza. 

For lunch, we had some chicken ramen (tori paitan) at Ginza Kagari. They had some new additions such as truffle chicken ramen, which I had to try. It ended up just being okay as the truffles overpowered the chicken broth. Nevertheless, it hit the spot as it began to rain a bit harder outside. After lunch, we stopped by Ginza Kimuraya to see if they had any curry pan for sale as they were quite tasty last time I was here. Sadly, they were sold out and the bakery was completely overtaken by a massive swarm of women. 

We hastily got out of there and grabbed a taxi back to rest up and do more laundry before meeting my brother and his gf at a yakitori spot in Ebisu called Kirin Annex. It continued to rain through the evening, but I was looking forward to some yakitori. Probably one of my favorites when it comes to Japanese cuisine. We all got a yakiniku course, which included yakiniku classics like wing, heart, skin, and a few others. Each skewer was cooked to perfection and so flavorful. But the main star of the yakiniku course was having the opportunity to try a rare cut called chouchin, which consists of chicken reproductive parts with an attached egg yolk. It looks a bit funny at first glance, but once you put it in your mouth and that yolk pops...food orgasm. Foodgasm. So delicious and one of the best pieces of the night. After the course, we added a few more additional skewers and then finished off the meal sharing an oyakodon, bamboo charcoal ramen, and soboro (ground chicken and scrambled eggs). 

The meal itself was just amazing and the drink offerings were also quite good from their cocktails to the beers. Definitely #2 on my list of stuff eaten on this trip! I definitely will need to come back again on my next trip! After the meal, we finished up more laundry and I took a nice long soak in a bath while enjoying the sounds of the rain before calling it a good night.

Day 6- JR Pass

It's time to activate my gaijin power! JR Pass time. My friend and I decided to check out Shinagawa station and avoid Tokyo station in order to avoid long lines. We got a bit lost once we arrived at the station, but thankfully we found an information booth that directed us to the right spot. To my pleasant surprise, the queue wasn't too bad and we were able to get our JR passes and a few reserve seat tickets for some upcoming shinkansen trips including Osaka, Nagoya, and Hachinohe in Aomori. 

Afterwards, it was onward to the Small Worlds Museum. It's a miniature museum with large scale models of various parts of Japan, artists dioramas, and even anime collabs such as Evangelion. The details on the miniature models were amazing and very well done. I also liked that each model had various buttons you could push to interact with the model and activate various functions. There was even a model with a button that said "I need to pee" and upon pushing the button, it activated one of the miniature models to start peeing haha. 

What's also kinda cool is that the museum had a feature where you could get scanned and make a miniature figure of yourself. It was a bit pricey and unfortunately took a few weeks to complete so you'd get the miniature shipped to you. Kind of a bummer it took so long. They even had miniature bonsai making classes, but those took about 1hr or so to complete. Still would be worth trying if you ever find yourself here and have some time to spare. After seeing all the exhibits, we hopped on the elevator and stopped by the museum cafe for some drinks and dessert. The cafe itself was very well decorated with a big miniature model smack in the middle with seats around it. Pretty neat.

Once we were done at the museum, it was onward to Azabudai Hills. It's a fairly new multi-building complex with various shops, restaurants, and markets. The reason why it made it on the itinerary was that the architecture of the complex is quite striking visually. We admired the architecture of the various buildings and while doing so, realized how close Tokyo Tower was. On towards the Japanese Eiffel Tower! We made our way through Tokyo Tower dori and stumbled upon a park nearby to enjoy the view. We also stopped by the viral parking lot stairs Instagram spot that we visited on our last trip and naturally there was a long line of tourists waiting their turn for their photo op. Thankfully, we were both able to get those photos last trip, so we just skipped it and chuckled at the tourists.

From there, we cabbed it over to Gonpachi Nishi Azabu, the famous izakaya style restaurant that was recreated in the movie Kill Bill. The restaurant itself was a lot smaller inside, but was adorned with various Kill Bill memorabilia and merchandise. They even played various songs from Tarantino movies as we enjoyed a quick lunch there. The food was decent, but not quite memorable. Afterwards, we headed back to rest up before the evening.

For dinner, we checked out Butagumi Shokudo inside the Roppongi Hills mall. The mall was sectioned off into various sections and the tonkatsu restaurant was inside the Metro Hat/Hollywood Plaza section. We got a bit lost, but were able to be redirected by the information desk employee. It was insanely gusty for some reason that night and I had to hold onto my hat on my head. We even had to help a lady whose hat flew off her head in the evening gusts.

Once we were back in the right section of the mall, we found Butagumi Shokudo nestled in between other well known restaurants such as Ginza Kagari ramen, Afuri ramen, and a few others. There was a bit of a lineup, but it moved along and we were able to order and enjoy some freshly fried tonkatsu from various parts of Japan. The crisp on the tonkatsu was delicate, rich, fatty, and full of umami. It was a bit of a heavy dinner, but definitely hit the spot.

After the greasy dinner, we rolled over to nearby Tokyo City View near the Mori Tower. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until it was too late. They PERMANTENTLY closed the rooftop sky view and the only views were indoors. Most of the pictures had bad reflections and it was difficult to get a clear picture of the evening cityscape of Tokyo. Definitely a rip off and not worth visiting. AVOID.

While the view sucked, we had a better view to enjoy. From there, we cabbed it over to our next stop of the evening. Tantra Tokyo for a Halloween themed burlesque show. My kinda views. We arrived early for the burlesque show, but were still able to get in and were given amazing front row seats for the show. Our tickets allowed us to stay 90 minutes. Each burlesque show was about 15-20 minutes and pole dancers would dance in between shows. I definitely enjoyed the theatrics and acrobatic skills of some of the pole dancers there.

We saw about 3-4 shows and the show-womanship was awesome and very well done. I did cringe a little when they asked if we wanted to buy some "funny money" to tip the dancers since it seemed like they were trying to milk the tourists for money. Still, might be worth tipping your favorite dancers if you're feeling generous. After the show, we cabbed it back to rest up before our  Halloween trip to Osaka.

Day 8- Kyoto omotenashi

Woke up feeling good without a hangover. Hmm maybe that Ukon no Chikara saved my ass. My friend and I started off the morning by grabbing some free breakfast at the hotel. It surprisingly wasn't too bad with a mix of Western and Japanese offerings. Definitely better than the mediocre continental breakfasts that most American hotels so graciously offer. After the free meal, we inquired about takuhaibin (luggage delivery) at the check-in desk, but apparently it was difficult to arrange for Airbnbs as they would require a local number to confirm delivery time. Bummer. Dragging luggage through train stations it is.

Afterwards, we went onwards to check out Umeda Sky observation deck to get a view of Osaka from an open air rooftop deck. The views were definitely much better in comparison to Tokyo City View in Roppongi as the view was 360 and unobstructed. Definitely worth a visit. After enjoying the view, we checked out Beams Namba near our hotel in Namba and then headed off for lunch at Wagyu Idaten. The line-up was quite long and extended upstairs, so we decided to skip it and ate at a random izakaya in Dotonbori. Bad idea. The food was very mediocre at best and might have been the worst meal of the trip. Still, we enjoyed a few cheap drinks and moved onto checking out the various stores and shops in Nipponbashi. 

Once evening rolled through, for dinner, we had reservations for Tempura Endo Yasaka at 5pm in Kyoto. It was raining already as we took a cab over to the restaurant. We were the first party to arrive. The vibe of Kyoto definitely feels old school and very fancy. While I've never stayed in Kyoto, it made me rethink maybe in the future I'll have to try looking into booking a machiya ahead of time and checking out Kiyomizu Dera and other temples nearby for more of the old Japan experience. Perhaps maybe even participating in a tea ceremony.

Once it was closer to our reservation time, we were seated inside the small L-shaped restaurant. The omotenashi was on max level as they poured our drinks and tried to ensure that all our requests were met promptly. The tempura itself was quite tasty and even had some fancy stuff like truffle tempura, caviar, deep fried uni, and other things. The meal ended with a donburi and some desserts. Overall, the service was impeccable, but I did feel it was a bit stuffy and the atmosphere didn't match my vibe. Still, I enjoyed the meal but would likely consider a more casual spot that has more bang for your buck. Not a top 5 meal, but I'd say top 10 for this trip.

After our meal, I originally planned for us to check out Satsukiyama Park for a nice view of a tori gate overlooking Kyoto, but it was still raining quite a bit. So we headed back to the train and returned to our hotel. We rested up a bit and then decided to go back out later to try Tsurutontan, an udon noodle chain restaurant. Sadly, the lineup was pretty long in the rain and so we retreated to a nearby Torikizoku yakitori chain restaurant instead. We grabbed a few skewers and drinks to satiate our late night appetite. The drinks were surprisingly good and I loved the "otoko ume" sour drink. It seems to be a mix of salted plum with soda water. Very refreshing to drink with a unique flavor profile that's salty, plummy, and a bit floral too. After a few late night skewers and drinks, we called it a night.

Day 10- Kamakura

Started off the day by deciding to go back to Shinagawa station with my friend as my JR pass had been acting up and locking me out at the ticket gates. Thankfully, the wait wasn't too long and they were able to print me a new pass on the spot! Arigato. With my fresh new JR pass in hand, we decided to check out Oedo Antique Market first before our day trip to Kamakura near the coast. I heard good things about the market and how you could find some cool local trinkets. 

 Unfortunately, it was very small and mostly home good stuff like pottery, furniture, jewelry, and other random houseware. Bummer. As a little consolation, we grabbed some coffees at Brooklyn Roasting Company and then headed off to check out the Beams Plus Marunouchi Jazz Festival. I remember one of the Beams employees talking about the festival during one of our shopping spree days and wanted to stop by for it. I also saw that they had a special anniversary limited edition leather letterman jacket at the shop as well. Once we arrived, there was a little Ralph Lauren coffee truck and a small crowd enjoying the live jazz band in the middle of the promenade. It was a nice little break from the city vibe and I enjoyed a bit of the performance. We stopped by the Beams Marunouchi store to find that letterman jacket, but to my horror, the jacket was over $1000! Yikes. Joto takai ne? That definitely was a pass for me. 

Afterwards, it was off to a day trip to Kamakura. The train ride was 1hr 30 mins and definitely dragged on for a bit. Thankfully we didn't have to switch trains and just rode it all the way. Once we arrived in Kamakura, we followed the main road filled with tourists towards Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine. It was insanely crowded with a mix of locals and tourists. We snapped a few pics and decided to head back to the station onwards to the coast. From the main station, we took a local Enoden train to Cape Imamuragasaki. 

The local train was PACKED to the brim. Human sardine situation. I was relieved once we got off at our stop and could finally breathe fresh air. We walked toward Cape Imamuragasaki and checked out the coastline and strolled towards Shichirigahama beach. The seaside landscape was a welcome change from all the cityscapes. After admiring the scenery, we headed uphill towards a local curry spot called Sangosho. To our dismay, the lines were crazy and there weren't many other options for restaurants in the area. However, we were able to see a small local town festival with kids singing karaoke and vendors on the street selling various wares and local alcohol. Disappointingly and hungrily, we headed back down to the Enoden train back to the main station. From there, we grabbed a late lunch at Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu. It was pretty good, but I'd have to say that Gyukatsu Motomura is still my favorite when it comes to gyukatsu.

After the late lunch, we took the long train ride back home and rested up after the long day. Once our energy levels were sufficient, we wandered the local neighborhood again and explored the area a bit more for a potential dinner spot. We ended up settling on a spot called Chinese Ramen Yoshu Shonin Musashi Koyama. It looked very inviting and had lots of people inside dining in a casual setting. Plus, the fake food models in the glass cabinets outside of the restaurant looked quite appetizing too. We grabbed a table with my limited Japanese and I settled on a shrimp dumpling ramen, while my friend got a tonkotsu ramen and we got some gyoza to share. The meal was simple, but well done. What was also nice about the restaurant was that you could choose the noodle type for your ramen and it seems like they're all made fresh in house.

We enojyed the food, but during the middle of the meal, there was a brief sudden power outage! It was a bit unexpected, but thankfully the power popped back on after a minute or two. Guess that's the local experience with the dated power grid! After enjoying our meal, we strolled through the neighborhood a bit more and then headed back to pack up for our trip to North Japan tomorrow.

Day 11- Aomori

North Japan bound. Grabbed a taxi and headed off to Tokyo station. Grabbed some ekibens as usual for the shinkansen trip and headed off to Hachinohe station. I also made sure to grab a few highballs as well to enjoy in our en suite bath later. While I reserved a shuttle pickup to and from the station, we both arrived a bit earlier than scheduled and decided to bypass the shuttle and take a taxi directly to the ryokan to drop our bags off and explore the area. Gazing out the window from the taxi, we passed by multiple farm fields and rural countryside. You definitely could feel the slow paced vibe of Aomori. I could also imagine all the fields covered in snow as Aomori has one of the highest levels of snowfall in the world.

Once we arrived at the ryokan, we did some of the check-in paperwork early and dropped our bags off to explore the surrounding area. The ryokan was nestled in small forested area with other ryokans nearby as well. As we walked toward the local Misawa station, it was quite calm and quiet with very few people around. You could definitely appreciate the serenity and peacefulness of North Japan, in stark contrast to the organized chaos of Tokyo. From Misawa station, we headed off to the Nebuta Wa Rasse Museum, which was about a 1hr 30 min train ride. The ride itself was slow, but smooth as most of the passengers settled in and took a nap until the last stop, Aomori station. Upon arrival, the rain began to pickup a bit more and both of us were starting to regret not bringing our umbrellas...

Still, we were able to quickly find shelter in the nearby Nebuta Wa Rasse Museum, which was only a block or two away from Aomori station. We purchased our tickets on 2F and checked out the museum exhibits. Shockingly, the museum is quite small despite housing a handful of massive nebuta (floats) that typically are paraded during summer festivals in Aomori. We both still enjoyed gazing at the grandeur of each handmade nebuta and also got to see a traditional dance performance by a local troupe with taiko drummers inside the museum.

The museum spilled into a gift shop at the end of the exhibit, which had a lot of interesting goodies. I definitely tried to abstain, but in the end, gave in and bought a t-shirt to commemorate the trip up North. After the short museum trip, we sprinted across the wooden boardwalk through the downpour toward A Factory, which had various souvenirs, omiyage, drinks, and food stalls catering to local Aomori cuisine. We definitely had to grab some apple pies and apple cider as Aomori is known for their apples. My friend even said that the apple pie may have even been the best he's ever had. Quite high praise for sure.

We saw that they were selling umbrellas at the store and considered purchasing two, but in the end decided against it and just made our way through the rain back to the station nearby. After the long train ride back, we finally made it back to the ryokan fairly dry and checked in. We ended up with a corner Azumashi (Japanese style) room with en suite cypress wood bath. Relaxing vibes. We took turns enjoying the cypress bath and definitely felt rejuvenated afterwards. Later in the evening, it was time for the included buffet dinner. We hopped in the elevator and headed to 1F and walked around the well decorated floor strewn with paper apple lanterns and other various apple themed decor.

There was an expansive gift shop on the left and to the right was a tap. For liquor you might ask? Nope. Apple juice on tap. It was quite refreshing with a balanced sweetness and we both enjoyed a few cups before moving on down the well lit corridor to the buffet restaurant. There was a bit of a line up, but the queue moved swiftly and efficiently. We got our table fairly quickly and were now ready to feast! They had various food stations including salad, soups, tempura station, grill station, seafood station, and an udon station. There was a good mix of Western and Japanese foods. They even had a small bar where you could order drinks...but to my disappointment, the drinks were an additional charge to your room. Sneaky. We ordered just two drinks with dinner and put away multiple plates of food including dessert.

The highlights for me were the tempura station and seafood/ramen station. Definitely a must try. I loved the garlic shoot tempura with wasabi salt and the scallop ramen. After stuff ourselves, we did some omiyage shopping at the gift shop before heading back to relax and digest. Later in the evening, we popped back out on 1F and grabbed a drink at the bar. We unfortunately couldn't see the nebuta performance held nightly since the reservations were closed already, but we still enjoyed a late night drink before retiring for the night.

I always enjoy ryokan stays during the middle of my trip as it helps me to reset physically and mentally from jetlag as well as from the general fatigue of travel. It definitely was an "azumashi" stay (Aomori dialect for comfortable). 

Day 12- Sushi subarashi

Woke up with little sleep as my friend was snoring quite aggressively. Shoganai as they say. Might need to insist on separate rooms next time! We headed off for the breakfast buffet and I was expecting a meager spread. Boy was I wrong. There were so many breakfast options from Western to Japanese and even included apple curry and other more brunch-y options. I also loved that they had a kaisendon station and I definitely ate my fill of ikura, tuna, and hamachi. Gochisosama deshita. After a hearty breakfast, we went back to rest for a bit before heading off to Komakionsen Shibusawa park next door.

On our walk over there, we could see that they offered horse drawn carriage rides to guests. I also saw less glamorous horse drawn box cars as well for multiple guests. Just a short stroll into the park, there was a foot bath that overlooked a moderately sized pond. I liked that they even had a cabinet with towels to dry off your feet afterwards. Very mindful. After enjoying the foot bath for a bit, I dried off and we checked out the rest of the park that included a shrine across the pond. It was pretty disappointing only seeing a handful of trees with fall foliage. Damn you, global warming. The forecast seems to be late November for full fall foliage. Sad. Nevertheless, the park was quite nice and peaceful with very few people. We wandered around and saw some preserved Japanese traditional houses, shrines, and bridges before beginning to make our way back to the ryokan.

Once we returned, we packed up, checked out, and took a cab over to Hachinohe station directly. We also had some leftover ekibens from earlier in the trip that self-heat and so we enjoyed those on the shinkansen ride back to Tokyo. Once we got back, we did some laundry and lounged around before dinner with my brother later. For dinner, my brother had made reservations for us and his gf at a local sushi spot in Azabujuban. I'm gonna have to gatekeep the restaurant's name as it's quite difficult to get into and mainly invite/referral only.

We cabbed it over and once we found the spot, my friend and I were able to grab our reserved seats inside and ordered a drink while waiting for my brother and his gf to arrive. The restaurant itself was very intimate with a maximum capacity of 8 seats. While it can be intimidating as you're so close to the chef, the sushi chef here was quite affable and easy to chat with even in English. I also appreciated that he used different Japanese lacquerware and dishes to present each piece of nigiri. Presentation and aesthetics were on point in addition to flavor. We also enjoyed various types of sake to pair with the sushi. The whole omakase took nearly 2 hours or so, which was mind blowing to me. The time just evaporated away as we all enjoyed the delicious and carefully crafted sushi by the chef. No joke, it probably was the best sushi I've ever had in my entire life.

 Each piece was amazing and full of flavors I don't think I've ever experienced before. Subarashi. Eventually the other customers left as we were finishing up our omakase course, which was quite filling. Once they left, the sushi chef seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he could now just enjoy the company of my brother and the rest of our party. It was kinda awesome just chatting with the chef casually while enjoying the dining experience.

 After our nearly 2 hour long omakase, we said our thanks and goodbyes. The chef and entire staff even followed us out and bowed to us in unison as a thank you for our patronage. My brother was a bit shocked as he said he's never seen the chef do that ever. An honor for sure. After that amazing dinner, we stopped by a local bar, AlNiCan Rhodes Bar just around the corner to grab an after dinner drink to chat and digest. It was a small bar, typical of Tokyo, but had some great American oldies music blasting from the two massive speakers mounted above the bar. An amazing day for sure full of relaxing vibes and mind blowing food. Definitely a day to remember.

Day 13- The Symphony

Almost over. I could feel the dread of my vacation's terminus looming closer. I tried to clear the bad thought from my mind and my friend and I decided to check out a Japanese garden to start off our day. Relaxation is the vibe as the trip nears its end. My friend and I were trying to decide between Rikugien vs Hamarikyu Garden and we ended up settling on the latter as it was a bit closer. Although, Rikugien garden would have been cool if the foliage was up.

We cabbed it over and upon arriving at the entrance of Hamarikyu Garden, it wasn't much to look at since it was fall and most flowers weren't in bloom with exception of a few found deeper into the park. However, my disappointment slowly dissipated the further we walked into the garden as the views and landscape began to open up more and became more impressive. You could see views of the nearby bays, ports, skyscrapers, and bridges strewn across some ponds. It was nice to just enjoy the morning views and appreciate both nature and the modern cityscape.

After the leisurely stroll, it was time to finish up the rest of our shopping trip. First up on the to do list was for my friend to pickup his prescription glasses from Jins. Afterwards, we hit up SHIPS and Stormy Skate Shop. For lunch, we tried to line up for Menchiraishi in Harajuku for some Japanese Italian udon carbonara. However, to my shock, as we lined up at what we thought was the end of the line, a confused employee redirected us across the street where the line continued....and he eventually lead us to the real end of the line. it was a 1-2 hour wait....WTF. We both paused for a second to consider waiting in line...but then abandoned the menus that were handed to us and headed off to a nearby Ichiran ramen chain restaurant.

 Luckily, the line wasn't too long and we were able to get seats fairly quickly. We both customized our ramen on paper slips, but once we received our ramen bowls, I felt like that they screwed it up and simply ignored our requests. A bit disappointing and definitely turned me off from ever going back to Ichiran again. It's a bit of a tourist trap spot for ramen and it's mediocre at best. After a somewhat disappointing lunch, we checked out Liberty Walk Tokyo, Beams Plus Harajuku, Mega Donki Shibuya, and Bic Camera Shibuya. Most of the earlier shops didn't have much, while Mega Donki was just swarming with tourists. Definitely AVOID next time. Way too chaotic. At Bic Camera, I purchased some Bose Quietcomfort Ultra earbuds tax free, which was a nice score and much needed as I left my earbuds back at home. 

Afterwards, it was back to rest up a bit before our nomihodai (all you can drink) booze cruise across Tokyo Bay in the evening around 7pm. We cabbed it over just to avoid getting lost through the train stations and arrived right at The Symphony counter. We checked in and redeemed our QR code for physical tickets. We hung around the waiting room until it was announced that it was time to board on the TV monitor. Once we boarded, we were escorted to the 4th floor of the cruise ship, where we could enjoy the nomihodai for about 1hr 30 mins with expansive views of Tokyo Bay and the surrounding architecture. The nomihodai included a small array of appetizers including Japanese pickles, shumai, and other small hors d'oeuvres. As we enjoyed our snacks and drinks, we also saw that they had a sushi counter with a sushi chef. Hmm, might need to give that a try next time or maybe try a dinner cruise.

After downing a few drinks and finish our apps, we headed out to the deck on the 4th floor and snapped a bunch of pics of Tokyo Tower, Skytree, Rainbow Bridge, and other various cityscapes from the cruise ship. It was quite windy that night and the cold air definitely seemed to signal that winter was near. We moved back into the warmth of the indoors and grabbed a few more drinks. I was feeling nice and buzzed and was definitely enjoying the cruise. As the cruise ship got closer to docking, the views got nicer and nicer as we got closer to the iconic landmarks of Tokyo.

Once the cruise ended, we disembarked and immediately hopped in a taxi to meet my brother at a local izakaya for dinner. It was a pretty busy local izakaya and so we had to wait a few minutes for a table to open up. We grabbed a few more drinks and some small plates to share. Afterwards, we headed off to another izakaya and met up with one of my brother's expat friend and his gf. We chatted about our trip, work stuff, and other random things while enjoying some drinks and sharing some more small plates.

Afterwards, my brother's friend and his gf called it a night and cabbed it back home. As for the three of us remaining, we decided to check out Record Bar Hellish again to grab a few more drinks to end the night. Near the end of the night, my friend headed back to the Airbnb, while I had a chat with my brother. We had a nice conversation about the future, family, and possibly moving to Japan to make a living. It definitely gave me some food for thought to consider deeply. I definitely don't want to languish in regret and might just need to finally dust off some dreams I've shelved away in the deep recesses of my mind. Perhaps it's time for some drastic changes in the near future...

Day 14- Lost and Shibuya Sky

Continuing the chill vibes, it was time to finish up a bit more shopping, eating, and drinking. We started off our morning by checking out our local neighborhood Nemo bakery again. This time, we ate inside and the staff were kind enough to heat up the various pastries we ordered along with our coffees. It was nice enjoying local bakery goodies amongst the locals. I definitely began to daydream about living in Japan and visiting a local bakery to study Japanese, haha. Afterwards, we headed off to check out an Instagram spot that has been made popular by some anime, Hijiri bridge. It's a specific spot where you can see three trains going through at the same time if you get the timing just right. It's a very photogenic spot where we spotted other photographers set up with their cameras hoping to secure that perfect shot. 

We stayed for about 30 minutes and were able to capture some great shots there. I definitely miss photography and should try to get my friends back into it. Still, nothing beats travel photography. After getting some Insta-worthy stuff, we headed off to nearby Kanda Matsuya for soba. On the way there, we stumbled up a small little shrine of Confucius called Yushima Seido. It was kinda cool discovering it randomly as we were heading off for lunch.

It's an iconic spot that's been serving soba for a while. The lineup wasn't too bad as we lined up a few minutes before they opened up. The restaurant itself was big enough for most people in the line to secure a seat. We both got cold soba with tempura. Once we got our food, aesthetics were on point, but as for flavor...I have to be honest and say that it wasn't that great. The soba broth was way too salty for my taste unfortunately. Perhaps the locals don't mind it or are used to it, but I had a tough time choking down the noodles with all that sodium. It made me consider revisiting my old soba spot in Ebisu next time. Still, with our bellies full we headed off to Akihabara to check out some shops around the area. I took a much needed break at Cafe Mocha for a Vienna coffee and had a little smoke break. It was nice to just sink into a couch and pump my lungs and stomach with stimulants amongst some locals. Afterwards, my friend and I hopped on a train at the nearby station and headed back to the Airbnb to rest up a bit.

For the evening, I wanted to check out Lost Bar by Chris Broad and brought my book in case he was there to have it signed. We arrived in the evening around 5pm and there was a bit of a lineup. The wait was about 30 minutes or so, but we eventually were able to get in and got a table near the expansive windows overlooking the adjacent GU store across the street. Sadly, Mr Affable wasn't there, but I still enjoyed all the decorations and aesthetics of the bar. I also loved that it was more "gaijin" friendly as all the staff spoke English well. I had a "Go F#@k Yourself" cocktail and a "Like A Magic Mule." Both drinks were great and quite STIFF! I mean really stiff! I think I caught a buzz just after one. I think if I had three, I'd be a drunken mess and bump into tables, haha. 

We also got some wasabi beef chips to share to soak up a bit of the alcohol and then promptly got the check. We navigated through crowd semi-sober onward to Shibuya Sky. We both got a little lost trying to find the damn elevator for it, but managed to use the Shibuya Sky signs to eventually find our way. Thankfully we made it only about 5 minutes past our ticket admission time, but were still able to get in without any issues. Apparently the tickets were sold out for the day too. We were ushered into an elevator that took us to the coin locker floor, where you had to stow away any loose items such as hats, bags, and other things that could be blown away by the strong gusts on the rooftop. 

The evening wind chill was quite intense and after maybe 10 minutes, I definitely was over it. While the night views were nice up on the roof, the visibility was quite poor and the wind chill definitely made me want to finish taking pictures and leave quickly. Once we retreated back inside, there were some pretty interesting sculpture installations, a sovenir shop, a DJ and a bar. We decided to bypass the bar and planned to check out a nearby izakaya instead. As we made our way to the elevators to leave, I was expecting it to drop us off on the ground floor. However, instead, the elevator doors opened into a mall food court. Wow, how deceitful. I had to laugh at how silly it was. Sneaky.

We skipped all the food court temptations and eventually made it out of that 13 story mall. It felt like an eternity going down multiple escalators as the elevators were moving at a snail's pace. We eventually escaped and made our way to Hakuritabai Hanbey in Shibuya, a Showa era izakaya chain restaurant. I liked the old vintage posters that were plastered all over the restaurant and the chill local vibe as people downed their cheap cocktails and beers, smoked cigarettes, and wolfed down cheap izakaya classics like potato salad, karaage, and gyoza. Afterwards, we headed back to the Airbnb to rest up a bit before going back out later for dinner at Il Boccalone, an Italian restaurant that was recommended by my brother's gf. 

Once we got there, I definitely felt a bit underdressed as there were a lot of businessman in suits having full on business meetings. Nevertheless, we managed to secure a table without a reservation and the food quality was pretty decent. We ordered some pastas and appetizers to share. Overall, it was well done, but I still think that I've had better Italian cuisine in LA. I think my brother is right in thinking that LA has the best mix of diverse cuisines that are done authentically and well. The only other state that could rival LA as a food city would be NYC perhaps. After dinner, it was time to get back to rest up as we have a nearly all-day guided tour for Mount Fuji tomorrow.

Day 15- Shy and bald Mount Fuji

The iconic Mount Fuji. With its recognizable snow cap...oh wait, there's no snow cap in October 2024! Fuji-san is bald! Apparently, it's the first time in a long time since Mount Fuji didn't have a snowcap in October. First, no fall foliage and now, no snow cap on Mount Fuji. Global warming at it again. Le sigh. My friend and I headed off to Tokyo station at the meeting point for our guided tour via bus that I booked through Klook. It was interesting to see a pretty diverse tour group with a mix of Southeast Asians, Brits, and Americans. I also realized how Klook acts as an intermediary as our tour guide seemed to be working for a Chinese touring company, yet also spoke a bit of English as well. It was a bit disorganized at the start trying to find our tour guide, but we eventually we were able to successfully locate her and navigated our way to the tour bus to our assigned seats.

Once the tour group was on the bus, it was time to buckle up and brace ourselves for a long ride to our first stop of the tour, Lake Yamanaka -ko (-ko means lake). It was a bit of a journey to get there, but the bus ride was pretty smooth and we could admire the scenery of Yamanashi prefecture on the way. Once we arrived at Lake Yamanaka, it didn't have much to check out other than a Swan boat you could pay extra to ride, a small downtown with a few shops, and a small park adjacent to the lakeshore. My friend and I decided to skip the boat ride and explored the lakeshore and nearby surrounding areas. There sadly wasn't much foliage as expected, but I managed to get a few shots of what was there. Still better than nothing I guess. We stopped by a nearby souvenir shop as our time here was coming to a close and I got a few gachapon toys. From there, the next stop was Oshino Hakkai village.

Oshino Hakkai wasn't too far from the lake, but it was just completely swarmed by tourists. There were loads of tour buses in the parking lot and we were allotted about an hour to get lunch and check out the small village. There were various souvenir shops, food stalls, and various traditional Japanese village architecture. It felt very much like a tourist trap, which was a bit of a letdown. Still, my friend and I made do and we tried some of the street food such as dango before stopping at a restaurant that was serving "Hōtō", which is a noodle soup with miso base from Yamanshi prefecture. We both had our eyes on the clock as we were cutting it kinda close as the food took quite some time to arrive. Once the food arrived, my friend scarfed it down and ended up with a minor lip burn, while I did singe my tongue a bit from the hot soup. It definitely was "hot-oh" lol. We managed to finish up our rushed lunch just in time and headed back on the bus.

The next stop was Oishi Park for...ice cream. What? Yea, apparently they had Cremia ice cream from Hokkaido and some decent views of Mount Fuji...if it wasn't cloudy. Unfortunately, Fuji-san was a bit shy today and was covered in clouds from the top to middle. It cleared up slightly as time passed, but still wasn't a perfectly clear shot. We both did end in indulging in some Cremia soft serve ice cream, which was quite tasty to be fair due to its high quality dairy with higher fat content. 

The final stop of the tour was Arakurayama Sengen Park, which has about 400 steps to the top to reach Chureito Pagoda. It's an iconic photography spot featured in many travel guide books. My friend and I were preparing for the climb and made sure we had allotted enough time to reach the top and get down as well on time. Once we arrived, we were one of the few that made it to the top first. The first half of the stair climb wasn't too bad, but became steeper as you went. I could see lots of tourists, especially the older ones struggling at the halfway point. Once I reached the top, it was super crowded with tourists trying to get the perfect shot and there was even a line forming to get the perfect shot.

I managed to take a few pics from the side and then we both made our way back down towards Shimoyoshida station. I stumbled across a Print Latte cafe nearby and ended up getting a cafe latte with a print of Chureito Pagoda on the foam. Kinda cool as it was very detailed and of course, edible. Afterwards, we all got back on the bus and it was a long trip back to Tokyo station. Overall, the tour was decent, but I felt like it was a bit rushed and some of the stops were just too much of a tourist trap and difficult to find a spot to enjoy to yourself.

It was also a shame that the tour skipped the Maple Corridor as global warming was still causing most of the trees to remain green. Shoganai again. Maybe I'll consider a trip in late November after Thanksgiving or early December next time to try and catch the foliage as well as enjoy winter illuminations in the city. Hmm, that could be a good idea.

Once we were back in the city, we cabbed it back to relax briefly before heading off again to grab dinner at a bistro called Raramuri with my brother and his gf. We ordered various dishes ranging from tataki to steak to pasta. All the food were small shareable plates and was a pretty good start to the night. Afterwards, we checked out Ebisu yokocho to try and grab a table there. It was PACKED full of locals. Most of the crowd was younger and you could definitely feel the "nanpa" (picking up women) vibe from all the shouting, laughing, and conversations all across the cramped yokocho. 

As we passed through, I was a bit relieved when we reached the end and exited. We waited outside for a moment to meet up one of my brother's gf's friends. Once we were all assembled, we headed off to a modern looking izakaya nearby for a few drinks and small plates to share. We chatted about our trip and plans for our last day before calling it a night after enjoying a few drinks. My brother and his crew continued onward into the night as we hopped in a cab back to the Airbnb. I was glad I had some self-restraint as I still needed to pack for our flight back home as well as check-in for my flight. Best not to leave things last minute. Before ending the night, we took one last Family Mart stop before calling it a night there.