2 Weeks in Japan - Part 2
By Aimee on
Part 2 will cover our journey through Nagoya and Tokyo. We had organised more AirBnBs to stay in whilst in both places and were fairly happy with Nagoya but sadly very disappointed with Tokyo. We were pretty busy for most days but it is always nice to come home to a comfy bed with enough room to stretch out and maybe have a cheap meal, which wasn’t really all that possible in Tokyo. However, let us get back to the story.
Nagoya
Day 8
So, we left off on the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Nagoya, feeling pretty tired but excited as Nagoya brought to us SUMO and we were very keen for this little pre-paid endeavour. We hadn’t planned to do much in Nagoya except for the sumo, the castle and the science museum. When we got there we decided we would have a rest day and go out to dinner later. We found this cute little restaurant that sold one of Nagoya’s delicacy’s called Cochin chicken. This chicken is like the Kobe beef of Chickens and is so fresh they eat it like sashimi. We weren’t really up for that but we did have some in a yakitori style as well as some other vegetables and rice, as you do. There was a lovely couple next to us who were getting on the sakés and had a little chat with us in their minimal English which was hilarious. Needless to say, by the end of the night we had our own little bamboo stalk full of sake which went down quite nicely.
Day 9
Today was Sumo day! But first we were off to the Nagoya castle as it was right next to the Nagoya prefectural gymnasium where the sumo was being held. It was a truly magnificent building which was another rebuild like Osaka Castle. This one however was bombed and burnt down during WWII. Inside is a little museum of different things that came from the Edo period. On one floor they have created a little village of what it would have looked like back then and every 10 minutes or so it cycles through a day and changes lighting and sounds. I thought it was a really nice touch as a lot of museums can become a little stale and boring if you do many of them. This one had a few interactive sections but still had the history there too. Japanese castles are just really pretty to look at too. After the walk we grabbed another ice-cream, this time pineapple and headed on over to the sumo for the rest of the day. We were taken to our seats and we were so lucky. I picked the seats not knowing what ones were good or not but I think I did a fantastic job. We picked box seat C as we got a little table and still got the traditional seating with little pillows and could see fairly well. We started to understand the matches as the day went by and were able to highlight the winners by the last 10-15 matches. We grabbed a few bento boxes and took lots of photos and videos of it all. The crowd were more worked up here than they were in the baseball. For some reason they really loved big throws of salt. The second to last match was a big one. The top ranked wrestler was beaten by a player ranked 6th. Man, I have never been so confused in all my life. After the win (or loss) almost everyone threw their pillows. We thought we needed to as well, we didn’t know what was going on. It was so exciting and I have never enjoyed watching a sport more. If you are planning on going to Japan any time soon plan it for when a tournament is on and book tickets, you won’t be disappointed. The five hours we were there flew by with excitement and just like that we were pouring our way out of the stadium feeling thrilled to have gone.
Day 10
We couldn’t believe that it was already our last day in Nagoya, we felt like we had only just got there but, alas, we were off on the next part of our adventure. We attempted to go to the science museum but, again, like in Kyoto it was closed because it was the third Friday of the month. I was actually devastated, it has the largest planetarium in the world and I was really keen to experience that. So we grabbed our bags from the lockers that screamed instructions at you and headed to Tokyo.
Tokyo
Day 10
We boarded the Shinkansen and we were on our way. Well sort of, we got on the ‘wrong’ train and had to get off said train and board another one. But we had gone most of the way before we could get off to swap trains. On the plus side we ate some great dumplings at the station. Moving forward we made it to Tokyo and tried to find character street but neither of us could remember which station it was under. Turns out it was under Tokyo station and we were in Shinjuku station, the busiest train station in the world. It was also peak hour and the people were constrictive. After some claustrophobia we needed to just get out of the stations and head to our AirBnB. Which like I stated earlier was a real disappointment. It was small, even for Japanese standards and it hadn’t been cleaned but we made do and in the end it was OK. We were pretty spoiled with our room in Osaka and really missed it. This one didn’t even have a table. Just a mattress on the floor. Anyway! Moving on from there we did get to character street and found another Pokémon centre. We had some kind of tasty egg omelet and then headed to Shibuya station at the busiest time ever. We crossed at THE crossing and headed to star-bucks to get a drink and people watch on the balcony above. It was amazing to see just the amount of people that went through there every couple of minutes, and to watch the tourists taking photos. Was a lovely end to a pretty shitty day.
Day 11
Up early to head to the Tsukiji fish markets to get ourselves some Tuna! We didn’t make it in time for the auction but we did still get to wander around the fishy smelling place and eat a tuna bowl with four different types of tuna (depends on where they cut it off the fish) with egg and wasabi and pickled ginger and happiness. Best tuna ever! I do feel there was a part of the market that we didn’t see but I was happy, full and ready to go to the next stop of the day. Akihabara, this happy part of town is lined with maid cafés, Taito gaming stations, anime figurines, games and all your geeky technology. Needless to say I really enjoyed it. The Taito game station had to be my favourite. We first went to get some kawaii photos in the printing section down stairs. We posed like Japanese school girls and edited our photos to have sushi, funny hats and little ducks. We drummed on the drumming game which is amazing, chanced our luck at a few cranes and played some Tekken. Sam did better than I did but that doesn’t surprise me. Then off to Kapabasshi street, the kitchen palace. There was cutlery, pottery, chopsticks, teacups, knives galore and all the cookie-cutter shapes you could ever dream of. I purchased a fan and some chopsticks with little sheep on them and Sam went a little nuts on the kitchen supplies but its nice to have a few sets to take back. We then had lunch and was told off by the lady helping us cook our okonimiyaki. We flattened it to cook it faster and she came over and told us not to do that and that it is meant to cook slowly. I guess we were just hungry. For dinner we made it to ‘memory lane’ outside of Shinjuku station for some yakitori. We went to a couple of the little bars and had a number of drinks and grilled sticks until it was undoubtedly time for some Karaoke. Which ended with us singing a mixture of ‘Benny and the Jetts’ and ‘Redemption song’, accent and all.
Day 12
After another much needed sleep in we took a train to the Harajuku district. They say to go there on a Sunday, and I can understand why but man was it busy. We didn’t even want to stop to look at the shops as it was so packed. We bought ourselves some Tamagotchis (nostalgia moment) ate some taiyaki (sweet pastry shaped like a fish) and headed to Yoyogi park to chill and get eaten by mosquitoes. The guys that dress up as Elvis Presley were there too, chilling. I must say the dogs there are so quiet, they must be trained not to bark. We had planned to go to the Penguin bar for dinner but as we didn’t book ahead we didn’t get a seat. We spent a good half an hour in a cat café instead and fell into a dance festival happening in the park. Everyone was really getting into it, it was great to watch. We then meandered through the town finding our way to a whiskey, rock and jazz bar. They cut up your ice to look like diamonds, had a huge collection of first pressed vinyl and all the whiskey you could ever imagine. After much Led Zeppelin was listened to we called it a night, ready to be up early for Disneyland.
Day 13
Ah Disneyland, be still my beating heart. We got off the train at some ridiculous hour of the morning (I didn’t make Sam get there when it opened like I was going to mind you). We raced in almost in tears of joy, well I was almost in tears of joy, and made our way to ‘Boo’s hid and go seek’ ride to get a fast-pass. Now this is my third Disneyland and the first time I had ever used a fast-pass, I say just do it! Some rides aren’t worth it but the few that we did definitely were. Space mountain came next, then Buzz Lightyear’s blasters, some ice cream, a view of Toontown and some lunch. Shaped like Mickey’s gloves and Donald’s feet as well, they think about all the tiny details. Fantasyland was next on my agenda, grabbed another fast-pass for Pooh’s honey hunt and then went on the ‘It’s a small world’ ride. Sam hadn’t done a Disneyland before and needed the full creepy experience of this one. Peter Pan’s flight was next and I do remember loving this ride but it didn’t quite feel the same as it did the first time I went on it 10 years prior. Then off to the Haunted Mansion, which was pretty awesome with its ballroom scene ghost holograms and all the singing and attempted scaring. Next stop was Adventureland, and by this point we were pretty hot and sweaty but I wouldn’t give up yet! River safari ride was cute but the person driving the boat really made it spectacular. She was so animated even if I didn’t understand a word she was saying. Big thunder mountain and splash mountain both had huge line-ups so we gave them a miss and had more food. It was nice to be in the air conditioning. I tell you what if you want a break for food go to Grandma Sara’s. It is quiet and cool and not too busy, especially compared to the pizza planet restaurant. We fast passed it through the Monster’s inc. ride and used our torches to find Boo. As the afternoon parade was on we gunned it to Big thunder mountain and waited in line. Man was that a bad idea, we were a bit grumpy after that wait and Sam almost lost his head! (he’s rather tall) but I’m mostly glad we did that one. Next we did Pooh’s honey hunt and that was awesome. If you fast pass anything, do that one. It is so different to all their other rides in the fact that it glides around without tracks. It’s hard to describe but was amazing. Then the rain came, we bought umbrellas and tried to wait it out for the night parade but due to weather that was cancelled. We didn’t wait around for the fireworks show either as we presumed that would be cancelled too. We got home, drenched, (the puddles were huge) and went to sleep, hoping on a better day at Disneysea.
Day 14
We got up even later for our trip to Disneysea, we went and had breakfast at a funny little café called ‘Bread and Drink’ then headed on in. We had to take the Disney Train around the resort which was adorable! Walking into Disneysea was like stepping into another world. Funnily enough you see a globe that spins as you get in and then you feel like you’re in Venice. We managed to arrive as they were doing a parade on the water and they were spraying people with water and I was just spellbound and very much in love. We headed straight for the Volcano in the middle of the park to get our fast passes for ‘Journey to the centre of the Earth.’ This whole area is inspired by Jules Verne novels and was just spectacular. We got our fast passes and lined up anyway, so we could do it twice. Totally worth it! Then we went on the 20,000 leagues under the sea ride which really made you feel you were underwater. Tower of Terror came next and was a bit of a thrill, then we headed back to the volcano for some lunch. My dumplings had smiling Goofy faces on them 😍. Off to mermaid lagoon and being that ‘The Little Mermaid’ is my ultimate Disney favourite I was pretty chuffed about being under the sea (insert much singing here). We watched a little musical with puppets and a robotic King Triton and an Ariel on wires ‘swimming’ around. We then did our second journey to the centre of the Earth, and headed to the Amazon. More ice cream shaped like Mickey Mouse and another line we were on an Crystal Skull adventure with Indiana Jones. They take a photo of you on this ride and I am so glad I purchased it. Sam and I look scared and we didn’t know when the photo was going to be taken. Perfect and priceless, that image. Walking through to Agrabah we fast-passed a roller coaster that looked pretty awesome. We saw a 3D stage production of Genie vs the Magician which was worth watching, we ate some churros went on Sinbad’s adventure which was like the ‘It’s a small world’ ride but with better robots but worse music. The roller coaster was next with its 360° loop, short but good. Headed back through the Amazon to Discovery Port and went on the stupidest ride ever. Mind you it did say it would get you wet but I was thinking like a fun little splash, it was more 10 seconds under a jet hose and then a little swirl around and then done. No point really, unless it was crazy hot and you wanted to cool off. It was now evening and we were soaked (White shirt wasn’t really helping the situation). We then dried off and waited for the Fantasmic light show to begin. It was pretty awesome, we got to see Mickey, Cinderella, Stitch, boats, fire, lasers, water jets and fireworks all tied in with a beautiful song that just melted my heart. Then we went home with a body full of joy and tired leaden feet. Perfect day.
Day 15
Last full day in Japan. We went to the mega Pokémon centre, which was pretty much the same as the others but, well, bigger. Then found this tasty ramen place that served slow cooked smoke pork ramen. It was to die for. Our big send off for Japan was going to the Robot Restaurant at night. Crazy little cabaret style show more for foreigners than the Japanese and it had crazy colours and lights and smoke machines and little firework type things and above all robots. Dinosaur robots, lady robots, many an animal robot and funky people dressed up in weird clothing or next to nothing just singing and dancing and playing music. It was pretty awesome, and I would highly recommend it to either start or finish your holiday with. The drinks flowed freely and afterwards we found another Taito gaming station. Sam played more Tekken and I somehow won a Snoopy and a Woodstock out of the crane machines. Dutch courage perhaps. After one more round of the drumming game we stumbled through to another ramen shop and had a late night dinner. We had a pretty good sleep and the next day we were off to the airport, heading home and already sad to leave but glad to get home to our own bed.
That was our amazing trip to Japan. I highly recommend going there as it is one of the most friendly places and the language barrier isn’t even a real problem. Getting around is pretty easy and convenient and you will enjoy the food if you are a foodie, or the culture and mash-up of modern and tradition. I would love to go there again but next time I think we are off to America. I hope my holiday has inspired you to go on one yourself