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Japan 2026!
  • Shalee Gherbaz
  • Shalee Gherbaz

Japan 2026!

One month in Japan doing Shalee's customised "Golden Figure 8 Loop" Japan itinerary of the central island of Japan. Read more
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  • Trip start
    February 17, 2026
    Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    And we are off!

    February 17 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Busy traffic to the airport but made it with plenty of time to spare. Checked in online yesterday so it was the bag drop and customs this morning, and it was super quiet! Got through in about 15 minutes from start to finish, so we just have an hour or so to kill before hopping on the plane.Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Home for the week

    February 17 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Have arrived at our apartment in Tokyo 16 hours since we left our house in Melb. Our flight was relatively cruisy. Michael and I just read our books basically the whole trip. The food was surprisingly nice, and we didn't touch our snacks we bought in advance (forgot that Qantas is full service so you get heaps!) except for the beef jerky that I had to smash down when we realised bringing animal products to Japan was illegal (even stuff bought in the airport). Customs and immigration were hectic, as was getting the train but we got there in the end and made our way here.

    Our accoms is lovely. $170 a night. We have a full serviced apartment with laundry, kitchen, and a heated bidet toilet. Michael was especially happy about that. It's a decent size for Tokyo and it has extra blankets and mattress toppers plus a good heater, so couldn't ask for much better! Plus, the neighbourhood is very local and in a range of tiny alleyways, so it feels very safe and is super quiet.

    Ducked out quickly to get me my tuna cans to cover my breakfasts (I always eat tuna as soon as I wake up in the morning) and got some little hot items to nibble on to settle our tums. Curry bread, beef and potato croquette and a piece of spicy fried chicken. All very yummo and so cheap. 7/11 is 200m away from where we are.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Yokohama cupnoodle museum

    February 18 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Today is the first day of the Chinese new year, so we are spending the day in Yokohama as they have one of Japan's only Chinatowns. Getting here was a headache and a half.

    We've done just about every train blunder in one morning. The trains here are incredibly convoluted and confusing to navigate. Some require IC cards, some require pasmo cards, some are private railways, and they all often exist under the one roof. For us to get to Yokohama we needed to get a pasmo card for the subway system and a suica card for the JR lines. Everything is in Japanese, and despite researching, when you're there and there's no english whatsoever... It sucks.

    Plus, there are letters and numbers that mean different lines but are the same colour, so once we worked out the JR line we got the blue train like planned to realise, nope, wrong train! So backtrack we went and opted for a different colour train to get to the same place (and each colour has a different number for the station as it has its own rules and systems). Honestly... Give me Melbourne. Or Taipei in Taiwan. One card, one ticket style and system. Obviously Tokyo is a headache because the entire population of Australia lives here and needs to get around, but still! Headache.

    In saying that, once you are on the train, everything is very smooth so long as you have the numbers. I'll get used to it in a few days, especially on days where it's just subway transfers, but my god, it's one thing to prepare for it and another to do it.

    Once we got to Yokohama we had a lovely walk down to our reservation at the cupnoodles museum, where we made our own cup noodles and watched a very funny video on the history of cup noodles. The gallery with all the different kinds of noodles was awesome! We even recognised some from home! I'm very much looking forward to having a late night cup noodle snack sometime on the trip.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Lunch at Kahuna Room

    February 18 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    We've ducked over to the "around the world building" across from the cup noodle museum to have lunch, as we were starving! We ended up at a waffle and curry house called Kalaha Room. It is Hawaiian themed, and we both got virgin cocktails and Hawaiian/Japanese curry blends, with Michael getting the hamburg and egg version and me getting the crumbed chicken. Super delish. $13 for the lunch and $7 for the mocktails. No complaints from us. Totally hit the spot.Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Yokohome Motomachi Shopping Street

    February 18 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Caught a go taxi down to motomachi shopping street, which runs along at the very bottom of Yokohama chinatown. It's a quaint street with a strange mix of modern and European architecture, and the shops were really varied with unique pieces and designer stuff. A lot more upmarket I guess than other shopping areas.

    Just wandered about, I got myself a small umbrella, and we had the French fries at the McDonald's. Everyone says they are super nostalgic because they are still cooked in beef fat like in the 90s/00s. Michael and I both concurred they barely taste any different to fries today, but they SMELL like the 90s/00s Macca's, which is why we think people get that vibe.

    We had to take a snap of this amazing leather bag in a leather shop. Too bad it was $500. Sorry Michael. Not today.

    On another really funny note, Michael had an amazing wartime US bomber jacket made as his Xmas/bday present last year, and it is like, the most on trend Jacket in Tokyo... For women!

    We have seen 3 guys wearing similar styles to his jacket... And about 30 women. Especially on the younger/trendy women. It must be this season's rage here. Michaels camera is massive so he can't even take inconspicuous snaps haha! But we are just going to keep an eye on it and giggle about it.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Yokohama Chinatown

    February 18 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    The last stop for the day in Yokohama was at their Chinatown. It's currently Chinese New Year, so there are lots of lanterns and festivities happening and extra food stuff on sale.

    We arrived at an ideal time just after 4.15pm or so, with the streets still a little quiet but bustling enough to have a vibe. By the time we ended up leaving, it was really starting to take off. The energy was good here, where you had the main streets with the temples and large eateries, and then all these little small streets with vendors and decorations you could traverse. It's apparently the oldest Chinatown in the world too which is cool. Also, no idea why, but everyone was obsessed with getting their palms read. There were palm readers everywhere, and the lines for some of them were hectic! Michael just cackled at the fact that all their sheets looked like Mickey Mouse's gloves. It really gave the woo woo of the palm reading that extra bit of credibility for him.

    We weren't super hungry, but there were a few items I was really hoping to try that are Chinese new year specialties here. The first being pork pepper buns from Taiwan.

    Pork pepper buns are a rare speciality that is mainly sold in Taipei (and they're even quite tough to get there) that consist of pork meat, spring onions, and gravy/soup base inside of a bread bun that's heated upside down in a very specific clay barrel. The one I had in 2018 is still one of the nicest things I've ever put in my mouth. So of course poor Yokohama's version wasn't going to live up to that, but it was still yum, and awesome to get the chance to have one again nearly 8 years later and share that moment with Michael!

    Then we had these strawberry sticks, which, honestly, I thought were going to be sickly sweet and ick, but they were legitimately amazing! Turns out, it's actually fresh strawberries coated in a very light sugar toffee. They were so good.

    Finally, we had to get the speciality panda buns. We got the chocolate and strawberry ones. They were nice, but very much there for the cuteness, not the wow factor of the flavour.

    Luckily for us, after getting a taxi back to the train station, we had a very smooth trip back home. No wrong trains, no confusion, less than 1 minute waits per transfers... It all worked and we got home in like, half the time it took to get there. Michael is making a scrap notebook of all our random tickets and wrappers and bits and bobs, so we ducked into the Lawson's convenience on the way home so he could get some stationary to make it happen.

    Overall, Yokohama was a very calm city. There was a sense of quiet about it that was nice to ease our way into Tokyo (apart from the train conundrums), and it was lovely weather wise. Winter here in Tokyo is way nicer than Melbourne. You can rely on the weatherman for one, but it's also a nice cold that feels good on the skin, rather than like you're being slapped with Antarctica's farts every five seconds. So we don't have to rug up anywhere near as much for the exact same degree amount. Love that for us.

    Alas, it's been a long day, and I'm pretty exhausted after stressing myself out over trains and doing 18.5k steps, so will most likely skip dinner or have something very local and very light. Plus, it's an early one for us, as we have to be up at the crack of dawn for a massive day at Disney tomorrow!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    DisneySea

    February 19 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 5 °C

    Today we have a hopper pass to explore DisneySea and Disneyland. This is Michaels first time at a Disney park and my fourth time (I've done California, Florida, and Hong Kong Disney parks). The transport plan worked perfectly, arriving with five minutes to spare with the bus from Tokyo Skytree Station being comfy and getting us there by 8.50am. it took just under an hour to get into the park.

    We did three rides in DisneySea today. We paid for a fast pass for the Tangled animatronic boat ride, which was the one ride I really wanted to do... And it's a good thing we did. By the time we arrived, it was at a 220 minute wait, and we literally were in and out within 15 minutes at most. It was quite an emotional ride for me, as the song from Tangled played whilst Michael and I signed our marriage documents on our wedding day. It was beautiful, but quite a short ride, so I'd be pretty bummed if I hate to wait over three hours for three minutes.

    The next ride we did was the Sinbad's Storybook Voyage. This is one of the older animatronic rides, but I'd heard online that it was a super underrated, no que ride. Which was bang on. We were on the ride in 5 minutes, and it lasted almost 10 minutes and was fantastic! Very colourful, dynamic, and amazing animatronic puppetry.

    The final ride we waited around 50 minutes for, and it was the 20,000 leagues under the sea ride. This was designed to feel like you were in submarines underwater. It sure felt like that... Making Michael and I crazy dizzy!!! It's also designed for short people, so we both had to really crouch to see anything. Still, the effect was super cool, and next time if we were in the seats facing the front instead of the sides, we probably wouldn't have gotten so dizzy.

    The rest of our time was spent wandering around the park to take on the themed buildings and areas. We had to get Disney churros, which aren't as thick as they were when I was a kid (shrinkflation hits everything). We bought snacks with us so have just been snacking and grabbed a hot dog for lunch, before heading on the monorail over to DisneyLand for the afternoon.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    DisneyLand Tokyo

    February 19 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    We spent our afternoon at Disneyland, grabbing the Disney rail to get here, which was very cute given the train cars had fluffy seats and handrails!

    We did four animatronic rides here. There were six that we had on the list of ones to potentially do, but the beauty and the beast one had a two and a half hour wait, and the monsters inc one had a two hour wait. We weren't that invested haha, whereas the other four had between 20-40 minute waits which is reasonable.

    The first ride was a Pinocchio one, and it flew through. You barely had a second to look at anything, flying about on the cart as if we were on a mouse cart coaster that dashes here and there rapidly. Which I would have loved it to be a little slower so we could take the animatronics in, but Michael said it matched the chaos of the story, so he enjoyed it.

    Next up was It's A Small World... With Groot. This version of it's a small world was on crack. It was so funny. They had included every Disney, Pixar and warner bros character under the sun. From ant man, to Alladin, to the hulk (who was in Greece?), miss marvel, chip and dale, plus fifty thousand versions of Groot. In saying that, the music was the best version yet, as it doesn't just play the same song over and over in the same tone. They now vary depending on the room, and many are instrumental. It was way better in that regard, and probably my fave version of the ride over the four parks I've done it in, if only for how many times I laughed at how ridiculous it was. Oh, and Australia was given like the tiniest section, with literally a rainbow kangaroo, some koalas, and Groot playing a didgeredoo. Thanks Disney, tell us what you really think 🤣🤣🤣

    The third ride was a snow white animatronic, and it was the darkest of the rides we've done today. Again, it zoomed along, but it was still enjoyable.

    Lastly, we did the Peter pans adventure. This one was cool. It was in flying boats, so you flew around the animatronics that were telling the entire story of Peter Pan. It was heaps of fun and VERY pretty.

    We also caught the afternoon parade (and by caught I mean we got caught because you can't move because everywhere is blocked off), and the floats were massive. We managed to nab some seats across from a bridge and just chilled out and watched the floats go by, before we ducked down to check out the gift shops (nothing of interest) and then waited for our bus back to Tokyo Skytree.

    Oh, and the count on Michael's specific US bomber jacket across both Disney parks was approx 108. With 98% of those being on cute Japanese girls. He's decided to keep track of it for the whole trip for fun in his physical Japan journal.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Ramen for dinner

    February 19 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 6 °C

    We decided that after a day of scattered snaking, we needed something of substance to fill our bellies but that was also on the way home from the bus station. That combination of factors landed us at Taiyo No Tomato Ramen, a little hole in the wall with about 12 seats that specialises in "tomato ramen".

    Now, anyone who knows me knows that this is quite the choice on my part... Given I don't like tomatoes. Fear not, they do another speciality ramen, chicken soy. So Michael got the scrambled egg tomato ramen, and I got the chicken soy with extra chickenyness (the broth was stronger). Michael also grabbed some cheese gyozas to pair with his.

    I think you can tell whether we enjoyed it or not by the photos. 🤤🥰😋😋🤣

    Also, the ginger ale slapped, as did the price tag. $23 for both of us across an entree, 2 ramens and 2 drinks.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Mikokuyu: The Japanese Bathhouse

    February 19 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    I left Michael at the apartment to go on a little night time adventure to a local bathhouse about a 10 minute walk from the apartments. It's so crazy that our neighbourhood is so chill that you can wander about at night and almost hear a pin drop. It's lovely.

    I really like bathing, and Japan is full of onsens and bathhouses. However, I have a giant tattoo on my back, which means that about 98% of onsens and bathhouses are no go zones. Alas, there are two bath houses within walking distance from our apartment that are tattoo friendly.

    I have no qualms getting naked around other naked women (Michaels very not keen to be naked around other naked men) so this was a solo adventure and essentially became monkey see, monkey do. You take your shoes off at the front and put them in a locker, purchase a ticket from a vending machine (this bathhouse is only 750 yen entry and towel hire, which is about 7.20AUD), head up to the women's floor, pick a locker, get naked, dump your stuff, then head out and wash yourself on little buckets with soap, and then go to the bathing area.

    This bathhouse had black natural spring, so all the really hot baths were black. Some of them were obscenely hot. I went in a 42 degree in for a bit and could only get my legs in, so decided that wasn't for me. It also had some really cool cubicle style baths, where it's one big bath but divided into cubicles with spa jets. This slapped. Nothing better than kicking back with a bunch of jets in your back and glutes.

    The highlight was the outdoor black hot spring. It was lovely and warm but not boiling, and having the winter air glaze over... Absolute bliss.

    Once done, it's back to the little buckets you go to wash yourself again, with a lot of ladies bringing their own haircare and skincare and going to town, and then you dry off with your towel, get dressed, and head back the way you came.

    I came out of it as red as Michaels ramen from dinner, but I am absolutely going to sleep like a log tonight. I felt my muscles pulsing, so happy to be there. Will definitely go at least once more, as they are open until 3am in the morning each day. It was a wide range of women, with a few women like me who were western and had tattoos, a few younglings, and then a heap of Japanese local middle aged and elderly women.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Kichijoji Studio Ghibli Day

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    This is a placeholder post so that everyone knows I'm not dead! Michaels phone is having difficulties connecting to his camera, so we are going to sort it once home and I'll update everything later this evening. I think most days I'll have to sort out my posts in the evenings as we are busy during the day and don't always have a lot of downtime or good reception! But we've had a great day with some score finds!Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    In transit: Kichijoji

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    There is a bakery not far from our apartment that wafts through the air every time you pass it. It's intoxicating and both Michael and I moan each time we pass by. I looked it up, and they specialise in a baked good called salt bread as well as a baked good called melon pan. Today, our tummies decided we would just get one salt bread and see whether the taste matched the scent.

    It was lovely. There was a butteryness to it that was subtle yet impactful. The bread was mega fluffy inside, and the outside had a nice, clear crunch. And at 120 yen ($1.10)... No complaints.

    We managed to have no bungles transport wise, swapping between suicas and pasmos comfortably, and getting the right trains on the right platforms on first go, which is great!

    Once we arrived in Kichijoji, Michael bought some stationary (he's on a stationary bent at the moment that has been spurred on by this trip as Japan loves their stationary) and the we wandered the streets to get to our first stop of the day.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Shirohige’s Cream Puff Shop

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Our first main stop on our Ghibli inspired itinerary today is Shirohige's Cream Puff Shop. This is the only Studio Ghibli licensed bakery in all of Japan! They sell out super fast, so we arrived ten mins before opening and queued up, managing to comfortably grab two of the puffs. I had the classic custard and Michael had the banana caramel
    Yummy!!!!! And cute!!!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Petit Mura

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    The next stop on our itinerary is Petit Mura. Petit Mura is a small complex with some shops and a cat rescue cafe, all designed with Ghibli whimsy and architectural vibes. I got a cute new beanie (which I'll debut once we get to Nagano and hopefully will be in the snow) and we got to relax and meet a bunch of cats! Can't complain!

    Ps. Found the shop of my aunty's dreams on this street, so took a quick snap!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    A drink and burger for uncle Don

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Had a drink for Uncle Don over our American burgers for lunch today. Uncle Don passed away a few weeks ago, and his funeral unfortunately landed today whilst we were here in Japan. But Uncle Don was an avid traveller, and would have wanted us to have the most amazing time whilst we were here. He will be dearly missed by all of his friends, family and loved ones. So cheers uncle Donny! We hope your travels in the land beyond life are full of spirited adventure ♥️Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Studio Ghibli Museum

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    We spent our afternoon at the Studio Ghibli Museum. This was an amazing museum that included storyboards, drawing inspirations, Miyazaki's personal study items, a range of displays and explorations on how Ghibli movies are made. We also got the watch a Ghibli short film that isn't available to the general public, and Michael got some cute souvenirs. It was designed in a really cool space as well, and overall was just a place that was loaded with creative whimsy.

    Not allowed to take ANY photos inside so we only got a few external photos. The rest will have to exist in our memories.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Plum Blossoms!

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We wandered back up to Kichijoji station through Inokashira Park to discover that the various plums and some early cherry blossoms were out in bloom! Very lovely to see such a nice variety of colours and even some pretty Birdlife wandering about.

    I also saw a young male gymnast doing full blown giants on the metal exercise rails which was very Japan but also super crazy cool!

    We quickly ducked into a secondhand bookstore near the train station to see if they by any chance had Alice in Wonderland
    (Michael wanted to get a Japanese version of some sort), and sure enough, they had a small box set of Alice's Adventures Underground, and it came with the Japanese copy as well as the English Copy, but the English Copy is a replica of the very original Lewis Carroll handwritten manuscript. And the best bit... Cost $600 yen (so just under $6 AUD). Absolute score!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Stationary and Dumplings at Asakusabashi

    February 20 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 8 °C

    We ended our day in Asakusabashi, which was the city area that we had to transit between train and subway. We went over to a very large stationary store where Michael bought a few things (his poor fancy ass pen was sold out here as well, so hopefully we will find it at some point!) and had an amazing dinner that consisted of dumplings, pork, and a chicken wing dumplings for me, and cheesy gyozas for Michael.

    Overall, it's been a long day, but another enjoyable one. We did around 15k steps, Michaels jacket count was 13, and we are looking forward to exploring blossoms, thrift shopping and Shibuya tomorrow!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    More baked goods!

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 8 °C

    Had to stop in and try out four more of the baked goods from our amazing local bakery. All four completely hit the spot, munching on two outside of the bakery (the melonpan and the cream and custard) and then having two at the plum festival ahead (sweet potato and apple cinnamon).

    They're so light and airy that they don't even take up much space in the belly! All four were delicious, and what really makes these baked goods stand out is the aftertaste. It's what the bread does after it's gone down the throat that makes it sublime. It lingers and tickles and leaves this beautiful, buttery note on the palate that is subtle, sweet, and slightly salty. My research proved valuable, but even if I didn't find it through researching, our noses would have led us here!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Setagaya Plum Festival at Hinagi Park

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Today we are starting our morning in a Japanese "deep cut" (I'm using this term for any place or activity that is very much not on the tourist radar unless you are a tourist specifically hunting for this specific thing the place specialises in), heading out to Higari-Matsubaru to explore the Setagaya Plum Festival and Hinagi Park.

    The weather has shifted into a slightly warmer vibe today, which is a nice change of pace! We only had one train mishap, but it was a good lesson in being able to distinguish the difference between an express and a local train (stops all stops) so no harm done!

    We have absolutely lucked in this weekend with the plum season. Higari park hosts this festival between the 7th of February and the 2nd March, and there are 650 different plum trees in the park. Of the 650, 600 have now bloomed. So that's a good 90%. Plus, there are many varieties so you have loads of colours, and the festivities are on during weekends, so there was the traditional drum performance plus a range of foods available.

    It was lovely to wander around and check out all the trees amongst the Japanese locals. Only about 8 other white people anywhere near the area. A definite must for anyone coming to Tokyo in February who is interested in the blossom seasons.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Kitazawa Flea Market and shops

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We have headed up to shitakitazawa to visit the flea market that is on today. This is a "thrift" town, but it really is more so a "designer vintage" town. Our friend Erin was bang on with her assessment of the gentrification of the area into hipster land, and there's a lot more tourists wandering around the area. It's still cool to wander around, and there are a few really quirky shops here and there, like this super cute cat store that I got some gorgeous discounted gloves from (they were in my colour season and under $10 and I have a wallet full of coins I needed to get rid of, so this was ideal).

    The flea market, on the other hand, was a genuine mix of cool stuff, and wildly varying in vibes and price. Saw some super cool pieces and stalls, and it was also loaded with designer vintage, but wasn't the whole market, which meant some bargains.

    Which boy oh boy, did I get a bargain. We are definitely going to be buying a third suitcase when back in Tokyo at the end of the trip (our airfares stipulate 60kg weight luggage between us, but no limit to how many bags, it's just a weight total that we discovered in Melbourne, much to our delight), but just in time for freezing temps and snow, and perfectly matching my new beanie, I scored this gorgeous knit coat for merely 2000 yen (that's under $20 AUD). I thought it was a typo given all the pricing i had seen in the market, but nope, it was just a girl selling her clothes. Michael also got a lovely tie pin, which also cost 2000 yen and has a crest of the Rampant Lion, which he thinks looks like the Botheras heraldry.

    We also went to a big time and another genuine vintage place, and these shops were divine. Proper vintage pieces at maybe 80% of the price in Australia. Super good quality and so many gorgeous, unique pieces! Super nice to look at!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Souffle pancakes for lunch at Flippers

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Went to Flippers to get some souffle pancakes for lunch for a change. Omg, they were so light and fluffy! Michael had milk tea with banana and caramel, and I had blueberries with lemon curd and pistachio ice cream. It was so melt in your mouth, and the flavour combos worked great!Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler
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    Cat street and Parco wanders

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    We caught the train from Shimokitazawa up to Harajuku to go and check out a great view rec from our friend Erin, and it was so lovely! Michael got some killer snaps of the view and where we were about to wander down. After this, we walked down Cat Street, which is kind of near Harajuku but also has a lot of modern shops and designer stuff. It's very architecturally mixed. Like it wasn't anything special... Except for the Resident Evil watch Collab that Michael nearly fried his brain over because it's one of his favourite characters, so that made it worth the while!

    We then went into Parco in Shibuya to visit a bunch of stores Michael wanted to see, such as the Nintendo store and the CapCom store, and the Pokémon Centre for me to try and find something of Serena (the main character out of my fanfic series I've been writing). Michael was rapt, buying two donkey Kong hoodies, a banana pencil case, and some other various bits and bobs. I completely lucked in and the Pokémon Centre had some vinyl stickers of my girl Serena, so I grabbed a big one and two small versions so I can have one at work, one stuck to my car, and one framed on my art wall at home.    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Chinese for Dinner

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    We were ravished after so much walking, so had an early 5.30pm dinner at a local Chinese place. Really tasty stuff that hit the spot, especially after such a wheat heavy day, it was good to down some rice!!!

    Michael and I shared some Xia long baos, sweet and sour pork, and then Michael had a Chinese minced pork noodle soup (kind of like the Chinese spag bol) and I had beef fried rice. We smashed the lot and were very satisfied.

    Also, our restaurant was located right underneath a Denny's, which I thought was hilarious given how much Denny's I ate as a kid on holidays to the US because my brother was extra fussy and basically only ate Denny's hahahaha!    Read more

  • Shalee GherbazJapan 2026!Traveler

    Shibuya Crossing

    February 21 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    We went to the super famous Shibuya crossing to people watch and get a feel for the place, and well, Michael caught this candid of me that sums things up. My thought was "it's not THAT big why are you running so fast girl 🤭🫣😂😂😂" Still, Michael caught the vibes really well, it was just so funny that people were going nuts and running onto the road for this. Like yeah, it was busy busy, but still! Hahahaha. It was all a bit of a laugh at the end of the day.Read more

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