Reset search
JapanJapan
SatelliteEdit route

Japan

May - June 2023
Honeymoon in May 2023 Read more
  • 16footprints
  • 1countries
  • 16days
  • 202photos
  • 9videos
  • 928kilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Japan
    Day 1

    Day 1

    May 17, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Arrived late in Tokyo via Doha. Pre-registration to enter Japan made our life easier, and we didn't have to fill out any paperwork. Immigration, baggage claim and customs went smooth. Took the Narita Express to Tokyo and walked to the Square Hotel Ginza. Had a beer at the hotel, then grabbed some snacks at 7-11 to eat before sleeping.Read more

  • Japan
    11
    Day 2

    Day 2

    May 18, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 30 °C

    Woke up, had amazing coffee and pancakes filled with maple syrup and butter from Family Mart and then went to Shinjuku where we had a quick lunch at Tokyo Kabukicho. We walked to the Government Building to get views of the city from the 45th floor, which was impressive.

    After, we walked to Yoyogi-Park to see the Meiji-Shrine and finished the long walk with a beer at the small cafe there. We also saw a snake that thankfully a local got off of the path before we got there.

    We made our way through Harajuku to Shibuya where we experienced the world-famous crossing, saw all the pop music trucks and shopped quickly at Don Quijote where we had the popular TikTok cheese coin (which tasted like nothing).

    We headed back to the hotel to shower and change, and then met Tom (Ole’s boss’ husband) for a super nice sushi dinner. It’s like the beginning of a bad joke - A Frenchman, a German and an American go into a Japanese sushi bar… The place fit 8 people and the chefs were right in front of us preparing all the sushi (which in Japan is just raw fish over rice). We ate 10 different types of fish, and almost puked after the sea eel and sea urchin, but the rest were pretty good.

    We left back to the hotel, with a mandatory stop at 7-11 on the way home for snacks and water.

    Steps finished with - 26,430    Read more

  • Japan
    Day 3

    Day 3

    May 19, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    Ole forgot to set an alarm today, but we still ended up waking up at 9, which was perfect. The rain was supposed to start after 12, so we wanted to go to the nice gardens by our hotel, but as soon as we walked outside, we realized going to the fish market was the better idea.

    We walked 10 minutes to the market, which was absolutely crazy with the 5 million options. I ended up finding a crab “restaurant” aka an old guy grilling king crab legs on a tiny coal grill for 28 euro/leg 😳 but it’s vacation, right? Haha

    We walked further through the market and found a small sushi restaurant where we were ushered to the basement by a nice little grandma. The sushi was good, but since we started with the absolute best last night, nothing will taste as good.

    We ate, then walked to the train to head to Akihabara - the electronics and gaming area. First stop was the equivalent of Mediamarkt or Best Buy times 1 million. The sensory overload was way too much. The colors, sounds, signs, etc. were so overwhelming. And it was 6 floors of anything you could think of. From anime figures to toenail clippers, they had it all. They also had a million different vending machines (Gashapon in Japanese) for small toys that come out in plastic. Eventually we’ll buy some.

    We moved on to the arcades which were also overwhelming with music and lights. We tried to win a small stuffed horse to enable Brewski’s horse fetish, but unfortunately lost. Due to the downpour outside, we went to the old gaming store full of old Gameboy and Super Nintendo games (plus a shit ton of Japanese and anime porn haha)

    We then had a private cooking class at the home of Emi, who is probably 85 but looks 60, which was sooooo good. We had fried chicken thighs with skin, miso soup, and a tomato sesame salad and watermelon for dessert. We watched funny Shiba Inu dog videos during dinner with her haha She even brought us to the grocery store afterwards to show us the soy sauce and cooking sake, as well as all the flavors of chips.

    Afterwards, we made our way to Spring Valley Brewing in Daikan-Yama which was so pretty. The area is also super gentrified, but nice.

    We decided to walk 10 minutes to Shibuya, and it was completely full as the last train is at 12 and it was 11:45. We saw the crossing from above, but it wasn’t as impressive as the amount of people in the station trying to catch the last train home (which we wish we would’ve gotten a video of - Talk about rush hour..).

    Then we stopped by the British pub by us for a Heineken and made our Family Mart stop for some beer and snacks to enjoy in the lobby hotel :)

    Steps finished with - 19,063    Read more

  • Japan
    1
    Day 4

    Day 4

    May 20, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Today was a bit nicer than yesterday, but still a bit cool. We decided to walk 20 minutes to Hamarikyū-Park, which was super nice. It’s a huge green space surrounded by tall buildings and water. Afterwards, we walked to Hibiya Park, where Ole surprised me with the Tokyo Oktoberfest hahah it was actually full of imported German beers, and Maisel and Friends and BRLO were there…we even paid $11 per Maisel beer haha

    We walked a bit further to the Imperial Palace, ended up seeing the changing of the guards, then headed to the train station to head back to Shinjuku as we didn’t spend much time there on Thursday. We grabbed a quick Okonomiyaki (a Japanese “pancake” with egg and topped with sauce and mayo) before exploring the area. Since it was Saturday, it was absolutely packed. We of course spent time in more of the arcades, and I bought myself a little naked mole rat friend haha We also walked down the Golden Gai alleyway full of tiny restaurants all smelling like charcoal grill. It was super cool to see.

    Ole wanted to go to a Pokémon and Nintendo store, so we headed over to Shibuya to the department store, Parco. The stores were really disappointing and small, and Ole didn’t find anything he liked.

    We were hungry and walked forever to try and find a restaurant that had space. We stumbled upon Ottotto Brewery, so we grabbed a beer in hopes of finding a restaurant online. No luck was had, so we just headed back to our hotel area to eat. We luckily found an open table, and had some delicious Yakitori (grilled meat on skewers).

    We got back, Ole tried the public bath (he lasted 5 minutes before he said it was way too hot) and then we went to bed!

    Steps finished with - 30,665    Read more

  • Japan
    11122
    Day 5

    Day 5

    May 21, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Today was Sumo Day!

    We woke up, did a quick load of laundry, then headed to Ryōgoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall for the Sumo tournament. The walk there was super hot (as was the whole day). We were there around noon, so it was still more of the novice wrestlers, but it was super entertaining. Some of the guys are actually pretty fit, while some are XXXXL. When we had our cooking class, she told us they get so fat because they eat a veggie and meat soup and then go to sleep hahaha you can’t tell me they’re not downing McDonalds and bags of chips all day to get the size some of them are haha Ole got a bento box for lunch at the tournament, which is a normal lunch or travel food here filled with a variety of foods. He thought it was tasty!

    We eventually left to walk to Nakamise-dori Street, which was supposed to be a nice street food / souvenir shopping area, but when we got there, the streets were packed. It turns out the Sanja Matsuri Festival was happening. It’s a Buddhist festival, and one of Tokyo’s biggest shrines is in this area. That was something to see. They all had short robes on, and many men didn’t have anything underneath haha

    After making our way around there, we were really craving the big fluffy pancakes you always see on Instagram. We found the chain, Happy Pancake, in Ikebukuro. We had to wait about half and hour, but they were so worth it. They were melt-in-your-mouth good.

    We walked around that area, and ended up in Sunshine City, a huge mall. There are 4 floors of shopping and restaurants - kind of like a more compact Mall of America. Our favorite part? The world’s largest capsule toys arcade, with over 3,000 machines to buy shitty little toys that come in balls. They also had crane games where Ole finally won something…. A horse for Brewski!! He’s going to be so happy haha

    We ended the night with a quick dinner by our hotel, but it was nothing special.

    Steps finished with - 21,429    Read more

  • Japan
    1
    Day 6

    Day 6

    May 22, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Today was more of a relaxing one. We made lunch reservations at a Wagyu Yakiniku restaurant where you grill it yourselves at your table. It was sooooooo good. And for both of us plus drinks it only came to $35 which is super cheap for the amount and type of steak we had.

    After lunch, we took the train to Okachimachi and did some shopping. They have a 6 story toy store there that has all the anime, cartoons, etc you can think of.

    The whole day, the radar showed storms coming at 5, so we thought we’d go to the nice brewery (Hitachino Brewing Lab) to have a couple beers to ride out the storm. 3 beers later, and still not a drop of rain… Oh well - the beer was good and the location was pretty, so it was fine.

    We were in Akihabara again, and checked out some more electronic stores. It started to sprinkle and got really windy, so we grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to the hotel. Now to pack as we leave Tokyo tomorrow!

    Steps finished with - 14,404    Read more

  • Japan
    13211
    Day 7

    Day 7

    May 23, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Today we said goodbye to Tokyo (for now). We took the Shinkansen bullet train to our next stop, Miho, where we are staying in a traditional ryokan - Hotel Hagoromo. It has table and seating on the floor, as well as the beds. Definitely interesting.

    It’s also near to Mt. Fuji, but unfortunately it was raining so we couldn’t see anything. Hopefully tomorrow after breakfast we get a nice view.

    We have our own private bath, which is so relaxing, especially after the madness of Tokyo. They also give you really comfy robes, and funny toes that separate your big toe from the rest haha

    We had a menu meal at the hotel for dinner, and that was some of the weirdest, most interesting food we’ve ever had. I can’t say I was a fan, but it was good to at least try something new.

    Tonight’s an early night, as tomorrow check-out is at 10 and we want to see Fuji, plus need to make it to the train at 12. It’ll definitely be a tight squeeze, but at least we’ll have plenty of sleep.

    Steps finished with - 12,199    Read more

  • Japan
    11
    Day 8

    Day 8

    May 24, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The weather was finally sunny and clear, so it was the perfect day to see Mt. Fuji. But first, we had to experience a traditional Japanese breakfast, and surprise, it was nothing like we ever thought. We had - potato salad, lettuce salad, yogurt with something made of gel, random pickled veggies, miso soup with a lobster inside, a full fried fish, a huge bowl of rice, small seaweed bits, and a (basically) raw egg. It was sooo much and really not that great. But an experience.

    We walked about 2km from the hotel to get a nice view of Mt. Fuji. And of course, some of the only clouds in the sky covered parts of the mountain, but it was still very beautiful.

    Then it was on to Kyoto with the train. We arrived to our super nice hotel (the room is huge!) did laundry, and decided to go get a drink. The downstairs bar was closed, and the next one we wanted was smoking (so many bars and even restaurants are smoking) so we ended up finding a tiny little bar on the 3rd floor of a building, and it was the best decision we made so far.

    Milton is the owner of this art bar that fits 6 people. It’s super tiny, and full of art that he painted and sculpted himself. He even drew a very detailed map of the area to point out his favorite bars, restaurants, and hangouts. It is the coolest thing. He was really nice, and spoke pretty good English, which we’re finding is incredibly rare here.

    His map recommended a ramen place a couple streets down, and it was by far the best thing we’ve had on the trip so far. Not even close to the ramen in Berlin. Then we had a few beers at a bar down the street and watched baseball - a very entertaining game with the Osaka team playing a team from Tokyo.

    We wanted one more beer, and found a random “happy” bar on the second floor and had a drink. We headed home and went to bed at about 1 in the morning.

    Steps ended with - 14,817    Read more

  • Japan
    1
    Day 9

    Day 9

    May 25, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Today was our first day to really explore Kyoto. It’s definitely smaller and more traditional than Tokyo, and you really notice the amount of tourists here that you never really saw in Tokyo.

    We had the hotel’s breakfast buffet, then made our way to our first shrine (Yasaka-jinja Shrine). We explored the park there a little, then decided to go to the famous Fushimi Inari-Taisha. It’s a hike where you walk through hundreds of red gates. I think it took us about an hour to get the top, and we did the hard, off-the-path route that led us up extremely steep stairs in the middle of the forest. We were dying and sweaty haha and I was freaking out the whole time thinking I’d see a snake, so it definitely was not an enjoyable time hahah

    There were signs all over to watch out for wild boars and dangerous, aggressive monkeys, so that was also fun haha

    After we cooled down, we got another really delicious bowl of ramen, and walked to the main station to pick up tickets we purchased for the Romantic Train Route that we’ll take tomorrow. It started to rain, so it was the perfect excuse to grab at beer at the craft beer hall in the nearby mall and then play arcade games. We ended up going to Hōkan-ji, which is a tall Buddhist temple, but it was already closed. The picture of it lit up from across the street is still pretty, though.

    We eventually took the train back to our hotel area, and tried to go to one good sounding restaurant, but it was unfortunately a smoking place. Next door was a fun looking Mexican place (Maximo) so we just went with that (otherwise we’d be walking around forever). And that was the second best choice we made on this trip.

    No one thinks to eat Mexican in Japan, but holy shit was it some of the best I’ve ever had. It was a tiny place with seats at the bar, Mexican decor with Buffalo baseball team stuff mixed in. The chef made everything from scratch to order - we watched him mix the tortilla batter, flatten it in his press, and fry it to create homemade chips. And he did that for every dish on the menu. Absolutely crazy.

    We have really wanted to go to a baseball game here, but it’s very complicated to get tickets (you need special phone numbers, email addresses, etc) so we asked him the best way to get tickets to his favorite team (who happen to have a home game when we’re in Osaka). He then reserved seats for us using his fan account and discount! And what’s really cool here - you take your confirmation email for tickets, go to 7-11 and pay and print them there for free - it’s such a good system. Ole went, and he had some issues, so the chef ran over to help him. It was so nice of him, and he was a great guy.

    Now to end our day with a soak in the bath to relax.

    Steps ended with - 26,971    Read more

  • Japan
    Day 10

    Day 10

    May 26, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Today we had booked the Romantic Train Route at 11, so we had to get about 45 minutes outside the city center to reach this train. It was a super old steam engine train, and I don’t think the person driving has ever driven a train before. It was jerking the whole entire time haha

    It was pretty, but half of the 25 minute ride was spent in tunnels. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to do it, as it’s so far outside the city and isn’t thaaaaat great. We did see a wild monkey across the river, though.

    After we got back into the city, we decided to go to the famous Nineizaka area, which was absolutely packed with tourists and so many school groups. It had some nice views and is a very old area, but it was super hot and full, making it not enjoyable.

    From there, it was just a 10 minute walk to Ryōzen Kannon, a Buddhist temple constructed after WWII to commemorate all the soldiers who died. The Buddha on the top was amazing to see. It’s roughly 90 feet tall!

    On our walk back to the hotel, we ran into the cute little love statues at Kodai-ji. They’ve been my favorite so far.

    We wanted a drink, and found a tiny craft beer bar not too far away. It was empty besides the woman owner/barkeeper who made us play Jenga, a pirate game, and a crocodile biting game. It was just okay, but we got the bill and for two beers paid $22, so that wasn’t nice hah

    We found another craft bar not far, and had a few beers there. None of them were super good unfortunately. We sat by a Scottish couple who got kicked out because there was a reservation at their table in 10 minutes. They’re intense about their timing and schedules haha

    We finished our beers, walked around the corner to another craft bar, and low and behold, our Scottish friends walked in 30 seconds after us and sat next to us. We ended up talking to them for the next few hours, and it ended up being a really good time.

    We said our goodbyes, got some drunk ramen, and made our way back to the hotel to sleep without setting an alarm.

    Steps finished with - 20,564    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English