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Japan

May - June 2023
Honeymoon in May 2023 Read more
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  • Japan
    Day 16

    Day 16

    June 1, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Today is our last day in Japan :(

    We wanted to wake up early to get ready and repack everything. We left the hotel at 9:30 and dropped our luggage off at the coin lockers at Tokyo Station, then did a little shopping there.

    We made lunch reservations at the same grilling restaurant we went to at the beginning because it was so good and relatively cheap.

    Afterwards, we made our way over to the Tokyo Swallows baseball stadium to get some merchandise from them since it’s so nice. Everywhere online said their two stores were open, but we got there and they had closed signs on each.

    So instead we went shopping again at Shibuya before getting tired and deciding to just head to the airport.

    This was the first time we experienced late trains, and late trains at rush hour. Luckily we were on a booked train and not just the metro, because it was no breathing room full in each compartment.

    The airport experience went extremely fast. We were at our gate in 15 minutes. But fun fact, nothing was open for eating even though it was only 8pm.

    Long story short - 11.5 hour flight later, we were in Doha where we spent $40 on the worst Sharwama and falafel wrap ever. 5 hours later, we boarded for our final 6 hour flight to Berlin where Bine picked us up, reunited us with Brew, and we finally showered after over 24 hours of travel.

    But the travel was all worth it for this amazing trip! We already miss the politeness, the amazing toilets, and just the overall atmosphere.    Read more

  • Japan
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    Day 15

    Day 15

    May 31, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Today absolutely sucked. Like the worst ever.

    We got home last night at 2:30 in the morning, and had our alarm set to 8. We already booked our 3-hour Shinkansen to Tokyo at 11:15, and we still needed to pack, and get 35 minutes to the station. We were puking as we got ready haha

    And we had to run to our train - luckily we got in with a couple minutes to spare. It was such a bad train ride for both of us, and I can safely say it’s the first time I’ve ever puked on a train.

    We got to our hotel, and immediately took a nap to try and feel better. The hotel itself is super fancy, but the room was tiny and just okay, but it’s only one night as we fly home tomorrow. We were on the 35th floor, so the views at night were amazing.

    We eventually got up and made our way back towards our first Tokyo hotel for some ramen that was not good :( and now we’re taking it easy. We still have all day tomorrow in Tokyo since our flight isn’t until 10:30pm.

    Steps finished with - 12,240    Read more

  • Japan
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    Day 14

    Day 14

    May 30, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    It was another rainy day in Osaka, so we took our time getting up and ready in the morning. We walked to Dotonbori again (the street food area) and had delicious kotsu - breaded and fried pork.

    We booked tickets to the aquarium, as everyone said it’s a must-see. I have to say it was one of the most depressing things I’ve seen. They didn’t just have fish - they had penguins, otters, dolphins, etc, but all in super tiny areas. It was just not nice.

    But our main attraction of the day was an Orix Buffalos baseball game! It was so much fun. The fans are like in soccer, although not so intense, and they’re constantly cheering. The Buffalos beat the Hiroshima Carp 4-0, so we were happy.

    We found a cool little street food area in the basement of a nearby mall, and we had a couple beers there. We met some new friends from Canada, and eventually went with them to another bar, which was a fun, but terrible, decision. We drank sooooooooooo much and didn’t eat. It was definitely a good time, but going to bed at 2:30 and having to wake up and catch a train to Tokyo in the morning was a struggle.

    Steps finished with - 21,277    Read more

  • Japan
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    Day 13

    Day 13

    May 29, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Today was Ole’s birthday! Unfortunately, it was raining all day, so we slept in and had a lazy morning.

    Ole got a nice massage (1 hour was only $20!) and then we made our way to Kobe, which was only 25 minutes with the train. We did what everyone in Kobe does - ate Kobe beef. 🤤 We had reservations at Kobe Beef Steak Restaurant Royal Mouriya, where they have Kobe and Wagyu varieties made right in front of you by a chef.

    They start with frying cut up pieces of garlic, then you receive a beef appetizer, potato soup, and salad. Meanwhile, the chef was frying pieces of the beef (we had one of each variety) and various veggies.

    He tells you to eat the first piece with just salt, and oh my god it’s the best meat you’ll ever have. It just melts in your mouth. The remaining pieces he advises you to eat with wasabi, salt and one of the fried garlic pieces. It’s literally heaven in your mouth. We also had garlic fried rice with bits of steak in it. Just wow.

    We finished with Ole’s birthday dessert which was absolutely amazing, and then headed down the street to a small craft beer place. After 2 beers, we took a quick nonstop train 20 minutes to another craft beer bar on the 31st floor next to the main station.

    We made our way back to the hotel after a couple beers, and now are just relaxing.

    Steps finished with - 14,469    Read more

  • Japan
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    Day 12

    Day 12

    May 28, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    We made it to Osaka! We left our hotel in Kyoto around 9:30 this morning, and took the metro train for roughly an hour to get to our Osaka hotel.

    We saw the next 2 days were going to be rainy, so we wanted to do as much sightseeing today as we could, even though it was super hot.

    The main attraction, Dotanbori, is half an hour walk from our hotel, so we headed there. It’s known for its street food and shopping and obviously on a Sunday it was packed. We didn’t spend too long there as it just wasn’t nice, so we walked another half hour to the “old” shopping street, Tsutenkaku Hondori Shopping Street. It was a neat place, and we even found an arcade that only had old games, like Super Mario from ‘86.

    We explored that area, and ended up in a long indoor street full of karaoke bars - aka a bar that holds 6 people and a tiny karaoke machine. It was pretty impressive. We did some shopping, then walked around more at night. There was a cool outdoor mall area we checked out.

    At this point, we were exhausted. We slowly made our way back to the hotel, checked in, did some laundry and relaxed.

    Steps finished with - 25,421    Read more

  • Japan
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    Day 11

    Day 11

    May 27, 2023 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We decided to not set an alarm and just sleep in today. It was a great decision - we ended up sleeping until about 10.

    We got lunch by our hotel at Pontocho Yakiniku Yamakawa. It’s a restaurant with Wagyu and Kobe beef that you grilled yourself at your table. It’s known that these places are cheaper at lunch, and we ate a tonnnnn of food. It was actually too much, but it was delicious.

    We walked around the huge outdoor shopping mall by the hotel (Shinkyogoku Shopping Street Union and Nishiki Market) which was nice, but very full since it was a Saturday.

    After dropping our shopping at the hotel, we took the train out to Sanga Stadium for the Kyoto Sanga FC vs Urawa Reds soccer game. In front of the stadium was an area with all street food and people hanging out, and it was the best experience we’ve had so far. They were all so quiet and respectful, yet still were having the time of their lives. And we were finally able to get away from the hoards of tourists, which was the best.

    The tickets we got were in the away sector, but the fans were so good, so it was okay. Unfortunately, Kyoto lost 2-0.

    Our night ended back at our favorite ramen place from the first night in Kyoto, and now we’re listening to conference in hopes that everything goes as planned and I win Kicktipp again ;)

    Steps finished with - 16,576    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

  • Japan
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    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
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    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
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    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

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