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Japan by shinkansen

February 2020
  • Off Duty Pharmacist
Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo Read more
  • Off Duty Pharmacist

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  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen

    Day one - plane and train

    February 8, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    After a breezy (15min from car to duty free) security check and immigration (though the auto gate wouldn't let B out, thought I was about to travel on my own) we had some breakfast before boarding our flight bound for Narita. While Spider-Man, The Lion King and Logan occupied B, I passed the hours watching documentaries including Orangutan Jungle School. After 9 hours we arrived at Narita airport and walked what felt like 5km to arrivals. We then collected our pocket wifi, got our JR passes, booked our Shinkansen for tomorrow and made it to the NEX train to take us to Tokyo. We are staying for one night at Hotel Karaksa Tokyo Station. For dinner we stopped at 7/11 and I had an onigiri and B had a curry udon soup, yum! We asked at the counter for the soup to be heated and the man led us out behind the counter to the wall of microwaves which I'd totally ignored on the way in and proceeded to put the food in and set the right temperature and time. Feeling super embarrassed an enthusiastic arigato gozaimasu allowed the man to head back to the counter to serve the other people... Ooops.Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Waiting for our Shinkansen
    B keeping his face warm in negative Tokyo tempsFirst shinkansen rideBeautiful Miyajima Island from our roomAll dressed up in our yukatas

    Kaiseki cuisine

    February 9, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    Today was another long travel day - a 10:03am shinkansen from Tokyo had us in Hiroshima at 2:35pm , where we transferred to a local train and arrived in Ono-ura at 3:29. Breakfast was a tuna mayo onigiri (too heavy on the mayo for me) and coffee. For lunch we had chicken katsu sandwiches and pineapple from 7/11 that we bought for the train journey. When we arrived at Ono-ura we were met by our ryokan (Japanese inn) host who drove us to the ryokan. There we had a nice long soak in our in-room onsen before having a kaiseki dinner in our yukatas. This is a traditional Japanese meal and we had about 8-9 small dishes including sashimi, slow cooked beef cheek, conger eel, crab and rice, and milt in white miso soup. The host carefully explained each dish in English for us and how they are best eaten. Even after spelling it, I wasn't sure what milt was - with my phone left in the room I wasn't able to google...it was a bit gloopy, a bit thick and was in a delicious soup. I wasn't liking the texture and B gulped it in one mouthful. Google now tells me it was fish sperm... Yup. Thoughts of the great horse eating adventure in France 2015 came flooding back. B would rather have horse again. Everything else was amazing and the quality was something else! Full (of sperm?) we headed back to the room for hopefully a very restful night on our futons. We are definitely in Japan.Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Me and deer on Miyajima
    Itsukushima shrineSmall river on MiyajimaMomiji manju snackBeautiful MiyajimaOkonomiyaki for lunch

    Onsens and Miyajima island

    February 10, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Waking up early after a comfortable night on our futons, we had an early morning onsen before having a Japanese style breakfast at our ryokan. We had veggies, tofu, steamed sea bream in the most delicious sauce, some rice and accompaniments and fruit. We then headed to Miyajima Island by local train and ferry (both covered by our JR passes). We strolled around and had a freshly made momiji manju for Y100. It's a cake type consistency filled with red bean paste and they are famous in this area. We then stopped and had some hot drinks in a tiny little cafe. We strolled back to the ferry and had Hiroshima style okonomiyaki for lunch (Y800 each) on the mainland. We then caught the train back, had another onsen and later went to a local style place for dinner, as suggested by our hosts. Katsudon (pork cutlet and egg rice bowl) for B and tempura don (tempura veggies, prawn and rice bowl) for me. Once back it was time for another onsen before bed.Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Peace Park Museum from afar
    Children's monument with paper cranesAtomic Bomb Dome1The river on a beautiful dayIchiran Ramen

    Humble Hiroshima

    February 11, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Today we woke as the sun rose and had our last onsen. We had a western style breakfast before our ryokan hosts bid us farewell and drove us to the train station. From there we caught a local train into Hiroshima and walked about 30min to our accommodation. With B as the navigator I was beginning to get suspicious as we walked past many adult establishments. Luckily it was too early for most of them to be open, however the signs detailed just about everything. Making it through, we dropped our bags at Mitsui Garden Hotel and headed for the Peace Park Museum (Y200pp). We then walked through the park and saw the memorial clock, children's monument and Atomic Bomb Dome. We then walked through a shopping arcade in search of lunch and saw an Ichiran Ramen restaurant. We waited in a short line before being seated at our individual booths. My ramen came quickly, but something happened with B's. I think the server spilled it and was telling B they would make another but B didn't respond as we don't know that much Japanese... Neverless after a few minutes (long minutes for B) his ramen arrived. Yum! We wandered through the rest of the shopping arcade and stopped to eat a small sweet treat at a park. We then checked in to our hotel and relaxed for a bit before heading out for dinner. We had Hiroshima style okonomiyaki again + a beer for B and Whisky Highball for me. The place we found had a really local feel to it - they had an English menu but it was terribly translated (hormone beef anyone?). The guy didn't seem to understand "whisky" but "highball" did the job. Satisfied, we paid and visited Family Mart on the way back for an icecream.Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Hiroshima Orizuru Tower
    Cool art at Orizuru towerOur paper cranesHigashi TempleOn our food tourSake tasting!

    Hiroshima to Kyoto

    February 12, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    Today we woke early but had a lazy morning before heading out for coffee at 9am. We walked to Hiroshima Orizuru Tower which has a really cool rooftop area with great views of the peace Park and the atomic bomb dome. We then went down a level and made paper cranes (with video instructions, luckily, though mine still looked a bit special). We then got to drop the cranes through a glass opening that flowed down the side of the building, all while standing on a glass platform watching the cranes fall beneath us. We then used a slide to slide down all the levels to ground again - how cool! We then headed back to the hotel, grabbed our bags and got a taxi (it was raining) to the station for our Shinkansen to Kyoto. We had sandwiches on the train for lunch. When we arrived in Kyoto we saw a buddist temple and explored the station before catching the subway to our AirBNB apartment. We headed out for a food and drink tour of the Gion district and saw a Maiko (geisha in training) crossing the street. We went to two restaurants and a sake bar and had a great time learning about Japanese food and customs in a relaxed environment. 23000 steps today - my feet are definitely ready for bed!Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Pagoda at Kiyomizudera temple
    Wishes to deitiesThree waterfalls with sacred waterMugwort Dango with redbeansSoba lunchTonkatsu dinner

    First full day in Kyoto

    February 13, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today we headed to Nishiki market, which apparently doesn't open until 10am! We settled for coffee before finding a place that did pancakes not too far away. A bit average and over priced, we then set out for Kiyomizudera temple. We were doing so well on the bus, where every stop is announced in plenty of time, until the bus missed a stop and subsequently, we did too 😂. Not too discouraged, we walked back down a hill before walking up a different hill to the temple. Plenty of shops littered the path on the way up and we were rewarded with nice views and lovely temple grounds. We also found the Tainai Meguri (the mother's womb). It's a pitch black pathway under the temple that leads to a lit rock. You spin the rock and make a wish. Now I was expecting dark but wow this was next level - a few times I thought it would be easier to go back, a few times I thought I was going to walk straight into a trap. It definitely made my senses work overtime - I wasn't expecting it to be quite so long. Eventually the stone emerged, like a beacon. We made a wish each and were happy the exit wasn't too far away. We then wandered through the streets of Gion before finding a place for soba noodles for lunch on the way back to our apartment. Having rested, we later headed out for dinner. We had tonkatsu pork fillets which were served with barley rice, miso soup, cabbage and sauce. Wow! The meal was amazing with the most juicy tender pork (that didn't taste porky) encased in crispy, light crumbs... Oishii! It's going to be hard not to go back there before our time in Kyoto is finished! We stopped by Lawson conbini for some sweet treats for later and walked the 5 minutes back to our AirBNB. Not as many steps today; only 18,000.Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
    2The bamboo swaying in the windStairs in the temple gardenKinkaku-ji templeBus drivers in Kyoto wear microphones to announce the stops!Gyoza dinner

    Arashiyama

    February 14, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    After stopping at our local Lawson for coffee, we were off to Arashiyama by train. We wandered through the streets before seeing the magnificent bamboo grove. We were lucky that it wasn't very busy - I had heard mixed reviews but very glad we went! We then went through a temple garden with pond before heading back to the train station. We headed to Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion) by train and bus. Our bus adventures today turned out to be much more successful than yesterday! Once we'd been through the grounds and seen the temple we had a tofu and pork steamed bun and a green tea soft serve icecream to share - yum! We then headed back to the area we are staying by bus, which took about 25min. We found a lunch place and had pasta - creamy tomato for B and regular for me. The dishes were about ¥700 each. We then strolled back to our apartment for a laydown in the warmth. Ready for dinner, we headed to a suggested gyoza place called Chao Chao Gyoza. We shared 26 gyoza - prawn, pork, spring onion, curry, veggie, chicken and cheese, chocolate. B had 3 beers for ¥750 (!!!) and I had 2 whiskey highballs with ginger (¥900). The gyoza were yummy! We then slowly made our way back to our apartment along the busy street. A mild 17000 steps today - tomorrow we are off to Nara for the day!Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Yomogi mochi
    Coco CurrySweet little deerKagusa Taishi ShrineFeeding the deerDaifuku

    Nara

    February 15, 2020 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 11 °C

    After a late start and a Lawson Breakfast (I'm not a huge fan of eggs but the egg sandwich got a thumbs up from me) we headed to the train station to go to Nara for the day. We got to Nara just after 12pm so had some lunch at Coco Curry - chicken and veggie Japanese curries for us both. We then wandered up the road and got some yomogi mochi (filled with redbeans and dusted on soy bean flour) from the famous mochi store - yum! Deer started appearing and before long we were in the park surrounded by them! I wanted to visit a shrine deep in the park so we casually made our way to that, passing lots of deer on the way. We bought some deer crackers (¥200 for 10) so we could feed them as we went. We walked through the beautiful Kagusa Taishi Shrine and then back through the park, feeding the deer as we went. And getting chased. B got nuzzled and then nudged a few times by a hungry deer. We walked back down the main street and stopped for some daifuku (¥250) - mochi filled with thick red beans with the most juicy strawberry in the middle. Feeling the breeze we stopped for hot chocolate before getting the train back to Kyoto. When we got back it was about 5:30pm so we searched a sushi place to try in the station. I had grilled corn sushi (!?), salmon, prawn, and cucumber maki. B tried the tuna, tamago (egg), prawn cutlet and a few others. We then walked back to the apartment for an early night.Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Walking to Fushimi Inari shrine from the train station
    Torii gatesFox dedication boardsLarger torii gatesCandles at a shrine half way upTrain at the railway museum

    Fushimi Inari Shrine

    February 16, 2020 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Today we woke to a rainy morning. After sandwiches and coffee for breakfast, we headed to Fushimi Inari shrine. We spent about an hour wandering up the hill side under the orange torii gates, the size of each representing the size of the donation. Seeking an indoor activity, we headed to the Kyoto Railway Museum. This museum was fascinating, with many real trains on display so you could see the difference over the years. We entered the train simulator lottery and won! B got to drive a train simulator and try to stop it at the station platforms successfully. He also enjoyed using the horn! Childhood dreams fulfilled, we decided to head back to the delicious katsu place for lunch. Just as good the second time around! We then headed back to our apartment and stopped to buy some drinks, snacks and a light dinner for later. We had a lazy afternoon and evening, finishing with a soak in our tub - could get used to this!Read more

  • Off Duty PharmacistOff Duty PharmacistJapan by shinkansen
    Osaka Castle
    Moat around the castleIcy windPlum GroveSakura latteIppudo ramen

    Osaka

    February 17, 2020 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    After a relaxing slow start, including our infamous convenience store breakfast, we headed to Kyoto Station for a Shinkansen to Osaka. The trip took a whole 13 minutes. When we arrived we dropped our bags off at our apartment in Shinsaibashi and made our way to Osaka Castle. Seems pretty straight forward and getting to the apartment was no issue. We opened the first glass door (push to open), entered a pin code at the next glass door and made it in to the lobby! Then we had to check in by way of iPad which included taking selfies of ourselves from waist height (attractive). We finished all of that, were given our room number and we were successfully checked in. But the key? Our escape room training kicked in - there were lock boxes to the left with apartment numbers on them, each requiring a 4 digit pin code... Not the original door pin code and not our unit number. Perplexed, we considered our options and went through the check in process again to find a page with a scroll bar we had missed! We put the code in and retrieved our key. After successfully escaping (aka finding our unit) we headed to lunch - B spotted an okonomiyaki restaurant right around the corner from our AirBNB. As we strolled to the Castle from the nearest metro station, the wind picked up. Icy icy wind. Once inside the castle we headed for the 8th floor to see the view from the top. It was quite windy! We then looked at the exhibits on each floor on the way down - floors 7-5 were definitely the best, I'm not sure what happened to the rest, it seemed a bit random. We strolled the long way back to the metro station, passing the plum blossoms. Feeling chilled to the bone, we strolled right into Starbucks in the park. Hot chocolate for B and a Sakura (cherry blossom) latte for me. Feeling warm, we headed back to the apartment as it was after 5pm. We settled in and headed out for dinner at about 6:45pm for ramen from ippudo. It was definitely ramen weather and it hit the spot. We've got a shopping street right near our AirBNB so we had a quick look in Daiso on our way back, i think I'll need some gloves (B has some) and B will need a scarf...Read more

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