Japan 2015 | FindPenguins

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Trip start
November 15, 2015
Japan 2015 fannypakit
Tokyo, Japan
November 15, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
こんばんは！
I'm so pumped to be in Japan! I arrived pretty late into Haneda and hauled ass to get through baggage claim, immigration, and ATM before hopping onto the monorail to Asakusa! I got in pretty late around midnight and Randy had arrived a day earlier, so we would start off our day tomorrow.

Even though it was dead after midnight and nothing was going on in Tokyo, just being in the city made me feel so alive.Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Hiroshima, Japan
November 16, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy. We're off to Hiroshima today! Woke up early to grab the shinkansen there and picked up bentos at Tokyo Station. I got a delicious Yonezawa Beef Domannaka Bento and Randy got this gyutan bento that heated up on its own. It was really cool.

We landed in Hiroshima and met up with Kumi to briefly check out the A-Dome and Memorial Park. I have to say it really was a gorgeous day in Hiroshima. The colors, sky, everything just looked so bright and peaceful. We had okonomiyaki for a late lunch (yum!) and we went to Miyajima to check out the famous Itsukushima Shrine. It was low tide when we went so we got to walk up to the shrine. We walked around and there were a number of stalls to check out. We said bye to Kumi shortly after and went to our beautiful ryokan for dinner.

We splurged at the Kikogawa Guesthouse and had dinner included in our stay. This dinner was BOMB DOT COM. I think it was about 8 courses and each one so delectable and gorgeous in preparation. My favorite dish was the cheesy baked oysters, but honestly everything was delicious. Afterward, Randy and I planned to drink at our ryokan and just chill for the night; well homie fell asleep on me when I went to take a shower, lol. So much for that.Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Osaka, Japan
November 17, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C
大阪、ただいま！
I'm back, Osaka! I've missed you so much~
We made a quick stop to hang out with Naho, Kazu, and Koji in Osaka. We met up in Umeda and got lunch at a kushikatsu place in Umeda Station. We then walked around and did some shopping helping Naho pick up some things as she'll be going to France! Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay too long because we were en route to Kyoto to meet up with Cindy and Kevin. Will have to return to Osaka and maybe even Mino!Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Kyoto, Japan
November 18, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Ahh Kyoto! The one city I still feel like I haven't devoted enough time to see. It's a shame I'm all over the place for this Japan trip because I would love to spend more time here.

We stayed at Piece Hostel and got to meet up with Hiroko and Nobu again! They are seriously the most generous people I have ever met. It was raining pretty hard today, but we didn't let that lead us astray. We visited Arashiyama and Monkey Park today. Nobu and Hiroko took us to a great sukiyaki restaurant just around the corner and even met up with us later for drinks at a trendy izakaya. During our downtime, we went to Nishiki Market to roam and browse before going to Kiyomizudera for the autumn colors and lighted up temple. It was pretty crowded, but great to be able to see the beautiful fall colors and visiting the temple at night.

We did a lot of walking today and it's only the beginning!Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Kyoto, Japan
November 19, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We started our morning pretty early by hitting up Fushimi Inari before the crowds hit. We did a lot of walking here too, but it was so worth it.

After that, we separated with Cindy going to Nara and the rest stuck to Kyoto. We saw Kiyomizudera in the daytime and walked along Philosopher's Path and Kodaiji enjoying the Kyoto scenery. We ended up at an udon restaurant for lunch and had tempura udon. Yum.

We actually ended up at a Korean bbq restaurant for dinner because the hot pot place we wanted to eat at was closed. The guys were kinda lame, so Cindy and I went to get drinks and snacks at a bar after a stop away in Kyoto. It was awesome because they served craft beer and had this awesome pate with brioche. Beer. Oyasumi!Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Tokyo, Japan
November 20, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Back to Tokyo! We had lunch at the famous Ichiran, the best place for ramen for introverted people who want to eat in peace by themselves. It was pretty early so we were one of the few people there. We then set off for Tokyo and got to our hostel in Asakusa. I love being in Asakusa! I think it's one of my favorite regions of Tokyo. Plus, we're so close to a Don Quiqote. This store is my shit. It's a huge discount store that sells anything from beauty products to electronics to food. It's much cheaper than some other places too.

We are also by this corner bento store that sells bento for so cheap! Wahhh. We ate at a tempura shop and then roamed Asakusa. We got our fortunes, shopped around the stalls, and walked around the different vendors.

We then went to an izakaya nearby for yakitori and beer. I love izakayas. So bomb. We also karaoked for an hour or two. Yay for nightlife!Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Tokyo, Japan
November 21, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We set off for the Studio Ghibli museum today!! Can cross that off the bucket list. It was great getting lost in Hayao Miyazaki's world. I loved the amount of interaction there was and I enjoyed seeing the original drawings of some of the animation. Their gift shop was a bit lacking though. There weren't many goodies compared to third party stores I've seen around the Asakusa area, but it was still nice to see things at the source.

Afterwards, we set off for Shibuya to see Hachiko and the famous Shibuya crossing. We took a few minutes at the Starbucks before splitting up for lunch. We got kaiten sushi, cheap conveyor sushi. After Shibuya, we met up with Yohei and went to get crepes in Harajuku. As usual, Takeshita Street was so crowded but there weren't too long lines for crepes.

We then met up with Nana for dinner in Ginza and went to a taproom to also get beers. It was a cool hip place but seemed more upscale than your usual casual bar.Read more
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Japan 2015 fannypakit
Yokohama, Japan
November 22, 2015 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
My last day in Japan ):
I woke up early today to grab breakfast at Sushizanmai, my favorite inexpensive sushi! We said our goodbyes as I was the first to leave Japan and I then set off to meet Yohei to do a Yokohama day trip.

Yokohama was awesome. We toured Chinatown, walked all over to see the port, and browsed all the different squares. We grabbed more craft beer at a nice hip bar and before I knew it I had to go back to Tokyo to go to Haneda for my flight ):

I got some last bentos to go and took the monorail to Haneda and I was pretty sad to be saying bye. The trip felt so rushed and I didn't really get to relax and just chill as much as I wanted to, but I love love Japan and I'll be back!Read more
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Trip end
November 22, 2015