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Shinjuku

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    • Day 5

      Vom fromm sein

      April 18 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      Liebes Tagebuch, heute Vormittag haben wir eine fabelhafte Tempelanlage gesehen.
      Dabei lernten wir einen Gott kennen, der für Unterhaltung, gegen Diebstahl und dafür sorgt, dass das eigene Haus nicht in Flammen aufgeht.
      Wie Du weißt, liebes Tagebuch, ich habe es ja nicht so mit der Frömmigkeit, aber dieser Gott, der hat unbestritten seinen Charme.
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    • Day 93

      Meiji Jingu Shrine

      March 30 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

      Yesterday morning, it just poured, so we chilled in the room, read, and did laundry. It's pretty cool, there are 9 floors with two washer/dryer combo machines on each of those floors, and you can see each machine on the TV in the room to see which ones are available and also see how much longer your load will be. In the afternoon, it was nicer, so we walked around and checked things out. Some of the cherry trees are blooming, hoping in a couple of days it will be much more. Today, we walked to Meiji Jingu Shrine and surrounding park and also checked out the Shibuya Crossing, which is the busiest pedestrian crossing intersection in Tokyo. It is estimated that 1,000 to 2,500 people cross every 2 minutes during busy periods. Japan definitely has its own vibe. They definitely respect queues or lines, every street crossing, bus stop, store/restaurants,etc. have orderly lines. They definitely try and automate as much as they can, but it is also interesting to see so many people employed doing seemingly meaningless tasks. For example they will have someone holding a sign in a park saying no alcohol allowed, or have 4 people at a driveway with orange flags ready to block the sidewalk traffic if a car is coming out of a parkade. It is also crazy busy here. I'm not sure if this is typical or if this is the cherry blossom rush. Today was a beautiful sunny and warm day.Read more

    • Day 59

      Crazytown @night

      October 29, 2022 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

      Am Nachmittag bummeln wir zunächst noch durch die Straßen des Shoppingparadies Harajuku. Das lebhafte Viertel ist für seine farbenfrohe Street-Art und Modeszene bekannt. Nicht zuletzt für seine Vielfalt an Cafés. Wir hätten da im Angebot: Das Igelcafé, das Ottercafé, das Hundecafé, das Katzencafé, das allgemeine Haustiercafé...und bestimmt noch andere Cafés. Nach der vollen Kaffee- und Streichelzoodröhnung kann es nun nach Shibuya gehen. Schonmal was vom "Shibuya Crossing" gehört? Da laufen Menschen über eine Kreuzung. Im Bezirk Shibuya ist das eine recht große Kreuzung und da laufen verdammt viele Menschen kreuz und quer, sodass das Ganze mittlerweile Weltbekannt ist. Hinweis: An Halloween nimmt das hier Dimensionen an, die man sich kaum vorstellen kann. Gefühlt überquert ganz Tokio an diesem Abend diese Kreuzung - kostümiert. Bevor es weiter nach Shinjuku geht, machen wir noch schnell einen Abstecher auf den Tokio Tower (wir können ihn gern Eifelturm nennen, sieht nämlich genau so aus). Herrlich, ein bisschen europäisches Gefühl im Herzen und gleichzeitig legt sich Tokio zu unseren Füßen. Wir können die Lichter von Shinjuku schon sehen. Zu Shinjuku gehören die belebten Clubs und Karaokebars im neonbeleuchteten Osten ebenso wie die exklusiven Hotelbars und Restaurants im Skyscraper District. Wir lernen durch Zufall Andy aus den USA in einer kleinen, dreckigen Kneipe kennen, der uns mit in einen Isakaja zum Essen nimmt. Danach versacken wir in einer sogenannten Snackbar - einer winzigkleinen Bar, wie es sie ganz oft in Tokio gibt. Hier passen maximal 10 Personen (manchmal auch nur 5) rein und wir haben es thematisch in eine MetallPunkRockHorrorHöhle geschafft. Jedes Getränk kostet 666yen und so sieht sie wohl aus...die japanische Hölle im Rotlichtbezirk Shinjukus. Ganz so gruselig ist es dann doch nicht. Nicht das wir uns auskennen würden..., aber selten so einen aufgeräumten & sicheren  Rotlichtbezirk gesehen! Da sind die japanischen Comics anzüglicher als die japanischen Damen die wir irgendwie "vergeblich" in den Schaufenstern suchen. Und so geht er zu Ende. Ein ganz normaler Tag in Tokio...Read more

    • 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
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    • Day 15

      Gyoen Park

      April 8 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Der Park war nicht mehr überfüllt. Die ganze Anlage ist malerisch schön und auch das Gewächshaus hatte super tolle Pflanzen 🌱 Mit dem Wind gab es zwischendurch einen richtigen Kirschblütenregen :3
      Am späten Nachmittag/Abend waren wir noch in Akihabara und haben ein bisschen Ufo Catcher und Gacha Automaten gespielt. Diese Schande haben wir nicht auf Bildern festgehalten 👀
      Und das Wichtigste: Koffer-chan hat es am vorletzten Abend zurück geschafft 😭❤
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    • Day 4

      Tokyo day 3 - part 2

      March 28 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

      Our next stop saw us catching the underground and heading to Shibuy... mainly famous for the incredibly busy crossing at the crossroads of four roads.

      Having watching the hoardes cruising the road we headed back to Shinjuku for a beer in a bar we'd been into previously. The bar had an automatic ordering system using tablets on each table.

      Next, record the subway to Tokyo station and eventually navigated our way out of the shopping centre complex. We managed to get some pretty photos of the station in the dark before finding our meeting point for our bus and meal tour.

      The tour was supposed to be a trip around Tokyo viewing the cherry blossom but sadly due to a cold snap, the sakura hasn't yet made a real appearance. Added to that was the fact that it started to rain.

      The bus tour itself was there for a bit of a disappointment and whilst the meal that we had was presented very well, it probably wasn't to hour tastes if we're honest. So the idea and concept was good but the reality was a little bit different. There were some lovely panoramic views of Tokyo at night from the other side of the bay where bizarrely, there is also a statue of liberty.

      The tall finished just after 9. :00 and we made our way back to our hotel to recap on the day's activities.
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    • Day 2

      Tokyo, day 1

      March 26 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

      After a bit of a queue for immigration (and Ed being questioned about his passport... Seemingly linked to the ones that we had stolen in Barcelona) we took some advice and caught the airport limousine (coach) to Shinjuku, the area that we are staying. Most of the journey was underground in a long tunnel! We eventually emerged into the open not far from the station.

      We got off the bus and walked, in the rain, the 15 minutes to our hotel, arriving at around 10.30am. Unfortunately our room was not available and so we left our bags and wandered back to the station area! It seems that almost everyone in Japan owns an umbrella. ☂️☔

      We explored the area for a little bit before stopping at an old pre war building for some food. The restaurant saw us sitting watching the chef cook the food and alongside tempura battered prawns we also had tempura battered vegetables, rice and some odd soupy things (which was tricky to eat with chopsticks!)

      By the time we finished it was still only 12.15 and so we found a bar to have a couple of beers in... Order at your table here! By now it was almost 2 and we were both flagging because of the long flight and sleepless couple of days. Do we walked back to the hotel and had a quick drink whilst the room was finished.

      Eventually, at around 2.30 we had a message to say that the room was ready and so we checked in to our upgraded room.

      We decided to have a nap and set an alarm for 4.30 so that we had time to wake, get showered and head to the 'social' that takes place each night. The alarm went off and it's fair to say that we were confused. Ed said that he'd realised that we'd missed the social 'last night' until I pointed out that he'd only been asleep for just over an hour.

      Anyway, we both had a shower to eat wake us up. Once done we took the lift to the 16th floor for some wine and canapes. This finished just after 6 and as we were both tired we decided to eat some of the room snacks and have an early night ready for the day ahead!
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    • Day 91

      Travel day to Tokyo

      March 28 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      Travel day from Kyoto to Tokyo, we took the high-speed train Shinkansen JR Central. It was an incredibly smooth ride at nearly 300km/h. It was just over 2 hours to Tokyo. We then had to navigate trying to find a train from the Tokyo station where we arrived at, to the Shinjuku station, which is near the hotel we are staying at. We eventually figured it out and checked in, then went for an early dinner, after we walked around a bit before the rain started, and then we headed back to the hotel.Read more

    • Day 18

      Yakiniku: tabehoudai / nomihoudai

      May 31, 2022 in Japan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      🇨🇵
      Post surprise, car j'avais un peu de temps libre aujourd'hui après les cours !

      On va uniquement parler bouffe, et plus précisément de Yakiniku 🥓🥩🥲

      Le mot Yakiniku est composé de deux mots japonais: yaku (焼く) qui signifie cuire et niku (肉) qui signifie viande.

      Avec ça je pense que vous avez compris: on cuit de la viande sur une grille, un peu à la manière d'un barbecue, même si ici on a tendance à cuire des petites portions ou de fines tranches.

      Avec des élèves de ma classe nous avons choisi un restaurant de Yakiniku à Shinjuku pour fêter la réussite de notre examen. Et oui, après seulement une semaine de cours, j'ai eu droit à l'examen de 4 heures de fin de cycle ! 😱 Heureusement j'avais déjà en tête une partie du programme, mais j'ai bossé la veille jusqu'à 4h30 AM pour mettre toutes les chances de mon côté.

      Nous avons choisi un restaurant proposant des formules tabehoudai (食べ放題) et nomihoudai (飲み放題) qui signifient respectivement manger et boire à volonté, en général durant un temps imparti. Je peux vous dire qu'on a bien profité 😁

      Le choix de ce que l'on peut cuire dans un Yakiniku est très vaste: de nombreux morceaux de boeuf, porc, poulet, des abats, mais également quelques à côté (oignons, champignons, carottes). On y trouve par contre rarement du poisson (je n'en ai pas vu dans notre restaurant)

      En sauce, on a généralement de la sauce soja, ou bien une sauce qui utilise la sauce soja comme base.

      La partie nomihoudai est pratique pour tester des soda ou boissons alcoolisées mais sachez qu'en général la qualité n'est pas au rendez-vous.

      Si vous avez l'occasion de (re)venir au Japon, je vous recommande vivement le Yakiniku. En plus d'être délicieux, c'est une manière de manger très conviviale qui permet de discuter tout en cuisinant, à condition de surveiller la grille lorsqu'elle prend feu (comme sur la dernière photo 🔥👹)

      Bye bye !

      🇬🇧
      Surprise post, as I had some free time today after school !

      We will talk exclusively about food, and more precisely about Yakiniku 🥓🥩🥲

      The word Yakiniku is made up of two japanese words: yaku (焼く) to cook and niku (肉) meat.

      With that in mind you can figure it out by yourself: you cook meat on a grill, similar to barbecue but with much smaller portions or thin slices of meat.

      With some students of my class, we aimed at a Yakiniku restaurant in Shinjuku to celebrate the success at the exam. Believe it or not, I went through a 4h final exam for this cycle after only one week of school! 😱 Fortunately I already had some knowledge about the program, but I studied the day before the exam until 4:30AM in order to be ready.

      We chose a restaurant with tabehoudai (食べ放題) and nomihoudai formulas, which respectively means "all you can eat" / "all you can drink", usually during a certain amount of time. Indeed, we ate a lot 😁

      You can choose from a wide range of porc, beef, and chicken meats as well as offals and side dishes (onions, mushrooms, carots). But it is quite rare to find any fish (I didn't see any here)

      As sauce, you usually use soy sauce alone, or a sauce that uses soy sauce as a base.

      The nomihoudai is convenient to test sodas and alcoholic drinks, but be aware that in general this kind of formula include only low quality drinks.

      If you have the opportunity to come (back) to Japan, I highly recommand testing a Yakiniku restaurant. It is very tasty and this way of eating is really good to enjoy conversations while cooking and sharing dishes. Just keep an eye on the grill to avoid burnt meat or fire (as in the last picture🔥👹)

      Bye bye !
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    • Day 43

      Golden gai night out

      January 10, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

      I wasn't going to head out as was still a little tired and hungover from the night before but I popped down for a hair of the dog and there was another Pakistani Kiwi Eman with an American brother and sister team Matt and Molly, who wanted to see golden gai so we headed out for a quick dinner and drink.
      We went through the red light district first and everyone felt a little hungry so I tried to find a place. Google said there was one down a dark alley which they were all apprehensive about but I figured why not and was glad once we found the place. It was a kishiage place which had everything fried on a stick. I got an omakase option which gave me shrimp, octopus, baby corn, rice, cheese and pork.
      I ordered myself a large beer and that was a little larger than I expected but went down well.
      We then continued on to golden gai and popped into the first one that looked interesting. It was tiny with very little room to move but we sat at the bar with chandeliers and ordered a few drinks. They had a chilli gin which we shoted but it wasn't that hot.
      We then went onto another bar around the corner who originally said there was no room but allowed us the above bar room. It had very little headspace but we crammed in there for a few more drinks.
      It was funny when someone needed to go to the toilet though as that was behind all the finnish people.
      Some indian Canadian people showed up and joined for a few drinks.
      We then had to taxi back towards the cabin hotel as the trains had stopped at that time and they all felt a little hungry so we grabbed some ramen from ichiramen. Was a cool experience that you didn't really see the kitchen or wait staff and they just lifted the curtains to pass you food.
      Another 3am night so I went home and crashed.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Shinjuku-ku, Shinjuku, 新宿区, SXO

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