Japan
Tokyo

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    • Day 57

      Walking around Tokyo in the rain

      March 26 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

      Visiting temples. gardens and Tokyo Museum today. Including Meiji-jingu temple. Rained all day 😂. A bit different from New Zealand weatherwise. Cherry blossom beginning to appear. Beautiful. Also visited ‘piss alley’ a very narrow street renowned for its bars and street food.Read more

    • 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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    • Day 3

      Das erste Mal Ramen

      August 9, 2023 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

      Heute Mittag waren wir das erste Mal Ramen essen bei der bekannten Kette „Ichiran“. Man wählt erst auf dem Automaten, was man haben möchte, bezahlt mit Bargeld (Cash is king in Japan) und bekommt ein kleines Ticket pro Gericht. Dann geht man in einen Raum mit vielen kleinen „Bar- Kammern“, bei denen auf der anderen Seite die Mitarbeiter stehen und füllt das Formular auf dem zweiten Bild aus. Das wird von einem Mitarbeiter genommen (und wir hätten noch die Karten auf dem dritten Foto nutzen können 😅) und wenige Minuten später stehen dann die super leckeren Ramen vor einem🍜Read more

    • Day 4

      Arrivée à Tokyo

      March 27 in Japan ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      Nous voilà enfin à l'hôtel dans l'animé quartier de Sinkuju, le vol c'est bien passé entre filmsp, dodo et repas mais l'arrivée à été très longue, 4h entre la sortie de l'avion et l'arrivée à à l'hôtel. Surtout la douane qui était interminable, puis le train 'Narita Express' pas si express que ça 😅. Le paysage entre l'aéroport et l'hôtel faisait très français à notre étonnement et les banlieues très banlieue parisienne, mais arrivé au centre ville le dépaysement commence.Read more

    • 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 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 96–99

      Hakone & Tokio

      March 5 in Japan ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

      Nach Kyōto trennten wir uns von den Anderen und für uns ging es für eine Nacht nach Hakone, um den Fuji- Hakone- Izu- Nationalpark zu besuchen. Da es beide Tage ziemlich regnete, erhielten wir leider nur einen kleinen Eindruck des Parks. Durch den vielen Regen und Nebel gelang es uns nicht, den Mount Fuji zu sehen. 🙁 Auch während unserer Bootsfahrt über den Lake Ashi sahen wir kaum was. So ist es eben, man kann nicht immer Glück mit dem Wetter haben. Somit starteten wir ein Alternativprogramm und für uns ging es in eine Onse, ein traditionelles Bad mit heißen Quellen. Und das war absolut genial. Von verschieden heißen Becken bis hin zu verschiedenen Saunen. Anschließend ging es für uns zu unserem letzten Ziel: Tokio, die größte Stadt der Welt. Dort übernachteten wir zwei Nächte in Shinjuku, einem belebten Stadtteil Tokios. Dank eines HopOn- HopOff Busses konnten wir zumindest einige Teile Tokios erkunden. So verrückt zu sehen, wie viele Menschen auf einmal die Straße überqueren. Überall sind Menschenmassen, die Stadt ist riesig und sehr belebt. Wir besuchten das Animeviertel, welches wir etwas schräg fanden, denn überall konnte man in Massen Animeprodukte kaufen. Ansonsten verfügt Tokio über alles, was man sich nur vorstellen kann. Von etlichen Restaurants, Cafés, Shops…
      Wir sind sehr froh, Japan bereist zu haben. Es ist ein sehr facettenreiches Land mit einer faszinierenden Kultur. Allerdings muss man auch dazu sagen, dass es uns auf Dauer etwas zu „streng“ sein würde. Hier ein paar Beispiele, an die man sich halten sollte: Es wird in der Öffentlichkeit nur leise gesprochen, die Handys sind auf lautlos zu stellen und im öffentlichen Nahverkehr ist telefonieren verboten. Zudem sollte man während dem Gehen nicht trinken oder essen. Die Schuhe müssen meistens in Räumen ausgezogen werden. Vor einsteigen in Zügen oder Busse oder bevor betreten eines Restaurants wird sich in eine Reihe gegliedert. Tattoos bilden ein Problem, da es einige Einheimische an die Jakuza erinnert. Das heißt, am besten abdecken oder „tattoofreundliche“ Fitnessstudios oder Onsen besuchen. Die Einheimischen schätzen einen wertschätzenden und respektvollen Umgang miteinander und das war auf jeden Fall schön und interessant zu beobachten.😊
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    • Day 7

      Shrines, cherry blossoms and sushi

      March 22 in Japan ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

      What a quintessential Japanese blend of experiences for our last full day in Tokyo.

      Stop 1
      Meiji shrine
      Holy place which enshrines the soul of Emperor Meiji, famous from the mid 1800s restoration of the empire ending the Shogun era. Under his rule Japan ended feudalism, embraced constitutionalism, industrialism and became a regional military power. Emperor Meiji oversaw the Sino-Japanese war, the annexation of Korea and the Russo-Japanese war so it's a bit odd that his shrine is dedicated to peace. In general, most museums and attractions in Japan seem to enforce a strict "don't mention the wars" policy.

      Stop 2
      Takeshita Street
      The main shopping street in trendy fashion hub Harajuku. Teeming with life and quirky anime fans. A bit too busy, for us so we went to the local IKEA. The locals didn't seem too interested in furniture, but hoarded plushies and soft serve ice cream. They seemed to get enthusiastic about every day Swedish items such us knäckebröd or kanelbullor, and tunnbröd was made out to be very exclusive. IKEA here really seems to stress the cafeteria part and forget about selling furniture. Always interesting to see how people are around Nordic cultural exports.

      Stop 3
      Meguro River
      Famed for its lovely cherry tree promenade along its banks. Unfortunately, we beat the blossoms to it but still had a nice, peaceful walk.

      Stop 4
      Sushi!
      It feels like a crime not to have sushi while in Tokyo. Chose a restaurant called Sushi Zanmai in Shinjuku for its specialising in tuna and strong Google reviews. It lived up to the hype. Sinead got a sushi tuna set and I got a tuna rice bowl. Both had a variety of tuna. Red, semi fatty, fatty, collar (really fatty) and minced. All were tender and fresh. We had a complementary miso soup (fermented soy bean paste) with seaweed on the side. Would recommend this place for anyone who wants to try real sushi. It certainly delivered a karate kick KO to my notion of what sushi was- slimy salmon on vinegary rice served with a side of trendy hipster pretending to enjoy it.

      Tomorrow we're going to Kyoto!
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Tokyo, Tokio, طوكيو, ܛܘܟܝܘ, Токио, Tòquio, Τόκιο, Tōkyō, توکیو, Toquio - 東京, טוקיו, टोक्यो, Tokió, Տոկիո, TYO, Tókýó, 東京, ტოკიო, 도쿄, Tocio, Tokijas, Tokija, Tóquio, Tochiu, டோக்கியோ, โตเกียว, توكيو, Токіо, 东京

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