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  • Ben Smeele
  • Ben Smeele

Japan

My first real trip to Japan もっと詳しく
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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者
    1

    Night time walk Pontocho

    2022年12月4日, 日本 ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    I walked around the block and through a very narrow street called Pontocho. It had some very fancy restaurants but then further down turned into a red light district, I was a little tempted by the pink salon and soap bars but didn't have the balls to actually go in, I hear they are not very friendly for gaijin(foreigners).

    Headed back to the hotel for a spa, I popped my head in earlier today and saw a 70+ year old naked guy in the changing room so figured I would come back later. Note to self: bring a privacy towel.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者
    2

    Late night onsen

    2022年12月4日, 日本 ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    The hotel had a spa on the 9th floor split to men and woman sections. It felt weird at first being naked but slowly got used to it. There were 7 other guys there so I went to the sauna to get used to it a little first.
    By the end of it it almost felt normal but I think it will take me quite a while to fully relax. Good practice for the mixed onsens possibly in the future.

    I also did some washing in the wash and dry machines upstairs. Cost $5.5 but all my clothes are clean again. I wish I had brought less clothes and items as most of them I probably don't need.

    Also weighed myself and finally dropped under 100. I have been walking around 12km each day though so I guess it adds up.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Quiet day

    2022年12月5日, 日本 ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    I stayed in my room pretty much the whole day. I had planned to spend the morning planning a head a little and booking some hotels/activities but found I kept hitting walls and this just got me down. Spoke to a friend later who reminded me there is no perfect day or trip or hotel or activity. Just make the most of what happens and if something bad happens it adds to the adventure. Trying to keep that in mind but I enjoyed having a quiet day to myself just playing games and watching a movie in bed.
    Had breakfast downstairs,
    lunch at the ramen place next door. They had very good ramen and found it interesting to order in Japanese on the tablet.
    Word of the day otanjobi, meaning it's ok or all good.
    Dinner was a 7-11 dinner as I had wanted to try that anyway. It was quite nice but pretty basic.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Breakfast and morning walk/thoughts

    2022年12月6日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Today the plan is to get out south east and see some of the temples in the area. I was going to hire a bike/motorbike but it seemed too much of a hassle and parking is apparently a problem. They have no rideshare bikes or scooters here and the public transport isn't the best so will just walk.

    I passed by a temple on the way and sat down with them for a minute which was calming as there were no other tourists around. I then walked through the cemetery which was really nice, I found it interesting to look down on it as the graves made it look like a little city.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Kiyomizu-dera

    2022年12月6日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    I came back to kiyomizu-dera. I have a few photos of this place from when I was 15 but not many memories, I wanted to throw myself in and really make the most of the temple this time so I committed to every activity there. I tried to lift the staffs, paid for incense and a prayer, got a fortune, did the prayer water part, and walked the whole complex.
    I found it interesting how worn down the wood was in the temple that the knots were protruding above everything else.
    The trees had turned some very nice colours and the day was just beautiful for it. It started out around 6° but I was able to drop my jacket for most of it as it had warmed up in the sun.
    There are lots of girls walking around in kimonos as it seems that's how they make the most of the day here.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Chion-in

    2022年12月6日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    I was just picking temples from Google maps along the way and came across this but then read about it in the Japan book. Apparently it has the biggest entrance and the largest bell in Japan.
    I don't think I entered correctly or saw all of it but what I had seen had enough stairs to keep me happy.

    Again was not very crowded which was nice.

    I again paid for some incense and made a wish.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Random walking around

    2022年12月6日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    I saw the large orange gate from a distance so I started walking.

    I get weird looks or double takes from people sometimes which I normally put down to being tall (takai). Starting to think it might be because I'm the only one walking around in only a shirt while others have jackets and gloves??もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Keage incline

    2022年12月6日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    I was walking along and came across what seemed to be a popular photo spot for weddings and girls dressed up in kimonos.
    It was nice to walk up and try balance on the tracks as long as I could.
    I saw a subway sign so might call a break for a bit and catch that back to the hotel. I have already walked 13.5k with a lot of steps so might go have an onsen before hitting the town for dinner.もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Stayed in for dinner

    2022年12月6日, 日本 ⋅ 🌙 7 °C

    Was supposed to head out and hit the town but after the onsen I was not feeling up for it so I had another night in, ordered some uber eats and watched a movie. I weighed myself in the onsen again and was 98.1 naked so maybe losing weight with all this walking but will have to see how I go.もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Nijo Castle

    2022年12月7日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    I had breakfast at the hotel again, they sat me in the single white male corner with 3 others of my type but had a little conversation with them which was nice.
    They make you wear gloves when you go up to get food, last time I didn't realise but got told off for only having one this time. One of the other guys explained that they needed to wear two levels of plastic gloves in the height of the pandemic. The plastic waste level is quite high from what I can see.
    I then rested a bit to nurse the food comma from breakfast and then left the hotel.
    There was no real plan today so I started walking a direction and came across Niko Castle.
    It was nice to walk around but felt herded through and was not allowed to take photos in a lot of spots, particularly inside of the castle.
    The castle was very impressive with 2 surrounding moats and 15 gates for defence.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Macas lunch

    2022年12月7日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    I stopped at macas for lunch as I wanted something different. I ordered a teriyaki chicken burger with nuggets and grape Fanta. The side was a beef stew pie.
    None of it was really the best but was interesting, the beef stew pie took a while for my head not to think dessert but still, would not get it again.
    It only cost me $8 or so which I feel is quite cheap.
    I find it interesting they have paper straws but when watching people get takeaway there were multiple layers of plastic bags, one for the drink, then the food then a larger one to put the two smaller ones in.
    All of the music which was playing was english Christmas music.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Kyoto imperial palace

    2022年12月7日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Popped in here as it is not as much of a tourist spot. I found it quite funny the amount of times the buildings had burnt down over the years.
    There are panels talking about them playing a game of kemari which sounds very similar to hacky sack. Wonder if that's the real origin??
    I spotted a hawk keeping an eye on me as I walked around, he was very aware of everyone but most seemed to walk past without noticing or caring about him.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Nishiki on the way home

    2022年12月7日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    I was heading back to have a shower and then head out for the night and randomly got off at an earlier stop and walked through Nishiki market again. Got some cheeky sake shots for 100yen each and spotted some cooked sparrow.
    Walked back and had an onsen again, this time talked to one of the other guys who seemed comfortable in himself. Practiced some Japanese with him and talked about some places to go later tonight.
    After the onsen I felt tired and considered calling it a night but then figured worse come I have a couple of drinks and see what happens, I needed to have dinner anyway.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Karaoke

    2022年12月7日, 日本 ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    I started walking to town but as my legs were feeling a little sore I figured I would catch a bus. Ran into 3 guys on the bus Brad, T.J and Noburto. Brad was a startup YouTuber similar to Blair with T.J following him around. Noburto had ran into them on the bus and wanted to go get some whiskey.
    We tried to head to a whiskey bar first but there was a massive line and the place was dead quiet. We walked down to one of the main streets and walked into the first bar not realising it was a private booth place with 1100 cover charge per person. It was nice but we only had 1 drink and paid more for the booth than our drinks.
    We then thought we would try a karaoke bar so went to Barcode which was empty until midnight when some other guys showed up and joined us. We sang till 2am or so then I did the couple of km walk home.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Higashi Hongan-ji

    2022年12月8日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I had a sleep in after last night but got out of my room and started walking south today. Came across another temple on the way which was massive in scale. I found the tree with half its leaves missing and the human hair rope interesting. There was an old man trying to feed the crane out the front but all the other birds and fish kept stealing it.
    I stopped somewhere for a gyoza/ramen breakfast/lunch so I would have fuel for the day, and went to catch a train further south to Inari.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Fushimi Inari Tanisha

    2022年12月8日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    I figured I had to check out Fushimi Inari although it was quite busy. I didn't realise that it was a 4k walk up into the mountain otherwise would have been better prepared, I only did a small part of the walk as my body was not up for the full trip.
    Walking through you get an overload of orange after a while and enjoy the parts of walking through the forest in cool mountain air without the gates. They are very nice and picturesque but well once you have seen one lot it feels very similar for all the rest.
    I wandered for a bit through the markets for food and shopping, considered getting a little fox statue but haven't found the desire for souvenirs yet. Maybe it will come later as I'm closer to heading home.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Gion night time walk

    2022年12月8日, 日本 ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    My guidebook suggested I do a nighttime walk through Gion and Pontocho, I ran into a couple of geishas along the way who were entertaining large groups of people for dinner. I tried to find somewhere for dinner but didn't realise that anywhere with a red curtain on display meant it was open for business.
    Alot of the bars and restaurants through Kyoto are more a speakeasy style where you really have to know what and where you are looking to actually find and get in to them. Some might even have passwords from what I could gather.
    Found a small place which specialised in fowl and horse. Ordered myself a shabu shabu horse dish which tasted quite similar to beef, had a little horse sashimi as well which was quite nice but a little bland.
    There were some other foreigners having dinner there as well who talked with me for most of the dinner which was nice.
    The gion area is quite upmarket and expensive dishes but thought I would give it a go. Otherwise I passed a lot of lady bars and burlesque places on some of the gaudy streets but I don't believe any of them welcomed foreigners, they often gave me a weird look as I walked by. I realised I had walked 16k by the end of the night so took the subway part of the way home.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Monkey forest

    2022年12月9日, 日本 ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    I decided to head west today and had a 711 breakfast on the way (onigiri and pizza roll). On the way to the bamboo forest I spotted a monkey playground and thought I would have a look. It was a great view of Kyoto from the top and the monkeys were alot more docile than the Balinese ones. It was a little strange that the humans with food had to be in a cage but I gave it a go. It was nice that you could slowly feed them pear or peanuts through the fence.
    Spoke to Alice on the way down who was also heading to the bamboo forest. We walked and talked for a while.    もっと詳しく

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  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

    2022年12月9日, 日本 ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    I walked along the main streets which were quite packed with people to the bamboo forest. It was cool and calm walking through the bamboo even with all the people.
    I came across a couple more graveyards along the way, it's nice they have good resting spots for them like this.
    I let google remove the people from one of my shots, it doesn't look too bad.
    I then ran to catch a small tram with the hope of going to a tea ceremony, I got there but there was no one else there so I decided to leave it.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Kinkaku-ji

    2022年12月9日, 日本 ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    I think the temple looked amazing in the afternoon sun. It was again quite busy with tourists but well worth the trip. I offered up a prayer, threw some coins at the bowls and lit a candle with some incense. Tried a couple times but was unable to keep the coin in the bowl. Again no real memories of this place but still glad I came.もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Funaoka Onsen

    2022年12月9日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    This onsen was listed in the travel book as worth a look and I'm glad I went, I should have brought a towel and soap but she gave me one for ¥130. Entry was ¥470 which I think is very cheap. They had 4 Hot pools, a sauna and a cold pool. I did a couple of laps at first being nervous but towards the end fully embracing it. They had little foam mats to sit on in the sauna. I tried to have a conversation with one of the old guys in Japanese, we were able to say a couple of things but it was difficult.
    While wandering around I noticed the serious amount of boxy cars and cars see why as the driveways only just fit them in some cases.    もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者
    1

    Another city wander

    2022年12月9日, 日本 ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    I caught a bus back to town and had another wander since it was Friday night. It was a lot busier than it had been on previous nights, it was quite late to try and find a dinner at this point so I just ended back at chouchou gyoza. At this point I had walked ~20km so figured I would go back for a rest.もっと詳しく

    翻訳をご覧ください
  • Ben SmeeleJapan旅行者

    Manga museum

    2022年12月10日, 日本 ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    It was my last full day in Kyoto and had done most of the sites I had wanted to already so thought I originally would look at getting a Kimono or Yakuta. I went to a respectable place called Mimuro but for them to custom make something for me would take a few months, the ones they had on the shelf were up to 195cm tall and cost $240 each. I was keen but not that keen unless it was custom made so I left it.
    Had lunch at a Japanese food chain (Yoshinoya) which was ok but probably won't go back there again.
    Just down the road was the manga museum, I have not been much into manga but thought I would have a look around. There were drawing booths and lessons with the whole thing being set in an old school. The floors creaked everywhere when walking which added a nostalgic vibe to it.
    I watched a man put in a gaijin story, he had a weird scarecrow-like mask and walked around banging sticks. He was quite entertaining.
    When I first got there it was not to busy but by the time I left pretty much every seat was full of people sitting down to read manga. People look like they spent all day there reading different pieces. I read through the first bleach edition which made me want to watch the anime again.    もっと詳しく

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