Hasmanian
@hasmanian
Canadian. 🇨🇦 Left handed, but not in a sinister way. I haven't stopped reading since I learned how. We can all be better people, especially me. Occasionally I need to be reminded of that fact, but I'm trying to need fewer of those reminders.
One thing I learned from my two trips to Japan: we've got some pretty darn good sushi around Vancouver. Now if only I could find some A5 wagyu locally that doesn't require a bank loan.
Bearfoot Bistro. Lobster bisque, steak and lobster, and strawberry rhubarb pavlova. Overall, I liked it better than Hy's and it was much less expensive on a mid-week three course special.
Hy's is a Canadian classic. French onion soup, escargot, fillet Neptune and key lime pie. All of it was excellent (okay, the mashed potatoes were a little bland. Whatevs.)
Yeah, I definitely don't need to go to Japan to take pictures of spring blossoms when this is my neighbourhood.
7/7 I cannot recommend Japan enough if you can go. Two weeks minimum; learn a few key phrases of Japanese; arrange for mobile data but download offline maps; watch a lot of new YouTube videos for up to date info; be a good ambassador/tourist; tell the folks at Skookum Hotdog Diner that I sent you.
6/? I don't just eat. I also walk (250k+ steps in 24 days (yes, I'm bragging about that)). And in that walking I get to expose myself to a culture which is very different from my own, while also being very accessible to someone who only speaks about dozen words of Japanese. (+ Google Translate)
5/? The food? With few exceptions, the food was amazing (skip the conveyor belt sushi chains). From convenience stores, department stores, local fast food, to fancy dining. From sushi, tonkatsu, yakiniku, ramen, gyoza, takoyaki & udon (+ Italian, Brazilian, French, American, etc.) Japan has it all.
4/? Hotel prices were higher and who knows what's going on with airfares, but Japan is otherwise a bargain (as long as you're not buying fruit). Trains & buses, food and drinks, souvenirs are all cheaper than I expected even after 2.5 years of inflation (the weak yen helps).
3/? Bigger crowds relate to worse tourists. I don't remember signs on my 2023 trip telling people not to handle food in markets, or not drink the cleansing water at temples, or not use the toilets in the 100+ year old museum houses. Those signs would not be there if there wasn't a reason for them.
2/? Spring was lovely, and I've never taken so many pictures of flowers, but we have cherry blossoms in Vancouver and I'm sure that the time of year was a contributing factor in the bigger crowds.
A back from Japan thread. 1/? Now that the jet lag has gone away, it's time for some ruminations about my second trip to the land of the rising sun. A third trip is likely, but that will depend on finances (or lottery winnings) and would include Okinawa or Sapporo, or maybe Seoul or Singapore.
My last meal in Japan was Ippudo at the airport. More thoughts will follow post jet lag.
As tempted as I was to get BBQ ribs, I opted for shitake tempura and sushi for my last dinner in Japan. I followed those with a last coffee jelly but didn't get a picture.
I did say that I was coming back. A hotdog shouldn't be life changing, but Skookum Hotdog Diner will change how I look at tube steaks for the rest of my life.
It's my second to last night in Japan. Of course I had to go for Brazilian churascaria, including wagyu ribeye, A5 rump steak, grilled seafood and a couple of helpings of chicken hearts.
Tonkatsu for dinner tonight. That mustard might look like French's, but it will blow out the roof of your mouth and the back of your head. Ay ay ay.
Takadanobaba Game Centre, a properly grungy video arcade with a few old games but, sadly, no pinball.
The park I wanted to visit at Mejiro station closed at 4, and the stamp museum is another thing closed on Mondays, but this stop counts (I don't know how many more I have in me today. I'm already at 14000 steps.)
Ikebukuro is definitely the biggest station that I've never visited before and, according to Google, Ikebukuro Noshi-Guchi is a "park."
Otsuka station: another shopping street, another shrine and apparently my aunt has a pachinko parlour here.
Not too far from Sugamo station are Sugamo Jizudori shopping street, Togenuki Jizuson temple, and Shinshoji temple.
There's supposed to be an entrance to the Rikugien gardens right next to Komagome station, but the actual entrance is about a half klick away. Worth the walk, I'd say.
The sandwich shop that I wanted to visit near Nishi-Nippori station is closed on Mondays, so I give you the $6 duck udon I had for lunch at the station instead. Very thin slices of duck, but excellent nonetheless.
It was a bit of a walk from Nippori station to Yanaka Ginza, an old shopping street out of the 60s with a mix of locals stores and touristy places.
The area near Uguisudani station features a small Don Quixote, several bars and love hotels, and Motomishima shrine.
Bonus post. Boarding at Tokyo station. I'll be skipping Kanda, Akihabara, Okachimachi and Ueno today. I might come back to some of those before I leave Japan.