I'm back from Japan!!!!
its was fun and quite tiring at the same time.
Kyoto was a blast - we got lost a couple of times but we survived - its one thing to know how to ask for directions in japanese, but, its another to actually understand the directions they tell you, lol.
We jsut go by keywords - left, right, straight and how long we have to walk, hehehe
Tenryugi, Toei studio (we spent a bit of time here) , the Gion district, and the Jidai Matsuri are the highlights of our Kyoto trip. We've been to several other temples, but Tenryugi has the best views from what we've seen.
We should have allocated a full week or more just for Kyoto.
Since we were there for just 3 days, our itenerary was quite full so we we're walking, on average, about 7-8 miles a day.
the Manga museum was interesting but sinceI dont read japanese, the mangas for english viewers were a bit limited.
We were fortunate enough to happen to find a nice traditional japanese restaurant (where you leave your shoes outside in a shoebox and get to have your own room to eat and servers in traditional clothes) that doesnt cost that much.
Forgot the name of it though since its in kanji.
Nara trip was uneventful - since we took a guided tour instead of exploring it on our own. Todaiji temple wasnt really memorable for me but it ws cool to interact with the deers in the park.
the Hikari shinkansen was surprisingly, quite roomy - I sure whish planes have that much legroom.
Tokyo, was wonderful although the weather wasnt that accomodating. We had to juggle our iteneraries and even cancelled some - walking outside and taking pictures doesnt bode well when its windy and raining.
Our main scene is Shinjuku and wow, taking the train during the morning rush hour was an experience, lol. Just the walk going to JR from the underground tunnels was an experience - there's just so many people.
Went to several minor and major museums - Edo Museum was what I liked most; the sword museum wasnt particularly interesting - I wont recommend it, unless you're already in the area. for us, it was jsut several blocks from our hotel so we didnt lose that much time.
Tokyo anime center in Akiba was not what I have expected - was really looking forward to a BIG store so it was a bit of a letdown. Lots of electronic stores but I didnt buy much. Its surprising that you can actually find some rice cookers that sell for over $1k.
The streets were lively and there sure was a lot of girls in maid costume handing flyers, tissues even when its cold at night.
Yokohama was nice, went to the landmark observatory but we had to cancel our ramen museum trip due to the rain. Same thing with Odaiba so I didnt see Tokyo Big Sight.
Ueno area is nice, the museums are in walking distance from the park.
Shibuya is qute busy, especially in the Shibuya 109 intersection. Spent some time in starbucks overlooking that intersection and just watch people pass by.
Harajuku was also nice, there was an event going on when I went there so I got to see some performers and some floats. Saw some ppls doing some live shows near yoyogi park.
In any case, it was easy enough to learn to use the train stations in Tokyo. At first, we were abit intimidated since not all stations show english signs of the train routes so we had to compari kanji letters on occassions. We took the chuo jr lines frequently since its the rapid service with fewer stops. There's also the Yamanote line which hits the major stations.
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