Tag: japan-travel

Japan – Our Introduction for Aussies – PART FOUR (still Tokyo)

Join us on our last few days in Tokyo, with the three S’s… Sumo’s, Scramble and Sushi, it was a lot of fun!

After Disneyland, our next few days in Tokyo didn’t get much quieter. We had a jam packed schedule. We really wanted to experience as much as we could on this trip.

We travelled to Asakusa via Uber, which was different again to Ginza and Minato City. There were still plenty of restaurants but here, there was a lot more foot traffic only areas, and little shops (as opposed to multi-level department stores). It seemed a nice area, but our main reason for going there was to visit the Asakusa Sumo Club and do the Sumo Experience.

Before moving on, I have to say that even after experiencing the local Subway with a tour guide, until this point, we still hadn’t braved the train lines on our own, and Uber was so reliable and easy that we opted for it everywhere we went in Tokyo.

While the Sumo experience is very clearly ‘put on’ for the tourists, and is not part of any real tournament, we really enjoyed it. The commentary was all in English and the experience included a Chanko-Nabe (sumo hot pot), which is ‘all you can eat’ hot broth, noodles, chicken, chicken balls, Kaarage chicken, edamame, vegetables and some little cakes. The reason they serve this particular meal, is to give you a little taste of how Sumo’s eat when they are preparing for a tournament.

The room you sit in has two sides of wooden benches and then a small stage and the dohyo (the wrestling circle) in the middle. The presenter told us about Sumo families, explained the rules of competition and gave some history on the martial art, then introduced us to two former Sumo’s, who provided a colorful demonstration of the wrestling. Each side of the room was given a wrestler to cheer for, which added a little more fun and so, we ate, we drank and we watched and learnt.

All of the guests were given a chance to challenge a Sumo toward the end of the show and Ben did, very bravely, volunteer but after a ‘draw a straw’ style narrow down, he didn’t get picked to challenge. It was however, very funny watching other tourists come out in their sumo suits and challenge the Sumo’s. I can categorically say, the Sumo’s won every time!

Next up, Scramble Crossing and anyone who has done any research on Tokyo at all, would have seen pictures of this strangely organised mayhem. Shibuya is the thick of Tokyo and Scramble Crossing is the constantly beating heart of the thick.

Being at ground level on Scramble is hectic, there are people going this way and that, and we happened to be there on a ceremony day, so there was extra people on the streets. There were large groups of people chanting and carrying a… well, a heavy looking, chest type thing, that I later learnt was called a mikoshi and that it is part of a Shinto ritual. Ben and I looked at each other, then did what we do best, escaped the mayhem and found ‘The Hub’ (a British style pub), ordered a beer, and waited until we felt ready to head back into the busy shopping district and try to get a better look at Scramble.

I’m not sure that there is anywhere else in the world with a more photographed road intersection. It is for good reason, normally watching people walk across a road is extremely unexciting but at this particular crossing, hundreds of pedestrians go so many ways at once that it just… looks cool. We went up to Mags, to get some good photos from above and I have to admit, this place feels a bit ‘tourist trappy’ and that’s probably because it is. At Mags you can Bluetooth your phone to their cameras above and get ‘those photos’ that everyone wants, while you have a drink and just ‘stand and watch’ for a while.

If you are going to Scramble and you know the story of Hatchiko, I shouldn’t need to explain, if you know… you know. The famous Akita statue is only a short walk away so definitely take a look. Very nostalgic, indeed.

The next day was to be our last full day in Tokyo, and we didn’t have anything ‘booked’ as such, so we followed recommendations from friends and got up early to head to Ginza for the fish markets. Now, we expected people throwing fish and bargaining over big tuna bodies, but what we got was an actual market, with little shops and stalls, selling fresh seafood and other delights. We were a little early, so we did some waiting around for stalls to open. Once they did, we did several laps of the market, just looking. We wanted to eat but when you have so many choices, it’s quite over-whelming. After much deliberation, I tried the Tamagoyaki (Japanese egg roll), which was deliciously soft and had a pleasant sweetness. There were lots of signs, ice boxes and cabinets displaying King crab and this was something we wouldn’t easily be able to get in Australia, so Ben wanted to try this. Finally, we decided on a little sushi restaurant… conveyer belt, chef in sight and all, and chose to sit in. The crab, the tuna and, our favorite, the unagi (fresh water eel) were absolutely delicious and so, so fresh. On the way out, dessert seemed in order, so candied strawberries and grapes were our choice and oh my goodness, the sugar coating was thin and crunchy and the fruit inside was sweet and fresh. Perfect.

To come: We say goodbye to Tokyo and have our first bullet train ride to Kyoto. By this stage of our trip, we were feeling a little tired of concrete worlds, and we were looking forward to seeing something a little smaller and a little greener.

TOP TIP No. 4:

We did try to go to TeamLab Planets, Tokyo, but we did not realise that you need to book this experience. The easiest way to do this seems to be on the Klook app, so if you want to do TeamLab, book before you go. We found a lovely spot to sit, drink and have a snack in that area anyway, but we did not get to go to TeamLab because we didn’t know you couldn’t just buy a ticket when you get there. Like many of these Japan experiences, it is a timed experience, so you need to show up at your booking time.

Japan – Our Introduction for Aussie’s – PART ONE

It’s been a little while since I’ve done any real travel writing. The reason for that is not that I’ve fallen out of love with it, but more that Ben and I have been working hard, saving for a holiday. For this particular ‘long time coming’ adventure, we chose Japan. When we went to see our travel agent to plan the trip, one of the first questions she asked us was. So, why Japan? Why Japan… well, it is affordable, the flight time is reasonable, we’d heard plenty of good things and anyone who knows us, knows we appreciate good food and Japan was set to have all of these things. The prospect of also getting to experience Disneyland and Universal Studio’s was also an exciting bonus.

We jumped on our Singapore Airlines flight from Brisbane on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 10th, just 3 days before my 43rd birthday. We flew through the night (transferring at Singapore) and landed in Tokyo early Thursday morning, which meant we had an entire day to kill, prior to being able to check in to our hotel and sleep off the weariness of the flight. This wasn’t a bad thing. It gave us a good push onto the busy Tokyo streets, which is where our adventure and a true learning experience was set to begin.

We quickly learnt that Tokyo is a walking city, so we walked. It was only a few minutes before we came across our first temple. Before doing some of the tours, the temple was little more to us than some beautifully crafted buildings that we knew held meaning to those who worshipped there. We would later (during some tours) discover more about their history but at this stage in our trip, we were really just having a good look at something we’d never seen before. This was the very start of seeing things we’d simply never seen before.

We only needed to look to the sky, to see our next point of call. Tokyo Tower, an industrial looking tower that breaks the skyline of Minato City and is quite a landmark in the area we were staying. Before we tackled the tower, we needed sustenance. A little something for our stomachs, to settle the grumbles and also a little hydration, it was already a hot and sticky day. Tokyo, like the other Japanese cities we experienced, is a late starting city, compared to Australia. Many venues don’t open until mid-morning and stay open later than we are used to. You can easily go shopping at 9pm and find just about anything you like.

Luck had it that we found an open, welcoming little bakery that offered some delicious little plates and free water (mizu – in Japanese). Happy with our first culinary experience, we headed to Tokyo Tower. You can get to the Main Deck (150m) from as little as $6.20 (AUD) per person. We chose to do the Top Deck Tour, where cramped elevators and polite guides would take us to the 250m level, to get the best views. This is a timed entry tour and we only had to wait about 10 minutes for the next available tour. This cost just over $17.00 (AUD) per person. From the Top Deck we got a great perspective of the sheer size of the world that was going to surround for the next five days.

Below you can see one of the beautiful photos of Tokyo Tower at night and also a photo of one of the amazing views from the Top Deck, both taken by Ben.

After accidently taking an alternative exit from Tokyo Tower, that forced us to ascend countless red, metal staircases to reach the ground from the Main Deck, our legs were feeling a little like jelly. The exhaustion of the overnight flight was still clouding our minds a little. Despite that, the heat and the excitement of actually being there was enough to keep us going. We were ticking things off and we wanted to continue doing it.

We caught a taxi, using the Taxi GO app to DiverCity Tokyo Plaza. This was our first look at the crazy world of Japanese shopping. Anime and food, floor upon floor of fashion, rows of skill tester machines, millions of knick-knacks and shelves of just… stuff. Little did we know that this plaza, was the first of many times, we would be overwhelmed with the magnitude of their shopping districts. We also had our first Takoyaki (octopus balls) experience here, which wasn’t something we enjoyed. In fact, we would have been very happy to keep as a once off experience – this however, would not be the case (more on this in a later blog).

The reason I mentioned the Taxi GO app is, later on that night, after we’d checked in into our hotel. We found that getting a taxi to get to our dinner booking was impossible. The app, and even the hotel staff told us all of the taxi’s were booked, and our only chance would be to flag one. This seemed quite unbelievable given that when were we standing on the streets, there seemed to be more taxi’s driving around than there were private cars. Surely, with this many in sight, we’d have no trouble flagging one. Every taxi driver Ben tried to talk to, or tried to flag, seemed too busy, or just didn’t even acknowledge us.

After a long time wasted trying to get where we needed to be, we decided that our dinner booking was void and that we would have to settle for something within walking distance of the hotel. The good thing about Tokyo is that, there is literally a restaurant on every corner. We managed to find a one with wooden concertina doors, Japanese lanterns and a chef happily waving us in. They served Karaage Chicken, assorted skewers, beer and some other dishes. It was food we found much more enjoyable than the Takoyaki. We then looked for more beer (biru – in Japanese), which a small local bar provided, along with Japanese whiskey and what they call ‘highball’, a non-descript alcohol in a tall glass, with flavoured soda.

It wasn’t until the next day that I discovered that my Uber app worked perfectly well in Japan and seemed much more reliable than the Taxi GO app. So, it was out with Taxi GO and in with Uber, and it stayed that way until the end of our trip.

TOP TIP No. 1:

If you are looking for a less stressful transport alterative in Japan, we recommend using Uber. I have mine linked to PayPal, which was super convenient for payment. As frequent Uber users know, you always get an estimated fare upon booking and you can pre-book your rides where needed. It also provides a bridge for the language barrier by providing a map for you and the driver, so there is no confusion about where you want to go and which route you should take. THUMPS UP, UBER!

See PART TWO for more, there will be a TOP TIP tailored to our fellow Aussie’s who are set to visit Japan for the first time with each Japan blog in this series. (More Tokyo, Disneyland, bullet trains and more cities… coming right up).