V in Japan - Day 6

Day 6: Last day in Tokyo and travel to Takayama

• Date: October 18:
• Weather: Clouded & rainy
• Mood: kind of annoyed

Senso-Ji & the Kaminarimon

This day was our last day in Tokyo and we still had to visit the Kaminarimon & the Senso-Ji temple. K’s House Oasis is like a 5-minute walk away from those two spots, so we reserved it for our last day in Tokyo.

I woke up, wrote some cards home (my mom adores foreign stamps), skipped breakfast (my stomach wasn’t that great in the morning), packed my stuff and met up with the others. When packing my stuff I noticed I couldn't find my black vest anymore, but I could not remember where I forgot it.

We then walked to the temple. Weather started off with a bit of rain. But while the clouds stayed, the rain stopped soon after.

We were quite early at the Kaminarimon, so a lot of the souvenir shops were still opening up. We didn't mind, since it’s easier to walk with less tourists and less shopkeepers. In the few shops that were open Steven tried some random snacks for on the road and Francis got a T-shirt with the Kaminari symbol.

Look how adorable, a priest with a group of kids
(wait, again? Don't kids here EVER go to school?)

At the Senso-Ji temple itself, Steven and I had to try out our luck with the luck-sticks. You know the principle? Make a donation, shake the tube until a stick pops up. Compare the symbol on the sticks to the drawers. Spot/open up the designated drawer and pick up the top sheet in that drawer. That is your luck!

I got the best of luck (but I’m not allowed to brag about it), while Steven had the worst of luck, totally pissing him off. After Francis finished taking some more pictures with his fancy iPhone, he came to us. When he noticed the bad luck note, he suddenly didn’t want to draw a luck-stick anymore. Superstition all the way.

On the right-end is 2 sets of luck-stick cabinets, each with the drawers, donation slot and stick-tube.

Split up

After our visit to the temple environment, the three of us split up.

I went to the old Japanese style bar we went to two days ago, because I thought I forgot my vest over there. Steven and Francis on the other end went to the post office to find an ATM that accepts foreign cards (a rare sight in Japan, don’t forget that!).

When I arrived at the bar, I noticed that it was closed, so I had to return empty-handed (I still had another vest with me, so it's not like I needed it right now. But I liked that vest).

While I was at the pub, I took a few picture of the Tokyo Sky Tree & the Flame d’Or (nicknamed “the golden turd” by a lot of people I showed the picture to), since it’s so close by. Maybe a few places to visit the next time I go to Japan.

Back at K’s house, we Checked out, wrote something in the guestbook and took off. The guest books in K’s House Tokyo are a nice thing to read if you’re bored or if you have some free time. If you’re there, check Guestbook volume 12 – Filip from Belgium (that’s me).

The trip to Takayama

After checking out, we traveled to Tokyo Station, took the Shinkansen to Kyoto and then a local JR train to Takayama.

A few anime ads. The Laughing man (Ghost in the Shell) and One Piece.

By the evening, we arrived in Takayama and walked to our hotel, Hotakaso Yama no Iori. Yes, this is the Japanese Alps already. It’s over 500m above sea level.

The hotel was a nice Japanese-style Hotel that was in semi-Onsen style (didn't really get the semi part, but I'll go with it). It had a public hot bath (guests only), free Yukata, slippers for everyone and beds that looked like futon’s (but had mattresses and a plank bottom.

On the right you see the Emperor and his trusty secretary...

A fun thing about this hotel was that next to the slippers for everyone, it had special slippers for going to the toilet (you had to change slippers at that point). This was so you wouldn’t stain the slippers I guess.

After bathing, we chilled a bit in the lounge area (the only place that had Wi-Fi in this small hotel).

Don't we look zen?

After chilling for a while, we went out and checked a local restaurant to have some Udon noodles and a beer. We noticed there weren’t that many people in this restaurant, while the food was still good. Since there wasn't a lot of noise (outside of the kitchen noise) and since the TV was on, we watched some baseball (one of the most popular sports in Japan).

When back in the hotel, we looked a bit around on the ground floor of the hotel. We noticed that the hotel didn't have a bar, but it did have vending machines with beer (so kids can get one too? Weird), We bought a beer, drank it in our room and then went to sleep.

Udon noodles, with egg and seaweed and a Kirin beer bottle

Tips for traveling in Japan - Public baths and onsen

We went to a public bath a few times. The first one was here in Takayama, in this hotel. Later on we went to a real onsen (Japanese hot springs) in Kurama.

And believe me, it IS a weird feeling if you're not used to it. The correct term that describes your feelings upon entering for the first time is "awkwardness". You know, all males in the nude (or females if you're a female, obviously).

The best advice I can give you is: Flip the switch in your head and get over it. I know that sounds easier than it is, but just try and do it. But more importantly, DON'T STARE at everything you see. You don't want people staring at you too when they enter, right? So don't do it yourself. Just be calm and enjoy the hot bath.

If you think you'll have trouble with this, try and book a hotel like the one we went to, with an included hot bath. Only hotel guests were allowed in our hotel, and at most there will be one or two other people in the bath with you (sometimes you could even be alone in there).

I could explain how it works, but I get the feeling I would miss a few steps. But Japan-guide does give a few good pointers on the following page: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2292.html. Just remember that you rinse/clean yourself BEFORE you go into the hot bath.

V in Japan - Day 5

Day 5 – A visit to Kamakura

• Date: October 17
• Weather: Warm and clouded, turned into rain afterwards.
• Mood: okay, though I've felt better

Kamakura - The Beach

We decided to leave the crowded atmosphere of Tokyo and went to a nearby place called Kamakura. Kamakura is located 50 kms south of Tokyo and has both beach and mountains. It is worth a visit, if you don't mind hiking.

We arrived in Kamakura in the morning, packed with rain gear (because there was a 30% chance of us getting rain). But when we arrived, it was hot with a bit of clouds. We stuffed our rain gear in our backpacks and headed for the beach.

We noticed that Kamakura beach is apparently a surfer beach (Zamokuza Beach). We spotted a few surfer-style shops and several people were out surfing (even if it was the middle of the week). We had our breakfast (bought some stuff from the bakery in the station) on a pier at the beach.

While Francis and me bought typical western pastries (like croissants), Steven ate a classic from animes: Melon bread. He noticed it did not have any melon, but only a slight melon-like flavor. Somehow, we were a little disappointed with that result.

We enjoyed the weather and the scenery of water, surfers, random kids (seriously, don’t they have school?), many crows and a random bird of prey.

 

Visiting the Kamakura Buddha

After relaxing for a while, we went back to the station, to find the easiest way to get to the Kamakura Buddha (the second tallest of Japan). The easiest way ended up being a busride, so we took it.

After a short trip on the bus, we stopped at the Buddha and had a look around. We also went inside the Buddha, as the inner part of the bronze statue was open for public.

There were lots of school kids at the site (recognizable by the colored hats/caps) that spotted tourists and asked them some questions, ordered by their teachers (ah, so it was a school trip, that’s why). We were interviewed by several kids and had pictures taken with them

 

Visitng the Hasedara temple

After the Buddha, we visited a nearby temple (Hase-dera temple).

Due to a short toilet break, we kind of split up for a short while. When everyone was finished we gathered back. In a rush to get back to us, Francis took a wrong step. He tripped and fell into a pond (I could show you the picture, but I promised him not to upload that one). His glasses didn't break and (more importantly) his quite-new iPhone survived the fall in the water.

The Hase-dera area is worth a visit. Lots of buddha statues of varied sizes (from very small to quite big), a nice temple and a good view over Kamakura.

Oh, look at Steven's blessing message, clearly not being sarcastic...

 

Walking the Daibutu Hiking Course

After that visit, we took a hiking path (Daibutu Hiking Course). This course goes by lots of different small temples in the area, which are all available to visit. The path went up and down in the mountains of Kamakura (yeah, from the beach to mountains, Kamakura does have it all).

We stopped for a drink in a mountain café and noticed the weather started to shift into rain. After this intercourse, we continued the course in dry weather. But the further we walked, the harder it started to rain.

We visited 3 or 4 temples, though I can’t remember the names of the places we visited. The rain kind of decreased the pleasure out the visits. The rain also obviously decreased the number of people we encountered.

One cool thing we spotted: One of the temples had a rock to throw dishes at (Ma-Saru-ishi), to cast away your negative feelings.

 

Returning to Tokyo

Due to darkness creeping in again (yeah, it’s dark quite early in Japan) and the weather not clearing up, we decided to walk back to the station.

We followed some random pointers, as the tourist maps in our hands and on the streets weren't very clear on how to get back to the station (remember this, it's going to be a running gag). It's a miracle we got back to the station without getting lost, honestly.

It was about six o'clock when we got to the station, so we ended up in the rush hour for the train back to Tokyo. Oh, well. Wasn't THAT bad (quite similar to Rush hours in other countries, honestly).

Back at K's House, we wanted to eat something BIG, because we didn’t eat since the breakfast at the beach. We were so hungry we could eat a horse. So we went to a ramen restaurant nearby K’s House and ordered a big dish of noodles.

Steven exaggerated and ordered “monster size noodles”, a side-dish of gyoza (dumplings) and a dish of bamboo shoots. He shared some of the noodles, veggies and dumplings, but he did finish the plate in the end.

We went back to K’s House for the free drink night, which is held every Wednesday. But we ended up arriving a little too late; the “free” drinks were all gone. So we went to bed instead.

Tips for traveling in Japan - Vending machines

When in Japan, drink Suntory hot coffee… like a boss!

"Like a boss!"

I do mention ”Hot”, because vending machines serve both hot and cold drinks, including hot and cold coffee. You can notice the difference on the cards with the name of the drink. Blue cards are cold drinks, red cards are hot drinks. Don't forget this, because the logic of which drinks are hot and which ones are cold is not always as you might expect!

For example, The hot coffee cans taste very good (different flavors for each taste). But believe me, the cold coffee cans taste awful. It’s not iced coffee. It’s like hot coffee that stood out there for an hour, becoming cold (ugh).

And yes, it's important to cover vending machines. Because you will encounter tons of them. There's at least 1 vending machine on like each corner of the street, and sometimes on multiple locations within the same street. And yes, even in smaller cities and towns, vending machines pop up everywhere (although in smaller number than in Tokyo or Kyoto).

And on an absurd side-note, the number of trash-cans to throw the empty cans/bottles into are much harder to find. Don't throw trash on the street, people WILL judge you for littering. If you can't find a trash can, keep the empty can/bottle with you until you spot one, or until you reach the hotel/hostel.

V in Japan - Day 4

Day 4: Akihabara

• Date: October 16
• Weather: sunny
• Mood: Energetic

Going to Akihabara

We decided that (as anime fans) we had to spend at least 1 full day in Akihabara, and that day was today. We got up early, took the subway to the nearest JR station and then hopped on the train to Akihabara.

Yaaaawn... Okay, maybe it was a little too early...

When we got out of the train station, we were welcomed by this famous girl.

We decided to eat breakfast at the curry place just next to the station. It’s always risky to order a meal via tiny pictures on a vending machine, but we tried our luck anyway. I had rice-curry with hamburger. It was amazing; I really, really love rice-curry. Steven ended up having a spicy rice-curry that ended up being a bit too strong for his stomach.

Believe it or not, this was GOOD!

The Sega Store

After breakfast, we entered the Sega building from the second picture. We got some toys (One Piece stuff) from the Capsule Toy vending machines (edit: they're called gashapon according to Chris), tried the games and had lots of fun.

We experienced a rhythm/drumming game (don’t mind the weird name: “kiss kiss bang bang”) and one of the many music games. Several games had a waiting line (the Project Diva games and the new Initial D race game, for example), so we skipped those.

And yes, we did spend a few hours in here. It was six floors of pure fun!

Apparently Francis filmed Steven and me playing Kis Kiss Bang Bang. I haven't seen the result yet (:-P)

Visiting the Rest of Akihabara

After finishing the Sega store, we walked around and visited many stores of anime/manga stuff, card games, electronic gadgets and everything an anime fan could dream of.

We even walked through a street with electronic parts… I mean real electronic components. Resistors, conductors, wires, tools, analyzers, everything an electronics techie could dream of. I know a few friends who could get their own kind of nerdgasm in here.

We also spotted maids. Girls, dressed up as maids, trying to get some customers to their maid café. The voice in which they do it is nearly begging (but mostly annoyingly high pitched). When you try to take pictures of them, they quickly turn around and ensure they're not on camera. But Francis did manage to film one of them (didn't get any of his films yet, sadly enough). We didn’t visit any maid café ourselves, since we heard/read many negative comments about it (the general reaction was: not worth the time/money).

After sunset (around 6 PM or so), the number of screaming maids increased (a serious pain in the ear), our wallets got emptier and we wanted to go back during rush hour (to experience the rush hour in the trains). It was very crowded, but still not impossible.

If you believe Akihabara ads, the Project Diva games and Persona 4 are the hottest things right now!

 

Results of the shopping spree

Once back at K’s House, we took out what we bought. I got myself a wine glass of Fate Zero, several figurines of varied sizes, including: Gin (Gintama), Dracule Mihawk, Usopp, Camie and a mini-Roronoa Zoro (One Piece), Lelouch Lamperouge and Suzaku (Code Geass), Haruhi Suzumiya (of the named series), Claus F. lester (Tales of Phantasia), a mini-Erza Scarlett (Fairy Tail), a mini-Kurapika (Hunter X Hunter) and a mini Black Snow Princess (Accel World). I also got a statue of Majestic Star Dragon, some H.C. Excalibur sleeves (Yu-Gi-Oh!) and a deck box from Accel World.

Steven didn't buy much (he's not really that much of an anime fan). Francis found a few glasses as well, a poster or two, a few doujins, some other stuff and a pillow of Shirahoshi, while being in Megalo the Shark (from One Piece). I thought it was hilarious.

Dinner and drinks

For dinner, we originally intended to go to some Udon restaurant on the map, but during the walk we decided to enter a random (family-run) Japanese Restaurant.

Due to the random entry, we obviously had some trouble to make ourselves understandable, but it was okay in the end. They only had a limited card, but we had Rice with a Roast Beef and some veggies.

We then bought some drinks at the 7/11, drank them at K’s House (with Miya-chan, again) and went to bed.

Tips for visiting Japan - Akihabara

Akihabara is big and thé place to be for all things manga/anime-related. If you know of, or have heard of certain shops in Akihabara, get the address and note it down, together with Google maps directions. If you don't, you won't find it. Akihabara is big enough to spend the entire day without noticing the shop/location YOU wanted to visit.

For example, I knew there was an arcade that has the infamous "Flip the Table" game, but I was unable to find it due to forgetting to print out the Google-maps directions. Kind of regret that in retrospect.

Also, as previously mentioned, don't visit maid cafés. They're tourist/nerd traps. They cost a lot and (according to the opinion of many people who did went there) it's so not worth the money.