Category Japan
Kyoto (Day 3) – Sightseeing rebooted: Fushimi Inari, Tofoku-ji, Kiyomisu-dera, Chion-in
Oh man, what a difference sleep makes! After going to bed last night at the unheard of hour of 11:00pm, we got a full nine hours of sleep, which is basically unheard of on our vacations — we tend to average somewhere closer to 6 hours per night due to awesomeness. Only sometimes all that […]
Kyoto (Day 2) – Gion district and dinner at Kyoto-Gion Nanba
Kyoto is known for having many good restaurants, including many with Michelin stars. With the help of our concierge we had reservations for a place called Nanba in the Gion district. Gion is the old historic district in Kyoto, and it’s known for it’s charming evening atmosphere when the geisha go to work and the […]
Kyoto (Day 2) – Nijo Castle
Leaving the tasting tour behind us, we set out to see Nijo-jo, the 17th Century castle in the heart of central Kyoto. It’s composed of moats, fortifications, some grand gates, a couple of palaces, and gardens. Like everything else in Japan, much of the castle had been destroyed by fire and rebuilt at various times in history. […]
Kyoto (Day 2) – JD Kai Food Tasting Tour
Having begun our stay in Kyoto with a bike tour to some of the major sights, we thought it only natural that we spend the next day on a food tour to experience some of the local gastronomy. We found the JD Kai Food Tasting Tour on Tripadvisor and booked it well in advance — […]
Kyoto (Day 1) – Biking through Kyoto: Golden Pavillion, Ryoanji, Bamboo Forest
Tokyo is a glittering, modern city and I love it in all ways, but it’s a little short on history and tradition. If you want that, you need to go to Kyoto, which was the seat of imperial power for centuries and escaped the worst of the bombing during WWII. The city has a higher […]
Tokyo (Day 3) – Symphony concert at Tokyo Opera City
Classical music is a big deal in Japan. They take it very seriously here, both the performing of it and the building of halls in which to perform it. In researching for this trip, we learned that not only was the concert hall at Tokyo Opera City reputed to be architecturally stunning, it was also […]
Tokyo (Day 3) – Michelin-starred sushi in the Ginza district
Tokyo has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other city in the world (including Paris!) and so naturally Amanda and I came here with every intention of notching a few more stars on the proverbial belt. For some reason the Michelin guide for Tokyo is not available in the US (even the outdated versions are hard […]
Tokyo (Day 3) – Toys! Toys! Toys!
It was barely 10am when we finished walking around the fish market, and our lunch reservation wasn’t until Noon. What to do? Shop for toys! Kiddy Land is a fancy toy store on Omotesando (Tokyo’s primo shopping strip) and is enormously popular among all ages. Amanda and I figured that some time (and funds) spent […]
Tokyo (Day 3) – Blood and guts everywhere
Tsukiji Fish Market is the biggest seafood market in the world. According to the guidebook, it moves something like 2,400 tons of seafood each day. It’s only a fifteen minute walk from our hotel in the Ginza District, so on Saturday morning we walked through the rain to see what we could see (they only […]
Tokyo (Day 2) – Ramen and Mochi in Akihabara
By the time we escaped from the Maid Cafe, we were both starving and crashing from the sugar high we’d gotten from those brightly-hued sodas. So we set out to find something a bit more substantial for dinner. One option caught our eye for sheer outlandishness — but chasing a disgusting purple potion with what […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 