19. Travel to Japan

Completed: 05/28/2013

Ahh, Japan. One of those exciting countries that is rich in history and culture, yet also developed and modernized, making it a popular destination that attracts visitors from all over the world. It also fit the bill of a suitable destination to satisfy the divergent interests of everyone in my family. I am captured by the natural beauty of Japan, particularly of the Kyoto region. The big city appeals to my sister. My mom praises anywhere that is clean. My dad is game for anything, as long as the rest of us are happy. So, this year, we decided to travel to Japan and check out what the hype is of this country.

As the planner in the family, I did tons of research to try to make our trip the most economical, yet enjoyable for all of us. Since we are a family that likes to see the sites, Kyoto and Tokyo seemed to be the best picks for us.

Here's a rough itinerary of what we did: 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Arrive in Tokyo, Japan at 3:25pm. Take Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. Check into Hotel Hokke Kyoto. I would recommend this hotel because it is very reasonably priced and in an excellent location (across from Kyoto Station). The place is clean, albeit small, but suited our needs perfectly. They even had an on-site laundry facilities (the washer dispenses its own detergent, so don't make the mistake we did in running around nearby convenience stores trying to find laundry soap), so an added plus.

Excited to be in Japan :)

 Shinkansen

 Double room in Hotel Hokke Kyoto

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Explored Arashiyama. Iwatayama Monkey Park. Tenryuji Temple. Traveled through bamboo grove. Lunch at Takemura Restaurant (Arashiyama is known for their tofu, so various places offer tofu course menus). The workers and owner of the restaurant were very, very nice people. They accommodated our vegetarianism and gave us an extra bowl of ice cream for free :). Foot bath at train station.

 Feeding monkeys at Iwatayama Park

 Bamboo Forest

 Outside Takemura Restaurant

First course - cold tofu that you put in a boiling hotpot

First course tofu seasoned with nori (seaweed), onions, daikon, ginger, and sauce

Second course - stickier style of tofu with hint of sesame flavor

Third course - tempura, rice, picked vegetables

Last course - tofu ice cream

Foot bath at train station, only $1.50 per person, and comes with a towel you can keep

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Headed down to Nara. Awed at the number of deer in Nara Park. Big Buddha at Todaiji. Ate a mango popsicle and fried mochi (both very tasty). Indian lunch at Ragamala. Kofukuji. Headed back to Kyoto. Nijo Castle (cool to learn that houses were deliberately constructed to have floors made from squeaky wood planks so people could hear when someone was in their house). Admired architecture of Kyoto Station.

 There were so many deer everywhere!

In fact, deer so revered in this area that the city mascot is a monk with antlers

Camera does not do the sheer size of the wooden Todaiji justice

Extremely large Buddha statue

Lunch at Ragamala. Surprisingly tasty (as our family aren't big fans of Indian food). Interior decor very decked out in the Indian theme (posters, rugs, cushions, music...the owner went all out)

One of the many structures on the vast Nijo Castle grounds

Friday, May 24, 2013

Used all-day sightseeing bus pass. Kiyomizu Temple in the early morning to avoid the crowd (lucky we did because there were thousands coming up to the temple as we were leaving). Nishiki Market. Kinkakuji. Lunch at Biotei (vegetarian restaurant!). Stopped by a high-end grocery store. Got some inari sushi (my favorite type of sushi!). Fushimi Inari Shrine. Dinner at Mikoan. Went to food court area of Daimaru department store.

Kiyomizudera

 Drinking spring-fed water (which was really cold) at Kiyomizudera

 Lots of mochi and tea shops line the street heading down to the main road. The peach mochi sample got us and so we bought ourselves a small pack of strawberry mochi, which was quite delicious.

 Kinkakuji

 Excellent lunch at Biotei Restaurant. The place is small and packed. Set meals are very common in Japan. Today's vegetarian special was a tofu steak.

 

Thousands of torii gates at the Fushimi Inari Shrine 

Entrance to Mikoan Restaurant. 

Most of the vegetarian places we went to were real hole-in-the-wall dining establishments. Either non-discreet storefronts that we passed by before tracking back to find it, or down non-discreet alleys. Thank goodness for internet photos so we had a better idea of where we were going.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Spent all morning doing laundry and buying foods for our Shinkansen trip back to Tokyo. Checked into Tokyo Plaza Hotel (another budget-friendly hotel that is conveniently located near one of the JR stops on the popular Yamanote line). Ameyoko shopping strip, where we tried some good Chinese street food. Dinner at Nagi Shokudo (vegetarian restaurant!).

 A huge bowl of noodles (the chopsticks move up and down) on our way to the Ameyoko

Set dinner at Nagi Shokudo

Sunday, May 26, 2013
Morning bike ride near the Imperial Palace. East Garden of Imperial Palace. Lunch at T's Tan Tan Ramen. Check out Tokyo Station. Don Quijote (disappointingly only 2 stories). Sony Showroom. Dinner at Chien-Fu (vegan restaurant!). Tokyo Dome City. Second attempt at Don Quijote (better than first, but still not as big as I thought it was going to be).

 Free bike rental service provided by the city. Tandem bike!

Imperial Palace

 T's Tan Tan Ramen. 

Really longed to try some good noodle soup in Japan, and glad we found this vegan place.

 Chien-fu dinner. My favorite meal because of the vast selection of foods.

 Tokyo Dome City

 Second Don Quijote we hit up

Monday, May 27, 2013
Rode train during rush hour (approximately 8:30am) and found the experience of being smushed into the train highly amusing. Attempt to eat breakfast at On the Corner (serving American fare). Failed because the hours of operation were later than the ones listed on their website. Failed again when tried to find Hoshino Coffee Shop. Settled for Pronto, which turned out to offer a tasty selection of breakfast foods that satisfied our palate. Tokyu Hands (amazing multi-floor store that sells all kinds of interesting stuff). Attempt to dine at Vegan Healing Cafe for lunch. Place wasn't open when we went (although supposed to be according to information on the web). Eventually ended up in the basement floor of Seibu department store to find food. Hachiko statue and Shibuya Crossing. Yokohama Chinatown. Planned to have dinner at Meu Nota, but again, establishment was closed. Instead, found another Pronto restaurant, which served excellent Italian fare that we thoroughly enjoyed.

Hachiko Statue. Richard Gere fooled me into thinking the story of Hachi was American when all this time it was adapted from the Japanese story of Hachiko.

 Shibuya Crossing, considered the busiest intersection in the world

Yokohama Chinatown

 Cute hedgehog custard bun

Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Tokyo DisneySea! Head back home on flight at 9:00pm.

 Family picture in front of 30th Anniversary statue near the entrance of Tokyo DisneySea

On our trip, we found Japanese people to be very friendly, polite, and live orderly and clean lives. As crowded a city as Tokyo is, the people are in another class of civility than other places. It's hard to describe, but they certainly don't succumb to the hustle and bustle of their lives. For example, people cram themselves in the trains/subways (think packed like sardines, but tighter). While the invasion of personal space might make people uncomfortable, Japanese people are so calm and polite about it that the situation certainly feels less uncomfortable than it actually is, if that makes sense. They also offer superb service where you go. Even if the goods are cheap, Japanese workers always treat you with the greatest level of service. This is especially praise-worthy considering tipping is not a custom in Japan, so the service they provide seems to come more out of genuine pride and the level of respect they have for their job and other people. They also bow a lot; even when no one is looking, they will bow before taking a break at work, or even as people come in to a store and don't necessarily buy anything.

One issue we had was trying to accommodate our vegetarian diet. Japanese cuisine has a heavy seafood influence. They also don't do food substitutions, so it was difficult to find meals that were vegetarian. That's why many non-Japanese eateries are on our itinerary, since it was easier to accommodate vegetarian diets at Western dining places. The language barrier was certainly a challenge to overcome, but as visitors of their country, we were certainly grateful for those who did know English. Besides, anyone we talked to was willing to help us out, so it wasn't too bad.

 

A lot of research went into making this trip as smooth as possible, but we still ran into some challenges on our trip. I tried to take lessons from our previous family trip to New York to improve our stay, but still fell short in various respects. I successfully incorporated more convenient hotel locations that were close to main train lines to minimize walking distance to the nearest stations, plugged in some vegetarian places to try out, figured out routes to get form one place to another (thank goodness for the very convenient and user-friendly transportation), and squeezed in a bike ride in one of the city's parks. Areas of improvement were certainly to slow the itinerary down so that my parents didn't have to travel on their feet as much, incorporating more eating activities since those seem to excite my parents the most, and immersing more in the exciting parts of the city to soak in the surroundings. I certainly tried to get a lot accomplished in the short amount of time we had there, and it really did take a physical toll on everyone trying to get from place to place on foot. I think we all learned some good lessons about one another on this trip.

If you're interested in going to Japan, there are many useful websites to use out there. Be sure to familiarize yourself with Hyperdia to figure out transportation routes. Japan Guide was also another great resources that I found very informative and excellent for planning. Our entire trip cost was about $6150, which included airfare (we were able to get discounts with our frequent flyer miles), hotel, JR 7-day ordinary passes, and all the food, admission fees, and miscellaneous expenses. Not bad for an 8-day vacation. Also, must give credit to my sister, who decided to eat the cost of the entire trip for the whole family. Thank you for the free trip to Japan!!

18. Ride a Tandem Bike

Completed: 05/26/2013

 Cycling in Kyoto

Riding a tandem bicycle was one of those things that I just thought would be cool to try. I remember observing some friends on one of my trips to China renting a bike in one of Beijing's parks and riding it around. They looked like they were having a blast, and since then, I had yearned to have a try at it some point in my lifetime. That chance came on our family trip to Japan.

Taking a ride on a bike through a park is a nice, relaxing way to soak in your experience in a new city. Our family took a bike tour through Central Park on our family trip to New York, and thoroughly enjoyed it. For Japan, I wanted to incorporate a similar experience. I was very excited to come across some info on the web about a free service provided by the city from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Sundays, where a 3-mile route is closed off solely for bike riders. The course goes through a park that borders the Imperial Palace. Activities that are fun and free are always winners for me!

 

Happily cruising in the city park

We made our way to the park from the JR Tokyo Station, and filled out some short applications to get our bikes. My parents and sister had no knowledge about this awesome activity, so they were very pleasantly surprised with the experience, and it being free to boot. We arrived around 10:30, when all the tandem bikes had gone out for use. My parents were worried that they would have to wait long to get a tandem and considered to just settle for single-rider bikes, but I'm super glad I was able to convince them to wait it out (fortunately for us, it wasn't long before a pair on a tandem headed back to free up a bike for my parents to use), so they were able to get the tandem. 

Imperial Palace

 

The park was very well-maintained and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. We were also able to see views of the bordering Imperial Palace, which we later explored for a bit after our bike ride. After about half the bike ride, my parents switched with me and my sister to give us a chance to try out the tandem. It is not as easy as it looks, since both people have to balance. It was funny trying to get used to it in the beginning. The leisure bike ride was a nice break from all the rush of the city and our busy schedule trying to cram in so many activities in the week we had in Japan. We certainly all had a blast, a 10/10 experience!

Can tell my parents were having lots of fun :)

17. Pet a Monkey

Completed: 05/22/2013

 Feeding the monkeys pieces of apple

 

Monkeys have always been my favorite animal. The first stuffed doll I remember having in my possession was a monkey that my sister won for me from a crane game. I affectionately called it Ninki (which I think was my way of trying to say "monkey" at that small age). I honestly don't remember much about the monkey except for two things. One, it has dark fur. Two, its limbs were constantly sewn and resewn because it got pretty beat up (mean boy cousins were part of the problem) because I was so attached to it and  couldn't bear to let it go. I don't know what happened to my Ninki, but I do know that I think monkeys are the cutest of animals.

It makes sense that I would want to put some monkey-related thing on my bucket list, so I did. When I first compiled the list, I didn't realize how difficult this task would actually turn out to be. In doing my research on when I could find an opportunity to pet a monkey, I read in many articles that zoos often don't allow it since human and monkey DNA is very similar, so it is easy for monkeys to catch human germs and get sick. Reading article upon article that mentioned the rarity of the opportunity to be able to pet monkeys got discouraging and made me wonder if I would ever get to realize this bucket list item.

Luckily, while I was researching for another bucket list item (traveling to Japan), I chanced upon a monkey park in an area we were planning to visit, where you would be able to feed some monkeys. Entrance to the Iwatayama Monkey Park is 550 yen (~$5.50) and sits at the top of a mountainside in Arashiyama, Kyoto. After a 20-30 minute lung-busting (okay, that's an exaggeration, but it's uphill so definitely works your lungs) hike to the summit, you will reach this park. There is an outdoor area where you can roam around, watching the monkeys hanging out (mostly lazing around or grooming each other). There is also a shelter area that you can enter to a) cool yourself off and rest (the lady who was in there pointed an A/C vent at us when we arrived), b) buy refreshments or souvenirs, or c) buy some snack foods for 100 yen (~$1.00) to feed to the monkeys.

Stacy feeding the monkey. Looks like she's about to play thumb war with it.

 

Of course, my goal was the last one so I could come into close contact with the monkeys! The signs posted around the windows instruct you to leave the food on the windowsill and then to allow the monkey to pick up the food on their own accord, but I (like everyone else, I'm pretty sure) held the food in my hand and had the monkey reach its hand inside to grab the food.

Since my sister and I were there first thing in the morning, we had the whole room to ourselves. And since we were the only one with food, we were able to give pieces of cut apple to about 5 different monkeys, including a mama monkey carrying her young (baby monkey was very cute).

After feeding the monkeys, my sister and I explored the park a bit before heading down. You can supposedly see Kyoto city from up there, but it was quite hazy that day so we weren't able to make it out that clearly. Although the satisfaction of fulfilling yet another bucket list item made my morning that day, finding this cool slide on the way down was an awesome bonus. The bump in the slide was where I got some air time as my butt lifted off the slide. I scared my sister a bit with how loud a "boom" sound I made as I landed back on the slide. Ultra fun.

Wee!