Budget cherry blossoms

Willow and I started the day off correctly with getting a banana muffin and doppio espresso respectively for first breakfast. Then on the way back to the hotel we picked up a bento box of fried chicken, rice and tamagoyaki to share back at the hotel for second breakfast and a tamagoyaki sando for Heidi.

Breakfast of champions

We couldn't book the Shinkansen tickets online with our credit cards and also there was a concern we wouldn't be able to sit together so we went to Tokyo station to book in person. Luckily we were able to sort it out there and get the tickets to sit together as there is a festive season in Japan when we are coming back from Osaka called Golden week where there's a lot of people travelling.

With the tickets secured, I saw a sign saying the Imperial palace was nearby so we went to check that out. Apparently you need to book a tour to get right into the grounds, but the walk around the outside was pretty cool and we got to see a few of the old guard castles from the outside. 

Our main goal of the day was to see the cherry blossoms at Meguro River. Apparently this spot is one of the best if you're trying to keep your Instagram game strong. Unfortunately we were a bit late in the season and got the temu version. There were still some clinging on which was a nice consolation prize.

Somewhat deflated, we needed some food to fill the void in our sad sakura hearts. So we hiked back up the hill to Meguro town and settled on some Mos Burger for lunch. Word to the wise, there seems to be a lot less English on menus and even the train station signage so come prepared in the Meguro district. Anyway luckily the menu had pictures and we managed to order 2 burgers and a 6 pieces of fried chicken, which didn't go to waste as we took 2 pieces of fried chicken home and Willow cained them in the comfort of our hotel room later.

After some rest and leftover fried chicken we went to Shinjuku to see the 3D cat billboard and Godzilla building. For dinner we went to a place called Gyopao Gyoza, it was quite popular apparently so we were lucky to get in and had a 45 minute time limit to cain all our dumplings. The gyopao was a soupy Taiwanese style dumpling which was like a massive massive xiao long bao soup dumpling that came out in a bubbling broth. Pretty tasty. Afterwards we went to the familiar old pretend English pub/bar chain called "The Hub" to kill some time until we had to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building. 

It's the largest permanent light show projection/display in the world. It runs every night and the show changes. The show we saw ran for about 15 minutes and it was really nice. There's music played over speakers but not really loud, if you bring headphones apparently you can sync them up on the website. We went home after and found one of the streets in our area parallel to the one we normally walk down to the train station looked super cool so will hit it up at some point hopefully!

A feast for the senses

After more than 22,000 steps on 3.5 hours sleep the day before, we had a good night's sleep and were ready for our first full day in Tokyo, even though we felt like we had already seen so much!  

Sunflowers

With a 7-11 store directly under our hotel, we were familiar with the expected breakfast routine. No need for hotel breakfasts here - we are happy with the treats and delights you can get from the convenience stores (be it 7-11, FamilyMart or Lawson) to bring back to the room. Willow often loves her some fried chicken of course - this morning I enjoyed an egg sando: creamy egg in between fluffy crustless white bread - yum!

We were really excited about going back to see Borderless by the TeamLab crew that we saw back in 2019. It actually closed for several years as they got kicked out of their venue, but it has just only recently reopened in February in a brand new venue within walking distance from our hotel - lucky us! 

A little bit taller this time around

  Now in the new fancy Azabudai Hills complex which is full of  designer shops and Parisien-style gourmet stores and cafes, it's quite the contrast seeing the wealthy and well-dressed locals in amongst the throngs of tourists making their way to Borderless which is booked out well in advance every day.  

  Our tickets were booked for 11:30am so we needed a second breakfast to make sure we all had contented tummies for the couple of hours we would be in there for. So in this new fancy complex, I hate to say it, but sometimes you just need something that is quick and convenient and something that your picky 7 year old daughter will eat, so Starbucks it was! To be honest it wasn't that bad...

Appetites satiated we entered Borderless quickly and 

This was a new one!

watched a little video about how the exhibition is a series of many rooms, some large, some small, some hidden, but each ever-changing while we are there, and so the aim is to literally keep walking around and to get lost amongst the "borderless' displays. As they describe it: Artworks move out of rooms, relate to other works, influence each other, and at times intermingle, without boundaries. Through this group of works, one continuous world without boundaries is created.

But hey, this is our same-cation so we already knew all this.

We entered into a corridor with flowers sweeping across the walls set to a background ambient cinematic soundtrack. It even smelled like flowers in there! 

So we spent the next two hours wandering around. Some of it was familiar but there were so many new works and installations too. It is impossible to capture it on camera - we have a tonne of videos - but it really is truly amazing.  

Lilypads

Willow was definitely taller this time!

Flying carp on Tokyo Tower

 

  Afterwards we wandered over to the nearby Tokyo Tower, an orange and white Eiffel tower-looking communications and observation tower. You can go up it but we wanted to go and see the 333 carp streamers that are currently flying underneath. They hang them every spring for Children's Day, and there are 333 to represent the height of the tower. Pretty cool, and it was nice to have a sit-down!

We then got the subway back over to Roppongi but it was a bit of an awkward time to have our third meal of a day - many kitchens close in between 2-5pm - and we weren't super hungry so we walked back to the hotel and had some convenience snacks in the room while we rested :)

It wasn't long before we were heading back to Roppongi, to the 52nd floor of the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, called Tokyo City View, for some sunset views, just like last time of course 😂 

We bought our tickets in advance but it wasn't crowded at all - surprising considering it was a beautiful sunny Friday evening - but no complaints!

And what a stunning view it was, again, over the 

sprawling metropolis that is Tokyo. We couldn't see

Mount Fuji this time as there was a bit of smog 

about but the sunset was beautiful all the same.

Sunset views up high are my favourite

Bye sun

Once the sun had set we went in search of dinner. Ryan had looked up a nearby place which served omurice which is not my favourite but Ryan lured me in with promises of sashimi also being on the menu. When we got there though, hilariously, there were two sides of the restaurant - one "Western" and one "Japanese", and the omurice meant we had to go to the Western side haha. 

The truth was we were the only white gaijin in either side, and since we were ordering by the phone app I could have had some sashimi but I did the omurice anyway. It was fine. The staff were lovely and friendly, and Willow had a little mixed snack plate with a tiny little ball of strawberry ice cream for dessert so she was happy. We all were! So we again wandered back home, after another 20,000 steps, for a good night's rest!

Omurice

Willow loved her mixed plate

The ultimate same-cation

Well hello and welcome back folks! The last few years have been a helluva rollercoaster for everyone, but here we are - an impromptu OS trip! I've said it before and I'll say it again, the time to fire up the travel blog is always a favourite time of mine. And straight back to Japan we go 😂 Why?! Well it's me, hi, I'm the problem it's me . Due to health issues we can only travel so far in our 12 day window, but who wouldn't want to come back to Japan?! We had so much fun last time with a 3 year old - let's come back and see what it is like with our little sassy now 7 year old :) So here we go!! 

Just like last time, we had an overnight flight to Tokyo. It was a smooth, quick and seamless entry through Sydney Airport with barely any interaction with humans. Willow had some KFC in preparation for what will no doubt be 10 days filled with lots of chicken karaage and rice. The flight left soon after 9pm and we each managed to grab a few hours sleep, but it was an early arrival into Haneda Airport at 6am.

We got through Haneda OK, although as Japan is, they have all the technology but seem to fall over at the end. Like we went and had our fingerprints and photos digitally taken, but then everyone had to hand-fill out a landing card and there weren't enough benches or pens for everyone! But you do you Japan...

On the other side we sat down to use the wifi and have a coffee and regroup. Well Willow had an iced chocolate and she breathed a contented sigh and said "Ah Japan this is the life". Then I took her for her first experience of a Japanese toilet - last time she was still in nappies! 

On the early and quiet Monorail

We geared ourselves up to get to our hotel in Akasaka, knowing we couldn't check in until 3pm but at least we could dump our bags. We got a monorail most of the way there which was super quick and easy, then hailed a very luxurious taxi from the station not far away straight to the hotel door. Easy peasy... !

So how to kill 7 hours until 3pm on no sleep?! Well we hopped onto the nearest subway (which just happened to be next to a Harry Potter cafe, and the whole subway had Harry Potter-esque touches!) and went to Omotesando station, which in hindsight is exactly what we did on our first morning last time. We sure do love a same-cation. 

Being early it was very quiet so we meandered around, down to Harajuku. Even the normally heaving Takeshita Street was quiet! In search of more coffee, we wandered around the cool yet cute back little lanes of Harajuku and found a poky little place. We each had to order something, so Willow got a honey lemonade. Please let her have something healthy this trip!! 

An early and quiet Takeshita Street!

Then while we waited for a decent time to sit down to lunch, we wandered up past the Meiji Shrine and into the large and beautiful Yoyogi Park (which of course we've been to several times before) for a sit-down and to people watch. 

First family selfie outside the Meiji Shrine

Our own private booth at Kura Sushi

Finally it was time for some lunch! I had read about a nearby sushi train, Kura Sushi, that sounded pretty fun, especially since this one had some sushi crepes which we thought Willow might like to try! The Japanese sure do like their crepes!

We entered, took a ticket number which then gave us a number to our own private booth alongside a double decker sushi train! Even though Willow is not the biggest sushi fan (doesn't like seaweed...) she was delighted by the setup. 

The lower layer was a slow revolving train more similar to what you find at home with random things that you just take as you please. But you could also use an app on your phone to order specific things and they would zoom out at enormous speed on the top level and stop at your table! It was hilarious! Even drinks that didn't spill a drop! And the best thing was it was soooooo cheap. Most nigiri plates were under 200 yen, which at the current exchange rate is under A$2. Ryan and I went pretty nuts ordering all manner of things, also because it was hilarious each time they made their speedy arrival at our table, and the whole meal cost us about A$50! Rumour has it robots make some of the sushi, but hey, it was fun and extremely good value :)

With still another couple of hours to kill until 3pm we managed to walk all the way home, pretty much on fumes, back to the hotel and collapsed into the chairs at reception until the room was finally ready. The room, although tiny, is lovely and comfortable with everything we need and a lie down and shower was much appreciated by all.

After some R&R, we walked to the familiar haunts in nearby Roppongi in search of an early dinner, although Ryan and I kind of had already decided to go back to Menshou-Taketora that we loved last time and went to 3 times. We rave about it in the blog post here, ironically titled "Same-cationing", so now we are same-cationing the same-cation lol!

Ryan, happy to be back at Menshou-Taketora

Not only were we pleased to know it was still there after the pandemic, it was exactly the same and did not disappoint! We were taken to a private room, Willow was given a free juice and little bowl with spoon (just like last time when she was 3!) and we feasted away... It's actually a ramen place but we ordered everything but (ramens are sooooo big here!). 

We had the eggplant miso and cheese again, sizzling seafood plates, octopus and enoki mushrooms - even Willow had two gyoza! And her fried chicken of course... along with some beer and shochu and stuffed to the brim the whole meal cost under A$55. Amazing!

Completely beat but happy and satisfied we meandered home in what was some drizzle now and had a long night of slumber, for our first night in Tokyo :)

Sizzling octopus and enoki mushrooms

Willows and Castles

For our last full day in Japan (😢) we got the train over to Osaka Castle. We visited in last time although I remember it was an overcast day so it was beautiful to see it on a perfectly clear day. 

It is basically located in the middle of the city, but surrounded by some parkland and water. In spring the cherry blossom trees grow, but we got to see many trees turning orange and red which was beautiful. We even saw some willow trees - quite fitting next to the castle!!

Willows and Castles

It was first built in 1583 but was then destroyed in 1615 so they rebuilt it in the 1620s but then it was struck by lightning and burnt down in 1665. The poor old Osaka Castle couldn't catch a break. So they finally rebuilt it again in 1931. 

So we wandered around the grounds for a while, which were lovely. And then we went on a big long walk back towards the area where our apartment is. It was such a long walk that Willow fell asleep on the walk, so we looked for a place to pull in for lunch. I think we were stuck in a bit of a business area so we didn't just stumble across many places to eat like we normally do, but we found a station which are always filled with places to eat as they are like underground cities themselves. So we found one, but there was zero English written and virtually zero English spoken, but we just pointed to the fake plastic meals out the front like at every other restaurant. It was fine, but not our finest meal in Japan, although it was definitely our cheapest haha!!!

After lunch we wandered all the way back to the apartment, along through Shinsaibashi-Suji shopping street, passed Dotonburi, and back for some brief chill time before heading back to Dotonburi for the last time 😭. Of course we went back to the riverside bar with the coloured tables, and Willow's friend was working again so she got some more presents - another little ring that flashed coloured lights and a glowing necklace! What a lucky girl!

We wanted our last dinner to be a winner, so we looked up Tripadvisor for good restaurants nearby, and we were only a stone's throw from the top-rated restaurant, Hokuto Gems Namba, which was on the 7th floor of a non-descript building so we never would have just stumbled across it. This place specialised in sukiyaki, which we actually hadn't had on the trip yet. So we had a selection of different thinly sliced meats and vegetables which we cooked ourselves (with a bit of help) on the shallow pan on the table, then you dip them into a frothy broth of beaten raw egg (which was actually delicious), as well as a pot of melted cheese, like a fondue. Yum!!

Cheese fondue?!

Frothy raw egg

Willow had chicken and chips

So after our last night in Osaka, and Japan, Willow had a sleep-in while Ryan went out to get some chicken and rice, and we packed up and checked out right on 10am on the dot. Over to the subway, we got on a pretty crowded train with all our luggage, but it was fine, and soon enough we were at Shin-Osaka station. We had a coffee and snack at Dean and Deluca, then onto the shinkansen for a quick trip back to Tokyo for our flight home that evening.

We got off at Shinigawa station, which is another city within Tokyo, and pretty close to Haneda Airport. So we found a locker for our luggage so that we could find somewhere for a late lunch without too much hassle. Ryan got to have one last eggs with rice dishes, and I had some gyoza and dumplings. We then found an outdoor bar and had a drink to kill time until it was time to head to the airport on the subway. 

Check-in was quick and easy. Haneda airport is huge, and it's not even Tokyo's main international airport! So big in fact that we got a bit lost trying to work out where immigration and security was, but we finally did, and after a hug between Willow and the security lady, we found an izakaya/restaurant just next to our gate. One last meal (a simple raw tuna and rice dish for me which was actually delicious) and Willow finally conked out.

Unfortunately she woke up before we boarded with all the movement, but we had good and comfortable seats ad Willow was happy watching her own little TV. She watched Toy Story 4, so there she was at about 1am, with most of the rest of the cabin asleep, exclaiming "You can do it Woody! Yee-haaaar!". And that about sums up the trip :) It was awesome.

The deer of Nara

Tuesday we got off to a bit of an earlier start so that we could go to the neighbouring city of Nara, which in fact was only one 40 minute express train away. Nara was actually Japan's first permanent capital city, in the year 710 (!), before which the capital used to be moved to a new location whenever a new emperor ascended to the throne. There are many temples and shrines, but what attracted us to the area is that the park areas that surround them are full of (mostly) tame deer!

We arrived in Nara at around 10am, and after a short walk we approached the parkland area and sure enough, we soon started seeing deer everywhere. You are only allowed to feed them the special deer crackers that are sold at little drink shacks dotted all around the place. A couple of Japanese women gave Willow a couple of crackers to hand-feed them herself, which she loved, as it tickled her hand. The deer were all quite interested in anyone that had crackers in their hand! We stayed very close, because the deer are not small and you never know what might happen, but on the whole they were remarkably tame.

Sure enough Willow wanted to feed them her own packet of deer crackers. What amazed me, was that all the crackers being sold at the shacks were just out in the open, in plain sight, but the deer would only approach someone with crackers once they had been purchased. Quite some special deer!

And they are - historically they were deemed as messengers of the gods and are still considered sacred. The deer even sometimes bow to people - I saw it. One deer stood in front of Willow and nodded/bowed its head three times. A couple of other times I saw a Japanese woman bow to the deer before presenting a deer cracker and the deer, a wild deer, would bow back. Despite the swarms of tourists walking around that the deer are exposed to on a daily basis (and ignoring the fact that one eager deer nipped Ryan on the butt), it was hard to witness that and not realise the place felt special. 

The surrounds were filled with various beautiful shrines and temples, and gardens with the leaves turning different shades of red and orange. It was soon beyond lunch time, so we headed back through the parks, back past all the deer, and sure enough Willow fell asleep so we found a restaurant for a late lunch. It was actually more of a mix of a Japanese/Chinese place, but we were starving and got to have some ramen, gyoza and fried shrimp. 

After lunch we got the train back to Namba/Osaka, and had a quick refresh in the apartment, before heading back to, you guessed it, Dotonburi - and the riverside bar with the coloured tables! Willow was disappointed that her friend who gave her the toys last time wasn't there though. Deciding where to go for dinner, we agreed that we had loved Gyozaoh a couple of nights before and had wanted to try some more stuff, so we went back!

The famous Glico man

One of the chefs remembered us (well Willow really) which was sweet. And we had another awesome dinner - this time we tried some (very) lightly seared beef. So tender - delicious! And some more takoyaki of course, and some karage, tempura and gyoza. Yes, we should probably go easy on the fried foods when we get home!!