Land of the Rising Sun - Part 2

Following from my last update on our foodie adventures, a number of people have opined that we appeared to be constantly eating and there seemed to be more meals in a day than was physically possible.

In fact, we were just extremely productive and endeavoured to maximise our very expensive 7-day JR pass time in each city which included both feasting and sightseeing.

Our most memorable moments in each city:

1. Tokyo

While I do like bustling cities, this appeared to be one overpopulated place where there were there constant crowds milling around even at midnight. While this kept the city vibrant, it was a tad too crowded for my liking and the cost of living appears to be astronomical and is definitely more expensive that the other cities we visited subsequently.

In terms of touirsty attractions, there were a number of shrines to visit like Meiji Jingu and Sensoji (or Asakusa temple) while we even managed to catch a glimpse of the Empress at Tokyo Imperial Palace tour. It was quite a surreal moment as typical singaporeans we wandered towards a crowd gathered by the road when a car drove by and we realised it was the Empress waving from within. So into the moment that we were, we happily waved back along with the young school children. We stopped ourselves at the clapping though (yes there was actually CLAPPING).

However, our best attraction cum foodie moment would be the "must visit" Tsukiji market where we gawked at the fresh seafood (imagines supersized cookles in my char kway teow) in addition to the copious amounts of sashimi devoured.


Tokyo Imperial Palace [left] and Ebisu Museum [right]: although we had signed up for an English tour around the palace, it was really more of an English audio set. Thus, I somehow think we weren't getting the full picture of what the Japanese guide was trying to say which was a pity. The museum was an interesting corporate showcase on the company's history in addition to how beer has become an essential beverage choice for the Japanese drinker.

 

Strolling along the streets of Harajuku and Ginza: even the dogs in Japan are all nicely dressed up.



2. Hakone

Famous for their hotsprings and quintessential ryokan experience, this is one commericalized tourist gathering point. While we were looking forward to appreciating nature and adopting a more idyllic pace post Tokyo, one can potentially complete all sightseeing within a day and after 7pm, there really isn't much to do. Thus, would highly recommend that one splurges on a good ryokan and enjoy hotsprings with a view which could potentially come up to S$300 per person. Sadly, ours was too cheap (by Japanese standards) resulting in a less than spectacular experience. *wistful sniffs*

Sights wise, we did get our promised views of Mt Fuji and it was indeed a scenic place with loads of Kodak moments.


Hakone Round Trip: Making our way to Owakudani by train, cable car and ropeway before cruising our way across Lake Ashi for Hakone Checkpoint and Cedar Avenue.

3. Kyoto

Kyoto was by far our favourite city as it had the optimal mix of sightseeing, eating AND shopping at more affordable prices than Tokyo. We really enjoyed ourselves at Nishiji street market where we were regaled with an array of offerings and snacks. We also appreciated the tour around the Kyoto imperial palace (this was the official residence before Emperor Meiji shifted it to Tokyo) where the guide (for once) was speaking in English on an English tour.



Nijo castle (where the Shogun lives) and Kyoto Imperial palace: Check out the waiting rooms [right] where depending on your rank, you got the Tiger room for highest level officials, followed by the crane room and the cherry blossom room for mere mortals like us.  



Nishiji market: where we spent a good half a day stuffing ourselves silly as we made our way to the temple for a 3 min photo.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we complete our sojourn through Japan...