We left Kyoto and headed for Osaka on Saturday, which, it turns out, is only an hour away by train. Also, why did we decide that five days in Osaka was a good idea? Oh yeah, that’s because EVERY RYOKAN IN NARA OR ELSEWHERE WAS BOOKED. So we said fuck it. We’ll take it easy for our last few days – eat all our favorite food, see some sites, take a day trip or two. So that’s what we did….
After a long journey, we arrived in Kyoto on Monday evening. Tuesday, we set out to explore the sites of the city. Our first stop was Higashi Honganji, a temple right near our hostel. Kyoto has a much more traditional feel to it, so we wandered around the streets exploring random temples and shrines, and just taking in the sights. We also had a delicious tsukemen lunch. The next day, we went to Arashiyama, which is west of Kyoto and…
Hokkaido was incredible and I want to call out a few highlights that weren’t really mentioned: We ate something called Jingisukan (named after Ghengis Khan), which is lamb meat that you cook on this grill on your table. It was delicious. And yes, we are eating mammal on this trip. It’s too hard to avoid in Asia. The fall colors. They were just starting to appear, but what we did get to see was worth it. Visiting an onsen. Even…
On Tuesday, we packed up our things and headed to Tokyo Station to catch the Shinkansen to Hokkaido. The Shinkansen is the infamous Japanese bullet train. Our particular train goes as fast as 320km/hr (that’s 200mph). It was so fast! Service to Hokkaido just began in March, so the trains are new and pretty cushy. We definitely did a lot of “oohing” and “ahhing” over the speed and things flying by through the window. Here’s a video of my husband…
We landed on Tokyo on Thursday afternoon. After customs and the Narita Express into Tokyo, we got to our Airbnb and then went out to find dinner. OMG. We went to this place called Fuunji Ramen. They have tsukemen. HOW HAVE I NEVER HAD THIS BEFORE?! We were so excited and hungry that we forgot to take pictures. The head chef is this J-Rock dude who swings the noodles around. It’s a tiny hole in the wall and you order…
Well, here we are. Seated at Seatac, waiting to board our plane to Tokyo. It’s a bit surreal, and we keep saying to ourselves, “what the HELL are we doing?!” But we’re also excited for this adventure to finally begin. The past few days have been a crazy whirlwind of seeing friends and family, packing, and preparing the house for guests. Our belongings have all been put in storage, the house cleaned and pretty bare for guests, and loose ends…
Friday was our last shabbat with the family. Friday night is a pretty special time in this family, so we made the most of it. It was Shawn’s last day of work, so he left early and we both arrived before 4, ensuring at least an hour of playtime before bed. We had a delicious dinner of salmon, sweet potato, salad, and rice pilaf! But we really missed Lauren, who was down in California for work and visiting friends. Luckily…
We’re nine days out! At this point most things are lined up, with the exception of a few last-minute details that we really can’t take care of until this coming weekend. I’ve mostly figured out everything I’m bringing, though Shawn is still working out a few details. Shoes have been the hardest decision because we plan to do a fair amount of hiking and are traveling through many different seasons. I plan to post a packing update once we’ve narrowed…
Our outbound flight is booked! We are heading to Japan first, and will continue our way west from there. Shamanda RTW is about to become a real thing! I’m feeling pretty excited right now, but at the same time, there are a lot of stresses coming from making sure I have everything I need, plus packing up our house and belongings. We’re going to put our house on Airbnb, so I’ve been spending my time trying to line everything up…