Japan 2010

Konichiwa!
We just came back from 2 weeks in Japan and it was awesome! Here is a quick run down of what we did:

Day 1: We arrived in Tokyo. It was 9:30pm by the time the plane landed, and we checked into our hotel in Shinjuku. We just walked around a bit, ate some dinner and then went to bed.

Day 2: Shopped up a storm in Shibuya. The train system is so easy to use. They come often, they're quick, on time and also clean! I discovered LOFT and Tokyu Hands - 2 huge department stores that had everything - including a fantastic stationery and kitchen section. I bought so much stationery, I reckon half my luggage was filled with it. I also bought a lot of cute lunch boxes that I could take to work!

Day 3: Studio Ghibli Museum. I'm a huge Hayao Miyazaki fan and got to see how Totoro and The Cat Bus was created. It was very inspirational. After buying a few toys from the store, we shopped in Harajuku. Forever 21 and H&M were the main stops during this visit. We ate cream and fruit filled pancakes with chocolate sauce. It was delicious!

Day 4: Shopping in Shinjuku. I found the Hello Kitty store and Zara (we don't have a Zara in Australia... yet!). I went a little mental in these two stores. My fiance nearly got a whole new wardrobe from Zara by the end of the trip! The food in Japan was unbelievable. If we weren't having yummy ramen from their little noodle restaurants, we were eating from the 270yen restaurant, tasting they're delicious hot pots, sushi, chicken skewers, or cooking our own food - sukiyaki.

Day 5: Caught the Bullet Train to Kyoto. It was fast, clean, and organised with reserved seats! We had a walk around the city and bought soccer tickets for tomorrow night's Kyoto Sanga game.

Day 6: We walked to some of the nearby temples - Higashi Honganji and the Honganji temples. They were beautiful and the history behind them were fascinating. At night, we went to the Kyoto Sanga soccer match. We sat in the middle of all the Sanga fans who chanted for 90min straight. It wasn't just a pool of 20-30 year olds, there were little ones and grandparents singing, clapping, and waving the flag.

Day 7: We went on a Kyoto morning tour with an english speaking tour guide. We visited some of Kyoto's temples and castles. The highlights were The Golden Pavilion and The Nijo Castle which were both beautiful and fascinating. The Emperor's military leader once lived in the castle and he was very paranoid of assassins. So, he built squeaky floor boards in his castle to tell if someone was coming for him.

Day 8: Took the Bullet Train back to Tokyo. We had a bit of a rest day, however we did go back to Shibuya for a bit more shopping. Tyler bought a beautiful Zara suit. It fit him perfectly, the cut was just right on him - the Japanese really know about style & fashion. Even their little children were looking very stylish.

Day 9: Tokyo Disneyland. All I can say is that it was my fave part of the trip. We did all the major rides, bought so much Disney souvenirs and took hundreds of photos. There's actually 2 parks - Disneyland & DisneySea, but we could only fit in Disneyland for this trip. The lines for some of the rides were so long! But luckily there was something called a fast pass where we could get a ticket at a reserved time and come back later so we didn't have to line up.

Day 10: Mt Fuji, Lake Ashi and cable car tour. Luckily for us, the weather was beautiful so we could see Mt Fuji so clearly. After snapping a million photos, we took a nice boat ride on Lake Ashi and then took a cable car up another mountain where we took a million more photos of Mt Fuji. It was a lovely day.

Day11: Our flight home wasn't til 8:25pm which meant we had another day of shopping. We went to Akihabara and Ikebukero. Akihabara is known as electric town. They had so many electronics it was insane. And Ikebukero had great shopping - Sunshine City, LOFT and Tokyu Hands. I controlled myself to not spend too much the last couple of days as I was a bit worried about my luggage weight.

Overall, Japan was just so much fun - one of the best holidays I've been on. I definitely want to go back and do Hiroshima, Osaka, paper making, calligraphy, Universal Studios, DisneySea, skiing, see more of outside busy Tokyo and more shopping! Now back to my reality!

Hope you've all been well!

Mel xx