Notes on Japan, pt. 2

Last time we were in Japan (mostly Tokyo), we were wowed by the efficiency of everything. All things, down to the smallest details, seemed well-thought out and every inconvenience or small discomfort eradicated.

I have some little tidbits about my trip this year that didn't really fit anywhere, just small observations of the place, the trip, and myself.

MORI Building Digital Art Museum

After the adrenaline-fuelled, mad rush for the train we experience yesterday, we were determined to leave a huge window of time to leisurely amble to the train today.

Being the early bird, I crept out early in the morning to take a quick walk to the nearby post box, and was dismayed to realize that the rain was out in full force.

Hot springs of Hakone

Our morning started off early once again; my travel buddies went for breakfast while I stayed to eat my leftover Coco Curry. I was determined to pay a visit to Ippodo again to stock up on more teas for souvenirs, and made my way across the city, with the aim to arrive right at opening.

Bamboo forests, monkey parks, and Shinto shrines

An early morning train ride took us to the outskirts of Kyoto.

The old capital, Kyoto

Another early morning, and another ride on the Shinkansen.

The deer deities of Nara

Nara has long been on my list of must-go places in Japan; I love parks where wild animals are allowed to roam freely, and one of my fellow travel buddies was doubly enthusiastic.

Osaka; the kitchen of Japan

We didn't really get to explore outside of Tokyo last time we visited Japan, so this time we were determined to add a slew of new destinations to our list.

Our first stop was in Osaka; but first, an early breakfast at Sukiya.



After making our way to Tokyo Station through the end of the rush hour craze, exchanging my pass and booking our tickets, we headed to an even-crazier Ekibenya for bentos for our long ride.

Back in Tokyo

The conclusion of our last trip to Asia had us itching for more, but none of us could have guessed that we would reunite in Japan 4.5 years later.

Kikukawa Station

When the weather starts getting cold, I can't help but look back on past memories.

That is the sentence I started off writing when I thought about this post many, many months ago.

Vending machines in Tokyo

One of the things I noticed upon my first few days in Tokyo was the abundance of vending machines. Not just confined to indoor spaces, vending machines lined the outside of convenience stores, alleyways, car park garages; just about anywhere there was a few extra feet of space, a vending machine was plopped in place.



Vending machines weren't limited to dispensing drinks and snacks. They sold all kind of imaginable and unimaginable things, but my favourite were the ones outside restaurants that printed tickets. You would order your food and pay through the machine, and it would dispense your food ticket. You enter the restaurant, hand your ticket to the chef, and in no time, your food would be placed in front of you.

Quite honestly, my mind immediately went to a post-apocalyptic theory, that will perhaps see the light of day in another form. I found the plethora of vending machines fascinating.

Fuji-san

This isn't a new trip, but our trip to Japan in 2015 mainly consisted of exploring in and around Tokyo, as it was all of our first time in the country, and there was lots of do in the city. As I was responsible for part of Hong Kong and Seoul, this leg of the trip was planned mostly by my travel buddies, but my one request was that we visit Mount Fuji.

Tokyo; the city of efficiency

Our overwhelming takeaways from our Asia trip was definitely that everything was more efficient, more technologically advanced, and just made so much more sense than back home. Also, we don't know how they did it, but Tokyo has mastered the art of the egg. Every single egg we had here, no matter how it was made, was just perfection.



Starting off with a toilet. As it was around 12am when we landed, I was bleary-eyed when I headed to the airport washroom and was greeted with a talking toilet that also played music to hide the sound of your wee. I must say I found the music more embarrassing than helpful and thankfully was able to find the button to shut it off.



First order of business: convenience store food at Family Mart.