It's hard to get back in the swing. I guess I would just say: everyone, go to Japan. It's not as expensive as everyone says. In fact, full financial disclosure here, I just figured out the money I spent (which is easy, cuz no one takes credit so I just had to look at my bank account) and, ticket included, I spent about 1600 bucks. And that's with shopping (I spent like 45 bucks just buying snoopy stuff) and eating and drinking to my hearts content, AND a daytrip, AND going to see two nights of bands at like 25 bucks a pop, AND treating our hosts to all you can eat shabu shabu (which they richly deserved), AND wasting twenty bucks the last day because I was confused about how to get to the airport and bought the wrong ticket, AND staying in a pretty swank hotel for three nights and a nasty hotel for two nights. We did stay with friends for two nights, but like I said there were lots of other areas where I could have conserved. Japan seems to be simultaneously more crazy and less crazy than you would expect. I think people emphasize the wacky stuff a lot because it makes for interesting stories (like, hey, tons of vending machines, but once you get used to it it's no big whoop and in all of tokyo I never saw a vending machine selling anything crazy or even a beer one-I think there's way more of those in other cities). The real deal is that all the food is totally delicious and that it's safe as fuck. Would you like to visit a country where you can leave you passport and cash-filled bag sitting wherever and never trip on it and where you can walk anywhere you want alone late at night without so much as a man giving you a wolf whistle? I'm eager to go back someday and check out the other cities, especially Osaka, and going to the south seems cool, too. Oh yeah, and a woman we met there had just returned from some mountainous island with roaming monkeys!
That picture is a delicious concoction called omurice (an omelette filled with rice, sometimes curry rice!) that we got at a chain called Rakeru, which had a vaguely western theme and waitresses in checked pinafores. The omurice often came with a hamburger patty, sometimes with some butter on it. There were a million rad things like that,
not like i'm saying 1600 isn't a huge expense, just that if you charged the ticket and paid it off slowly and saved up like 700 hundred bucks to spend while you were there, you're good to go
ReplyDeletewelcome home.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad everyone had such a good time!
-Natalie.
thanks, you're like the only person i bought a gift for, mostly because everything i saw i would think, natalie would like that. it's the land of cute.
ReplyDeleteI am going to Japan in the fall, so it has been fun reading about your trip!
ReplyDelete-Alisha
here's where me and gw stayed, it was awesome and pretty cheap. we stayed at the one in yanaka, but i'm sure the other one is cool, too. it was close to the train line that you use to get everywhere (JR Yamanote) and it was nice that it was in a cute, quiet neighborhood cuz it was a nice respite from the other bustling areas that can drive you a little nuts after a while. The rooms are Japanese style, with tatami and futons, and have a nice bath in the room with fancy robes and slippers provided.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.katsutaro.com/
also, I would recommend this restaurant on the 50th floor of the sumitomo building in shinjuku. the view is insane! we got a set-price dinner for 3500 yen that was spectacular. that's like 30 bucks. they sat us in a table without a window view and we thought it was cuz we looked like riffraff, but now i think it was because we didn't have a reservation, so i would call ahead next time(but memorize how to ask for the res in japanese. this building is easy to find ), cuz it's on streetmaps and there are lots of posted maps in the shinjuku area that it's on, too. it's on the east side of shinjuku station, the red light district is on the west side, which is fun to walk through at night.
ReplyDeletehttp://r.gnavi.co.jp/g348509/
there is an english link at the bottom of this website, but the english page doesn't show the view
I love that that hotel has Peter Seeger's autograph on their website! I am actually going to be staying with a friend in Tokoyo, but that hotel sounds awesome. We are going to try and take a couple of side trips during our visit as well.
ReplyDeleteDid you go to any neat Onsens?
Alisha
nope, no public bath. we never quite had the time, and the one night we planned to go (monday night) our neighborhood one was closed.
ReplyDeletethe day trip we took was to kamakura, to see the big bronze buddha. it was a cute little town and worth the trip.
The Roaming Monkey Mountain is in Oita Prefecture on Kyushu. Beppu(Oita) is like the Las Vegas of Hot Springs!!! There is also a cool aquarium next to the monkey mountain.I got to touch a small shark there(Scary!). There also might be a monkey mountain in Nagoya(not sure). As for Beer Vending Machines there is one down the street from my house.I haven`t used it in a while.I had a real yasui day on sunday.I watched the farmers burn the mountain sides of minami Aso,ate bento and then saw a band touted as japan`s Radiohead....Jay
ReplyDeletea present?
ReplyDeleteI love presents, the cuter the better.
thanks.
-Natalie.
At the place I stayed at for 2 weeks in Tokyo, the nearest beer vending machine was 25 feet from my front door. Of course, there were hookers up the street. "Mah-sage-eh?"
ReplyDelete