After reflecting upon this short Japan trip, I’ll have to say we were incredibly lucky and as you read through this post, you’ll see how often the leprechauns graced us with their charms 🍀.
Aaron was with us and it was his first time back to Japan in 7 years. This is our travel diary.
Aaron was with us and it was his first time back to Japan in 7 years. This is our travel diary.
Our Adventure
We flew to Tokyo on Saturday, April 14th, with JAL premium economy. Australia had just announced ‘Travel Ban Level 2’ prior to our flight so we were like “Uhhh too late now 🤷🏻♀️”.
It was our first time flying pre-eco and we were amazed by the leg space, wider seats and unlimited alcohol. It was such a comfortable flight, we didn’t want it to end 🤣.
It was our first time flying pre-eco and we were amazed by the leg space, wider seats and unlimited alcohol. It was such a comfortable flight, we didn’t want it to end 🤣.
We landed around 5PM and it was raining. We checked in to Shinjuku Gracery Hotel (LINK). Aaron kept raving about Coco Curry so we met his friend over a hot plate of Japanese rice, curry and katsu. Afterwards, we indulged in a 7-eleven egg sandwich, Gindaco takoyaki and some French toast biscuits (LINK).
We also won three Kirbys from the claw game machines at Sega Shinjuku. We have a claw machine addiction so we actually brought an empty large suitcase and a vac seal device for this purpose. I would say this is one of our side hustles 😂😂😂.
On Sunday we headed to Akihabara for Pepper Lunch (LINK) and Bic Camera. There was a lot of cute and cool gadgets in the store 😻.
While we were there, we were lucky enough to see the road closures for their weekly 3PM ‘let-locals-walk-on-the-road’ event. We didn’t even know this was a thing so thank you leprechauns 🍀! It was really intriguing walking on the roads and seeing the weeb suburb from a different perspective (LINK).
While we were there, we were lucky enough to see the road closures for their weekly 3PM ‘let-locals-walk-on-the-road’ event. We didn’t even know this was a thing so thank you leprechauns 🍀! It was really intriguing walking on the roads and seeing the weeb suburb from a different perspective (LINK).
We met up with another one of Aaron’s friends and we headed for Shibuya, where I got to live out my One Piece dreams with Pirate King Luffy. We had some Pablo cheesecake for a snack before our late Shabu Shabu dinner with Aaron’s friends.
We also won a Dragonair and a Vulpix from the claw machines 😆.
The next day we went to the gym 🏋🏻♂️. It took us a while to actually get in because two of the locations were closed on Mondays, and the third location wouldn’t accept Mick because of his tattoo. After a good sweat, we finally got to eat Ichiran again 🤤. We also got Baked cheese tarts and Milk ice cream.
We went to Harajuku to shop and explore. We had Harajuku Gyoza Lou for dinner (LINK).
I won a little Luffy keychain from the claw machine and of course, another serving of takoyaki (cheese meintaiko) from Gindaco Shinjuku 😆.
Wednesday was a slow day. We had McDonald’s for breakfast and went to Ikebukuro to explore. We walked past a Saizeriya and it looked like a cheap random restaurant but Aaron convinced us to try it and holy moly, it was such a delicious pasta snack 🍝 (LINK).
In the afternoon, we went to Shinagawa for our 3-hour MariCar ride (LINK). We found out they were shutting down the business (due to Covid and lawsuit) and we felt extremely lucky to be the last group of people to ride around Tokyo in these street karts 😭🍀. For dinner we had Ichiran again.
On Friday, we wandered around Shinjuku and had Budakon; a
butadaigaku pork in a rice bowl with sauce. It was so deliciously sweet with its marinated umami flavour and perfectly chargrilled savoury meat 🤤 SO GOOD!!
It took us 30 minutes and $20 to win this Squirtle! 😅
For dinner, we were supposed to split up again however we ended up tagging along with Aaron and his friends to pre-drinks and karaoke. The karaoke was really cheap, only ¥500 for an hour as long as we ordered one cocktail each. We BYO sangria, champagne, sake and vodka 🤪.
After our hour was up, we sculled 7 vodka Smirnoff each before we reached the party. Let’s just say it was a very messy night and I’m still shook we crashed a random house party in Tokyo. We didn’t even eat dinner! 😅
After our hour was up, we sculled 7 vodka Smirnoff each before we reached the party. Let’s just say it was a very messy night and I’m still shook we crashed a random house party in Tokyo. We didn’t even eat dinner! 😅
We woke up to some awful news. Australia had announced the complete shut down of its borders and asked all citizens to fly back home asap. Shit was crazy back home while Japan remained peaceful, business as usual, so it was easy for us to overlook the international problem and indulge in the travel bug the last few days.
We also found out our flight home on March 31st was cancelled. We purchased these tickets only two days ago, after debating whether to fly to Taiwan as planned or stay in Japan a little longer.
With stress and hangovers, we checked out of our hotel and caught the shinkansen to Osaka (LINK) while on the phone with Qantas to organise another flight home. Luck was on our side and we secured business flights home 🍀😭.
We also found out our flight home on March 31st was cancelled. We purchased these tickets only two days ago, after debating whether to fly to Taiwan as planned or stay in Japan a little longer.
With stress and hangovers, we checked out of our hotel and caught the shinkansen to Osaka (LINK) while on the phone with Qantas to organise another flight home. Luck was on our side and we secured business flights home 🍀😭.
We returned to Tokyo 4 days later on Tuesday and checked back into Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. We went to Ueno for some bag shopping because we wanted to stock up on supplies. By the sound of the news, Australia had no more toilet paper, soap and masks 😨. Also, our plush toy situation was getting out of control and we needed more luggage 😂.
I got to eat the famous taiyaki from Taiyaki Kanda Daruma Ueno, recommended by Mike Chen. This was definitely worth it.
I got to eat the famous taiyaki from Taiyaki Kanda Daruma Ueno, recommended by Mike Chen. This was definitely worth it.
And I said goodbye to my love, takoyaki 😭😭😭. We also said goodbye to Aaron because his flight was not for another 2 days.
We flew on the last flight of the now-retired Qantas Boeing 747 aircraft 🍀. There was a heavy vibe in the air as the staff reminisced the good times with their coworkers on this plane. Unfortunately, Qantas was letting them go 🥺.
When we arrived at Sydney Airport, everything was mayhem. The queues for mandatory health checks were backed up so we were surrounded by A LOT of people with no social distancing 😑. It was stressful and scary being there.
After we got home, we felt a mix of sadness and emptiness. We’re currently doing our 14-day quarantine and luckily we bought a suitcase worth of food to eat.
This might have been our last holiday for a while and we’re so glad it was in Japan.
Thanks for reading 😘
After we got home, we felt a mix of sadness and emptiness. We’re currently doing our 14-day quarantine and luckily we bought a suitcase worth of food to eat.
This might have been our last holiday for a while and we’re so glad it was in Japan.
Thanks for reading 😘
Wow, fantastic blog format! How long have you ever been blogging for? you make running a blog glance easy. The entire glance of your web site is fantastic, let alone the content material!!
Wow, wonderful blog layout! How lengthy have you been running a blog for? you made blogging glance easy. The full look of your web site is great, let alone the content!!
Wow, amazing blog format! How long have you ever been running a blog for? you make running a blog glance easy. The total glance of your site is magnificent, as neatly as the content material!!