What to do in Japan for 2 weeks?

[Raymond Lin]

Day 2 Cont.

At around 11am I went on the Shinkansen, I think I got to Hiroshima in about 90mins, then put my suitcase into a locker in the station and went to get the train to the ferry. 700yen for all day for the large locker which is the standard price.





Miyajima has deer, free roaming, friendly deer, who knew?!

 

[Raymond Lin]

Day 2 Cont.

I got back to Hiroshima and checked into my hotel around 8pm. Went to find Okonomiyaki.









I made some friends who were musicians on tour and we walked around the city a bit.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I know Japan is notoriously crime free, but what's it like travelling around with a big DSLR on your own?

I'm used to big cities, and I went San Francisco by myself a couple years ago and felt relatively comfortable having my camera on my hip at night (despite all the homelessness and dodgy types around).

I'd love to go to Japan in the next few years but I have next to zero experience in a non-english speaking country. Is it similar to European destinations where most shops and services have people that speak passing english?

EDIT: Great photos btw!

Very Easy. Very Safe.

Japan is a relatively crime free country mostly because of the culture, it is a culture of trust, honour and respect. You respect other people's space (so no using phone calls on trains, you don't talk loud), you respect your elders and honour is self explanatory. You will see people saving their seats in Starbucks or restaurants by placing their phones or wallets on the table only to walk off to the counter to get food or go to the toilet without taking their phone. It's a done thing, leaving your new iPhone to save a seat, and nobody steals them.

As for language barrier, I did a lot of pointing. or a lot of places you order what you want through a vending machine outside. Although I want to add that I can read a little bit of Kanji characters, so I know the Chinese characters, things like Exit, Entrance, Meat, or the word Bank etc. In a way, I wouldn't mix up the men/ladies toilets so may be someone like you may run into problems like that which I wouldn't.

Like this, you put your money in and pay and outcomes a little ticket with what your order is, you then go inside, hand it over to the chef in the kitchen and he will hand you the food.



The most extreme case is when I was in Kyoto in a place with no such machine and the lady who works there do not speak any English. So I took a photo of the plastic food in the window on my camera, went in, show her the photo on the back of my camera and said "One please" in Japanese.

The only time I had real problem is in Fukuoka when after I sat down they asked me something in Japanese and I had no idea, I had already ordered like the machine above. I was having a Tampura meal of various items, I think it must be something about whether i am allergic to something? I am not allergic to anything so even if that was the question, it wouldn't matter. I got what I ordered by the button press so that's all good.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Day 3

Hiroshima

Morning I went to the War Memorial and Museum for the WW2 bombing and then I went straight to the Shinkansen to Osaka.

Breakfast was a traditional Japanese style.



Then about half a mile walk to the Museum, I was obsessed with these power lines….they are everywhere, for a place that is SO clean, this is quite an eye sore but I kinda like it.









On the train it is tradition to get one of these Bento boxes. I wanted some Unagi.



Meticulous in their detail!





Whilst on the train the tannoy said "next stop, Kobe" and it was about 2pm…..hmmmm Kobe…beef? So I got my stuff, jumped off the train, put it in a locker and went in search for beef. I never planned to go to Kobe.

Kobe











Saw a shrine and I went to check it out.



Osaka

Afterwards I got back on the train to Osaka, checked in first and head out for Okonomiyaki, Osaka style.















Then I went to the Umeda Sky building (I think) for the view at the top, which happens to be close by.



Then I went to Dontoburi and had some Takoyaki.













I wanted to get "the world's 2nd best ice-cream"…that is their actual tag line, but it was sold out! The guy before me had the very last one on the day !!!!



You will see Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean in a lot of tourist friendly places. So you will get all 4 languages in terms of menus.








I'll post Day 4 and onwards tomorrow.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Great pics, mate!

Thanks!

Wish my holiday snaps were as good as Rays

Thanks! They are okay, I feel they could be better, I was rushing around a lot, sometimes with a fulls suitcase in hand.

Likewise! I have some snaps from my visits to Japan, but nothing like the atmosphere Raymond has managed to capture!

Raymond, these photos are amazing, bringing back many memories of traipsing around Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto

Kyoto photos still to come, my favourite place.

Great thread this, investigating a trip to Japan this year.

I am definitely going back in the next 3 years.

Stunning pictures Raymond, would love to go one day to Japan.

Go !!! now !!!

Your essentially retreading the steps I took when I last went there. Looks like you had a great time in Hiroshima.

Absolutely incredible photos as well. What do I need to get shots like that? You must be a professional right?

Thanks ! I do some work professionally for weddings, yes. So I normally go on the off season around and take pictures and eat. I really do like Hiroshima but I love Miyajima more, charming little island.

Day 4 (morning)

Osaka

In the morning I didn't have long as this hotel I stayed at had a check out time of 10:30am or something silly early. Luckily it is next to the Osaka Castle so I went to visit in the morning before going to Nara for the afternoon. It was a really brief visit and all in all I was in Osaka for less than 18 hours really.




























Day 4 To Be Cont.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Day 4 Cont.

Nara

Arrived in Nara via a local trains, no Shinkansen for this trip. It was only about 30 mins from the station near my hotel, much more convenient than trying to go to the main station in Osaka and change.

Nara is famous for a few things, but the deer park is one of them, and the other is allegedly the world's larges wooden building (temple), it's structure has not a single nail.

Japan is not all concrete, there were lots of fields like these.







This picture is actually to show how every vehicle in Japan is spotless. I can zoom in this photo, the bike looks like it just came off the factory 2 mins ago.



I was short of time so instead of lunch I just grabbed these at a "french" bakery. But being Japan, it adds a twist, curry doughnut anyone? It's amazing. Then I had a mochi sweet thing with red bean paste inside.













































Found somewhere that sold Tayaki !





I left Nara around 5pm to Kyoto

Day 4 (evening to be Cont.)

 

[Raymond Lin]

Day 4 Evening

Kyoto

So I picked up these Gyozas and Shui Mai on my way to my hotel, they come hot but they also come gift wrapped…oh Japan !





By this point it was quite late, so after I checked in I went to Gion to check it out and hopefully see a Geisha.







Day 5

I got up at 6:30am today, because I wanted to climb Fushimi Inari without the crowds.

p.s.When you see a photo of Fushimi Inari, if you see writing on the Toril gates, it is facing downwards/going back out. On the way up you don't see the writing.









You get a nice view of the city





When I got back, it was packed



Day 5 to be Cont.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I really really want to go to japan, where is the best place to look for deals there and back for 2? any ideas?

Normally I would check BA.com and they often do sales, and you can get Flight + hotel packages for a good deal for 2 people. The problem is that you are in 1 city, 1 hotel for the duration so that doesn’t work for me as I ended up staying in about 6 hotels in the space of 2 weeks.

I wanted maximum flexibility so I didn’t think of any packages, even the internal flight was booked separately and not a connecting flight so I had to collect my bags and check it in again. The whole trip I pretty much went as I see fit, when I see fit, hopped of the train mid journey to Kobe and a last minute to Nara between Osaka and Kyoto. Both Nara and Kobe wasn’t on my itinerary before I set off, I just decided to go in the last minute, with literally next to zero planning.

In Kobe I literally got off the train….first thought…find a locker. Then google maps out and search Trip Advisor and Google reviews for best steaks locally within the mile of walking distance.

With Nara, because I checked out of the hotel early, I knew I have 3 nights in Kyoto and Nara is kind of on the way….so I went. I only know of the Deer Park so googled that and started walking, as I was walking I just deviated left right and centre to all these temples that I see. On the way back I purposely will take a slightly different route so to maximise what I see of the city.

This way is probably not the cheapest way to do it, but there are ways to get best deals. The internal flight I booked through expedia allowed me discounts on hotel bookings through expedia afterwards and got 50% off a couple of places. The room I stayed at in Fukuoka and Hiroshima was half price, I paid more in Premier Inn back at home.

JR Pass can also save you lots of money if you travel like I did. I basically paid no rail cost for the first 7 days.

The hotel in Kyoto, Hakone and Tokyo however I paid full wack, especially in Kyoto and Hakone (on the weekend). I went during fall so it was the best time to see the change of colours so it was quite busy. £450 for 3 nights in Kyoto was pretty much the best deal I could get for the quality that I wanted. Hakone was even more crazy, the place is where the people in Tokyo go away for a weekend break for some Onsen and see the countryside, it is only 30mins from Tokyo by train. So on the weekend the prices literally doubles and as it happens I cornered myself to that town on that day from my itinerary. I could have extended my day in Kyoto for 1 more day but then my JR pass for 7 day would be up and I would have had to pay more for train tickets.

In short, if you go to certain places on the off days, you can get much better deals.

@Raymond Lin are these all taken on a 35mm lens (FF)? I love that focal length, must get the 23mm for my Fuji.. Do you have an album up on Flickr too?

90% of it was with the 35mm, I did have a 50 and 85, so there are a few with them but mostly just the 35mm.

re flickR, I don't anymore, don't even remember what i called it.

I only post on Facebook and Instagram these days, actually only just started to put them on last day or so too.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Of course you can visit the UK JNTO facebook page (Visit Japan from the UK) and they currently have a competition to win a trip there.

Personally we do it similarly to Ray and just book hotels and flights, get a Rail Pass and then wing it.

I know JAL have offers on at the moment for both direct and indirect flights.

Indirect flights could have saved me about £200 but it would also add half a day going and half a day coming back and frankly I wanted to maximise my time. It’s a long already a 12 hour flight so didn’t want to make it any longer and I was rushing enough as it was.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Day 5 Cont.

After grabbing some street food I went to a temple before heading to Kiyomizu dera and decided to walk a part of the way.

Notice that all the trash left outside and covered in nets, to keep them together?



This photo is purely because I walked passed a primary school and outside were parked all these unicycle…a school for clowns?





One thing you have got to remember is that if you see people dressed like this, they are 99% likely to be tourist.





You can see the Pagoda quite a way away.



Time for lunch and I had ramen.









The cleansing ritual, left hand, right hand, then rinse mouth (spit).



The legend has it that if you can walk between 2 of these stones with your eyes shut, you will find love (or wish come true).









I was rather disappointed that the main structure was under refurb, it just means i have to go back!



3 streams of water, each has a different meaning, and you are meant to just do the cleansing with just 1 and your wish will be granted.



Made a friend and went to get some tea.



Then walked around the local area a bit which is super touristy !!!!



It has the world's best Starbucks lol





Then set off to Nijo castle but it was closed when we got there. Google Maps gave direction to a bus.







Then went to a local famous market call Nishiki market where lots of street food to be had.















Then walked around a bit more and ichiran ramen then home.





Day 6 tbc.

 

[Raymond Lin]

anyone have any idea what the costs are likely to be for attending the rugby world cup for 3 weeks.

22nd sep Sapporo
26th sep Kobe
5th oct Tokyo
12th oct Yokohama

its so far out, flight costs are unknown, I see air bnb our saying almost 90% of places are already booked up, although there does seem to be some reasonable stuff in there.

anyone whos been want to take a stab at rough costs.

3 weeks? I would budget for about £5k all in (including flights) at least. Providing you are not going to many skyscrapers or wanting to see every shrine and temple.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Nishiki market .... should have had roast pork curry udon ...

Lol, I totally forgot but I am not sure I would have gone even then because there was so much street food to be had and then I had that ramen. Could not possibly have squeeze in a bowl of udon.

Day 6.

Can't believe I still have more than a week to go at this point lol I actually thought that at the time as well as first day in Tokyo was my mid way point and I am still a couple of days away.

Today was a big day, my last full day in Kyoto so I wanted to go to all the top world heritage sites before I leave.

First stop, Arashiyama - bamboo grove. Got there at 7:30am.











A lot of Youtube videos will show this river when they do a vlog on the area, so naturally I went there to but the Bamboo grove is the opposite direction from the train station!













Time to leave, I think it was about 9am at this point



Next stop is one of the Zen gardens



Fall colours.





They say, you can only see 14 of the 15 rocks here at any one time, you need to achieve enlightenment before you can see the 15th rock.





Kinkaku-ji





This place is full of tourists, any time of the day.







inhaling or putting the incense smoke to your head is meant to purify the body and the mind so you will see a lot of people doing this flapping motion with their hands.



Got a Niku bun (Niku means meat), this one is chicken



Tourists



Nijo Castle, supposed to the the best kept castle from the Edo era, during the height of the Shogun and Samurai. Most of these temples forbids photography inside.













Then lunch, this is where I took a photo of the plastic food and then show it to the lady. I wanted some cold Soba noodles.





Then on the way to Ginkaku-ji I found this, its a match cream (or ice cream or custard) filled warm bread.





Ginkaku-ji



This is attention to detail, he is tending the grass? moss? lawn ?















Right outside is the Philosopher's Path, would be much better during Sakura season as it is all surrounded by them. No so pretty in the fall, especially when most of the leaves have fallen.



Local housing and side streets







Then took the bus back to main station, this is now around 5pm



Parfit time! This cost 1000 yen, worth every penny.



Kyoto Tower time





The light beam is Kiyomizu-Dera temple



Then finish of with a meal at a conveyor belt sushi place, waited 45mins in the queue but it was underwhelming.



Day 7 tbc.

 

[Raymond Lin]

wow that is rather a lot.
air bnb have some places in Tokyo for like £70 with 2 bedrooms, I wonder if I could actually book that, or if they would simply up the price when you try to book or just cancel it when they realise what the dates are.

You will need

3 weeks JR Rail pass, I am almost certain this would be cheaper than getting train tickets separately.

https://www.japan-rail-pass.co.uk/?...oEvqLTakk-9IifJFrBtxu-Qj4hQ0e1jhoCVd0QAvD_BwE

It's almost £400 for this

Budget for £100 per night, if you can share rooms then obviously you are in much better position. So that's £2k. Halved would be £1k.

For food, I think you can get away with £30 a day, £10 can get you a very satisfying meal, £20 is enough for conveyor belt sushi.

That's about £600-800 for food over 3 weeks.

Flight would be £700 ish.

You are now at £3k, this is without subway cost in Tokyo, it was spending about £10 a day, or any entry fees to temples or Tokyo Skytree etc….or drinking.

Don't forget sim card, you can rent them or buy them. The one I bought in the UK that I picked up at the airport didn't work !!! I bought a 5G one for £45 from BIC camera.

May be you can get away with £4k ?

 

[Raymond Lin]

What stood out for me was

Private Onsen, yeah, i chickened out and got my own but it was so good!
Mori Tower in Tokyo
Walking up Fushimi Inari at 7am
Going to Arashiyama, the aura of that place when there is no-one around calms your soul
Eating all the ramen, the bowl in Ikebukuro was the best, hands down
Miyajima Island
All the street food, matcha ice cream
The people, train conductors bow to the cart as they enter and leave never gets old.
The Culture everywhere, how they treasure their past yet pushing for the future. I feel in the UK or the west (and lots of other places) don't think about what we throw away and forget as we modernise and forget where we came from, what is good from the past and push for modernisation. Japan somehow managed to retain their cultural identity, their culture, yet blend it with everything a modern society should be. It is as close as you can get to a Star Trek universe in real life. People (mostly) are considerate, they are honest, they are respectful and they are kind, some of the kindest and nicest i have ever seen or known. It makes you to do the same in return.

But I missed soooo much, I didn't get to go to the Ghibli Museum, it was fully booked for the entire week i was there.

thanks, have you put a list of your favourite things you did in this thread?

will have to make a bit more of a detailed list. was hoping more towards the 3k end of the spectrum (excluding the rugby tickets)

Costs you can't get away with

The JR Pass rail card, may be you can lower it to 2 weeks but you need to work out your travelling and find out for sure. If you are in anyway unsure, the JR Pass is the best way.

The flight - The absolute cheapest I have seen is just over £500 but that is an in-direct flight.

The food - 700-1000 yen meals is pretty standard, unless you are happy eating convenient store food, which isn't bad, its actually fresh and tasty but they are not exactly that cheap once you buy a few things. Might as well get a bowl of Ramen for 900 yen.

Accommodation, the bottom price would be like capsule hotels like £30 or so a night? Your £70 for 2 and split it would be the best option tbh.

Then you need to add your tickets and also any entertainment like drinking, taxi? sim card, may be some entertainment like Karaoke or go to a temple or two. Granted, some temples and skyscrapers are free, like the Meji shrine is free, the Tokyo Government Metropolitan building is free so there are lots of free stuff to do.

 

[Raymond Lin]

thanks, if air bnb is to believe can make significant savings on the hotel costs. (its even better its split 3 ways). 2 nights in Sapporo for just £59 each. Kobe £29 for 2 nights. although not sure i trust it that far out, suppose can message the host and see what they say.

flights for this year seem to be around the 850 for direct.

how long would you recommend to spend in tokyo and how long in Hiroshima (can't remember if you did it or not)

really annoying the two closest matches together date wise are in Sapporo and Kobe, stupidly far apart, Sendai seems to be the only place in the middle.

Tokyo, depends how big an itinerary you have, it's a city that can cater for everything so you can be busy for there a month and not see it all. If you are just doing the sites then do the following.

Skyscraper - Mori Tower
Shrine - Meji Shrine
Temple - Asakusa
Shinjuku
Shibuya
Akihabara
Tsukiji market
Harajuku

That can be done in 2 days if you just go to point A, then leave and straight to point B. I mean I've not mention Ginza, or Odaiba (life size Gundam), Ghibli Museum, may be catch a Sumo match, or Yoyogi Park on a Sunday or visit to any of the theme cafe from Owl, Maid or Final Fantasy. May be Pokemon Centre if you are into Pokemon.



As for Hiroshima, I was there about 24 hours. I went there for Miyajima mostly and the War Memorial. Because of the bombing, everything in the city centre apart from that building (and a couple of others) are brand new, my favourite city is actually Kyoto.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Good to see some familiar places from your photos, honeymooned in Japan a couple of years ago, such a brilliant country.

Only in Japan do you get trains with ultra comfy reclining chairs and a holder for your beer. Good times.

Enjoy!

I found there are 3 levels of seating on the Shinkansen.

The First class reserved, which I first sat down unknowingly and was then asked to move lol

Then there is the reserve in advance.

Then there are the ones you just get on and sit anywhere, these are normally are front or end 3 carriage of the trains. These seems to be the least luxurious but then they are all very spacious and all like sofas.

This thread is a treasure trove of information. I'm looking to get a trip out there this year, planning a few days in Beijing on the way as I still have my Chinese visa, then a couple of weeks in Japan proper. I think that I'll be giving this thread a second and third reading as I plan.

As usual Raymond, cracking photos

Thanks!

Japan is very easy to get around and don't worry about the language problem, ask for English menus, if not resort to pointing, or go to places like those where you order from a ticket machine on the door.

Amazing pictures as always Raymond, although that baby squid on a stick just turned my stomach!

That was actually cold, inside the head section they managed to stuff a full quail egg in there. It wasn't bad but I was expecting it to be hot some reason.

Day 7 (we are half way !!!!)

This is mostly a travel day, because I had to get 2 trains.

I have a couple of hours in the morning so I walked to To-Ji Temple from the hotel, this is the tallest Pagoda in the world, this is also the wettest day i was there, which was lucky really, it has been sunshine pretty much the rest of the time.









Breakfast before leaving

Curry doughnut with egg!







Onwards to Hakone!











Some snacks when i arrived.





7 course Kaiseki dinner.









They do mix up the L and the R, even when its written down.



Then my own onsen



Day 8 tbc.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Ray please clarify for me, where did you stay in Kyoto and where did you stay in Osaka?

Osaka was Hotel Lutheran

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel...he_Lutheran-Osaka_Osaka_Prefecture_Kinki.html

This hotel was £50 for a double bed with my own bathroom. Absolute bargain. It is basic compare to others, if you want to judge it, just look at the amenities in the bathroom, but it's 5min walk from a nearby subway station so easy to get to. Osaka has a really good modern underground system so it doesn't really matter too much where you stay. I picked this place due to both price and also near the castle which was one of my places to see.







vs what I got in Hiroshima



Kyoto was New Miyako.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel...iyako_Hotel-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html

The reason I picked this is because this hotel is located right opposite the south entrance of the Kyoto station. So I got off the train and at the hotel without any more trains or taxi. Kyoto's underground is also much smaller, served by only 2 lines in a cross layout so a lot of other places like Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama is best reached by overground trains. So I thought it was best to stay near the main station in the city to make it easier to get to everywhere.

Price wise it was on the higher side of the scale, at £440 for 3 nights.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Oh, apparently after you been to the onsen it is tradition to drink some milk. There are vending machines selling nothing but these tiny glass bottles of milk. It also tastes a bit weird, a hint of sweet and touch of citrus at the same time. It's not like its gone off but in a way kinda nice.



Day 8

Hakone to Tokyo

Today is a long day, I have given myself 2 tasks. Go see Mt Fuji and then make it to my 8pm slot for Mario Kart VR in Tokyo.

So I got up early and went to the buffet breakfast, a bit of everything.







Going to the station and put my stuff in a locker, they only take 100 yen coins and you will need about 700yen for the larger ones









The queue was insane, guess this is weekend for you, waited about 45mins here.





There are 2 more rides before you get to the top. First is a tram.





Then more queues, I waited another hour and a half here, at least I had a view.



Then it's time for a ropeway.



You get handed one of these.



It also have these incase you need to use first-Aid



The Ropeway takes you to one of the 5 lakes.



I didn't stay long, got right back on the ropeway and went back to the mid point. This is as close as I am ever getting to a live volcano.









I got lucky and saw Mt Fuji, it is often surrounded by clouds.





Here they sell these volcanic ash "marinated" eggs. Eating one supposed to add 7 years to your life.









It tastes just like a regular boiled egg to be honest.



Then it's a rush to Tokyo, I was late but made Mario Kart VR.





I am in Shinjuku !











Dinner was a place call Yamachan, it's a restaurant that sells a lot of things and they are a chain originally out of Nagoya, what they are famous for are these chicken wings. A must try if you are in Japan.

You order via iPad.



I got 2 flavours.



Then back to my hotel, which has a nice view, especially from the lobby.



My room was on the 35th floor







Day 9 to be con.

 

[Raymond Lin]

I've been to Japan five times now, either in April or October, and have seen Mt Fuji exactly once (and that's including going to places which you would normally expect to see it like Hakone a couple of times). It got to a point that I have a long running joke with my Japanese teacher that it doesn't exist and is made up by the Japanese Tourist Board who just photoshop all the pictures you see.

Hotel wise we normally pay £70-120 outside Tokyo and quite a bit more than that in Tokyo (outside Tokyo we are out and about and really only use the hotel for sleeping so can get away with a lower spec. one but in Tokyo we just want to relax so spend more for a bigger and better room, (this year we are trying the Hyatt Regency in Shinjuku but last time was the Hilton West Shinjuku and before that the Keio Plaza who were both generally very good (Basic Keio plaza was only ok but the deluxe rooms are quite good)).

I have had a green class rail pass on one trip but that was because we were getting the shinkansen from Tokyo up to Shin-Aomori and onto Sapporo which is quite a long trip. The rail pass is well worth it if you are going to travel around a lot as gives the flexibility to just jump on a non-reserved seat (or even book a reserved one). The other thing to remember with the rail pass is that if you have it running a bit long and you are back in Tokyo you can just use it on the overland JR services to get around the city until it runs out.

I tend to go with 10000yen/day as walk around money, so that's for transport not covered by rail pass, food, entrance fees and generally buying bits and bobs (but I do tend to spend quite a bit on the latter )

Interestingly up to early last year technically a lot of AirBNB offerings in Japan were operating illegally as they didn't have the require permits. Some rules changed which meant that it is supposed to be easier to set up and operate them now (in a lot of areas). There was actually a mini-series drama about someone operating an illegal one and having to become legal aired around the same time on Japanese TV.

All those have crossed my mind, eluding the green class rail pass but little savings need to be made here and there. I have never actually used Air B'n"b, I like my clean sheets every morning

Day 9 (first full day in Tokyo)

So where does one go ?

Asakusa was the most convenient, straight up, no change on the subway.

The plan was this, start at the hotel (No.1/No.9) on the map and do a circle.



























Got a snack (red bean paste)



Pork and onion









Then stopped by Yadabashi, I think this is Japan's largest electronic store.



Got a creme brûlée doughnut



Then Akihabara







Then saw this, for those that don't know. Pablo is a store that makes Cheese Cake, with a Japanese twist. It originated from Osaka but the Osaka version, or the original version are a large cake, family size. Lucky they sell mini ones as I only wanted a taste.



Although the proper one has no crust on the side.



Then went to the first skyscraper, Tokyo Government Metropolitan Building. South Tower was closed, only North Tower accessible.









Then I went to Park Hyatt Tokyo for a drink and check out their view, you may recognise this corridor



Then finish up at Shibuya Crossing.









Day 10 To Be Cont.

(Sorry for the slowness, there are lots of pics !)

 

[Raymond Lin]

That's not milk, it's drinkable Yoghurt. Probably why you said it tasted a bit weird

Ah they make sense! Thanks!