Japan 2018

Japan

Thursday, September 12, 2018-Friday

We had driven down to Lehi late last night after taking forty years to pack and we ended up only getting about three hours of sleep before my dad picked us up at 5am to take us to the airport. We decided to carry our backpacks on because our flight to LAX was separate from our flight to Tokyo and we thought we would run out of time on the layover. We stopped by the Sky Club after security to get some breakfast and then we boarded our flight. I passed out immediately. Once we landed we made our way to our terminal and we tried to find a Sky Club but to no avail. So we found some nice seats by this giant screen that played really mesmerizing videos haha everyone was taking pictures and videos of it. While people watching, we actually saw Angela Kinsey from The Office! I took a creeper photo of her but by the time Jeff worked up the courage to go take a picture with her, she disappeared. We had no idea where she went! And we searched! Ha then we ordered some food from The Tavern and it wasn’t great but it fed us. Then we started boarding and right before we boarded, our seats changed and we GOT UPGRADED to Delta One. THE PODS. We were beyond stoked. Especially because I called Delta and the lady told me we weren’t going to get upgraded. So... suck it lady. The chairs lay out into a bed, there’s a massage feature, they gave us slippers, drinks, so much food, ugh it was amazing. I started off the flight watching Adrift. Then I finished Three Identical Strangers and took an amazing nap. Then I woke up and watched I Love You, Man and finished off the flight eating breakfast and watching Central Intelligence. I almost didn’t want the flight to end because it was so amazing sitting in Delta One haha we got off of the plane around 2:30pm and it was September 13 (15 hour difference from home) and went through customs. It was SILENT. They didn’t speak. They just pointed to what you needed to do. It was a very quick process ha then we were through! And we had to find the JR Rail Pass station to claim our tickets. We just went to the information station and they helped us right away. We just pointed to our tickets and she knew exactly where to send us. So we claimed our train passes and she got us tickets to Kyoto and told us what trams to take to get to the right train station. I learned that the rail pass is a way to get free tickets on certain trains. It’s like an actual ticket. Fun fact. But you have to show it to a guard. It doesn’t work in the automatic machines. The rail pass only works on the bullet train (Shinkansen) and some trams. It doesn’t work on most buses (unless it’s a JR bus) or subways. So we got on the Shinkansen and we were on there for about two and a half hours. We couldn’t stop falling asleep ha we both kept fading in and out and I was DYING of heat. Seriously I thought I was going to puke. I was starving, hot and tired. A terrible combo ha I took my shoes off which helped a ton and then I was fanning myself with a piece of paper and finally I cooled down. It was rough ha then I fell asleep and luckily woke up the stop before Kyoto. Once we got off, we had to take the subway. This was an ordeal. First off, we didn’t know the JR pass didn’t work for subways so we tried using that. The guy told us it didn’t and we needed to buy tickets (well he shook his head and pointed to the ticket kiosk). Then our cards weren’t working at the ticket kiosk so we went to the 7/11 and our cards still weren’t working. Neither of us brought our debit cards haha then luckily our Visa credit card worked when we selected checking. Man I was getting very nervous haha so we got about 30,000 yen out and then we just bought a one time ticket because we didn’t know anything. Later we learned that you scan your ticket when you enter and then you scan it when you leave and the machine knows how many stops you went and you get charged for how many stops you go. After getting off of the subway, we walked to our first Airbnb. It was called Rejoice Stay. It was a very easy check in and we went straight to our room. Jeff went and got McDonalds while I showered and then we ate in bed. Our beds were just mattresses on the floor. We turned on the TV and the channels were hilarious. They were all game shows. And we had no idea what was going on but we loved it. Also I loved their commercials. They all look like anime and they’re all really cheesy. I loved it ha we went to bed at like 9pm ha it was amazing. We were exhausted. 

Friday, September 14, 2018

Those beds were very hard haha but we slept until 9am so the hard beds obviously didn’t keep us up haha we woke up to metal being hit. At least that’s what it sounded like. It was so loud. We got ready and grabbed our bags and left. We walked to the Nishiyama Ryokan (wasn’t too far) and dropped our bags off. We weren’t able to check in yet but we were able to leave our bags there which was super nice. Then we took the subway to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. We ended up buying an Icoca card. The card works on subway and buses. When we got off, we walked there and we walked along this road that had a bunch of stores and street food. It was a blast! I bought this amazing jacket with a wolf on the back surrounded by cherry blossoms. I’m so excited to wear it haha and we bought an umbrella. Then we stopped and got some meat on a stick (delicious), some dumplings with po in them (REALLY delicious), and some Coke out of the vending machine. They have vending machines everywhere and I love it!! Then we walked up to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. There were shrines everywhere! We watched people as they’d ring the bell, clap twice, bow, and then leave. We cleansed our hands (you pour water into your left hand and rinse, into your right hand and rinse, drink from your left hand, stand the ladle up while the remaining water drains out, and then place it upside down on the table). Then we just aimlessly wandered around, following paths, passing different shrines, and then we hit the orange torii gates. There were a TON of them. Each of them had been donated by a business or individual costing them anywhere from 400,000 yen to a million. They line almost the entire path up Mt. Inari. They start to thin out the higher up you go. We learned (from Google) that they believe foxes to be their messengers so there’s a bunch of statues of foxes with parcels in their mouths. About twenty minutes from the top, we saw a Japanese badger (we think). A lady in front of us thought it was a baby pig. We hiked a little further and then there was a beautiful view of Kyoto. We followed the signs for Mt. Inari and I ended up buying a fan at one of the many shops on the way up. I was DYING. I was just drenched in sweat. It’s super humid here. Once at the top, it was another shrine. Honestly if we would’ve known it was another shrine and not a better overlook of the city, I don’t think we would’ve hiked all the way up. So we went back down to the overlook and there was a sign that said there was a nice view over to the side so we hiked that and it was more shrines. So we’ve decided nice view means view of a shrine. We hiked all the way back down and a little Japanese girl approached us. She was working on her English and so we practiced a conversation with her. She asked for our home currency but we didn’t have any ha we felt bad. Then we found this really cool origami side street. It was a bunch of origami cranes stacked on top of each other in different colors and it created a rainbow. It was really cool! Then we headed back to the train station and on the way, Jeff got a crab stick. And it started raining really hard so we got our umbrella out and we learned it had cats all over it ha we had opened it earlier and not noticed. We took the train to the Gion District. When we got off, we wandered around searching for geishas. We walked around Gion Corner and then we came upon the Kennin-ji Temple. We paid to go in and we had to take our shoes off and we walked through the entire thing. We saw the zen gardens, the twin dragons, and the teahouse. We had to wear these hilarious little red shoes to the twin dragons and Jeff has never looked prettier. After the temple, we just wandered around and then we realized we were actually fairly close to our Ryokan so we just walked there. I don’t mind walking the streets here. I love taking it all in. The people. The signs. The buildings. It’s all so intriguing to me. We walked along the river, which was really pretty, and then when we were almost to our Ryokan, we decided we should eat. So we found a sukiyaki place and headed that way. We couldn’t find the entrance haha it kept saying it was along the river but there was no way to get in at all so we decided to try the back. We found A sukiyaki place. We still aren’t sure if it was the one we were looking for but whatever. We went in and one serving of sukiyaki with uhgi in it was 7000 yen ($70). But we were roped in! So we spent about $140 on this meal. It still shocks me. It was very traditional style. We sat on the ground on pillows and a woman in a kimono made our food in front of us and kept forcing us to eat everything haha I enjoyed the experience. The Coke here is super good as well so we always order one of those ha Jeff tried to put some meat on the pan and the lady saw and she got mad haha it was pretty funny. They ended the meal with matcha ice cream. After we paid, they gave us Japanese hard candy that is really good! After we ate, we walked back to the Ryokan and actually checked in. She showed us around the entire place and then took us to our room. There were robes, slippers, and the weird two toed socks waiting for us. So we put those on and then we went downstairs to the onsen. They are public naked baths. I don’t love being naked in private, let alone in public haha but luckily when we went down, no one was there. They were separated by gender so Jeff was alone in the men’s and I was alone in the women’s ha so you go in and put all of your clothes in a basket and then you go in the onsen and you shower sitting down. Then once you are all washed and rinsed, you get in the “hot tub” and cleanse yourself. It was actually very refreshing to be naked in there! I didn’t last long though because it was pretty hot and I can’t sit still for too long ha so I got out and showered again and then put my robes back on and met Jeff outside. Then we went to our room. The beds were just pads on the ground and they were on bamboo flooring. The doors were sliding doors and it felt very Japanese. I enjoyed it a lot! Then we went to bed. 

Saturday, September 15, 2018

We woke up and we had paid for breakfast at 8:30am so we headed down in our robes because we thought that’s what we were supposed to do. We walk in to breakfast and everyone is in normal clothes. It was so embarrassing haha breakfast was crazy as well. A Japanese omelet is just a tight roll of eggs. We ate Japanese pickles, miso soup, tofu, tea, and this salad thing that wasn’t actually salad. Oh and a grapefruit. Then she brought us coffee and we made it look like we drank some and then we peaced. We walked out past the zen garden and then as we were heading to our room, a little Japanese woman stopped us and it looked like she was giving me a hug so I gave her a hug but she untied my robe and switched the sides real quick and then re-tied me in ha she giggled when I hugged her ha then she did the same to Jeff and we went upstairs ha we packed up our bags and got ready and then we went downstairs. Before we left, we experienced a tea ceremony. I loved it. They move everything a certain way and mix the tea a certain way and then they give you some to drink. It was disgusting but I loved the experience haha then we left and the lady who re-tied us and did the tea ceremony watched us leave the entire way down the road. I loved her ha we took a train to our next Airbnb. When we got there, we were able to check in immediately. It was awesome! We dropped our bags off and head to Ariyashima. We took the bus this time which was a new experience. We didn’t know when to pay but we realized you have to press the stop request button and then the driver will let you out the front door and you scan your Icoca card. When we arrived, we went to the Monkey Park. It’s a little hike uphill but when you come to the top, there are SO MANY monkeys! They were everywhere! And there were so many rules with them haha we couldn’t crouch, look them in the eye, take a picture when they were looking at you, be within 2 meters of them, or feed them. But we followed these rules because some of the monkeys were aggressive and they were scary haha there were also a ton of baby monkeys. They were adorable. They were playing together, rolling around, and chasing each other ha while we were there, the workers did a feeding time and they just spread food all over the place and they played the Can Can song haha but that song fit PERFECTLY. It was a feeding frenzy! The monkeys were coming from everywhere! Then we went inside the building and we fed the monkeys bananas from behind a fence. The larger monkeys wouldn’t let us feed the baby monkeys. They would straight up steal it ha there was a super aggressive monkey that would run along the edge of the fence and scare the rest of the monkeys away. We witnessed a lot of monkey fights ha we had a blast. One of the baby monkeys held my finger when I was attempting to feed it. It was so cute! Once we had our fill, we headed back down and we ate at the bottom. I had hot noodles and Jeff had beef and egg noodles. Both were way good! After we ate, we walked along the river. It was gorgeous! We were trying to head towards the bamboo forest but since the typhoon and earthquake had hit Japan last week, a lot of trees had fallen so they had closed the one we were trying to go to we think. But there was another one so we turned around and headed that way. We were on this tiny path and cars kept driving past us. We were shocked they were driving on this path. It was seriously so small. One wrong move and they’d be in the river. Anyway, we walked along this street that was very crowded. It had a ton of shops and street food vendors on it and we happened to pass an owl/cat cafe. We decided to check it out. We just paid for the owl portion. And it wasn’t even a cafe. It was just a very directed path among owls ha and the owls were terrifying. The first one would rock back and forth whenever we’d come near it and it would hiss. Some owls loved being petted! They were tethered to the tree they were in. It was honestly pretty sad. You could tell they weren’t happy. One owl tried to fly away and it fell off the branch and a worker had to come put it back on the branch. It was super sad. I’m sure the cat cafe is better because cats enjoy interaction more than owls for sure. After we went through, we headed towards the bamboo grove. It was beautiful! When we got to the end of the path, there was a man playing a handpan. It was amazing!! I’ve never heard of that instrument but it was very perfect for the setting. We listened to him for a while and then headed back to find our bus. There are vending machines all over the streets and we are obsessed with them. We keep trying new drinks and it’s been very enjoyable. Once we got on the bus, we were riding it for a while but then at one of the stops the bus driver turned around and beckoned us to him. He asked what stop and I showed him on my phone and he said we were on the wrong 93 bus. There are apparently two and we were on the speciality one ha so we got off and had to wait for the next one. Eventually we got back and we went to the mini shop by our Airbnb and bought a bunch of different chocolates and sweets and breakfast for the next morning and then we went back to the Airbnb. After we chilled for a minute, Jeff found a sushi place that he wanted to try so we headed there. They made the sushi right in front of us! I don’t love sushi so I ordered some asparagus and it was about the size of my pointer finger and there was only two pieces. It was hilarious how tiny they were haha but Jeff enjoyed his sushi! After we ate, we went back to the Airbnb and watched Bachelor in Paradise on my phone and then went to bed. 

Sunday, September 16, 2018

We woke up around 7:30am and headed to Nara. We walked to the train station and ate our breakfast on the train. We had to get off and catch another train but the total travel time was about an hour from where we were. We helped a lost couple find where they were supposed to be going. They were using just a map and I was way impressed. We pay to use my phone because I don’t want to deal with getting lost. Even though we still get lost even with a phone sometimes ha once we arrived in Nara, we walked to Kofuku-ji Temple. The street we walked on was adorable! And that was when we started seeing the deer. They were everywhere we went in Nara. We also learned that we were there during a food and music festival so people were playing music everywhere we went. We loved it! After the temple, we went to Nara Park and fed the deer. You buy these little crackers and the deer freakin charge you. They nibble on your stomach, butt, anywhere they can! I would recommend taking your crackers somewhere where the deer are more spread out. Right at the entrance there are a ton and they’ll swarm. The ones with antlers will buck you. Ha it was quite the experience! I really enjoyed it though! It was hilarious to watch others feed them. Some were terrified. Kids screamed. It was really enjoyable ha after we fed the deer, we walked to Todai-ji. We paid to go in and see the big Buddha statue. It was HUGE. We lit some incense and got blessed and we walked around the big Buddha statue. Then we left. Still deer everywhere. Then we walked up the mountain to Nigatsudo. It was really pretty up there. After enjoying that area, we walked to Kasuga-Taisha. We didn’t pay to go inside but we enjoyed all of the lanterns around the area. We bought more deer crackers and fed the deer from our mouths and got pictures looking like we’re kissing the deer. We gathered quite the crowd doing this haha they loved it! We walked back along the street we came in on (it’s a nice circle route to see all of the things we saw) and we ate at a Okonomiyaki restaurant. They say it’s like a savory pancake but it’s not a pancake at all ha it’s made of cabbage and meat and who knows what else. I got the pork and egg one. It was pretty good but not my favorite. Then we enjoyed two guys singing for a while out on the street and then we hopped on a train to Osaka. I love seeing what people wear here. They have so many things with English words on them but we don’t know if they know what the words mean. It’s very interesting. They also love socks and sandals. And crocs. I love it. Once we arrived in Osaka, we walked to the Osaka Castle. On our way, we passed a dog park and there was a man with an owl standing in the middle of a bunch of dogs. So I walked up to him and asked if I could pet his owl and he let me hold it! It was the cutest little thing. Then Jeff held it and we thanked him and continued on. There was a huge festival going on here as well and there was a giant stage. It was fun listening to the concert as we walked ha once we got to the castle, we sat down on this rock wall and there was a man sitting there. He scooted closer to us and asked if we were in a hurry. We said no and he said that he wanted to guess where we were from. So he asked us how many countries there are in the world. He said 196 and that he checked on the internet for that. He tried to have us guess what was in his bag and when we couldn’t, he took a globe out. Then he asked what the highest point was in our country. We didn’t know ha Jeff guessed Mount St Helens but we weren’t sure what was right. Then he asked what was the best sight seeing spot was in our country and I said the Statue of Liberty. He laughed haha and he said everyone knows that one! Then he tried to guess what our hometowns were. I think he meant state that we lived in though. He asked for one tip and we said the capital of our state was Salt Lake City. He had no idea haha so we said Utah and I don’t think he’d heard of it. Then we exchanged names, took a picture, and then he took out a Mr. Potato Head and asked us to guess what was inside and I yelled candy! And he laughed and said I was smart and then gave us candy and we left haha we think he wanted to work on his English with us. He said he drives trucks for a living and he listens to English radio talk shows to learn. Not many people speak much English here so far but the ones that do really love talking to us haha everyone is so nice here though! So willing to help us. Anyway, after we left Osaka Castle, we walked back to to train station and took the train to Dotonbori. It looked like the Time Square of Osaka! Tons of lights, advertisements, people. It was crazy! We walked around there for a little bit and then we took the train back to our Airbnb. But not before we got lost for a little bit and took a couple wrong trains ha eventually we got it though! When we got back, I showered while Jeff ran to McDonald’s haha we love the food here but it was really late and McDonald’s is easy ha it is so humid here and we packed TERRIBLY. I should’ve brought all dresses but I brought all pants. For some dumb reason! I definitely regret my packing. Ha after we ate, we went to sleep. 

Monday, September 17, 2018

We slept in. We were dead. We finally got up and got ready and left around 11:30am ha we stopped by the Mini Stop outside of our Airbnb to get breakfast. We got the yogurt again, some bread, some mandarin oranges, and some new drinks and candy. We have loved trying the candy and drinks ha we got on the bus to go to the Gold Pavilion and ate and I had found my favorite drink. It’s called Skal White Peach. Holy crap it’s good. I look for it everywhere we go now. Anyway, once we got to the Golden Pavilion, we paid for the entrance (you have to pay to even see it) and there’s a designated path that you follow. It was a struggle taking pictures of it. This couple was having a full on photo shoot in the prime spot and then everywhere else we went, people would stand in front of us or block our view. It was crazy! The Golden Pavilion is beautiful though. Surrounded by a pond with HUGE fish in it. Then as you walk further down the path, you throw coins into a little bowl and if you make it, you receive good luck. I’m pretty sure I made mine. Jeff thinks I didn’t but he’s just jealous. We also stopped by this little shop where you can buy fortunes that are sketched on little pieces of wood. They had good luck, success with jobs, dreams come true, stuff like that. Then as we walked further, we tried a ton of different Japan sweets. I have no idea what any of it was called but all I can say is they love their matcha green tea. Everything is flavored by that ha Jeff ended up buying some wasabi nuts. They’re pretty good! Then we exited and walked through a few souvenir shops and then we took the bus to the Nijo Castle. Once we got there though, we didn’t want to pay to go in. It didn’t intrigued us at all so we ended up getting 30 minute Shiatsu massages! It was lovely. They gave us a cookie and tea after. For every meal or snack here, they give you a wet wipe or wet towel. I really love it. You get to clean your hands and face before every meal! After our massages, we were starving, so we found a gyoza place called Chaochao Sanjo Kiyamachi. We got there right when it opened and we sat at the bar so we could watch them make it. We got beef, chicken and mozzarella, kamatama style with beef and egg, cabbage, and shrimp gyoza. I didn’t love the cabbage and I didn’t try to shrimp (Jeff said it was way good though) but man everything we ordered was amazing. We ended up ordering another serving of beef and chicken with mozzarella. It was delicious. After we ate, we took the bus to the Tijo Temple. But it was closed. And they lock the doors so you can’t walk up to it at all. So we found this pedestrian bridge and we went up there to get a good view of the pagoda (they are really beautiful at night!) and then we decided to head back to the Airbnb. On our way to the bus stop, Jeff tried to climb over this tiny fence to get closer to this crane and all of the sudden it flared and another crane came swooping over Jeff. It was scary! We thought Jeff was the cause but after watching the two cranes for a while, we think it was between the cranes and had nothing to do with Jeff ha as we were waiting for the bus, we bought two more drinks. They were only okay. Now that I have my favorite, it’s hard to beat it ha once we got back to the Airbnb, we prepped our bags to leave the next morning and then we went to bed. 

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

We woke up around 7:15am and packed up our stuff. We walked to the Mini Stop and got breakfast again. I got my favorite drink and then we headed to the Nijo Station to catch the train to the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. There are so many bikes here. And they are silent! They don’t say anything when they’re behind you. They either fly past you or they stop and wait until you move. Still not saying anything. I’ve only heard a few of them use the bell on their bikes but other than that, silence. The people here keep to themselves. The trains are silent, the buses are silent. Not a ton of talking ha we took the train from Nijo to Kyoto and then the Shinkansen to Hiroshima. It was a beautiful ride to Hiroshima. The countryside is amazing. The ride took about an hour and a half from Kyoto. Once we got to Hiroshima, we refilled our Icoca cards and then hopped on a sightseeing bus that dropped us off at the Peace Memorial Park. We chilled in the shade on the grass for a while until we could drop our bags off at our Airbnb. Once we were able to drop our bags off, we walked through Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. We saw the Flame of Peace, the children monument, the mound where thousands of people’s ashes lie from the atomic bomb, and the Atomic Bomb Dome. It’s really weird being somewhere that the US caused harm to them in history and seeing the memorials and everything. It’s like I feel bad for it even though I didn’t even exist yet. One thing I did notice is they don’t mention anywhere WHY we used the first atomic bomb. They start everything off with “Americans used the first atomic bomb...” and I started feeling a little defensive of our country! Even though it’s sad that thousands of people died obviously. I don’t know. I’m not a historian. ha when we were at the Atomic Bomb Dome, there was a guy with a bike that was full of articles he had written because his mother was pregnant with him when the A-bomb hit and they both lived and are still living! As we walked to the Hiroshima Castle, students kept passing us saying hello and giggling when we would say it back haha we stopped at a 7-Eleven to try new drinks on our walk. When we entered the castle grounds, there was a man feeding a pigeon fish food. The bird would jump into his hand, eat, and then jump off. He was actually giving out fish food to feed these GIANT carps that were in the moat surrounding the castle. There were a ton of them. Jeff was fascinated haha after watching the fish for a while, we got to the castle and had to pay to go in (only like 500 yen). We walked around the first four floors learning about why the castle was built where it was (the rivers around Hiroshima created a natural barrier to the castle and they added another moat for protection) and we got to lift a samurai sword (they are heavy) and try on samurai armor (also heavy). The castle actually had to be built a second time because the A-bomb completely destroyed the first one. Then on the fifth floor, it was open to look out over the city (fenced in but still open). After we left the castle, we took a bus to Hijiyama Park. The buses here were slightly different than the ones in Kyoto. You have to scan your Icoca card when you get on and when you get off. Just a fun fact. Anyway, we got to the base of the hill that Hijiyama Park was on and we were starving! There were zero food places though! So we had to go to a convenience store and we bought this crustable thing (instead of PB&J it was butter and jam) and we bought pizza chips (chips flavored like pizza) and some cookies. Then we walked up the hill to the park. The park was lame. Nothing to see (I read it had a good view of the city but it didn’t). We even tried to sneak up to this tower up there just to get a good view and everything we blocked off by trees. So we just left and we walked another way down the hill and this way had an escalator! So that was great! We took the bus back to our Airbnb. We chilled there watching a sumo wrestling match until 5pm and then this gyoza place by our Airbnb opened and we went and ate. We got cheese, beef, and chicken gyoza. They were good but not nearly as good as that other gyoza place ha then we went back to the Airbnb and went to bed. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

This was my favorite day so far. We slept in (that’s been a wonderful thing about this trip; we can sleep in and still see/do everything we wanted). And we went to the Hiroshima Station, bought breakfast, and then took the train the Miyajima. I ate my yogurt on the train by drinking it and a bunch of locals were staring at me ha it was uncomfortable but I was hungry! Let’s take a moment to talk about the breakfast we’ve been eating. They have this bread that tastes exactly like French toast. It’s soaked in something. It’s delicious!! Then they have rolls with butter already in the middle of them! I love it! Anyway, we took the train to the ferry port and then they have a ferry that’s free to the Japan Rail Pass holders so that was awesome. We took that over to Miyajima Island and the ferry passed the floating shrine so we obviously took pictures of that and then we got off of the ferry. As we walked to the floating shrine, we walked through shops and there were deer everywhere. We saw the cutest baby deer just chilling on the sidewalk. It was so cute!! We saw someone with a shirt that said Tent is your sky. And another that said moment of memories. I love reading the English translations here. We got to the floating shrine and the tide was way down so we took pictures and walked across where the water usually is and we went to the aquarium (we wanted to break up the sightseeing). Right when we got there, it was fun time with penguins. So we went to Friendship Square and waited to see what fun time with penguins actually meant. While we were waiting, we watched the otters get fed. The worker would stick raw fish on the wall and the otter would have to swim to it and jump up to get the fish. It was the cutest thing. They started setting up all of these dividers for the penguins and they formed a line so we hopped in and we were the second group in the line. We started getting nervous because we were at the front of the line and they had set up two stations so we would be one of the first to go and we didn’t know what to do and nobody spoke English ha so they gave instructions in Japanese and basically we acted like we knew what we were doing while secretly watching the two girls in front of us. They got hand sanitizer on their hands so we did. They walked over to their fenced off area so we went to ours. And they knelt in front of the fence so we did and then they petted a penguin so we did! I’ve always wanted to touch a penguin! It was so fun! I tried to touch the head and got in trouble ha a guy was holding the penguin and he said no. We took pictures and we weren’t sure what to do next or how long to sit there so we just did everything the girls did. When they stood up to go, so did we haha after we saw the penguins, we went over to this tide pool and got to hold starfish and we touched a sea slug and some other things that we don’t know a name for ha then we saw a bunch of fish and we watched an octopus attack a shark for a second and then stop. We got to put our hands in a fish tank and let the fish eat the crap off of our hands. It felt so weird!! But I loved it. We saw finless porpoises. Then we went to watch the penguin feeding. It was hilarious watching them fight over the fish. Then the lady was asking for volunteers (we think) and I raised my hand. She giggled but let me participate! I was given some fish and I got to feed the penguins. It was a blast! Then we went and got front row seats to the sea lion show. Jeff said “I’m not going to volunteer here because I’ll have no idea what to do” and then the show starts and they asked for volunteers and who raises his hand? Jeff. Haha so they had him stand up and they gave him a ring to throw to the sea lion. So they positioned him and nodded their heads and he threw it and the sea lion caught it! It was awesome. We were just very involved at this aquarium and they probably hated it because they couldn’t tell us what to do haha but we loved it! The sea lions were awesome. They caught stuff, jumped through hoops, waved, clapped, and rolled over. They reminded us of Sophie. Ha we miss her. After the sea lion show, we watched the otters get fed again and then we left. We walked to the Itsukushima Shrine and the tide had gone up! So the part we had walked across earlier was under water. We took a bunch of pictures (typical) and then we walked up to the Five Story Pagoda. After trying to catch a couple of crabs that were up there, we made our way to the Omotosando (shopping street) and we bought a bunch of stuff ha then we went to the ferry port and waited for the ferry. We got on the ferry when it arrived and then we took the train back to Hiroshima. We stopped at this Udon restaurant around the corner from our Airbnb and the food was SO GOOD. I got beef and egg udon and Jeff got this pork/shrimp udon and we loved our meals. We were given tea again so we chugged it quickly so we didn’t have to taste it haha after we ate, we went to our Airbnb and went to bed. 

Thursday, September 20, 2018

We woke up and headed to Hiroshima Station in the rain. We bought breakfast again at the 7-Eleven and ate it while we waited for the Shinkansen train to Tokyo. Our Japan Rail passes expired on the 19th but we were able to get on the train to Tokyo. When we got to Tokyo, we went straight to our pod hotel. The women stayed on one floor and the men were on another floor. Jeff wasn’t allowed on my floor, his key wouldn’t even allow him to go to my floor ha we looked around our floors and left our bags in our assigned lockers and then we went out in the rain to look for food. We bought this peach flavored fettuccini gummi candy and it was SO GOOD. We passed a restaurant that looked good but it didn’t open for another hour so we kept on walking and every 7-Eleven we walked past we went inside to look for our favorite drink. Eventually we went into a sushi place so Jeff could get some sushi. It smelled like the ocean the second we walked through the doors ha Jeff enjoyed his sushi here! I tried fish eggs. So gross. After sushi, we walked back to the first restaurant we saw and we ordered udon. It was pretty good! Then we went back to our pod hotel and hung out in the lobby for a while and then we went to bed. The pods were so weird. They gave us all black pajamas to wear. Jeff slept terribly because the guy in the pod next to him was snoring. I didn’t sleep well either. You can hear literally every movement or noise your neighbors make. Super obnoxious but kinda a cool experience haha

Friday, September 21, 2018

We woke up early because we had to walk across the city to where we had to meet for our Mount Fuji tour. It was still raining. When we got to the hotel we had to meet at, we were whisked away to our bus. On the bus, we learned about Tokyo as we drove and our guide taught us how to fold some origami. We drove to Mount Fuji and it was so foggy, we saw absolutely nothing. We went to this lodge and we couldn’t see anything below or above us. Then we drove to a hotel to eat lunch and we thought the fog might clear but it definitely didn’t ha the food at the hotel was only okay. Definitely wasn’t great. Then we hopped on the bus again and went to this lake. It reminded us of the Milford Sound. It was beautiful! Still foggy. We got on a boat and took a little ride and on the boat we made friends with John Ayers. He was in the army and he was stationed in South Korea. He was just on a weekend trip. We hung out with him the rest of the day! When we got off of the boat, we went to a tram that took us up the mountain. This mountain supposedly had great views of Mount Fuji. When we got to the top, we were immersed in very thick fog. We couldn’t see a thing!! And it was raining. So we weren’t up there long and we headed back down to the bus. Then the bus took us back to Tokyo. It dropped us off at a train station and they gave us tickets to get back to the area we were staying in. When we arrived, we ended up going to dinner with John. We ordered a few different types of food and we all shared. We had a great time with him! He even paid for the meal! Such a cool guy. Then we said our goodbyes and we went and checked into our next hotel. We went to bed shortly after we got there. 

Saturday, September 22, 2018

We slept in the next morning and then we took a train to Tokyo Disney Sea. People watching was amazing here. Everyone was dressed up as their favorite Disney characters. And everyone in their group was dressed up. It was amazing!! When we arrived, I bought Mickey ears because I felt left out. We rode some rides and bought a ton of treats. We stood in line for almost two hours to ride the Toy Story ride but it was so worth it. It was by far our favorite ride. We got great seats for the night show. It was a fun show on the water and it was a blast to watch! We spent the entire day there and we didn’t leave until it closed. Then we made our way back to our hotel. 

Sunday, September 23, 2018

We had to be up early to get to the airport for our flight home. We bought breakfast at a 7-Eleven again (it was so good!). We took a train there and it was the perfect send off. The train was packed as tightly as it could be ha when we got to the airport, we got comfortable at the gate. Then we got on the plane and flew home! We didn’t get upgraded to Delta One which was super unfortunate but whatever haha such a fun trip!!