October 10 – Tokyo, Japan to Calgary

We are home. It was a long, but uneventful travel day. As usual I’m thrilled to be home.

Thanks to all of you who read and came along on this journey with us.

Until next time…

October 9 – Tokyo, Japan

Giants stadium

Weather

lunch!

– 22º, rain until about 2, pleasant evening,
16º

Steps – 17,985

11 hours 31 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Tokyo 35º (Los Angeles is 34º)

Last day in Japan. Home tomorrow. We made the most of the last day.

The Toyko Giants baseball stadium is 4 subway stops away from our hotel, which about an hour’s walk. We decided to take the subway there and walk

at shrine

home – the rain was supposed to stop later in the

day time route

day. On the way home it had stopped more or less. A subway ticket was about 2CAD one way.

The stadium area is a whole entertainment district complete with a roller coaster. They had numerous Giants’ shops, each specializing in one type of gear or other…jerseys in one, t-shirts in another, hats in yet another. We both got a shirt; Chris also got a hat. I’ve found indoor shops here blast heat. Between the moisture in my jacket and the heat, I was sweltering!

Shopping made us both hungry and thirsty. We found a baseball stadium food court, which at first I wasn’t too into, but it turned out to be great. We settled on 2 beers, 2 kinds of dumplings, and spring rolls – YUM!

Shinjuku street crossing

After lunch we popped into a Pachinko

Shinjuku streets

parlor. I’m still not totally sure what Pachinko really is, but what I’ve figured is that it’s kind of like a slot machine/video game/almost zero strategy game. Gambling for money is illegal in Japan, but Pachinko parlors get around this. Most people playing were men, and on their phones at the same time. It seems like you win tiny silver balls that can be redeemed for prizes and then in a separate

Izkaya sarea

location, outside of the parlor can be converted to cash. These prizes are then sold back to the Pachinko parlors. I may have some de
tails wrong…google it.

On the way home we wandered through another large shrine. While wandering through Japan, you tend to stumble upon temples and shrines. We learned that Tokyo has somewhere around 1,450 temples and shrines – temples = Buddhist, shrines = Shinto. But also learned that, they can also be together. Many Japanese people consider themselves to be both Buddhist and Shinto.

this is 2 thirds of the bar!

Once at the hotel, we hit the lounge for afternoon tea and then napped.

grapefruit juicing for cocktail

The evening’s activity was “Tokyo Bar Hopping Night Tour in Shinjuku”. The Shinjuku area of Tokyo is 3 stops away from our hotel or an hour’s walk. The plan was to take the subway both ways. We got off at Shinjuku Station – this is the world’s busiest subway station; more than 3.4 million people use this station EVERY DAY. That’s about 2 times all of the people in Calgary going through

karaoke crew

there each day!!

We were about half an hour early for tour but found the meeting point and wandered around for a while. Shinjuku is

the next Japanese idol

a commercial area with tons of restaurants, bars, shops, and karaoke bars.

This is the first time since being in Tokyo that we are in tourist-ville. Before this evening, we are usually the only people around who look like us. In Sinjuku there are many tourist looking people.

We finally met with Kuzu, our guide, and thought we might be the only ones on

COCKROACH!!

the tour because the other 3 were LATE! In fact, we met one of the other participants at the first Izakaya. There ended up being 5 of us (all from Canada) which was a great number.

random tiny alley

We got to our first stop, an Izakaya by snaking our way behind Kuzu through super narrow, smoky, back streets lined with the tiniest restaurants - Izakayas. Most of the places were grilling skewers, hence the smoke. I had minced chicken (kind of like a ground chicken patty) that came with a raw egg yoke for a dip – normally, I’m not too into egg, but this was interesting. I also had grilled chicken skewers. This was all washed down with a plum wine and an oolong tea cocktail, I think it was just tea, which was just fine with me!

We wandered again through the Shinjuku streets, stopping a few times for Kuzu to tell us a few bits of interesting info and to take some photos. The whole

Shinjuku area was pretty packed.

At one point we found the Godzilla head. This thing ‘goes off’ throughout the day, I’m not entirely sure how often. Like the transformer unicorn thing we saw on Sunday, this drew a crowd of people recording, but only lasted a few minutes.

new Japanese friends

We finally made it to our second stop on the tour – a dumpling spot. According to Kuzu, this place used to be mostly filled with locals, but now is filled with tourists. I had chicken dumplings and a couple of chicken drumstick things, that weren’t drumsticks at all, but a chicken meatball on a drumstick covered in skin…delicious. I drank a pear wine, a plum wine and a hoppy. Hoppy is basically Japanese non-alcoholic beer.

Our last stop was down a tiny back alley at the smallest bar I’ve ever been at in the world! This place couldn’t have been more than 75 square feet! 3 of the 5 seats were taken up by 2, 60ish Japanese men in suits and one Australian guy all listening to Billy Joel videos. Behind the bar was a high shelf lined with jars of booze, each flavoured with cockroach, viper, sea cucumber, lamprey, and other

viper

unrecognizable creatures – oh and…horse penis!

I had a viper and soda, and Chris had a sake. All 5 of us on the tour were fascinated by the creature flavoured booze. I couldn’t leave without tasting the c

2 Japanese and 5 Canadians

ockroach. The cockroach wasn’t included with the tour, so Chris opened his wallet so Kuzu and I could try the cockroach. These were just shots…Kuzu was lucky and got a whole cockroach in his…I only got a couple of legs. Can’t say exactly what this tasted like kinda just…booze. By this point,

giant sake bottle

Kuzu told us “the tour is now over”…the way he said it was so matter of fact, it was pretty hilarious. Chris was chatting with the guy from Australia and I was chatting with one of the Japanese guys who insisted I sit on his bar stool.

Although the tour was officially over, we figured we couldn’t just leave our conversations, so we had one last beer. The guy I was talking to spoke a bit of

overflowing sake

English so we could communicate a bit. He said he knew 2 Canadian cities…Toronto and – I figured he was about to say Vancouver, but he said CALGARY. He said many Japanese people know Calgary because of the Olympics.

Although I could have stayed there all day…it was time to head for home. I didn’t have high hopes for the toilet facilities
here but had to go…the bathroom was tiny, but FABULOUS. I was prepared for a squatter down the  back alley, but there was a full-on toilet that was clean with paper, soap and a sink attached to the back of the toilet, so the water used for hand washing was used for flushing!

tiny alley with a tinier bar

following Kuzu

We were headed back to the subway when we saw another small, but not as small (maybe 100 square feet) bar with 2 other people in it that we just had to stop at. We had a beer, listened to the 2 Japanese guys sing karaoke, sing karaoke with the guys ourselves and chatted with the guys and the bartender from Venezuela. The guys didn’t speak English, so the bartender translated. This was another super fun experience, but it was so late,

dumplings and chicken

and I could not drink another drop – good thing for all the food, so finally we headed to the subway.

We bought tickets and found our platform

Godzilla

when a worker came by to tell us no more trains were coming today! WTF!?! According to google maps there should have been one more train, but…there wasn’t.

It was actually super easy to find a taxi right outside of the subway station, probably lined up because the subway was OVER. Anyway, 10 minutes in a

Shinjuku street scene

cab and we were finally back at the hotel. WHEW!

October 8 – Tokyo, Japan

ahhhhh

Weather

ohayo (good morning) Toyko!

– 22º and RAIN, not torrential, pounding rain,
but all day, misty and a bit more than misty rain.

Steps – 19,236. Should have realized this before I was in bed, could have gotten it over 20,000.

11 hours 31 min of daylight

Latitude – Calgary 51º, Tokyo 35º (Los Angeles is 34º)

Waking up to a notification on my phone telling me I exceeded my sleep goal is the success I need in life! When I said we were beat yesterday, my apple watch agreed! Over 9 hours!!! I don’t think I slept over 8 hours since we’ve been away. It’s hard to say though, the time changes seems to mess with the sleep app.

Tokyo subway

another ohayo Toyko!

The hotel has a handful of options for breakfast. Yesterday, Tatsuki told us the best place to go, so that’s where we went. It was an extensive buffet with Japanese and Western options. I tried as many Japanese options as I could. House made tofu was the star, this was good, but the fact that it was made at the hotel was interesting. One thing about this hotel (and maybe Japan generally, I can’t remember our hotel from last trip, or maybe it’s since covid) is that they provide tons of sterilized tongs for use throughout the buffet. The lounge on our floor has this too. This is an amazing, but simple concept to promote hygiene.

Skittles subway car

packed museum

They also give you little baskets to keep your purse, backpack, or briefcase off the floor. These are kind of like mesh magazine holders I’ve seen at home – brilliant!

Japanese restaurants (or bars where you’re going to eat) also give you a moist towel to ‘freshen up’ with. Sometimes these are cloth, or sometimes they are disposable – the disposable ones can be plush and fancy or thin and simple.

Rodin sculpture

We hung out in the ‘Executive Zen’ lounge for a bit after breakfast planning our day. I had to have another passion fruit and hotel’s signature croissant. Apparently, these croissants are a big deal. They are good,

devotional art

but I’m not really a croissant person, I think it’s the mess that turns me off. These ones are huge, that’s for sure.

We took the 30 min subway to the National Museum of Western Art. There was a Claude Monet exhibit on, plus their permanent collection seemed like a good

checking out the art

idea for a rainy day…we weren’t the only ones with this idea. The Monet exhibit was packed - the rest of the museum

Rodin gate

wasn’t. The restaurant was packed too. We tried to take a coffee break halfway through our visit, but nope, it was PACKED. It wasn’t as charming as museum cafés usually are, so we weren’t too sad to not go.

Subway…easy to use, well signed, machines that can be switched to English.

After the museum it was off to shop for knives. We bought a Japanese knife the last time we were here, and it is one of my prized possessions. I love a souvenir that I use all the time, and I use the knife every day. We tried a few while we were taught a bit about the knives.

random cool building

Tokyo’s kitchenware neighborhood is walking distance from the museum. We went into 4 or 5 different specific shops for knives and ended up buying at 2, one was the shop we bought in last trip. These shops are tiny, and the walls are LINED with knives.

random cool thing

Next, we looked for a place for lunch but couldn’t find much that was open. Plus, it was POURING at this point, so we decided to duck into the subway and make our way back to our neighborhood.

found in the middle of a sidewalk

We got off nearer to the Baseball stadium and wandered there a bit hoping for a shirt for Chris. Nope, no luck. The stadium is about a half hour
walk from our hotel. The Palace is near too, and had it not been after 4:30 (closing time, we could have cut through the grounds. However, we had to walk around. This was fine. Most walking is good. Plus, I wasn’t hot and didn’t need a bathroom.

zoom for menu items esp rectum

We had hopped for lunch out someplace, but it is just so easy to go to the hotel lounge for a bite. Really, there are enough interesting new Japanese things to eat here, that I don’t feel I’m not getting a Japan food experience. Plus, the service is just so, so wonderful.

We met a server from Brazil. I’m not sure how he made his way to Japanese, but his grandmother

Isakaya

was Japanese, so there’s some connection. He suggested a drink made with sake and Japanese cherry syrup – Sakura…very delicious.

We were torn between going back out for some evening time or going to the hotel’s ‘sky bar’. We have a 100USD hotel food and bev credit that we are having a hard time spending. Breakfast is included, as is unlimited food and drink in our lounge. By this time, it was about 8:00 and the bar closed at 9, so we went out instead.

It was still raining, but I had my hood and Chris - we were good. BTW…no one in Tokyo seems to wear hats or raincoats – normal clothes and an umbrella is the choice. I find umbrellas such a pain. Everywhere has umbrella stands/racks outside of the business and some bigger buildings have umbrella dryers or

7-11 snacks

umbrella condoms!

museum tix

We found an Izakaya – a small casual bar serving snacks and drinks. We passed ton his place at first and then doubled back. Their menu was posted outside in English and Japanese. We just wanted a beer. Good thing we weren’t going to eat, because while I can be an adventurous eater, I draw the line at pork rectum!

Picasso

This very small place had open sides, and because

Rodin

it was on a corner had two open sides. Open sides despite the rain was good, because these places in Japan allow smoking. This wasn’t a place you lingered…it was standup, cash only and almost dudes only.

We finished the very long day at the Mermaid Bar – a typical British pub. We ended up sitting outside under an awning because of the smoke. It’s hard to believe sitting inside with smoking being allowed at home way back when.

October 7 – Tokyo, Japan

pajamas laid out, on a HUGE bed

Weather

my own personal Japanese toilet

– 28º, it was HOT and HUMID

Steps – 10,817

Debarking a cruise is like Groundhog Day…always the same – they want you off ASAP. This is understandable. They have to "turn the ship (meaning 350ish rooms) around" in about 4-5 hours. Disembarkation/embarkation day is super busy for the crew. All the crew has extra jobs…the entertainment team, boutique staff, and casino workers are tasked with checking people in and showing them to their muster stations.

toilet controls!

Speaking of casino workers. I’m not sure if I mentioned at the beginning that we reconnected with Elbert, a super friendly casino worker we met on the Covid/retirement cruise. I rarely if ever gamble on a cruise, but Chris meets people that I end up getting to know outside of the casino. Elbert always knew the hiking trails and the beautiful spots.

Anyway…disembarkation day means everyone is out of their rooms by 8 and off the ship by 9. Thankfully, we don’t have a flight out today, so all we had to do was get to Hotel New Otani – our hotel for the next 3 days.

morning snack

rambutan and passion fruit

We had no worries for how long it would take to get off the boat, through customs etc, etc. We’ve had flights on debarkation days which can be really stressful. Depending on the port (Miami!), things can be significantly delayed. We arrived in Tokyo last night, so a flight today would have been no problem. It’s rare that the ship is in the day before disembarkation.

We didn’t think we’d get into our hotel room before noon, so we were in no rush to get off the boat. We spent about an hour at the ship’s pool, eating a small breakfast and relaxing.

Otani hotel founder

The process of getting a taxi was effortless. The port had many, many porters anxious to get people on their way. These porters spoke English (as identified on their vests) and communicated with the taxi driver for us. It

Japanese gardens

seemed like our driver spoke English, but we didn’t need to communicate much. Our hotel had a message on its web site to show a taxi driver to communicate getting to where we needed to go. We showed this message to the porter and used it to double check with the driver.  This was very helpful! I wish all hotels had this

We arrived at the New Otani after a $50, half hour, taxi ride. Refreshingly, taxis in Japan aren’t known for their screwing of tourists. I’m not sure how they can even

gardens

call themselves taxi drivers when they don’t screw tourists, but I was thankful.

The Hotel New Otani is something else! As usual,

more gardens

we do our research, so we knew the expanse of the hotel would be large. What we weren’t prepared for was the level of service and attention to detail. As we arrived, our bags were taken from us we were ushered to the 11^th floor where we were checked in. Another thing we weren’t prepared for was the quiet. We knew Japan had areas of quiet…subway, or restaurants for example where you aren’t there to socialize, but to get from point A to B or even take a nap, and to eat your meal. The area of the hotel we’re staying in should be called the quiet floor! Everyone speaks very quietly this encourages visitors to also speak softly…it is lovely.

So, back to check in…we were greeted with cold ginger tea (YUM) and all kinds of hotel info – did I mention this place is HUGE. Our room wasn’t supposed to be

tons of these guys

ready until noon, but we got in at around 10:30! WOW!! That is something!

Our room is also something else. I couldn’t concentrate on what Tatsuki (the guy who checked us in, brought us to the room, and showed us around) was saying because I couldn’t stop thinking about changing into the hotel provided PAJAMAS!!!!! PAJAMAS…why on earth do hotels NOT provide pajamas? Chris claims it’s because no one wears pajamas, but I disagree. Firstly, I wear pajamas and secondly, they probably haven’t been faced with super soft Japanese PAJAMAS!!!!! I’m in love with the pajamas. These are a typical 2-piece set. We also have a yukata, which is like a simple, unlined kimono – Chris looks great in his!

After I got over the pajamas and the rest of the room (including the Japanese

temple visit

toilet) we went back to the check in area to have a bite and a drink. The ‘Executive Zen’ area of the hotel (where we are staying) includes all-day

other side of the temple

snacks and drinks. Depending on the time of day, the snacks vary, but basically it’s a non-stop buffet and open bar staffed by people whose attention to detail is mind-blowing. These folks also do their jobs with as little sound as possible. New food for the day…rambutan. I had to google, but this is lychee. We also had a few passion fruits...delicious, tastes like orange, but better.

Once we were a bit refreshed, we visited the expansive Japanese gardens on the hotel grounds and then hit the streets. 

We wandered in the area close to our hotel. We visited a temple and checked out what is different on the Japanese Wendy’s menu…spaghetti, and found a

night timeTokyo

place for another drink and a bite.

more sake learning

By this time, we were both pretty beat, so after a nap and ‘dinner’ at the Executive Zen’s lounge we were in bed early.