Japan Trip

[nisryus]

If there was no mechanical problem with our return flight home, or it would not rain during the Osaka World Expo, the trip was pretty good and the kid was very happy.

Two of the days we were in Tokyo was raining pretty hard. This is Kaminari mon.



Imperial Palace


1.5 lb of A5 Mogami wagyu steak

Fluffy Pancakes!

Gyoza....

Shibuya Crossing. It was early morning so not too crowded

Tower Record. The kid and I browsed their vinyl record floor for nearly an hour.

Gozilla peeking

 

[nisryus]

Unicorn Gundam

Small version of our Statue of Liberty


The day we went to Mt Fuji it was raining hard, so hardly ever able to see it

Mt Fuji 5th Station


Arakurayama Sengen Park. The steps were a bit of a work out, especially when they were very slippery with the rain and mud.


Zojo Ji, behind it was Tokyo Tower.


Tokyo Tower. We went on the weekday so couldn't do the 600 steps challenge. But we were able to walk down the stairs, just not up.


Costco Combo pizza and bulgogi bakes

 

[nisryus]

So cheap... yeah Costco sushi.


Took the Shinkansen to Koyto


seimei shrine
Kyoto Imperial Palace




Kinkaku ji - as the kid put it, a total tourist trap lol. it was so crowded we had to wait until several tour groups and famnilies left before I muscled my way for a spot to take a pic.


Many of these around Kyoto and they all have big balls....


Senbon Torii. (Thousand Torii Gates) - this was truly a climb of my life.... We went there at 5am, after 7am there were tour groups and tons of ppl.


Sannenzaka

 

[nisryus]

Yasaka shrine



Arashiyama bamboo forest




thick cut of fatty tuna...


Osaka castle


Dotonbori

 

[nisryus]

Dotonbori.. some of these might give your children nightmares






gotta have a pic of this guy

why a baby with a rifle? is that some kind of a message?
We all love Donki


Osaka Expo was a bust. Rain, cold, crowded. We were only able to got into two small pavilions due to lottery system. Everywhere else you have to wait 30 mins to 3 hours in the rain.

 

[nisryus]

It's Astro boy!





USA! USA! But withotu reservation its a 2 hours wait... so it was a noper.

China pavilion


Portugal

 

[nisryus]

 

[nisryus]

I missed all the good food there... that Mogami Wagyu steak was heavenly.

The sushi we had there, even from a small mom and pop place, were so fresh and good.

Tempuras there were lightly battered but still very crispy.

I didn't know there were that many kind of ramen based on location or origin.

The Ichiran ramen was total over rated.

The breads and cakes... so my god... so light and fluffy. Comparing to what we have here.... we are living in hell.

 

[nisryus]

While inside Osaka castle, two of the floors were no picture or camera. Of course, only English speaking tourist kept taking selfie or pics, as soon as the security guy walked pass. At least please don't wear a USA, MAGA shirt. You stood out too easy. Give us a bad rap.

 

[biostud]

Damn, time flies. It's 11 years since I visited Japan and did a tour not unlike yours.

Great place to go.

 

[nisryus]

I want to go again (maybe Hokkaido, Nagoya and Kumamoto for onsen) but the wife wants to go to Europe instead...

 

[nisryus]

Damn, time flies. It's 11 years since I visited Japan and did a tour not unlike yours.

Great place to go.

It's not too late, go now before their new tourist free tax thingie go into effect!

 

[igor_kavinski]

Excellent pics!

Thanks for sharing.

Is that ice cream on the pancakes?

Gyozo looks like momo.

 

[brianmanahan]

that's awesome! i was going to go there in 2022 or 2023

 

[Fenixgoon]

Awesome trip 😎

 

[biostud]

It's not too late, go now before their new tourist free tax thingie go into effect!

Nah, currently I don't own a passport and 11 years ago I was my own man, now I have a wife and four kids, so priorities are different. But one day...

 

[igor_kavinski]

Nah, currently I don't own a passport and 11 years ago I was my own man, now I have a wife and four kids, so priorities are different. But one day...

A guy in my office went to Azerbaijan 3 day trip because the deal was too good. He left his wife and kids behind.

 

[biostud]

A guy in my office went to Azerbaijan 3 day trip because the deal was too good. He left his wife and kids behind.

Yeah, I'm not going to do that.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Any pics from the Soaplands or the No Pan Kissa?

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I missed all the good food there... that Mogami Wagyu steak was heavenly.

The sushi we had there, even from a small mom and pop place, were so fresh and good.

Tempuras there were lightly battered but still very crispy.

I didn't know there were that many kind of ramen based on location or origin.

The Ichiran ramen was total over rated.

The breads and cakes... so my god... so light and fluffy. Comparing to what we have here.... we are living in hell.

Never heard anything good about Ichiran. But who had the best fried chicken between Family Mart, Lawsons, and 7-11?

 

[WelshBloke]

gotta have a pic of this guy
View attachment 125536

Ha. A friend of mine just got back and posted this (excuse the AI generated thing as I edited out his wife).


He said the same as you about the expo.

 

[Brainonska511]

Looks like you had a good trip.

One of these days, I'm going to finish going through my pictures from Japan from April/May in Lightroom. My recent move has hampered my progress on that front.

 

[nisryus]

Any pics from the Soaplands or the No Pan Kissa?

I had to look up what those meant lol...

Sadly, no. With the wife by my side 24/7, I couldn't even dare to take a peek at one of those girls (dressed like maids promoting their cafes) on the street!

 

[nisryus]

Excellent pics!

Thanks for sharing.

Is that ice cream on the pancakes?

Gyozo looks like momo.

View attachment 125574

Yep, ice cream on pancakes. Gyoza do look like momo, which I never had. But boy, $2.35 for 6 pieces of gyoza, so $18.8 for 48 pieces was a good deal. They were very tasty too.

 

[nisryus]

Never heard anything good about Ichiran. But who had the best fried chicken between Family Mart, Lawsons, and 7-11?

Lawsons for myself, the kid liked Family Mart's fried chicken.

And everyone was right about 7-11 egg sando being the best.