Tag: food

Food of Japan – Part 3: Kyoto

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In the last two installments, I covered most of the food that I came across in Tokyo. On Friday morning, we departed for Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan. After a two and a half hour ride on the Shinkansen and settling into our hotel, we decided to venture out and find some dinner. There wasn’t much in terms of restaurants around our hotel and we ended up wandering some of the neighborhood streets. We eventually stumbled upon a local street festival, filled with all sorts of tasty goodies! Excuse the quality of the photos, I only had my cell phone camera on me at this point in time. 😦

Party time!

The neatest part about the festival was that it was for the locals, by the locals. We were probably the only tourists around, so there were a lot of really interesting things to look at.

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Food of Japan – part 2

On By Asian EdIn Travel1 Comment

Now that I’ve had some more time to digest, it’s time for part two of my Japanese culinary experience! We’ll start this time with a shot of what I enjoyed for breakfast on the day we went to Mitaka for the Ghibli Museum.

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In addition to getting sodas, water, and bottles of tea, many vending machines in Japan also sell coffee in a can. This particular serving was cold, however some machines also offer a selection of hot beverages. I did have a chance to try one in Nakano and it was pretty tasty! Breakfast that day consisted of some taiyaki that I’d bought the day before in Nakano. This particular one was matcha-flavored, or green tea flavored.

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Food of Japan – Part 1

On By Asian EdIn Travel4 Comments

I’m back again! This time with an insight into the various foods I ate while I was in Japan. Sadly, I didn’t bring a nice portable camera with me on the trip, so most of the photos were taken with my cell phone camera (main camera was a bit cumbersome to bring with me to dinner).

AppetizerMain course

Of course, neither of the above actually qualify as food in Japan, as I was in the air over North America when I was served these. First was some lovely grilled shrimp served with a tomato bisque and greens. It was then followed by a delicious beef stir fry with cashews, and veggies. First class, FTW!

First and foremost, the Japanese love to eat and really enjoy variety. On some streets, you can count a dozen restaurants in each direction. Furthermore, each department store features a food area filled with smaller cafes that specialize in a variety of cuisine. From noodles to sushi, and culinary delights from all over the world, you’ll certainly find something you fancy.

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A day in Kyoto – Shrine visits

On By Asian EdIn Otaku, TravelLeave a comment

Greetings from 34000 feet above above the Pacific Ocean! Please excuse the poor quality of the picture, the built in camera on my netbook can only do so much in such low light!

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It has been an awesome trip culminating in an eventful side trip into Kyoto. With Saturday being the only full day we had in the historic capital of Japan, we set to work visiting several shrines in the area. Our first stop was the Fushimi Inari shrine, which is most famous for it’s numerous gates along the walkway built into the mountain.

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Since schools are in session on Saturday in Japan, we ran into several large groups of students out on school trips. The main street leading up to the main entrance was crowded with locals and students. Compared to some of the other places we visited that day, there were far fewer tourists in the area. First though, a quick stop for some breakfast at a small restaurant along the way.

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Saying goodbye to Japan

On By Asian EdIn Otaku, TravelLeave a comment

It is another beautiful day in Kyoto, but sadly I won’t be enjoying it fully today. It’s time for me to take the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and bid farewell to Japan. It has been an awesome week, with all sorts of great experiences and stories. I still have some more content to put together from yesterday’s walk around Kyoto, though that’ll probably wait until I get back to the United States. Before signing off, here’s a look at what I’m having for breakfast today. Cream filled melonpan, tea, and some roasted beans from Fushimi Inari Shrine.

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Thank you Tokyo and Kyoto for all the great memories, hopefully we’ll cross paths again in the future!

Kyoto Day 1 – Traveling to Kyoto

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This afternoon we left Tokyo behind and jumped on the Shinkansen for Kyoto. It had been a great week in the biggest cities in Japan with a lot of sightseeing and shopping, but it was finally time for some R&R.

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It would be about two and a half hours by train to go from Tokyo station to Kyoto station, which is pretty impressive considering the 300+ mile distance between the two cities. We got to the station a little early, so we ended up looking around for food and generally taking it easy. Eventually, the train did arrive and we got on. This is my first time on the Shinkansen, so I was pretty excited and grabbed a window seat.

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Tokyo day 2 – Tokyo Game Show

On By Asian EdIn Otaku, Travel7 Comments

Good morning from Shinjuku! I’m happy to report that the jet lag is slowly going away, and I slept most of the way through 6am this morning after going to bed around 10pm. After a quick run to the convenience store for some breakfast items (I had no idea what I bought, to be honest), I’m ready to do a quick rundown of yesterday’s events!

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Yes, that is Saber Lily, more on her later. ^.^

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Traveling to Tokyo

On By Asian EdIn Life in general, Otaku, Travel2 Comments

It’s now the start of my first full day in Tokyo. The jet lag is a bit hard to deal with (13 hour time difference between here and Charlotte), though I did try to force the adjustment by staying up for most of the 26ish hours it took to fly to Japan, get to the hotel, and have some dinner. Still, after going to be around midnight JST, I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep.

The passing time on the flight from Minneapolis to Narita was much easier since I chose to fly first class. Any seasoned traveler will know that First Class means super comfortable seats, in-seat entertainment systems, decent food, and all the drinks I want. That last item in particular made the flight very enjoyable. 🙂

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Yes, I know… I’m a drunk 🙂

The flight in wasn’t actually too bad despite it being long. The flight landed in Narita around 17:20 JST. Following landing, I breezed through the quarantine checkpoint (didn’t appear to be active), passport control, baggage claim, and then customs.

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After meeting up with Eric, it was time to convert some money over and take the bus into central Tokyo. The ride itself took over an hour due to large amount of traffic in the city. By the time we hit the hotel, we were pretty tired and hungry. This meant going out and finding something to eat…

Our hotel is right across from a Tokyu Hands department store, which has a huge selection of restaurants. We settled on a tempura restaurant, which had some pretty good food.

IMAG0120After dinner, I was pretty much ready to pass out. I’d been up for most of the last 26 hours and was in desperate need of sleep. A quick shower was in order and then some channel surfing on the hotel TV. We stumbled upon what appeared to be the Bandai channel, which was showing all sorts of ads and reairing some older anime (including Mai-HiME).

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I managed to snap some pictures in the wee hours of the morning after I woke up at 5am JST. This jetlag is going to stay with me for at least another day, I suspect. I’ll need to struggle through the later parts of today and try to get myself on a good schedule. Fortunately, today is all about Tokyo Game Show, so I’ll probably be pretty wired.

More pictures and updates to come later on in the week!