Japan ’23 Part I: Welcome to the giant sauna

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I don’t remember the last time I was in Japan in August. It’s definitely not the best time to go but, y’know, the school schedule. It was one of the hottest summers because of super El Niño. Looks like typhoon #6 took an unexpected turn and got to escape that one but #7 was just developing and projected to hit Japan right when we will be there. Fingers crossed!

Fri: Landed!

The 10-hr flight was long and Y couldn’t sleep at all despite the JetKids we brought. It was gonna be a long night for this guy. We did good food-wise as we were prepared for 2 meals on the flight 💪

Yep, hot. We got to the immigration fairly quickly thanks to the JetKids. We saw our suitcase already on the carousel. Bang bang! I had the QR code ready on Visit Japan Web. By the time we got to the JR office, the line was not too bad. I was maybe 3 parties deep. First, I had to get the JR pass exchanged. I got our Narita Express tickets for the 3:45 pm departure. I even knocked off all the Shinkansen reservations for the trip. The lady said 1 or 2 trips only because the line is getting long. There was even a sign that said 1 other trip only. It definitely paid dividends to have done the homework and knew exactly which trains I wanted. Y was excited to see Skyliner on the other side of the station and finally Narita Express🙂 He lasted about 15 min and passed out for the rest as it was midnight at home.

From Tokyo to Akihabara to Asakusa was a bit rough with a sleepy tot. We were in the heart of Asakusa and things were just starting to pick up on the streets but we had zero capacity to check it out. Our top priority was to hit the sac. After a quick combini meal, lights out at 8 pm 💪

Sat: Hanging out at a train platform is a thing

Y suddenly got up shortly before 5 am 😱 Although it was pretty lit outside, nothing was open before 10 am. There is always a combini but the mini one next to the hotel had very limited options. Little did we know that there was a big 7-11 just around another corner 🤦🏻‍♀️ Welp, we headed to Tobu Asakusa station via Sensoji temple at 6am which wasn’t a bad idea because seeing the big lanterns became impossible later. Near the station, we picked up very homey onigiris from a tiny corner shop.

Tokyo Skytree is a few stations over from Asakusa. It’s actually a nice stroll through the neighborhood but it would have been too demanding for Y. We traded that with a shorter but decent walk to the Tobu station. Skytree area was dead and closed. We eventually reached the river and walked along it with an onigiri break. It wasn’t even 8 am and we decided to retreat to the hotel before heading over to Ueno station.

We were back out at 9:30 am. After a quick stop at a grocery store, we picked up a bus to Ueno. We got to the station at just about 10 am for the Shinkansen viewing. This place was on fire 🔥 I’d done the research to be on platform 21/22 at about car #10. We were literally the only ones on the platform and had the view of all the cool Shinkansens nonstop! It was one parked on a platform, then another. Shortly after, another one. This continued nonstop and we were entertained for an entire hour!

Food is one thing you’ll always find here. We didn’t even have to go as far as the ticketing. We had all the bento choices in the world! But random benches or place of refuge is hard to find. We took that back to the same empty platform. We had ekiben with nonstop Shinkansen views 😄 Before heading back to Asakusa, we swung by Yurakucho station for more train viewing. This walkway goes over rows and rows of train tracks. Even Skyliners were in view on the far end. But at 1 pm, being on this shadeless overpass, let alone just being outside, was rough 🥵 We called it, got a cold drink, and headed back to the hotel.

Asakusa was still happening. There have constantly been street performers in front of Donki but this one got us sitting. He claimed to be the cup-stacking world champion! He went into serious mode and showed us the winning speed. Legit 👍 In the end, we got to be in the room for like 30min and it was time to go catch the bus back to Ueno Station. We met up with Shige-San at 3:30 pm. Y was looking forward to it 😄 We walked through Ameyoko and caught up over skewer dinner. We made it back around 6 pm. Things were happening on the streets with lots of music and rows and rows of eateries with outdoor seating but we were beaten. Lights out at 8:30 pm!

Sun: The first sign of the Typhoon~

Good morning, 5:30 am ☀️ One of the things to do was to see the bussing robot at Gusto, especially since they’re one of the few places that are open during the wee hours. The kitty robot went on a charging break shortly after serving our table and Y got to see it to his heart's content 🙂

We headed to Keio department store in Shinjuku. We got there at 9:40 am. 20 minutes before opening. Y insisted on keeping his first spot in front of the door. V and I were so sure this wasn’t necessary. Y wasn’t budging and how were we wrong. By 9:55 am, the line was snaking around 😱 The build-up to the opening was real. At T-10 minutes, the security guard came and unlocked the glass doors. T-5, the attendant lady came and told us that we’d be entering through the automatic door so we went around the corner. T-2, she let us into the escalator entrance in front of a rope and told us to form a double file line. T-0, the rope opened and we were going up! I saw people oozing into the other side of the building. We went straight up on the escalator to the 7th floor. There!! The train models! It was like a picnic table-size setup. That was really it and loads and loads of train toys and merch surrounding it. Where were people going? Ah, there is also the Shimajiro Play Park event right next to it. All the announcements were related to that and how certain time slots are sold out etc. Our eyes were laser-focused on the prize. I eyed the train driving reservation and snagged 3 spots for 10:30 am 🙌 There were 5 seats on that model setup and we get to move the model trains with a knob. Seeing the 10:15 group, Y was able to get the double-decker Shinkansen and V the N’ex 🙌

With a little (eh…) derailment in the toy section, we finally left the store at ~noon. There was one thing that was left to do in Asakusa: snack around. Shumai, melon pan, shaved ice because of the heat 🥵, kintsuba, croquette, daigakuimo… It started raining suddenly when we were on the croquette. Dumping at times. We waited until it was manageable and hurried back to the hotel. Y was anxious to get the umbrella and head out 😅 We made a grocery run and back to the hotel before 4 pm. It was raining on and off throughout the evening and the street party was no more.

Mon: The first Shinkansen ride

Good morning, 5:30 ☀️ No morning is wasted with this crew. Check out at 7:30 am. Goodbye, amazing view of the temple and Skytree. The next stop: Tokyo station. It was full of people, people, and more people. The first agenda was the bento store, Matsuri. That place was so packed it was even hard to browse that V was parked in one corner with the luggage. Y snagged E7 Shinkansen bento, which was the only Shinkansen available. Y and I went searching for other Shinkansen models elsewhere to no avail ☹

Oh well, on to the next agenda: Starbucks at Sapia Tower. We got there at 9 am and it was pretty empty. I was surprised considering the mass at the station but I guess there is nothing for travelers to do here. I mean Starbucks was already covered on the station side right around the corner. This place was on fire though 🔥 The Shinkansens passed by right in front of us while drinking a cup of latte. Not shabby. I’m glad it was empty so we got the front row window seat but my shutter noise was echoing through the café 😅

At 10 am, Tokyo station was even more packed. I went to check Matsuri again just in case but it was even harder to push through. Oof, I’d better get Imasen’s three-story Tokyo Station limited bento which became available at 9:30 am. All the bentos in tow, we were a tad (eh…) early on the Shinkansen platform. A few hours without AC became hard to bear. It started dumping in the meantime. That’s when I saw the announcement about Shinkansens not running between Nagoya and Osaka tomorrow. A typhoon is expected to hit our destination tomorrow and we could have been stranded.

It’s been a while since my last Shinkansen ride and it was the first for V and Y. It went dizzyingly fast but impressively quiet. A little shake here and there but c’mon, it’s 300km/h! No problem chowing down his/her bentos. Dad came to get us at Kyoto station. The car ride to Otsu took longer than expected, like 1hr. Dropped luggage, grocery shopping to stock up for tomorrow (the store lady said they weren’t sure if they’d be open tomorrow), mini ennichi event, and dinner at 6 pm for Omi beef galore! A little late-nighter. Y passed out in the middle of a book.

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Photos

Shaved Ice
All you can pour syrup :D

Shinkansen viewing @ Ueno
connected!

Shinkansen viewing @ Ueno
connected!