Traveling to Japan
I just spent the past week in Tokyo with some incredible content creators and wanted to share a quick recap of my experience with you (read more at acanela.com).
26 May – Departure for Tokyo| I’ve been home less than a week, which sure made it hard to leave again. This morning I woke up early (4am) which wasn’t hard after spending nearly a month in Central Asia. My flight is from SLC to Seattle then onwards to Tokyo Japan. I am flying delta and my ticket cost me an arm and a leg since I waited until the absolute last minute to buy it.
27 May – Arrival in Tokyo | I’ve arrived in Japan! By the time I actually made it to my hotel it was nearly 4pm (since the airport is a solid hour outside the city by train). We are staying in the Asakusa region of the city near Senso-ji Temple (a beautiful place to stay). I am here for an Influencer Trip with our Partner Instasize and it should be an incredible trip! I spent the afternoon scouting out the destination and will be welcoming the group when then arrive first thing tomorrow!
28 May – Group’s Arrival in Tokyo| Welcome to Tokyo, the group is arriving all throughout today and I absolutely can’t wait to welcome them to this beautiful city! For dinner we dined at Ippudo Ramen – one of the best Ramen places in Japan and it was absolutely delicious! It’s time to get a good night’s rest so we can wake up early!
29 May – Visiting Tsukiji, Ueno, Akahabara |This morning we woke up early (4am) to visit the Toyosu Tuna Auction (the newly moved location). It was pouring down rain, which is always an adventure and when we arrived they had actually closed the auction for the day. That was alright, since we hopped on over to Tsukiji Market to explore the traditional food market before dining on some sushi for breakfast (yes, it seems strange but it is actually a very popular thing for Japanese to eat in the morning – especially in Tsukiji). We are at Sushi Zenmai – one of the best places to eat in the area. In the afternoon we continued onwards to Ueno Park where we explored the many temples and shrines before stopping off at a famous Tonkatsu Curry place for lunch (it was absolutely delicious). We continued walking into Akihabara before returning to our hotel in the evening.
[See my Ueno / Akihabara Instagram Post]
Dinner include a tasting tour through Asakusa (which has so many delicious dishes to try)!
30 May – Visiting Sensoji, Hie Shrine, Meiji Jingu, Harajuku, Shibuya, Mori Digital Art Museum | WHEW! Today was a LONG day. We started at 4am and finished at 10pm. We say some of the most important (and photogenic) sites in the city and can’t wait to share all the photos with you!
Because today was such a long day, many people opted out of dinner and chose just to stay in for the evening. A few of us decided to slip away to one of the most famous sushi spots in the region (Hiromato) and it was DELICIOUS. It’s only a standing counter, which makes it difficult to enjoy with a group – but nonetheless, DO NOT miss it when you are visiting Asasuka in Tokyo Japan 🙂
31 May – Mount Fuji Day Trip | Mount Fuji is a very important mountain in Japan (it’s not only the tallest but it is also one of the most sacred mountains). There is a shrine at the top that is absolutely beautiful, as well as some of the best (and most traditional noodles) HoeTou. We made stops at the famous Lake and Pagoda (with 400 steps) to take photos and enjoy a beautiful view of Mount Fuji in the distance.
[See my Mount Fuji Instagram Post]
It was a long ride back, and we arrived home around 7pm and where dropped off at Sometaro for dinner (a place where you make traditional Japanese pancakes and they are actually absolutely delicious)!
1 June – Shinzuku, Gotokuji Temple, Gonpachi Restaurant (with an incredible view of the skytree and river| Our last full day in Japan was also packed (although we did skip the early morning photoshoot and set out around 10am, the normal time that we start our tours). First on the itinerary was a visit to Shinzuku area (where memory Lane and piss alley are two very famous locations for photos). For lunch we had the option to try Yakitori, Japanese Curry, or traditional Soba + Tempura and we chose the later. The Soba broth was DELICIOUS and the Tempura even more so! I will definitely bring Andrew back here the next time we visit – because it is absolutely delicious 🙂
After lunch we hard a Free afternoon to shop and/or go back to the hotel and relax. A handful of us took the local train out to Gotokuji Temple (a famous Cat temple just on the outskirts of Tokyo). I wrote all about this location on my Instagram – so I will make sure to copy that directly below
[See my GotoKuji Instagram Post]
For dinner we enjoyed a delicious meal overlooking the river with the skytree in the distance. The restaurant’s name was Gonpachi (a restaurant made popular by the famous KillBill movies). There were several good options, but most people chose to enjoy Yakitori over rice – and it was DELICIOUS! Throughout our week in Japan, we made sure to enjoy the best restaurants and traditional foods in Japan – Read more here:
TOP THINGS TO DO IN TOKY
TOP FOODS TO EAT IN JAPAN
2 June – Departure for home | Today I get to TIME TRAVEL! I am sitting on the airplane trying to recap the past week here in Japan. It has gone by so quickly, which is sad – but I am also glad to be on my way back home to my darling husband Andrew. The more I travel, the more I miss him – and this week is a special week for him! On Friday it’s his birthday and he turns 29 years old! He is so cute, because ever year for his birthday all he wants to do is invite over all his friends and cook them a fancy dinner… I guess that makes his birthdays easy for me 😉 I have a 9 hour flight to Portland and then a 3 hour flight onwards to SLC (but with the time change I actually arrive 3 hours before I depart).
