Japan - Travel With A Butterfly

After visiting Yokohama and Hakone, we did a quick stop at Fujikawaguchiko. Got there early afternoon, had lunch there, spent the rest of the afternoon there, woke up really early to catch the beautiful clear skies to see Mt. Fuji, and started our drive back to Tokyo in the morning to make our lunch reservation.

We were very fortunate because on the first day we were there, the skies were quite grey and the weather wasn’t very clear. We had to do many things fast because sunset was very early in Japan in the winter – the skies were pitch black by around 4:30pm, so when we got there in the early afternoon, it didn’t really give us enough time to do many sightseeing, let alone see Mt. Fuji anymore.

Anyway, if you want to read more about my hike up to Mt. Fuji from before, you can read it at Let’s Drive: Mt. Fuji and Fuji Five Lakes. This blog post will be a quick recap of what we did for this trip in Fujikawaguchiko. Continue reading Day Trip to Fujikawaguchiko

Japan

Hakone Is Where Jack Ma Lives? And the Amazing Ryokans

ByRyan Lee

Apparently Jack Ma is residing in Hakone, Japan and enjoying lots of uni and toro? And planning to learn about advanced agricultural technology and bring back to China? Or so the media says.

Now that I’ve captured your attention, going to Hakone for my second time was a delight. Hakone is most notable for its ryokans, and there is no feeling that feels more authentically Japanese than staying at a ryokan and being served a Japanese breakfast and dinner, and sleeping on a tatami.

Hakone really isn’t a place for sightseeing and activities. I think the most interesting would probably be the museums, especially the glass museum we visited, but the rest weren’t that impressive. You go to Hakone to enjoy the ryokans mainly. If you haven’t done so already, you can read about my last trip to Hakone at Let’s Drive: Izu Peninsula, Hakone, Gotemba Continue reading Hakone Is Where Jack Ma Lives? And the Amazing Ryokans

Japan

teamLab Tokyo and Why Is Tokyo So Beautiful

ByRyan Lee

Each time I go to Tokyo, I admire it more and more. There’s always something new to be discovered, the cleanliness of the city and the politeness of the locals are impeccable, the Christmas decorations suggest it to be more than just a capitalist city but a cultural landmark and one that embraces liveliness and atmosphere, the list goes on and on. Sometimes I dream about living here.

When I talk to my friends who have lived or are living in Japan though, they see things that we tourists don’t get to see. The rigid office hierarchy, the formality that you have to adopt when talking to others (and you are not exempt from it even if you are an expat as long as you are Asian looking), the difficulty of making new friends, and of course the challenge of learning Japanese. Then there is lack of public transportation during the night, and taxis are expensive not only during the day, but more so during the night. I’ve seen videos from Youtube talking about how it’s different living in Japan than going there to visit. Usually there’s a few months of honeymoon phase, then a few years of depression and detest towards the culture of actually living in Japan, then after the acceptance phase.

If you’re looking for my recommendations on places to eat, you can read my blog post Recommended Places to Eat in Tokyo.

Shibuya Continue reading teamLab Tokyo and Why Is Tokyo So Beautiful

Japan

A Romantic Christmas in Yokohama

ByRyan Lee

It’s a Christmas miracle that only after visiting Tokyo on multiple occasions, do I finally make the less than one hour trip to visit its younger and similar sibling city, Yokohama. Despite arriving early afternoon on the first day and leaving the city prior to lunch on the second day, I felt I was able to get the gist of what the city has to offer.

Continue reading A Romantic Christmas in Yokohama

Japan

Recommended Places to Eat in Tokyo

ByRyan Lee

Prior to my Tokyo / Hakone / Fujikawaguchiko trip, I did a lot of research finding a variety of different Japanese foods to eat – sushi, ramen, unagi, BBQ beef, soba, udon, Kaiseki, pancakes, seafood donburi, and tempura. And trust me, even after 9 days, we felt that we were not able to eat all the Japanese meals we wanted, because there just simply wasn’t enough time to do and eat everything! We ended up not eating one of the soba noodles I researched, missed a udon shop we wanted to try because they ran out of udon noodles, and sometimes just didn’t feel hungry enough.

For booking restaurants in Japan, you will probably need to use the websites https://tabelog.com/en/ and https://omakase.in/. With the huge influx of tourists going in to Japan these days, along with locals just dining outside in general, it is highly recommended that you book at least a month, preferably 3 months, prior to ensure you have a table booking, otherwise it can be difficult to book. Also it is recommended to have someone who knows Japanese to help you book because with the websites, you will have to rely on Google translate sometimes and sometimes the translation may not be understandable, so you might end up booking a set menu when you actually could have just booked a table with a la carte instead (what happened to us with Yoroniku Ebisu).

This post will focus on restaurants we ate only in Tokyo, as I will do separate posts for Hakone and Fujikawaguchiko and talk about the trip itinerary including the restaurants for those. It will talk about which ones were yummy and worth the price, and which ones that weren’t. Continue reading Recommended Places to Eat in Tokyo

Japan

Shrines and Limestones, Fukuoka and North

ByRyan Lee

In my last post on One of the Best FOOD Trips Ever in FUKUOKA, I covered not only the places we went to eat and which ones I recommended, but I also covered the accommodation and transportation (car rental really) for our trip to Fukuoka, so you can just read that blog post for more info. Or if you’re interested in visiting the southern side of Fukuoka, like Aso and Beppu, you can see my photos at Fukuoka, Aso, and Sea Hell in Beppu for some of the things I did (and ate, but the eating aspect was terrible because we joined a tour agency).

So let’s dig straight into the things to do in Fukuoka, which also included us going north and visiting places like Kitakyushu, Akiyoshidai, Yamaguchi, Nagato, and Hagi. I’ll be writing in order of the things we’ve done.

Continue reading Shrines and Limestones, Fukuoka and North

Japan

One of the Best FOOD Trips Ever in FUKUOKA

ByRyan Lee

I’ve actually been to Fukuoka before a couple years ago, but during that time we joined a tour group that brought us to these horrendous restaurants. I didn’t write much, but there are a couple of photos you can see at Fukuoka, Aso, and Sea Hell in Beppu. During that trip, we focused more on the southern parts of Fukuoka. As such, this time we focused more on the northern side of Fukuoka.

Anyway, the tour guide trip we were on brought us to these ridiculously atrocious restaurants. In fact, some of these restaurants were overcharging, with the help of the tour guide, who managed to convince us to HAVE to try this Kinki fish for USD 250 that turned out to be undercooked, with lots of bones, and not delicious at all.

That trip, I had an incredibly poor impression of the food in Fukuoka.

THIS time, since we planned and managed the trip ourselves, the food experience was the opposite of what I had compared to my first trip in Fukuoka, in that we had extraordinary food experiences, from sitting near the seaside BBQing raw oysters to eating traditional and sumptuous traditional Japanese traditional cuisine. I dare say this was one of THE best food experiences I’ve ever had, and I’m about to share with you some of the restaurants we went to. What a difference planning a trip by yourselves and joining a tour group makes. I’ve always been AGAINST joining tour groups, as you can manage your time however you want if you’re going by yourself and you can plan the restaurants YOU want to go to rather than being brought to tourist restaurants where the tour agency probably gets a cut or commission from bringing us there.

For things to do, you can read about my blog post Shrines and Limestones, Fukuoka and North.

Continue reading One of the Best FOOD Trips Ever in FUKUOKA

Japan

ITE – The Lesser Visited Places in Japan

ByRyan Lee

As iterated from the previous post, I went to an International Travel Expo in Hong Kong just one week ago. Took a lot of pamphlets and brochures, and wanted to share some resources that I got.

Niigata in Japan (70 minutes from Tokyo)

50 years ago Niigata was an important trade hub with the highest levels of culture and the largest population in Japan. The resonance of Jomon era pottery from 5000 years ago and modern day art.

Accommodations – Akakura Onsen Ski Resort, Akakura Kanko Resort Ski, Ikenotaira Onsen Ski Resort, Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort, Sekionsen Ski Resort, Lotte Arai Resort, Qupidvalley Ski Resort, Charmant Hiuchi Ski Resort, Naeba Ski Resort, Kagura Ski Resort, Kandatsu Kogen Ski Resort, Iwappara Ski Resort, Gala Yuzawa Ski Resort, Joetsu Kokusai Ski Resort, NASPA Ski Garden, Okutadami Maruyama Ski Resort, New Greenpia Tsunan Ski Resort Continue reading ITE – The Lesser Visited Places in Japan

Japan

Fukuoka, Aso, and Sea Hell in Beppu

ByRyan Lee

It’s been a couple years since I went to Fukuoka, Aso and Beppu. We joined one of those tour groups so I didn’t prepare any itinerary. As with most tour groups, there were a lot of bus riding, a lot of mediocre restaurants, and some OK hotels that we stayed in (so clearly this wasn’t my decision).

This will be purely a photo blog.

Dome shaped hotels in Aso Farm Village. They also have Dom shaped onsen Continue reading Fukuoka, Aso, and Sea Hell in Beppu

Events

FUJI ROCK 2018: The Experience, Tips and Strategies, and More

ByRyan Lee

This year was Fuji Rock’s 20^th year hosted by SMASH Corporation Limited.

This trip was somewhat unexpected for me. I “raised my hand” to say that I would go and let my friend did most of the organizing. Even about 2 weeks before the event, I hadn’t heard back from him about any confirmations for hotels, the flights, or even the event tickets themselves, so I thought that I wouldn’t be going to FUJI Rock after all. Thank goodness that this trip actually went through, because I had a lot of fun. Continue reading FUJI ROCK 2018: The Experience, Tips and Strategies, and More