2008 - Washington DC
2010 - Cuba
2011 - DR, Bermuda, & Cruise
2012 - DR & Costa Rica
2013 - Cruise, CR, & USA
2014 - SE Asia
The Year Off 2015 - 2016
- Preamble
- Thailand & Malaysia
- Italy
- Germany, Belgium, & Lux
- Czech, Poland, & Germany
- Austria, Slovakia, & Hungary
- Slovenia, Croatia, Austria & Germany
- England & Scotland
- Turkey
- Colombia
- Peru: Lima & Amazon
- Peru: Cusco & Inca Trail
- Peru: Cusco to Lima
- Mexico, Guatemala, & Belize
- New Zealand
- Australia & Thailand
2017 - The Balkans
2017 - Hungary, Romania, & Switzerland
2018 - New York
2018 - Amsterdam, Poland, & The Baltics
2019 - Costa Rica
2019 - France
2020 - Thailand
2023 - Mexico
2023 - Iceland & Cruise
2024 - Philippines
2025 - Japan
2025 - Iceland
Short Trips
Lists
Links
| January 25, 2025 - Saturday | Toyko | Japan |
| Arrived at Narita Airport around 4:30pm. It was a long 10 hour flight. Getting money from the ATM was pretty easy. I then bought a subway card for Tokyo and loaded it with some money. Took the express train to Tokyo, then transferred to the subway and got to my hotel around 6:30pm. At this point I had been up for over 24 hours, but wanted to stay up a bit longer to get my body clock more aligned with local time, so I walked around the area for an hour or so. | ||
| January 26, 2025 - Sunday | Toyko | Japan |
Didn’t sleep too well. I started the day at the Tokyo Metropolitan Building.
They have a free observatory on the 45th floor. It was a clear day and I
could see Mt. Fuji from here. I then walked around the Shinjuku area for a
bit, and then went to the national gardens, which is a large park. It was
nice, but would be even nicer in the spring with everything in bloom. I had
a sushi making class booked not too far from here for the afternoon, so when
it was time I walked over to it. I enjoyed this, and filled up on what we
made (see picture). I headed back to the hotel for a break, after which I
went back to the Shinjuku area to see it at night. It was very lit up with
signs everywhere. Also there were so many people. I also saw the “golden
gai” streets, which have a bunch of small bars crammed in together. Not my
scene, and not sure why every travel blog says it is a must do.
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| January 27, 2025 - Monday | Toyko | Japan |
|
Still not sleeping great, but I had to be up early for a tour of the Tsukiji
Fish Market. This area is a bunch of stalls that primarily sell fish
products. The tour included some food at a few places, and I bought some
food at a couple others. I was very full by the end. I was also very cold
despite wearing 3 layers, so I bought vest to wear as a 4th layer. Later in the day I explored the main Tokyo train station area, which is massive. The underground is full of shops and restaurants. I finally went north to the Akihabara area. This is where all the anime and video game stuff is. There are entire buildings filled with that stuff. I tried a claw game or two. I saw some people (mostly young girls) dressed up as what I assume are characters from some of that anime stuff. I ran out of energy around 7pm and started heading back to my hotel for an early night. Only took 1 picture today. |
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| January 28, 2025 - Tuesday | Toyko | Japan |
First up was a cooking class that lasted from 10am – 2:30pm. We started in a
grocery store, then to the cooking studio. Made/had sashimi, wagyu beef,
miso soup, omelet, and a couple other things. I then walked to the Meiji
shrine, which was very nice. It is situated in a mini-forest. I then waked
around the Shibuya area. I went in one building that was 8 floors of just
music. Mostly cd’s, with some vinyl. It was a little pricey; the cd’s were
$20-$30, and vinyl was mostly in the $50-$70 range. I did see a few that
were over $120! I had grilled eel for dinner. It was also pricey, but I
wanted to try it once. I have to say it was pretty good. The meat was very
tender, almost melt in your mouth. After dinner I walked around a bit more
and went in some stores. The scramble crossing here is famous, and with good
reason. At least a thousand people cross the street at once.
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| January 29, 2025 - Wednesday | Toyko | Japan |
Today I took the train south out of Tokyo to a place called Kamakura. It is
on the ocean, and it took about 1.5 hours from my hotel to the train station
there. This place has many temples, and in the summer, a nice beach area.
The first temple I did was Kencho-Ji. I liked this one. In addition to the
main temple area I went on a short hike to a viewpoint and could see Mt.
Fuji. The next one was Tsurugaoka Hachimangu. This one could be skipped. The
third one was Hasedera Temple, and was very good. The grounds here are very
pretty, and climbing a viewpoint gives you a view over the town and beach.
Finally, I went to a great big Buddha statue. Could also skip this one. It’s
just a statue, so in and out in 2 minutes. 
 I got back on the train and went North to Yokohama. It is also on the ocean and a big city. I toured an old passenger ship called NYR Hikawamaru. It was okay, but nothing special. Today is Chinese New Year, and Yokohama has a large Chinatown. I walked around it, and it was packed with people. Leaving here, I walked a mile or two to tour another old sailing ship, but upon arriving discovered it closed yesterday for a week for repairs. Oh well. There is a tall building with an observation deck nearby, so I went up that. Great views of Yokohama. Could also see Tokyo 30km to the north. Mt Fuji was sort of visible, a bit hazy. Lots of walking today, and the wind was strong which made it very cold. Taking it easy tonight. 
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| January 30, 2025 - Thursday | Toyko | Japan |
Started the day off at the National Museum. I’m not a huge fan of Asian art,
but I will admit this museum did an excellent job presenting it. Leaving
here I walked over to the Kitchenware’s street. This long street is lined
on each side with stores selling knives, cookware, plates, kitchen
appliances, etc. I bought some chopsticks. Next was the Senso-ji temple.
Massive amount of people here, including lots of young Japanese girls
dressed up in traditional dress. They seemed to be almost doing a photo
shoot. Finally, I attended a sumo wrestling demonstration and meal. The meal
was mediocre, but the sumo demonstration was excellent. They made it
informative and funny, and I would recommend it.
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| January 31, 2025 - Friday | Toyko | Japan |
|
I explored the Yanaka neighborhood. It was alright. For lunch I did conveyor
belt sushi in the Asakusa area. The setup here was completely automated.
Outside the restaurant you tell a machine how many people in your party. It
gives you a slip with a number on it. You enter the restaurant and sit in
the waiting area. Then your number comes up on a screen and you go to
another machine, which tells you which table to sit at. At the table, sushi
goes by on the conveyor belt and you take what you want. If you want
something specific you order it on a touchscreen, and it arrives by a 2nd
conveyor belt. When done, insert your plates into a slot, which counts them.
Then go to the front to pay at a terminal. It was an interesting experience,
although the sushi itself was average. There is a specific street in Tokyo that has book shops. I took the subway over here. I was a bit disappointed. 90% of the books are Japanese – which is fine – but the English books are all large, heavy non-fiction books. No paperback fiction (at least that I saw). 
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| February 1, 2025 - Saturday | Toyko | Japan |
|
Spent the morning in the Ueno area, went into the natural history museum
which was soso. English explanations were only on some of the exhibits.
There was a Chinese New Year festival in the park that I spent a short
amount of time in. Took the train to the airport to fly home, flight was
delayed about 3 hours. Overall a good trip. Ate tons of seafood. Lots of walking and subway rides. According to my watch I did 160,000 steps total, or 23,000 per day. That works out to 82 miles total, or about 12 miles per day. I feel like I have done Tokyo, but I would like to return to Japan for a couple of weeks and see the rest of the country. |
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