Japan Trip 2012 – Part 4 Final

Well here is the final part of our trip! We finished Osaka and slowly made our way back up to Tokyo, stopping by Kyoto once again and Nagoya. It felt like we’ve seen most of Japan. But something was missing, there was a missing piece of the puzzle which we had yet found. It wasn’t until the end of our trip that we finally found it.

Akihabara.

But first I’ll start off with the awesome events that took place before wrapping up this already amazing trip in Akihabara.

Kyoto April 15th – 5 Year Anniversary

It is April 15th, our 5 year anniversary so we decided to spend another day in Kyoto as there really was no better place. This time however, we decided to be a little more adventurous, so we hired a bike and rode all around this beautiful city. I have to give lots of credit for doing so as she wasn’t the most experienced rider, yet she made it through all the narrow streets, the crowded paths and the riverside =). Had heaps of fun that day, it was an experience like no other!

Kyoto cherry blossom bike ride
This was one of the paths we rode our bikes through. Stunning

Kyoto bike ride
Here's me and my bike!
chibi riding a bike
Chibi doing a great job!
Fushimi Inari shine entrance
We stopped by at Fushimi Inari shrine. Just when we thought we were 'templed out', Fushimi Inari was really like no other. This Shinto shrine has more torii gates than you could imagine...
Chibi standing next to the hundreds of torii
Chibi standing next to the hundreds of torii that trails all the way up the mountain.
You shall not advance
You must defeat me first if you wish to advance the thousand torii!
Ojichan drinking tea
Lunchtime! Shinkansen Ojichan needs his tea
Our 5 year anniversary
5 Year Anniversary <3 we wrap up the day with some good ramen.
Popular takoyaki store in Dotonbori
And then some amazing takoyaki. The store behind us was the most popular one. But becuase it was already getting late, nobody was lining up.
More Dotonbori-ness
More Dotonbori-ness

Nagoya

We spent a day at Nagoya, one of Japan’s major cities. The only place we thought was worth visiting is Osuuuuuu!! street. According to the guidebooks, this place is Nagoya’s Akihabara. We didn’t know what to expect because we didn’t know what Akihabara’s like. However, let me make this clear, this place is NOTHING compared to Akihabara (more to come later). But it was still an interesting place that has lots of clothes and toys etc.

Giant Takoyaki in Nagoya
We found this Giant Takoyaki store in Osuuuuu!!. Hard to see but it's about 4x the size of a normal takoyaki. It was sooo good. It was extremely saucy.
Kids Land in Nagoya
Kids Land in Nagoya. This place was pretty amazing. They have LOTS of stuff to buy. Even had my Alteisen Riese. I would recommend checking this place out if you ever go to Nagoya. Despite its name, it has lots of stuff grown ups would like minus the porn =P

Akihabara

Now this is Anime/Manga/Hentai Paradise, the missing piece of the puzzle! (minus the hentai part =P). Throughout our entire trip, we didn’t come across a whole lot of anime merchandises aside from One Piece. It felt strange that the land of anime doesn’t actually have much. Well, that’s because we haven’t been to Akihabara! Anyway this place is absolutely amazing, you can find pretty much anything here if you look hard enough. There were also lots of maids on the streets handing out flyers. I regret not buying more here because the stuff’s actually quite cheap, cheaper than HK!

Akihabara street
Akihabara street. Buildings of anime/game stuff.
Akihabara street
You'll find that the majority of the people here are guys. Not hard to see why!
Kami Ice cafe
...Since there're many maid cafe's such as this one. Who wouldn't want ice-cream made by angels!?
Posing with Rei Ayanami
And a lifesize Rei Ayanami!
Belldandy figurine
Beautiful figurines everywhere. Here's a highly detailed Belldandy.
posing next to some game character
This guy thinks he's tough. I told him to meet me at the monkey part entrance...he never came...

@home Maid Cafe.

This was a really interesting experience. Being served by pretty maids, being addressed as ‘your majesty’, request for games and chitchat, taking photos with them, doesn’t that sound like a dream? I certainly thought so. However, I actually felt a little unconfomtable as it was a little too much to take in. It’s something you have to get use to first. I didn’t even dare to go up on stage to have a photo taken with the maids. When the maid brought us the food, she told us to say “moe moe kyun” while forming a heart shape with our hands >D. I thought wth is it for??! but oh well, this is Akihabara!

@home maid cafe
@home maid cafe. Dreams come true
@home Maid Cafe membership card
I became a master >D
Akihabara in the evening
Akihabara lights up in the evening.

Gundam Cafe

This place made my trip…I don’t even know where to being to describe its awesomeness! Even Chibi who knows nothing about gundams was impressed. Everything was so impressive, especially the toilets! which provided a theatrical experience. It’s like you’re inside a gundam that’s starting up. Food was ok, just standard cafe food but it was really about the whole experience, the way they decorated the food, the interior futuristic design, the gundam music and just the attention to detail of just about everything. I want to come here again =)

Gunpla-yaki
Gunpla-yaki. Like Taiyaki, but gundam style
Gundam Cafe entrance
Gundam Cafe entrance. Massive RX-78 waiting for me at the door =)
Gundam Cafe meals
Gundam Cafe meals. Zeon (left) and EFSF (right) yummm!!!
Gundam Shield Pizza
Classic RX-78 shield! this thing was tough man!
Gundam Cafe bar area
Awesome futuristic design.
Gundam Cafe tables
Cosy and relaxing atmosphere. Perfect for gundam fans like myself.
Gundam Cafe Haro
And a giant Haro!! ahh I wish I could buy it!

So that wraps up our trip! We did visit some other places afterwards such as Ghibli studio but I think I’ve shown enough. Really had the time of my life here. I’m not sure If I’ll ever have a trip that surpassses this! Japan was everything I expected but more. Not everything was pretty, some of the residential areas looked really bland and dull. But the same can be said for any country. This trip wouldn’t have been this amazing without Chibi. Thanks for making this the best trip of my life. I’ll never forget it <3

Notes:

  • Currency at the time: $1 buys 83Â¥
  • Number of days rained: 3-4
  • Number of times we caught the Shinkansen: 12

 

10 comments

  1. yaaaay! You finally finished all the entries for our Japan trip 😀 😀 😀 Good job! hehehe I love how our entries focused on different aspects of Japan, so now we have a really nice coverage of everything :3

    As usual, awesome pics! The one of Akihabara evening is so pretty 🙂

    Kyoto day was fun 🙂 Even though I kept thinking I was gonna ride into the river and die XDDD It was a very relaxing day and Fushimi Inari shrine was crazy. So orange too!

    omg, I stared at the pic of “5” for ages thinking something was odd XDDDD I remember nowww LOL.

    Definitely a memorable trip :3 Gonna go on more in the future ^^

    1. Kyoto was soo nice! but at times I felt there was just too many people. I think it is due to the peak hanami season.

      Hehe yup, the pic of 5 doesnt exist. We never sat across from each other =P

      Can’t wait to go on another trip <3

  2. Hoo, I must pass the thousand torii. Henshin >O!

    It’s interesting to see that Akihabara has changed to show banners of anime and eroge that were coming out at that time 8). I actually thought that stuff were cheaper in Hong Kong? Also, unfortunately, Akihabara didn’t have some of the stuff I was looking for ;).

    Man, your maid cafe card is cooler than the one I got! Oh, well (^-^;). Moe moe kyun is an otaku meme 8):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz6VTNqrrG4

    The Gundam Cafe looks pretty awesome! I would have no idea what’s going on but it still seems cool.

    Next up, Hong Kong \(^O^)/…!

    1. Depends on what you’re buying. Gundams were slightly cheaper in Japan. Not sure what the reason is since alot of the products are produced from China nowadays.

      Just watched that video…not sure what to think of it! I can’t understand that girls expression lol. I think it’s a new expression of mankind!

      Still thinking of what to write for HK lol

  3. Haha, which girl’s expression XD?

    Just write about how HK is the best country of all time =). Well, behind Australia, because that’s where I live 8).

    1. The girl that does the moe moe kyun…can’t describe it! Is she tense? Excited? Nervous? Lol

      Ok hk Is the best because… Hmm let’s see
      – people? Nope…
      – taxi drivers? Nope…
      – 10 people per sq meter of space? Nope…
      – clean air once every 364 days? Nope…

      Lol I need some time for this blog entry >D

  4. Hi!
    My husband and I are planning out 1st Japan trip and just wanted to let you know that your blog is really helpful and fun to read 🙂 The pics are great too! I have a question, I hope you don’t mind… We’re thinking of getting the JR pass for 2 weeks, do you think it’s worth it? We’re also planning a similar route like you, start in Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, then back to Tokyo. I’ve read that the JR pass doesn’t cover everything so we’ll probably have to pay extra for transportation. Just wondering if it’s really worth it?

    1. Hi Steph,

      Thank your for reading my blog entry! and glad it was somewhat useful =)

      The JR pass was extremely useful for our itinerary and certainly saved us alot of money. If you plan on a similar route then it is worth the money as you’ll be doing the long distance Shinkansen travels. Just remember this -> the more long distance travel, the more you get your moneys worth. We went to pretty much all the major popular cities such as Tokyo, Kyoto, Mt Fuji, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Nagoya, Okayama, Nara, Kinosaki, all which requires a Shinkansen or high speed express train.

      Also note that the JR pass does cover the Yamanote line which goes around Tokyo and passes the different popular suburbs such as Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku etc. But treat that as a little bonus only because it’s relatively cheap to get around. like for example, I wouldn’t get a 2 week JR pass if you plan to stay for 6 days in tokyo just for the Yamanote line and the rest going to different cities. Shinkansen trips are much more valuable and that’s where you’ll get your moneys worth.

      Hope this helps =)

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