Honeymoon in Japan (Tokyo Disneyland/Universal Studios Japan)

[Jake S]

as promised, here are some photos and updates from something other than theme parks in Japan. I'll start in Osaka, where we visited the Osaka Castle. while it's possible to buy a ticket and walk up in and around the main building, we opted to wander around the gardens and grab some photos while enjoying the very nicely manicured grounds.


we also checked out a very cool, very small themed bar that evening. The Deepening (Bob's Burgers fans rejoice) is a tight bar themed like a submarine in Osaka. It was modest but very cool. We only got one drink here before moving on with our night, but I highly recommend it if you're into themed experiences (not that I imagine that applies to anyone here!)



that brings us to Tokyo, where we're spending the final five days of our honeymoon. we're staying at the Conrad (points from work trips have finally paid off!) which is right next to the Hamarikyu Gardens. they are, as you would expect, gorgeous. we spent a couple evenings wandering around and exploring the gardens — they're well worth your time. of course, there is plenty of variety when it comes to garden-waking in Tokyo. we also checked out the gardens around the Tokyo Castle, which are also near a small park called Hibiya. all high on the recommendation list.


we also grabbed an incredible pizza from a restaurant called Pizza Marumo. you may see it referred to as Pizza Maru on reservation websites (like TableCheck — a great resource in Japan), so try to be less confused than I was. you might not think of Japan as a pizza haven, but in recent years it's really broken out as a big hitter in the ongoing pizza wars. if you're in japan for more than a week, I recommend giving it a go. you've got a lot of meals to fit in!



I'll end with a couple photos from one of the handful of arcades we checked out in Japan. they are, as advertised, a blast. we smacked minions on the head, played Mario Kart and won a bunch of adorable prizes. we'll almost certainly hit another arcade tonight after getting something to eat and something(s) to drink.



lastly (for real this time) we've hit up a bunch of breweries and brewpubs in Japan. a local chain of small brewpubs (iBrew) was among our favorites for both the intimate setting and the variety of beers they served. our favorite brewery so far has been the Kyoto Beer Lab — it appears to be run by an Aussie and, regardless of ownership, had our favorite beers of the trip.




that's all for now! More to come I'm sure.

 

[Jake S]

hello from california! we got back from Japan at 6 a.m. on monday, making for a long day of jet lag fighting. I am more or less rested and more or less recuperated now, so here are some photos from our bonus day at Tokyo DisneySea! we decided to visit from opening to about 4 p.m. on friday — in no small part because tickets are extremely inexpensive. we paid around $110 for two tickets (obviously, a very strong U.S. Dollar is part of the equation here).

while I covered the park previously, just wanted to add a few more notes. first: the water parades. there are two, one called "Let's Celebrate with Colors" and another that's Halloween themed. both are, essentially, a bunch of characters on a barge with energetic dancing and waving. if they put a bunch of characters on a fantasmic! barge and floated them around the Rivers of America, you'd be pretty close to capturing the concept.



perhaps unsurprisingly, this works very well in Japan. it doesn't hurt that "Celebrate with Colors" is a certified banger. but I can't imagine American audiences being satisfied by a show that is, essentially, an opportunity to wave at costumed characters. that said! I loved this. between this and the spectacular NO LIMIT! parade at Universal Studios Japan, I almost left this trip as a Show Guy. or maybe I'm just getting old. hard to say!



we used this extra day to explore the Cape Cod area, which we'd somehow completely missed on our previous 1.5 days. it's very charming, particularly this time of year when it's (lightly) decorated for halloween. much of the merchandise in the area is Duffy-centric (the bear is still powerful in Japan) but there's also a quick service restaurant and another boarding area for the boats that circle the park. boarding in cape cod gets you a round-trip tour of Tokyo DisneySea, while Lost River Delta and Mediterranean Harbor are both one-stop journeys.


we also snagged our final popcorn bucket of the trip. many of the doors on the front of the bucket open and boo's hood moves back and forth. one of my favorite things about the popcorn buckets in Japan is how kinetic they are and this one certainly doesn't disappoint.


anyway! we also got another ride on Tower of Terror, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Indiana Jones. we got a first ride on Aquatopia, which I'll confess is better experienced from off the boat than on it (I found it a bit herky-jerky and not in a good way). we also snagged a reservation at the Teddy Roosevelt Lounge, so we grabbed a couple drinks there while taking the time to walk around and look at all the intricate theming. all in all, great day! I'll have another posts with some odds and ends in the coming days, but thanks to everyone who kept up with my trip! it's been fun to share such a special time in my life with y'all.

 

[mimiasho]

Wow! Thank you for sharing these photos. Beautiful!!

 

[Jake S]

alright, I'm finally caught up enough at work to post a final update! these are just a collection of photos from Tokyo, mostly of some of the food and drink(s) we consumed during our final weekend. I'll annotate with some of our favorite spots and experiences as we go!


one of the places recommended to me was the Old Imperial Bar which, as you can see in the photo, is located inside the Imperial Hotel. the hotel has been around since the late 1800s and was built to accommodate the growing number of western visitors to Japan. Frank Lloyd Wright designed a new building and a temporary annex in the 1960s that retained a lot of the original building, which you can also experience in the Imperial Bar.

it's a very cool space, though it seemed its best days were behind it. that said, our bartender was great and I highly recommend checking it out if you're an architecture dork.

this is a chicken broth ramen, which we tried at kyushu jangara. they have a handful of shops around the country — this was at the ginza location. one thing I tried to do with mixed success was accept and embrace that most restaurants are pretty darn good rather than hunting down the "best" of any genre of food. it was nice to just wander into places without doing the immense amount of research I usually do before, uh, anything.


we had a rainy day lunch at Shari on our final day in Tokyo and it was great! they had a couple of set menus (pictured above) in addition to a la carte options. we were seated at the chef's counter which was a great experience, especially with the window behind the chefs that looked out onto the rainy street.

speaking of rain... it only rained substantially one time during our trip, which was pretty fortunate given the time of year we were visiting. and when it did rain, it wasn't messing around. it's unlikely to phase any of y'all living in florida, but being on the coast means you'll get a nice mix of wind and rain when a real storm blows in.

something I loved in Japan was all the little detail work in stones like this. their storm drains are similarly intricate and beautiful — it's great being in a place where design aesthetic is such an important part of the process.
tokyo was also, unsurprisingly, a great place to go car spotting. so if you're into that sort of thing (I am!), keep your eyes on the roads. this 1950s-era Datsun was one of my favorites.



I'll end with our favorite bar on the trip. this is Bar Landscape, which is run by a husband and wife team who are both award winning cocktail makers. they've joined forces in a cozy bar that's located down below the street and are serving up some truly phenomenal cocktails. the vibe is great, the drinks are great and you'll be supporting good people. what's not to like?

anyway!! thanks for reading along. if you have any questions as you plan a trip of your own, give me a shout! I'm no expert but am always happy to help.

 

[Enchant3ress]

Tokyo looks amazing! The food, drinks, and experiences you shared are fantastic. Thanks for the great post!

 

[yourguytay]

I hope you had a great time with your trip!