Konichiwa!

Japan is one of the countries in Asia that I’ve wanted to visit most. I was super excited when the opportunity presented itself this year, and even though we would be traveling with a toddler, we thought the destination would be worth the long trek. We knew for certain we would spend most of our time in Tokyo, but we thought carefully about a second city to visit in Japan. We landed on Kyoto, as it was a short, bullet-train ride away, and it is considered one of the more traditional Japanese cities, so we thought it would be a valuable cultural experience.

Tokyo

We began our trip in Tokyo, staying at the Moxy Tokyo Kinshicho, which is located in the Kotobashi, Sumida City neighborhood. The neighborhood was pretty quiet with smaller streets in comparison to some of the bigger, more touristy areas in Tokyo. This was perfect for me to stroll around, being there with a toddler and stroller, and it was also not too far from the tourist sites, so it was a quick uber ride away. I did notice that because the area was less touristy, most of the restaurants only accepted cash as a form of payment, and the restaurants were all pretty quaint, seating about 10-15 people. I really enjoyed this aspect, as it felt very authentic. There were less English speakers in the area, so if you’re unfortunately monolingual like me, you’ll want to be aware of that.

We visited most places via Uber or walking, because it was most convenient and not too expensive. This included:

Akihabara – the epicenter of modern Japanese otaku culture, anime, manga, technology, and shopping. We shopped at Uniqlo and a couple of grocery stores to grab snacks to bring back home. (Yes, yes, it did fill an entire suitcase.)

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden – gorgeous, gorgeous garden with ponds, bridges, benches, and other pleasant things. We were lucky enough to visit upon the beginning of cherry blossom season. The cost to enter for the two of us was 1,000 yen, which was about 7 USD total for the both of us – the baby was free. 

Tokyo Sky Tree – If you’ve ever visited the sky decks in Chicago, Dubai, Paris, Toronto, etc, it is a similar experience: you ride to the top of the building via elevator and are amazed to see the city from a birdseye, 360-degree view. I would definitely recommend going on a day with clear skies, and if you’re lucky, you will be able to see Mount Fuji, which we could not. We were able to see Mt. Fuji on the train ride from Tokyo to Kyoto, but we weren’t expecting it, so I didn’t get any photos! If you take that route, keep your eyes peeled and cameras ready. 

Senso-ji Temple – the oldest in Tokyo! It was of traditional Japanese temple structure and surrounded by lots of markets and booths to eat, obtain refreshments and other keepsakes. Some of my favorite eats around there was sweet bread called pan, red bean dango, and fresh Japanese pancakes.

Aside from visiting tourist spots, we frequented the restaurants in our neighborhood for lunch and dinner: ramen, sushi, udon, and dumplings spots were our favorite. Some random observations on food: there are lots of 7/11s around, and they have cool Japanese foods and snacks. One of my favorite quick foods when we were on the go was the sashimi and rice triangles wrapped in grape leaves and the pancakes with margarine and syrup snack. A lot of their cuisine is pork, which I do not eat much. There were some beef and some veg-only options, but I had a hard time finding chicken or seafood, which was unexpected for an island! I also stopped at McDonald’s to see their localized menu and tried the wasabi pies and pork patty sandwiches. Yum!

Kyoto

We ventured to Kyoto for just a weekend and traveled there via a bullet train from Tokyo. It took about three hours, which was amazing, considering how long the train takes in America. We stayed at The Chapter – Kyoto, and it was bigger than the Moxy, unsurprisingly, but also conveniently located.

We visited several temples, such as Koyomizu-dera Temple & Fushimi Inari Taisha, which are 15 minutes apart driving. We stopped by the Yasaka Shrine, which was really beautiful and picturesque; there were also some food, candy and souvenir booths nearby. We tried yuzu sake and candied fruit – apples and strawberries. (I had forgotten my digestive system isn’t what it used to be, but it was worth the turmoil.) The next day, we visited Nishiki Market, which was walking distance from our hotel. The market mostly had clothes, food/restaurants, dishware and other keepsakes. It appeared to be a cool place for thrifting for both tourists and locals. 

There were several places and activities we wanted to do but couldn’t either due to time or restrictions due to our broke bestie with us, so the next time I visit, I would like to see Mt. Fuji, go kart riding through the streets in Tokyo, teamLab planets, and Arashiyama bamboo forest. I will absolutely make my way back!

All photos taken with Nikon D5600.