Day 6

For Day 6, we decided to stop by Kaminoyama Onsen for a bit of rest & relaxation on the way back to Tokyo. Initial plan was to wake up super early and go sightseeing in Kaminoyama Onsen first, but then we sort of were tired & lazy so we just woke up late and left Zao Onsen to reach kaminoyama onsen just in time for 10.30am check in at Koyo Hotel/Ryokan.



We're here for Day Use ("higaeri" / ひがえり) of the onsen, but this hotel doesn't allow simple day use. Instead, there's only day use package where you they give you a room from 10.30-3.30, then it comes with kaiseki lunch set in the room, then other than that you can relax, go visit the bath, come back relax in room, etc.

at ¥10-11k/person, it's not cheap but frankly it's worth the money.

The room itself is gooooooooooorgeous ...



This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 10 2018, 09:22 AM

The day use room is also perfect timing because the hotel has 2 baths - one on 1st floor one on 8th floor, which switch between male/female use at 1pm. So it's perfect timing for couples to go for a bath, come back to have lunch, then rest a bit and bath again.

1st floor bath.



8th floor bath



The 8th floor bath has a magnificent view over the onsen town plus the surrounding mountains.

The 1st floor bath on the other hand has a hotter indoor bath, and a -5degC igloo, so you really need to experience both.

(Those photos stolen from hotel website because obviously we're not allowed to bring cameras inside)

Day 6 continued

Anyway here's our lunch! The hotel gives a choice between ¥10,000 for sukiyaki and ¥11,000 for shabu-shabu; we decided to go for the sukiyaki set.



Eating in bath robes after coming back from onsen. In the comfort of the room.



Miso and Goma (sesame paste) sukiyaki. Instead of raw egg, they gave us onsen egg to dip the yonezawa beef in, super delicious!



This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 10 2018, 09:22 AM

Day 6 continued

More pics of the hotel area



After that we took a taxi back to Kaminoyama Onsen station for the trip back to Tokyo:



This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 10 2018, 09:22 AM

Day 6 continued

Reached back Tokyo after Shinkansen ride, checked into hotel to drop bags, and then off to Akihabara area for MariCar! Same video as 1st post so no need to re-watch if you've already done so.



Tokyo station



Skytree



After MariCar we walk off to Akihabara area to try and find something late to eat (MariCar started at 7, but after all the time taken to dress up, register, get briefed, etc, it ended at 10-something, almost 11pm).



This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 10 2018, 09:21 AM

Day 6 End

We ended up the night at a standing-up only yakiniku place (recommended by Travel & Living Japan Expert RegentCid) called Jiromaru!



It really is standing-room only.



The place serves up tons of different kinds of meat, but because my Japanese sucks (my Kanji especially sucks) and it was late and I was too lazy to try and translate, I just asked the waiter to 'omakase' i.e. you tell him how many pieces of meat you want and he will just anyhow choose for you.



Tourist friendly!



Verdict: Pretty nice! Of course A5 ohmi, sanda, kobe, matsuzaka etc would be better, but at this price point IMO it's unbeatable value.

Only downsides are that it is a gas grill instead of charcoal. Oh, and the gyutan (beef tongue) they sliced it strangely thicker than I'm used to so it was a bit tough.

This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 10 2018, 09:21 AM

No, not kobe. My kanji sucks but most of the beef comes from Chiba, Kagoshima or Fukushima prefectures I think. And some of them just day "Wagyu," without giving further details.

Day 7 Start

Wahlao so fast Day7 liao! Today we woke up sort of late. Visited the Starbucks at Kanda station before riding the train to check out their sakura collection (didn't buy anything though)



Then we went here, which if you've been to Tokyo before you'll probably recognize this junction more than anything LOL (it's the junction "entrance" to tsukiji fish market - outer market)



We walked around a bit and saw this oh-so-instagrammable giant inari sushi so we ordered to try. WORST MISTAKE EVER, it was expensive and not nice and a terrible, terrible tourist trap.



It was so terrible that we immediately had to go and get a bowl of gyudon to wash away the crappy taste



Anyway we bought some dried plum (1.5 kg of it to be exact) and some amaou strawberries. Amaou is a "brand" of Japanese strawberry that is supposed to stand for Amai (sweet), Marui (round), Ookii (big) and Umami (delicious)



Went to the inner market ... not for the market nor for any of the sushi shops, but to visit うえださん's plates & bowls shop:



We've been coming here and buying stuff from him since 2011 - almost our entire house de plates, bowls, dishes, etc are from this shop.



This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 10 2018, 09:21 AM

Day 7 continued

Reverse time a bit to show a photo of the insanely expensive starbucks tumblers. And also to note that they were made in Malaysia ...



うえださん gave us some cute doggy charms together with the plates and bowls we bought



Also this random shop in akasaka



Anyway!! After Tsukiji Market, we continued our quest to follow Kantaro around town ... this time trying to pull off a sweets-princess-ish stalker mode, lol.



Sadly our planning here was a bit screwed up by inaccurate translations in the TV show. In the show, Kantaro takes away the mamekan to eat at home because: "赤坂相模屋には、残念だがら、イートインのコーナーはない" which was subtitled as:



... but actually the real meaning should be "Unfortunately, Akasaka Sagamiya does not have any eat-in corner (area)." So we turned up thinking that there is a seating area but actually don't have, is 100% take away and eat at home.

Day 7 End

... turns out that Day 7 we didn't actually do much other than eat all day LOL.

For lunch, we went to ESSE DUE (also following in Kantaro's footsteps). The food was "meh" (forgettable pizza and salad), but the creme caramel was 超おいしい.



Then we went to another Kantaro spot, to have Bavarian Matcha Cream at Kinozen.



Then we went to a BIC Camera outlet to buy a clothes dryer and also randomly look around. Didn't take much pictures though, except one of this G-Shock action camera that was HUGE. I thought action cams were supposed to be lightweight and inconspicuous lol.



Finally, we headed back to hotel, to eat up our Mamekan from Akasaka Sagamiya (in the hotel) ...

No idea about the camera lol, I just see only and never really look in detail.
the Mamekan is uh ... it's basically black soy beans (taste profile somewhat like red / kidney beans), in jelly cubes, with gula melaka. Something like that.


in SGD for 2 pax. but note that the flight tickets were a LOT more expensive than if u depart from KL (because of last minute booking + upgrade to biz class + flights out of SG are more expensive anywya).

Day 8 (holiday end)

Day 8 ... not really much to update cos today whole day traveling home. I might dig through more videos/photos and post some additional ones if they are interesting. But otherwise this will be one of the last updates liao.



Our flight was on gate 142, 540m+ away from the immigration ...



... anyway we had breakfast first while waiting for the flight: Tsukemen at Rokurinsha at the food court. I thought that the soup was a tad bit not hot enough (especially cos tsukemen noodles are cold, so the soup gets even colder really quickly). Not sure if it's also the same case in the other Tokyo outlets.



Our box arrived safe & sound lol (this is a clothes dryer / futon dryer bought from BIC camera).



Unpacked the bowls and plates that we bought from tsukiji market:




No more photos liao lol.

Thanks you for sappork.
But after going through my videos and photos, doesn't look like I have anything to add liao.
Anyway for anyone in the future reading this, hope it helps you in your Japan planning!

Random additional Photos part 1/?

Amaou strawberries. Super delicious. But also super pricey.



Ruby Chocolate Kit Kat. Not to be mixed up with "Kit Kat Rubies" which are different entirely. Ruby chocolate is supposedly a new 4th type of chocolate after milk, dark and white. Check out wikipedia page for more info.




Garuda Airlines HND-JKT flight. Plenty of legroom even for my 6'0" frame.



Service is pretty nice, as befitting a 5-star airline. Some more got ice cream. But if you ask me whether I'd purposely fly Garuda over SIA/ANA etc if the price was similar -- of course not! But if a few hundred bucks cheaper then I would seriously consider.

Paiseh --> Hitachi HFK-BK500

https://www.biccamera.com/bc/item/3355737/

I bought basically to shoot warm air on my laundry on damp days to help it dry faster

Note that you might also need to factor in a step-down transformer cost if you choose to buy ...

Intermediate only. I can tackle pretty much all green/blue slopes, and groomed red slopes comfortably. Ungroomed reds / any blacks / any moguls courses then not confident enough. Also nowadays only ski once a year or once in 2 years, it's pretty much impossible to improve.

Anyway action sequences = XiaoYi 4k
Everything else 45%/45%/10% = Canon G7X / OnePlus 5 / EOS 60D