Tokyo to Kyoto

The last morning in Tokyo was spent running around hunting down stores. It was cold and raining and I had forgotten the umbrella back at the hotel but my need to tick off a visit to the Moomin Cafe (especially when it was so close to our hotel) was too strong. The boys were meant to come with Jason and I to the Kit Kat Chocolatory but they decided to stay wrapped up in bed for a much needed sleep in. I on the other hand was determined not to let my morning go to waste. We noted down their Kit Kat wishes and headed out.

Because most stores and eateries don't open until 10am it made our schedule tight as check out was at 11am. Luckily for us the lovely staff at Hotel Niwa were happy to push back our check out time to 12.30pm. It took a while for us to find Moomin Cafe as we had originally thought it was within the actual Tokyo Dome. It was actually further up located on the second level just past Spa La Qua and a cool roller coaster that seemed to casually run through the rooftop of the nearby shopping centre.

Moomin Cafe is a gorgeous little bakery/cafe with freshly made treats you can eat on your commute to work or for a mid-morning snack. It's open from about 7.30 in the morning onwards. Just walk in, grab a tray and a pair of tongs and you're set. The cafe area has large trademarked Moomin characters sitting on seats at empty tables just waiting for you to join them. For the lonely and early risers, Moomin and his friends can provide you with the quiet company you need.

There is also a little gift and apparel area between the bakery and the cafe. The atmosphere is sweet and the pastries and breads they have on offer are delicious. You're also free to use their toasting machine in the dining area if you'd like to warm your breakfast up that little bit extra. I would also have to say that the hot coffee is so smooth and yummy and didn't leave my stomach feeling angry afterward. The coffee was as friendly to me as the staff were.

There were so many savoury and sweet delights to choose from that I blindly closed my eyes and made a random selection. I had a delicious cherry blossom bun, filled with cherry blossoms and what tasted a little like lotus paste with a blossom pressed into the top of it. Cherry blossoms have a distinct taste to them - sweet but a little bitter and to awkwardly put it, taste the way that they smell. Jason and I had ended up choosing the same one. I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed because it would have been great to try another of their pastries but still delicious nonetheless.

The pastry on my custard pocket was incredible. It was somehow a mixture of soft but crispy, flakey in the right places and had that little bit of a sugared crunch on the side. It may not have looked like much but I know my tastebuds are yearning for another bite and wishing I had the recipe for it.

After finishing our breakfast we headed towards the newly opened Kit Kat store which is located in the Seibu department store (post dedicated to Kit Kats soon) I really want to go back there because the Seibu department store is beautifully laid out and has so much to offer. Unfortunately we couldn't spend any more time there as it was getting close to check-out time and we still hadn't bought our Shinkansen (Bullet train) tickets to Kyoto. We bought the Shinkansen tickets to Kyoto at the Iidabashi Station near our hotel. Purchasing non smoking reserved seats, we hurried through the rain back to our hotel rooms to do a quick once-over and scuttled to the lobby to check-out.

Tokyo to Kyoto by Shinkansen takes about two and a half hours. It was quite foggy and so we couldn't see Mt Fuji but don't worry, we'll be back there and perhaps go climbing. The country side is beautiful and it's amazing to see such modern houses against the country landscape. There are of course more modest homes and cottages among the greenery but the country side and mountains are truly amazing.

A word of advice when boarding the shinkansen, there are special areas you can put your luggage bags and a coat rack so make use of them otherwise you'll end up getting squashed with your suitcase if the person in front of you decides they want a nap. Also take with you some pre-packed food if you're travelling just after lunch or at an awkward time. There is a food trolley service selling chips and other snacks but it's always good to try out as much of that delicious Japanese food as you can. Just visit any department store food floor and you'll find plenty of food you can take away.

Use the time you have on the bullet train to recuperate and maybe even nap, however do set an alarm to wake you up at least ten minutes before your expected stop. The bullet train doesn't inform you of your stops every few minutes, rather only informs you of your next stop when you're departing the station and the order of each stop. The voice over will let you know when you're approaching a specific stop right before it halts, but if you sleep through that you may find yourself bound further than you had intended to go. I myself was way too excited to nap and spent most of the time staring out the window (saw a Pokemon train whoosh by) and planning where to visit first once we got to Kyoto. 

Mermaid Lagoon

Because Ariel's Grotto deserved it's own post especially. I cannot reiterate enough how full of excitement I was when we approached the underwater castle. I was squealing, running around with my arms open and jumping up and down like a child. I feel like these pictures cannot equate to the beauty of the lagoon but unfortunately these pictures and some shotty video work (was way too excited to stand in one place) are all I have to show you. So enjoy! 

Oh Sweet Ginza

Ginza is so deliciously beautiful. If the above photographs don't convince you of that I just don't know what will. If you love food pornography then Ginza will happily supply it to you through its incandescent window displays and inviting aromas that drift out onto the street, wrap around you and pull you through the doors into a den of sweet treats. Perhaps it was foolish of me for not taking note of the name of the stores so that next time I visit Tokyo I'll remember exactly where to go to get my sweet bread and cake cravings satisfied. However I feel like all of the wondering around Ginza's high street has left me somewhat of an expert as to where these stores are and if all fails I could follow my nose as the smell of sugared delights waft through the air. Besides, not remembering where these places are exactly allows you to relive the discovery.

Ginza is just beautiful. Sakura trees are planted in little rows down different streets, pink contrasting against the grey bricks of buildings. The attention to detail is extraordinary. You'll almost always see nature incorporated into their concrete buildings in any and every way possible - even the sewer drainage plates have stamped sakura blossoms on them and instead just look like very large japanese coins someone had dropped on the floor. People cross and converge in an orderly fashion from both sides of the street, dividing into straight lines of people coming and going. No one walks too closely to anyone here, nor do they step on your feet or use you as a lever to propel themselves forward through a chaotic and disorderly crowd.

Apart from sweets, Ginza is of course Tokyo's High End fashion district. Designer brands and designer window displays fill the streets and take up corner blocks. High street fashion somehow melds into middle street and then reverts back to high street again without you even realising - probably too distracted by the bursts of purple and yellow pansies potted every few yards to realise. You can find your usual Zara, H&M, Uniqlo's 11 level flagship store (the best and the biggest), Prada, Chanel, Tiffany's and Michael Kors to name a few. Everything is perfectly and densely spaced that you walk around Ginza forgetting that Japan is just a small country in comparison to so many others, however the use of space is astounding. It doesn't feel claustrophobic and still maintains a suburban feel in some allys. It really is beautiful and my video with snippets of Ginza will be up some time in the next few weeks.

Japan Dreaming

Japan and I get along famously. Japan has been the source of my childhood as I am sure it has been for so many of you - Sailormoon, Pokemon, Dragonball Z, Card Captor Sakura, Yugi-oh even. It was a great device helping me brave primary school days. Some days I would be reluctant to drag myself out of bed but I always did as Sailormoon was on Cheeze TV at 6am right after the pilates program and sometimes if I was lucky it would be a double episode. I would leave the house feeling courageous and ready to tackle the day with my girl power, channeling a different Sailor Scout for different situations and I wanted to visit the place where my favourite show was created and to see if the streets and arcades drawn in Serena's home town really did reflect Tokyo, and if it did - I had to see it for myself.

Apart from this, Japanese culture, art, food and beauty has always made me yearn to visit. School projects on Japan furthered this desire to visit a country I was so willing to call my favourite place in the world although I had never stepped foot on Japanese soil. The sakura blossoms that only bloomed for a short and fleeting time enhanced the desire to visit Japan. To taste authentic Japanese food, slurp ramen in a restaurant hidden between closely built apartment buildings, the restaurant of which the entry was only signified by a single red lantern out front - these were the drives that fueled my passion for Japan. To be honest I had always wanted to learn Japanese and did so in year nine when I had the chance in high school until I changed my language choice to Mandarin because my mother had said it would be good to chat to my grandmother and so I had discarded my want for learning the language but the need to visit Japan has stuck with me.

A semi joking, mostly hopeful comment to my boyfriend about our next holiday destination was what spurred the trip and the dream. A few weeks later we were planning our trip to Japan, plotting places to see, where we would go and what to do. Japan travel guides were bought, university research skills were put to the test and plenty of stalking was done (that of people who had visited recently to see if the cherry blossoms were still blooming). My desktop backgrounds were changed to temples and cherry blossoms as a reminder to push through work and get to the Easter break and my lovely trip to a country so alive. I got super organised and did a whole master list of things to see and do in Japan and I'll share it here soon. 

We had started planning at the end of December. My best friend was picking me up and driving me to my other best friend's house for a New Year's Eve chill sesh and I eagerly blurted to him "We're thinking of going to Japan, do you want to come with us?" He laughed and said yes but didn't actually think it would happen. We had mentioned in high school how one day the both of us would visit Japan but never in our wildest dreams would we have thought we would do it together, so many years down the track. But it did and I am so grateful and glad. 

I'll be documenting and recording everything to do with my Japan trip here on my blog so keep your eyes peeled!

Reunion

Catch ups with Chantel at Mrs. S and later Sherbet Cake and Bake Shop in Maylands. Chantel came adorned in her gorgeous purple pin stripe dress and Coach bag to match, stuffed with books and her diary that she is never without.

By the River

How amazing is this view? Pretty darn amazing. Iris invited me along to Australia Day celebrations on her balcony with a few of her other friends and her family. The company was wonderful and the views were spectacular. Never have I ever experienced the Skyworks like this before! It was an almost surreal experience and I could barely tear my eyes away from the vibrant colours, only to take photos of some beautiful people and then resume watching and clapping as each firework exploded into the sky.

Iris's lovely mother and father had prepared an Aussie barbecue and her sister brought home tiramisu and some other delicious cake I can't quite remember the name of now. We hung around listening to the music that matched the fireworks (barely) and talked well into the night, going home bloated and satisfied.