Fujiya Hotel

this. is. the. best. hotel. ever. it is practically a tourist destination itself, with 132 years of history, lived in by the japanese royal family and the swedish monarchy, tour groups passing through in the a.m., beautiful interiors and exteriors, round the clock attentive staff providing 6 star service, a twin room so spacious that...

Hakone – The Sights

following the loop course suggested on Japan Guide, i took the Hakone-Tozan Railway to Gora (with a brief stop at Miyanoshita to drop my bags), the "cable car" to Sounzan (which really looks like a funicular railway to me), the Hakone Ropeway from Sounzan to Owakudani (love it!), then continued to Togendai, to take the...

Hakone – Getting In and Around

before we even got to the train station, i learnt two very important lessons: 1) remember to pack your travel pillow when you wake up; 2) remember where you keep your japan rail pass. i forgot both, and missed two trains and had a panic attack! (the trains in japan run like clockwork, i feel...

Stays: Toyoko Inn Tokyo Shinagawa-eki Takanawa-guchi

i've been reading about how small japanese business hotels are, and i'm glad to report that the rooms are compact, but in no way the claustrophobic terrors that they are painted to be in online reviews. granted, there's only space for the bed, the desk, and space for two unpacked luggages, but the room felt...

Shinatatsu Ramen

our very first dinner in japan is of chinese origin, but of japanese perfection. just minutes away from the shinagawa train station, is a ramen stadium where you can try ramen from 7 different ramen stores. every store is the crème de la crème of japan's ¥1000 ramen stores, and you can't go wrong with...

Tokyo DisneySea

Day 1 kicks off with an ambitious plan to tour the whole of DisneySea. As expected of a mega-tourist attraction, the information is all available on their website in more languages than I can speak, but I'll just do a brief summary of the really, really important bits. (Really!) I spent about 9 hours in...