Saturday, February 1, 2025

Japan - Similar and Different - 2017 & 2025

 Here are a few comparison photos from our previous visit in 2017 (left) and 2025 (right).

 Oh how the girls have grown :) 


Using Public Transport


Passing Mt Fuji




Bird Cafe and Cute Animal Cafe



Hatchiko's Statue



Goryu 47



Three Storey Pagoda, Kyoto




Kiyomizudera, Kyoto

 

Kinkajou- ji, Kyoto



Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto


On the lift!

 

Snowlines Lodge




Tokyo specials...Disneyland and Ninja Dinner

Friday, January 31, 2025

Home

Our trip home was smooth sailing. We left Tokyo at 10am bound for Singapore! A short stop over in Singapore before landing in Melbourne where we enjoyed a proper coffee. It was a short flight back to Canberra arriving at 9am.

It was nice to be back and great to see Indi again!



Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Last Day in Tokyo - Senso-ji and Ninja Tokyo

Last of the shopping took us to the Asakura district in search of Sonny Angels! Almost directly after passing through the Kaminari Mon Gate, Katy spies the Sonny Angel logo hanging inside the first shop front! Success!

After purchasing the much desired Sonny Angels, we explore the rest of Nakamise Street, one of the oldest shopping streets in Japan. The food stalls and souvenir stalls were packed with tourists. Strawberries coated in a sugary syrup were sampled as were the mochi balls as we tried to use the last of our coins!

Having had enough of crowds we finished up and headed back to the hotel for some relaxing before heading out to dinner.


  

Final dinner to celebrate the conclusion of our trip was to Ninja Tokyo! We were able to just locate the restaurant entrance. Unlike most restaurants, this one doesn't have its name on the door!!

At the appointed time, we opened the letterbox and pressed the buzzer. The front door opened and we stepped inside. A voice recorded message played as we curiously scanned the room wondering what was going to happen next. Then from behind a mirror, a ninja jumped out!

She introduced herself as our ninja host for the night before guiding us through a dark rock like tunnel. The sounds of rushing water got closer and we soon came to a dead end with a waterfall and stream. On command, magically the far wall of the dead end lowered becoming a bridge which allowed us to cross without getting wet!

Crossing the bridge we were ushered into the restaurant where we were introduced to the rest of the ninja team, who would all chorus responses to various instructions! Our family was then shown to our own dinning room.

Dinner was a fancy affair with 5 courses! Our Ninja host would provide in her best English various explanations and magic tricks all with a ninja flavour! The courses were beautifully presented - some the girls were happy to eat while others were a bit too much with weird food components!






We all agreed that the main dish, a wagyu beef steak was absolutely delicious and to die for! The dessert was exquisitely presented! All in all the night was one to remember and a great way to finish our trip!

















Last Sights of Tokyo - Borderless

Wander, Explore and Discover in One Continuous Borderless World

teamLab Borderless is a world of artworks without boundaries, a museum without a map created by art collective teamLab.

Artworks move out of rooms, relate to other works, influence each other and at times intermingle without boundaries. Through this group of works, one continuous world without boundaries is created.

Immerse your body in borderless art. Wander, explore with intention, discover, and create a world with others

What a fabulous place!