Five Crazy Days in Tokyo….. Part 4

Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate at Senso-Ji temple in Asakusa in Tokyo.

Our last full day in Tokyo we started by dropping Ewan in Akihabara. He was on a mission to find a figurine, and the rest of us were not keen for the noise and crazyness of Akiba. We continued on to Asakusa. Senso-Ji temple is amazing, and I wanted to show Harper. We started at … Continue reading Five Crazy Days in Tokyo….. Part 4

Five Crazy Days in Tokyo…… part 3

The only thing driving me out the door on our third day in Tokyo was coffee. We found a very cool little cafe, but sadly their coffee machine was broken. The owner, was however, making drip filter coffee, which is very popular in Japan. It takes an extrodinary amount of time to make, and is … Continue reading Five Crazy Days in Tokyo…… part 3

Five Crazy Days in Tokyo with Four Kids…. Part 1

At the end of our last trip we spent five days in Tokyo. I didn't blog at all during that time as we were crazy busy, exhausted and trying to squeeze a lot into a few days. Tokyo is busy at the best of times, and when you are trying to cater to everyone's wishes, … Continue reading Five Crazy Days in Tokyo with Four Kids…. Part 1

The Mystery of Rubbish in Japan….

A bank of Japanese recycling bins of different colours

The above photo is attributed to http://www.en.wikipedia.org Tokyo is the cleanest big city I have ever been to. By far. This may seem obvious, but it is also a conundrum, as it is also the hardest place in the world to find a rubbish bin!!! I have spent hours walking around with my empty Starbucks … Continue reading The Mystery of Rubbish in Japan….

Neko-Kissa

A reasonably new, but increasingly popular phenomenon in Japan is animal cafes. Initially it was cat cafes (neko-kissa). The kids and I visited a cat cafe in Asakusa in Tokyo. Monta Cat Cafe is situated in the Satellite Fuji Building, on the 8th floor, not far from Asakusa station. (Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Hanakawado 1-5-2) The experience … Continue reading Neko-Kissa

From Tokyo to Osaka

Originally published on 22nd March 2015 on Blogger Well, moving 2 kids on many trains with shitloads of baggage proved to be not very fun at all..... Go figure. The Shinkansen (bullet train) itself was only three hours, but from door to door was nearly seven. With very heavy bags, and way to many steps … Continue reading From Tokyo to Osaka

Anime Japan 2015

Originally posted on 21st March 2015 on Blogger Well, Anime Japan. So many people...pure and absolute madness. I read that last year 160,000 people went. This year, maybe more. Lots of cosplay, lots of stuff, all in Japanese. Both the kids struggled with the crowds. It was very loud, very busy, very Japan. (Although, Japan … Continue reading Anime Japan 2015

Trek for Anime

Originally posted on 20th March 2015 Today we trekked to Hakone, a city in the mountains, where Finn's favourite anime is set, Evangelion. Hakone is the site of Tokyo 3 in Evangelion Neon Genesis. We spotted characters from the anime on every conceivable thing and place possible. We travelled on our first Shinkansen.... It was … Continue reading Trek for Anime

Maranouchi Madness

Originally published on 19th March 2015 on Blogger A well deserved sleep in and then down to Shinjuku station to get our Japan Rail Pass, and book our first Shinkansen (bullet train) for tomorrow. Yippee.... We have become very accustomed to eating sushi for breakfast. Off to Tokyo station. Wow. This area is called Maranouchi. … Continue reading Maranouchi Madness