Trains, onsen....more trains, more onsen! Might have taken some flights too...

[rbjhan]

Yes, it's me again. The one who goes to Japan every year
Things got moving when I found some amazing availability on QF29/30 back in February. I had no idea why...looking back it must be when the flights were restarted and loaded back to system?
Anyways, got my tickets to HKG sorted. Then I slept on it.... coz I went to Japan in March ha ha.
Came back early April, found a CX flight to NRT, booked via Avios. But then I was busy dealing with other things, moving house etc...crazy busy until August.
Couldn't wait any longer as I really need to finalise everything! Google flights said there was an EVA Air cash ticket from cough to HKG via TPE, great!
So the trip now looks like this



I was still traumatised by the huge crowds in Kyoto/Kanazawa this spring, so I decided to go somewhere a little quieter this time.
3 days in Tokyo, then Takamatsu, Matsuyama, Yufuin, Kurokawa Onsen, Kumamoto, Fukuoka.
If you need Google maps to know where they are, great, coz that's the idea!

I know these are not the places instantly come to mind when we heard "Japan", but they are equally fun and maybe more so, at least you don't have to queue for everything!

 

[rbjhan]

I normally travel solo, but mother was with me in HK this time. She wanted to visit some friends and do stuff
Mother is not a frequent flyer and has no points - ideally we wanted to get her on the same flight as me but oh boy did QF want you to pay for it! I don't remember the exact number but it was something like $7K return! CX was slightly better but not by much.
At the end I went with SQ, about half of what QF wanted. Downside is ofc she has to travel by herself, with a connection in Changi. But there is honestly no better airport to transit imho.
So the night before I went with her to MEL, hmmm the SQ check in desk was a total disaster!
Left side is the J line barely moving. Right side, I had no idea what's going on, might had been the bag drop line?? It was chaos everywhere you looked...



Anyways since mother was only going to be in HK for 5 days, she had just a small backpack. So I went over to the Kiosk and got her boarding pass printed and off we went to Departures.
On my way back I saw the J line basically the same as we left...
Me not a fan of SQ operations in MEL!

 

[rbjhan]

The next morning it was my turn. Thank god the QF check-in desk was way better...
Unfortunately that's where the good things ended.
QF lounge in MEL T2 was...how do I put it, terrible.
I don't know how they managed to fxxk up the scrambled egg, but here it is. It doesn't look that bad actually, but trust me when I said it was the worst in my life!


Boarding was on time iirc.
4A was nice.


The starter was not bad.


But for some reason I ordered the Chinese food. Oh that was a big mistake.
Forget about the taste, the smell of this thing....I can still think about it and vomit a little...
Honestly, I don't understand what went wrong here, ginger and shallot is one of my favourite flavour combo....how could it be so bad???



So guys, don't order the Chinese food if you are departing MEL!

Pre-arrival meal I went right back to the non Chinese version
This was quite good, even though I'm generally not a fan of cauliflowers.

 

[rbjhan]

I'm gonna fast forward the HK bit here, since we weren't there sightseeing.
Just a few pictures.

Went to Shang Palace in Kowloon Shangri'la.


Yum




Took Star Ferry from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui.




Taken inside Eslite Bookstore TST.

 

[rbjhan]

I didn't check but Airport Express has suspended their hotel shuttle buses during covid.
So on my way back to HKG I decided to try the A21 bus since the bus stop is just across the street of my hotel, and it's about 1/3 of the price!
Happy to report it was a nice ride. Sure it takes longer, but factor in how you get to the Airport Express Station and wait for the next train, I reckon the bus can run it pretty close.



The Pier! Ah I have missed you...


Roast pork on rice, wonton without the noodles.


CX catering is a lot better than QF I must say.
Cathay delight.


Seafood starter.


Chicken and tofu, proper Chinese food!

 

[rbjhan]

Landed on time in Narita at about 8.30pm.
Got out of immigration and customs around 9.10pm.
Took the 9.16 Keisei Airport Express towards Nishi Magome, got off at Higashi Ginza about 10.25, went straight to Dormy Inn Ginza, and I made the 11pm cut off of their free ramen!


*Just a little warning, don't plan your first day like this. I'm extremely efficient and know my way around, plus got lucky with the train schedule. I had some Japanese Yen left over from last trip, and my IC card also had balance left on it - so I didn't waste any time in the airport.
I imagine most people would need at least one more hour.

Dormy Inn Ginza, I stayed here last trip. Really liked it, so booked again.
Dormy Inn is my favourite Japanese chain. Typical business hotel but they do it well.
This one in Ginza the location is so good! Direct trains to both Narita and Haneda, very quick bus ride to Tokyo Station as well. And ofc it's in the middle of Ginza.

 

[RooFlyer]

Once again I'm going to be swept along with your experience and knowledge in Japan, knowing that if tried to replicate, I wouldn't have a chance.

SQ at MEL seems to get consistently bad reports ....

 

[Scr77]

keenly following!

 

[rbjhan]

Once again I'm going to be swept along with your experience and knowledge in Japan, knowing that if tried to replicate, I wouldn't have a chance.

SQ at MEL seems to get consistently bad reports ....

Why thank you! Always good to know others enjoyed my TRs
Japan really is very easy to do though, once you get over the initial culture shock...

Yes I couldn't believe my eyes almost at SQ check in area! They were sooo good in SIN and quite adequate in many other places, but MEL was a solid 1 out of 10

 

[rbjhan]

Day 2 Ueno

Ueno is where many of the best museums located in Tokyo (there's also a zoo, Ameyoko etc but I'm not a fan of those things).

There's the Tokyo National Mesuem, The National Museum of Nature and Science, National Museum of Western Art etc....highly recommended.

Currently there's a Monet Exhibition going on at Ueno no Mori 上野の森美術館, hmm I just realised it's called The Royal Museum in Google Maps??

Anyways, Monet is my favourite and there's no chance I missed that.
There was a queue to get in but it moved fast.



Inside it was crowded but majority of the visitors were Japanese so everything was orderly, in typical Japanese fashion.
Photos were not allowed, except in a few selected places.
There's this interactive floor near the entrance...


Pieces were coming from museums all over the world, unfortunately l'Orangerie and d'Orsay were not included! When we were talking about Monet, without those two was kinda....meh

I was a bit disappointed but wanted to see the gift shop, the Japanese are miles ahead of anyone else in this department!
But, hmmm, this is the queue to get in the shop! It was longer than the actual exhibition queue!


Yep, quickly decided I can live without some (more) Monet souvenirs.

 

[rbjhan]

Feeling a bit underwhelmed, I wanted to see something else.
Saw this!


Off I went!
This is the entrance to the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.


It was nice, I have been to the Capitoline in Rome but feels different to see it in Tokyo you know?

Then I saw this in the gift shop, I simply must have it

 

[rbjhan]

I must have mentioned this before right? The Starbucks concept stores in Japan.

リージョナル ランドマーク ストア｜スターバックス コーヒー ジャパン

スターバックス コーヒー ジャパンの店舗を、住所・最寄駅・現在地などからお探しいただけます。

www.starbucks.co.jp

There's one in the Ueno Park, so I went over to check it out.
Oh no! It got kicked out of the list!

Anyways, it was on that list for a while...and I can see why, it's pretty, quite in keeping with the surroundings.



So I sat there people watching for a bit.
What is the story with Japanese people and sunnies?
It was a sunny day, there were people wearing hats, holding umbrellas...and more doing this


But anyone wearing sunnies, yep, foreigners!

 

[rbjhan]

Okay let me back track a little.
Didn't book hotel breakfast because they finish at 9am - this is one of those Japanese things I hate

So had tsukemen in Rokurinsha inside Ueno Station.


This was a bit too much

I didn't feel hungry at all in Ueno Park. Since I need to go to Tokyo Station to pick up my Sunrise Seto ticket, might as well have a late lunch there.

Gyutan!



I booked Sunrise Seto tickets on JR West website - last time I checked on Ekinet you can only book the nobi nobi seats...
But Tokyo is ofc the domain of JR East, so to pick up this ticket you need to find a special machine in Tokyo Station, or queue at the counter! Can't do it in other stations in Tokyo area, at least not in Ueno.
It's this machine! Basically one with the 5489 logo. Yeah I know it's confusing as hell



And here are my tickets!


Saturday hotel prices are generally a lot higher in Japan. So I thought why don't I get on the sleeper train on Saturday. Great idea except everyone else was doing the same thing
I booked exactly one month in advance when ticket sales opened and only managed to grab a single in the smoking car, all the non-smoking cars were sold out.

And yes, it was 11200+11650=22850 Yen in total. The smaller ticket is just the basic fare from Tokyo to Takamatsu. To get on the Sunrise Seto, you need to also pay the 3500 extra for limited express and 7700 extra for the single private box.

 

[rbjhan]

After this very late lunch I went back to hotel and enjoyed the onsen...
Picture was actually taken last trip but hey it's the same onsen!


There's also a sauna. Public baths are definitely one of the best selling points of Dormy Inns.

Generally speaking amenities in the bath would be better than those in your rooms, hair dryer, skin care products, etc.
I don't know how much was the other dryer but Dyson certainly is $500 plus in AU. Also don't know if the men's bath gets the same kind of things...



After the soak, and some laundry, it's dinner time already.
Always love Ginza in the evenings.


I had my eyes on an Oden restaurant for quite a while, finally went.




It was very tasty but these two plates plus a lemon sour ran up to almost 5000 Yen!
Also, ordering oden in Japanese is way beyond me....quickly gave up and got the English menu.

 

[rbjhan]

Day 3 Heavy Rain!

Borrowed an umbrella from the hotel and soldier on.
Actually I didn't , went to Tokyo Station and spent the whole morning shopping around Maruzen and Daimaru, TN factory etc.

Lunch was Yonezawa beef. This restaurant is one of my favourites and I've been many times.
The wagyu was very tasty but not cheap! This lunch set I think was about 4500.



More shopping in the afternoon, then back to hotel onsen...

Early evening the rain stopped, finally! Someone told me a great place to see Tokyo Tower at night in Ebisu, since this was my last night in Tokyo, it's now or never! (until the next trip)

Yebisu Garden Place, the tree was up early!




Up in level 38 or 39, there's a free viewing platform.


I know Shibuya Sky is all the rage right now...but seriously there are many other places in Tokyo where you can get great views, without the 5000 other people around.

I had dinner in one of the restaurants in the building.

 

[rbjhan]

Day 4 Last Day in Tokyo

A trip to Tokyo without visiting Itoya is not complete.


If you know, you know...


Lunch at Yayoi-ken


The main street in Ginza turned to a pedestrian zone again.




Name anything the Japanese do badly, coffee would be my No.1!
I'm sure there are good coffe shops too but then you really need to research a ton...
Blue bottle was acceptable, but hey cost more than coffee in Melbourne!

'
Tsutaya Bookstore in Ginza Six also has a very nice FP collection...


Doraemon!

This thing was massive and cost about 50K Yen otherwise I would have bought it...sigh...

 

[rbjhan]

Ginza Kagari is a very famous ramen shop. I visited their Otemachi Branch back in 2019 and still remember it fondly...
Decided to brave the Ginza main shop and its queues at about 4.40pm.


There were actually two queues...first to buy the ticket, then another one to get inside.
Very clever since once you buy the ticket you can't back out!

It was nice but not as good as I remembered, sigh...



There is shower onboard Sunrise Seto but you only get 6 minutes of hot water and the shower tickets sold out quickly.
I debated about it and decided to visit a sento beforehand.

Sento 銭湯, link from wiki.

Sentō - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I've actually never been to one, this is exciting!
金春湯, somehow it's pronounced Konparu Yu?! I would have guessed Kinharu


More pictures from their website.

銀座・金春湯公式ホームページ

It was exactly how I imagined it to be...very nice to have this in the middle of Ginza and it only cost 520! BYO towel though. Oh and the hair dryer also cost money!

 

[drron]

For coffee near Ueno try Kayaba coffee. I am not into coffee but others say it is good. but it is an old building which it has used since 1938 so worth going for that.

We often stayed at the Westin just over the road from Yebisu place. certainly get good views,many good restaurant and there was the Sapporo beer museum. it unfortunately is closed for renovations but has been so for just over a year now.
I always liked arriving at Ebisu station. it's theme music is the Harry lime theme.

 

[rbjhan]

For coffee near Ueno try Kayaba coffee. I am not into coffee but others say it is good. but it is an old building which it has used since 1938 so worth going for that.

We often stayed at the Westin just over the road from Yebisu place. certainly get good views,many good restaurant and there was the Sapporo beer museum. it unfortunately is closed for renovations but has been so for just over a year now.
I always liked arriving at Ebisu station. it's theme music is the Harry lime theme.

I tend not to stay at western chains in Japan. For a solo person at least they are bad value. My budget generally would be topping out at 15K Yen per night in Tokyo and 10K elsewhere.

Dormy Inn and Mitsui Garden Hotels, are my go to everywhere in Japan (because I like public baths ). And all the local JR companies run their hotels chains respectively. They tend to be in the best locations.

In Tokyo at least, I like Ginza/Tokyo Station area and rarely stay elsewhere.

Noted about the coffee!

Edit, the thing about Japanese coffee is they like pour over/drip coffee and I can't stand it...Most shops only have コーヒー on the menu and I'm out...even if they have カフェラテ it's anyone's guess if it's actually any good!

 

[Quickstatus]

BYO towel though.

BYO towel and soap?
Etiquette. - put head underwater in bath?