Hello from the sky! As I write this, we are currently in the air on Singapore Airlines, leaving Japan. I am drinking a Singapore Sling, and reminiscing on our last three weeks. Finding time to write has been tricky, as we’ve packed in quite a lot over this time. Unexpectedly, we’ve been craving a longer flight, as it is such a good chance to decompress and reflect.
When I last wrote, we were making our way into Shanghai. There were a lot of things we were hoping would go well, including being let into the country in the first place. On this year-long journey, we would have loved more time in China, and had our month-long itinerary planned. When we realised we couldn’t get a visa while out of New Zealand, we were disappointed, but relieved that we could still spend 5 days in Shanghai, using their 144 visa-free transit system. Information online is mostly patchy and confusing. This article is super helpful if you want to know more: https://www.chinadiscovery.com/chinese-visa/144-hour-visa-free.html
We are happy to report that it was pretty painless on entering, at least at Shanghai Pudong. We did have one staff member in South Korea’s Incheon who didn’t know it existed, but the staff member at check-in thankfully was aware of it. Despite me being led away from Jerry and Janina at customs in Shanghai (they were eventually led to the same spot as me), we felt everything was well signposted and clear. Just a heads up, there’s a special arrivals card for visa free transit that’s different to the standard arrivals card they give you on the plane. Now we know this system works, we’re already thinking about how we could swing a stopover in the Beijing or Chengdu areas, which are also transit options…
In Shanghai, we met Al and Amanda, my parents’ previous work colleagues and friends. They hosted us for a wonderful day exploring Shanghai. We had tea at the top of the Park Hyatt, with a view over the buildings of the Bund, and then a wonderful hotpot meal where we rolled out the door.
Many visits, with many different orders
Alipay worked surprisingly well, and we bought endless rounds of Yang’s fried dumplings. We were such big fans of this dumpling chain, we should be wearing Yang’s shirts at this point. Our continual dumpling supply was helped by the fact that Shanghai was a city of opposites. Restaurants seemed to either serve $6 or $600 meals, so we stuck to the $6 spots. The contrast was in more than just the food. Shanghai felt like a city where old and new met to shake hands. Enormous, futuristic skyscrapers sat across the river from ancient gardens and bazaars. Glitzy coffee shops stood beside traditional tea houses. We split our time between both; travelling through time as we took the metro between areas.
While in Shanghai, Jerry and I celebrated our wedding anniversary, marking three years of marriage.
We had the Chinese character for our last name engraved on a stamp to literally mark the occasion. Janina split off for the evening, to give us a chance for a romantic dinner, which we had at Yang’s fried dumplings. Maybe not the shiny dinner others had in mind, but it was perfect for us. Janina also ate at, you guessed it, Yang’s dumplings, in a different location.
We also tried the xiaolongbao restaurant, Jia Jia Tang Bao. If we’re splitting hairs, the dumpling wrapper was not quite as delicate and thin as Din Tai Fung in Taipei, but for a quarter of the price, we weren’t complaining.
As one of Shanghai’s old water towns was conveniently within the edges of the metro system, we decided to visit for a day. We loved wandering the narrow alleyways, buying trinkets and sampling lots of different snacks. We also visited Tianshan Tea City, which was surprisingly empty. Being some of the only people there initially gave it a slightly ghostly vibe, but we were invited inside for an impromptu tea service, where we spent hours tasting different teas while Janina and the shop owner used a mix of speech and translating app to share about our lives. We came away with a bag full of different teas, and a desperate urge for a bathroom (thirty tiny cups of tea will do that to you!)
Shanghai is the only place we have caught the “post-Covid lockdown” experience. While Taiwan and South Korea are both running tourism campaigns to encourage more visitors, they both still had a steady stream of visitors. In Shanghai, we felt we were one step earlier in that process. It makes sense, considering the Covid timelines in the respective countries, but was a surprise when experienced in reality. While there didn't seem to be huge numbers of international tourists, there were still plenty of people!
On the thirtieth, it was time for our overnight flight to Tokyo. It’s hard to achieve an all-nighter flight when it’s only 2.5 hours of airtime, but apparently 2:30am is the worst time to take a short flight. Janina softened the blow with a reward business class flight (At around 3am, Jerry probably regretted not claiming that spot for himself…) I used the hours at the airport as a chance to get a headstart on my work for April, and we arrived in Japan sleep-deprived but full of excitement.
I will admit, we had our reservations about Japan. There has been a lot of coverage about over tourism in Japan, and it’s one of the few places we’re visiting in peak season. Accommodation and transport were also pricey, which led us to believe Japan was going to burn a hole in our budget. While over tourism is definitely a challenge Japan is facing, we were delighted by our time there. You’ll have been able to tell, if you followed the hundreds of stories and posts on our Instagram!
In Tokyo, we stayed in a capsule hotel. This is not our first capsule, and will not be our last (we have one more during this year, while in Singapore). Capsule hotels offer a slightly elevated hostel experience, with increased privacy and reduced noise. We will admit though, that entering from the bottom of the bed had a distinctly morgue-like experience, which was a bit unnerving. After 36+ hours upright, I lost any concern and promptly crawled in to sleep like the dead (pun absolutely intended).
My exceptional sleep was interrupted on future nights due to some of the most inconsiderate roommates, who had alarms every hour from 4am which they often left running or slept through, full-volume conversations in between 11pm and 5am, and clothing and baggage which they left on the floor. Those who know me will be aware that I generally am not very good at using a stern voice, but I plucked up my courage on the second night to give them a serious telling off. It did not have an impact whatsoever, but I felt good having done it anyway. We celebrated when they left, and all we had left to deal with were a few snorers. Thanks to Daiso for Caitlin-sized earplugs!!
A serious highlight of Japan is that I was able to reunite with my long term, long distance friends, Miwa and Marie. They lived in New Zealand and attended my high school for a year back in 2012. We were in choir together, and formed an amazing friendship when the choir went on a road trip tour of the South Island. That friendship has sadly been a long distance one for the past 12 years, but reuniting was such sweet joy. We spent wonderful quality time together, with matcha lattes, shopping, claw machines, karaoke, and lots and lots of food.
We won delicious cookies from the claw machine, and it only cost us $12 for two $3 packs of cookies…A great deal when you witness this excitement:
Marie introduced us to her baby, Kai. He is not named for the Māori word for food, despite being so gorgeous I wanted to eat him. Reminiscing about funny moments from our high school days, and sharing smiles and laughter with Kai brought so much joy to the day.
Miwa generously spent many afternoons and evenings with us, while we explored so much of what Tokyo had to offer. We were shown the hidden gems of Tokyo, tried many foods off our Japan bucket list, and never ran out of things to talk about. Jerry and I did spend a significant percentage of our time trying to convince Miwa to move to New Zealand and live with us (which is both 14-year-old Caitlin and 26-year-old Caitlin’s dream). Regardless of whether it is New Zealand, Japan, or we meet in the middle somewhere else in the world, the next visit will definitely not wait 12 years.
Speaking of our food bucket list, we have eaten like royalty during our time here. Food was much more affordable than we anticipated, with great meals for less than NZ$12, and we even found A5 wagyu meals for less than $25! Queueing was part of the experience, as almost every restaurant has queues. We started eating earlier as a way to combat this, and caught up on podcasts and books when we queued for the most popular spots. Some highlight foods from this time:
Our Japan food list (in no particular order)
Tonkatsu curry
Sushi
Sashimi
Omurice
Shabu Shabu
Sukiyaki
Yakitori
Ramen (chain and hidden gem)
Train bento - ikiben
Tempura
Soba
Udon
LOTS of mochi, in many different forms
Karaage
Miso
Onigiri
Wagyu beef
Takoyaki
We enjoyed our meals so much that my Granma noticed that all we seemed to share was food! Eating our way around the world, as Ruth would say. These blogs are just thinly veiled food reviews, at this point.
From Tokyo, we visited Kanazawa. Kanazawa is often referred to as little Kyoto, with shrines, temples, and its own geisha district. Kanazawa is also famous for its well preserved Samurai district, from the Edo period. We hit the main tourist cities of Japan, so Kanazawa was our stop that moved off that path just slightly. There were still tourists visiting, but it was much more peaceful. We spent the morning in one of the best gardens in Japan, and our favourite garden we’ve ever visited, Kenroku-en. Here, we experienced a traditional tea ceremony, and discovered why it takes 20 years to even start to master hosting a tea ceremony!
Kanazawa was a gem. Our accommodation was a tatami style room, which I loved. While it wasn’t quite a ryokan, it still gave us a taste of that experience. We spent one evening just cozied up at home, with pots of tea and cosy roomwear provided by the accommodation. After our time in Jeonju in Korea, and here, we’ve identified that we really love finding a traditional accommodation to treat ourselves with along our journey.
From Kanazawa, we headed to Kyoto. As the previous imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto is rich in historical and ancient sites. It is well known that it is also VERY busy. We’ve decided to miss most of the most popular shrines/temples etc. in favour of other options. We had an earlier start for the philosopher’s path, to avoid large crowds (we arrived around 8am, so nothing crazy). We planned Fushimi Inari for an early start, and arrived around 7:30 am. We were not expecting it to be quiet (and it wasn’t), but we could walk freely and could snap a few photos without other people in it as we walked up higher. We validated that it was quieter at 7:30-8am when we came back to the bottom after stopping for a coffee around 9:30 am, to find the place swarming with people - more of a shuffle than a walk.
I mentioned it briefly on Instagram, but Kyoto is another place where we’ve discovered the experience where there are major spots (and the roads that lead to them) that have people packed in like sardines, but you only need to go one street over, or around the corner, to have complete peace. This also happened to us in Venice and Hoi An. We’ve had temples all to ourselves, that we would deem as world class. This isn’t advice to avoid the most popular destinations, as they are 100% popular for a reason. But we really challenged ourselves to consider what we truly wanted to see in Kyoto (Gion, Fushimi Inari, the Philosopher’s Path in peak bloom), vs. other activities that we didn’t feel as strongly about, and would be happy with less popular alternatives.
We also could have had fewer crowds if we went at a different time of the year, but for once we don’t have any qualms about being here in the peak. That is because we have been absolutely spoilt by cherry blossoms.
From early bloom, to peak, to the blossoms falling...
Picnics under the canopies, accidental discoveries while walking to lunch, long paths with endless blooms, and snowy whirls of blossom petals raining in the last few days as the trees reach the end of their bloom. We were so fortunate - we planned based on forecasts and usual timings from previous years, but there are no promises when it comes to a climate based phenomenon, particularly nowadays! Also meant we got to see the annual Miyako Odori performance, where the maiko and geiko of Gion perform their spring dances daily throughout April. This was complemented well by our evening walking tour of Gion the night before, where we learnt more about the history and complexity of a geisha’s trade.
We finished our time in Japan in Osaka. We had a more relaxed pace in Osaka, with our main activities being Osaka castle, eating wagyu beef and takoyaki, and shopping. We’ve refreshed our wardrobes with a mix of new tshirts, pants, and shoes, and we’re ready for the next leg of this incredible trip.
During our tea ceremony in Kanazawa, our host shared with us the Japanese yojijukugo, “Ichi-go, ichi-e”, which references the idea that a moment is unrepeatable. In the tea ceremony, no cup of tea is ever the same, because it is made by a different person, with different tea leaves, and you are surrounded by different people as you drink it. This proverb had a deep impact on both Jerry and me, as it has captured so simply, yet profoundly, the feeling we have during so many of our experiences. We don’t prescribe to the idea that we’ll “never be back here”, as we like to hope that we will revisit. However, ichi-go, ichi-e truly captures how our experiences are shaped by the people we share those moments with, our current age and life stage, the political and environmental climates, and so much more. Particularly on this leg of the journey, we feel so grateful for the people who have shaped our experiences:
Al and Amanda - we are so thankful for your hospitality in Shanghai. We felt so welcomed, and had so much fun with you both.
Marie - spending the whole day out in Tokyo with a baby is no small feat! Thank you so much for introducing us to baby Kai, and for bringing your humour and fun to the day.
Miwa - even all these years later, you are still my twin soul. I am so grateful that this trip reunited us! You shaped so much of our time in Japan, in a way we never could have dreamed of. I know we will meet again soon, whether it is in New Zealand or somewhere else.
Janina - we will miss you. The moments we have shared have made this time so much richer: all the jokes, the three single beds lined up in the room, the metro adventures...Thank you so much for joining us the past six weeks.
This coming week, we’re stopping over in Singapore. Looking forward to meeting Manuel and Ash, who are flying from Melbourne to join us there, and to explore as many hawker centres as possible. Jerry is watching Crazy Rich Asians to get in the right mindset. From there, it’s back to Europe! I’ll write from Istanbul to update soon.
Comments