Japan Trip 2012

Japan Trip 2012 - Conclusion

When I think about the time I spent in Japan, I'm overall happy how things turned out. I got to see a few places that I always wanted to see, and knocked out a few more interesting places as well.Picture Album: http://caelk.shutterfly.com/…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 13 - Haneda Airport

At the conclusion of my mindless Akihabara shopping spree, I went to the Crazy Crepe for a final bite to the sweet deliciousness of Rare Strawberry Cheesecake Crepe. I actually ran into my friend again here, and we exchanged some words and…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 13 - Tokyo Skytree

And finally, my last day in Japan came. My flight left at around half past midnight on... technically the next day, but pretty much I only had until 19:00 before I had to start heading to Haneda Airport, where my flight left from. I honest…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 12 - Tokusatsu Hero Bar "Crystal Sky"

When I arrived in Tokyo, I had intended on getting a little bit of shopping in Akihabara done after dropping my bags off and checking into the hotel. However, part of the plans today was to meet up with one of my friends (the one who went …

Japan Trip 2012, Day 12 - Atsuta Jinguu

Well, my trip to Japan was on its second to last day. I arrived in Nagoya more as a stopover than anything else, but while I was here, I thought I should go check out Atsuta Jinguu, which ranks as one of the most sacred shrines in Japan (i…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 11 - Takayama, Nagoya (Traveling)

There's not a whole lot to say about what happened after I took my bus out, just that I missed the Miboro Dam since I fell asleep on the bus to Takayama. So, for those of you looking to see it, know that you'll have to go from or to Takaya…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 11 - Shirakawa-gou

Today I woke up early to pack my bags, eat breakfast, then catch the bus at 8:45 to my next destination. I borrowed some hangers last night from the laundry room to hang my laundry from the air conditioner (situated on the ceiling), so I t…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 10 - Kanazawa

With my single day in Kanazawa finished, I started to head back to the hotel to rest and recuperate. Along the way I saw a few more interesting things, but by the time I got out of Kenroku-en, every tourist attraction had closed down for t…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 10 - Kenroku-en

Having walked around the castle enough to be satisfied with what I saw, I then exited via the Ishikawa-mon and onto a bridge leading directly to my next destination, Kenroku-en, the Kanazawa Castle garden.Pictures: http://caelk.shutterfly.…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 10 - Kanazawa Castle

Pictures: http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/554So, my tenth full day in Japan brought me to Kanazawa, which I've heard is where the Japanese go to find out about their heritage. Honestly, I don't know who said that, but eh. My first sto…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 9 - Kanazawa (Arrival)

Pictures: http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/525When I arrived in Kanazawa, there was still some light outside, but I knew it would turn dark in an hour or so. I went straight to my hotel, the R&B Hotel on the north side of Kanazawa Stat…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 9 - Sekigahara

Ask anyone who knows anything about medieval Japanese history for famous battles within that time period, and they'll probably refer you to the Battle of Sekigahara. Cited as the single, most important battle of that era, it unified (or mo…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 8 - Kaiyoudou Figure Museum

First off, I'm going to apologize: photography is allowed within the museum, however posting the pictures publicly is not. Anyone can go into the gift shop on the first floor, so all the pictures shown here and linked in the album are take…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 8 - Hikone Castle

Picture album: http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/359Alright, well my first day on my own. I had come here with a bunch of friends, but by this point all but one had left Japan, and the other was in Hokkaido (doing nothing in between as …

Japan Trip 2012, Day 7 - Akihabara, Travelling

Not too much to say about the rest of the day, but well... yeah, I went off to Akihabara, but I took some time to see one of my friends off first. He arrived earlier than me, and was leaving earlier than me as well, so I got him and his lu…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 7 - Idol Survivor

Today I spent sometime going to a doujin market, Idol Survivor at Hamamatsu-cho. It took up half a floor in the Metropolitan Trade Center there, and there was quite a line. I think there was another doujin market happening on the other hal…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 6 - Shopping

Didn't really do too much today besides shop in Akihabara. I unfortunately had no time to go out to Nakano Broadway, and I think everyone realized that they forgot to set aside time to browse through the streets of Akiba so they could thro…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 5 - Anna Miller's

After wandering around Akihabara, all three of us who went to Mount Fuji met up and went to a restaurant called Anna Miller's. This took us to just outside Shinagawa Station within Tokyo. Anna Miller's was right past the first intersection…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 5 - Ryouhou-ji

Coming back from Kawaguchi-ko Station, we decided to stop by a shrine on the way back and offer some prayers to the moe gods.Yes, you read that right. There is a shrine within the Tokyo area that's dedicated to the deities representing the…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 4 - Mount Fuji (Lessons)

With all the stuff I went through on the way up, and with plenty of time later to reflect on what made the entire trip more grueling than it could have been, I could go into three or four more posts into what I've learned.However, I've rea…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 4 - Mount Fuji (Descent)

So now that we summited, we just had to make it back down. Backtracking to our original summit station, we sat down and dug into some good old raisins and peanuts. Truth be told, I wasn't feeling that great from around 9th Station, but aft…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 4 - Mount Fuji (Summit)

Before we start, the picture album for the summiting (and descent):http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/247When we checked into Mount Fuji Hotel, they asked us what our plans were for the following day. Normally what people do, is climb du…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 3 - Mount Fuji (Climb)

Well, I suppose it's time to finish writing this. If you just want to see the pictures, they're on my public album site.http://caelk.shutterfly.com/pictures/185Those of you who've read my past posts probably saw a good number of long posts…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 3 - Mount Fuji (Pre-climb)

Alright, I'm finally on the day of Mount Fuji, though this first post is getting a little long, so this first post will just be what we did getting there with some warnings about what we encountered. Honestly, I had gotten sick earlier, an…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 2 - Idolm@ster Cafe

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that all my readership is going to be interested in this part and want all my photos. I'll post some here, but for the rest you'll have to go to my online photo album.Public photo album: http://caelk.s…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 2 - Ushiku Daibutsu

By this point, I had spent two nights in Japan, and it was time to go someplace a little out of the way. Our destination today was the Ushiku Daibutsu, the third largest statue in the world, superceded by two other Buddha statues. From Uen…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 1 - Yuigahama Beach

Next day, was the beach. We'd picked out one beforehand, Yuigahama, which had opened... I think the day before we got there. We took a train to Yuigahama Station, and chose to walk the rest of the way instead of taking the local train down…

Japan Trip 2012, Day 0 - Landing and Pasera (Akihabara)

I figure I've put this off long enough, I guess I should get started writing about the trip I took to Japan a good... month ago. Yes, I'm still playing Dragon's Dogma.So, I'm only really calling this Day 0 because I just landed, hung out w…

Japan Trip 2012 - Overview

Finally went ahead and made a Google Map of places I went within Japan. I'm embedding the map here, but if you want to see my notes, you'd better hit the link for the full size version.Full size map: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=21…