The train from Kanazawa to Kyoto was only about two hours, and I arrived in Kyoto right when the sun was setting. Once again, I had to catch a couple subways to get to my hostel but by this time, I was pretty much an expert. My hostel (Hostel HARUYA) was actually a traditional 100+ year old house, and it was oddly quiet. I was hoping to meet a bunch of new people since I’d be there for four days, but I hardly saw anyone – not even the person in my room. It was all self check-in (I guess they’ve been doing that since Covid), but I didn’t see one staff member during my entire four days there. It was kind of bizarre! I also had to leave the cash in my room for payment, even though it was a shared room. Once I got settled, I went for a walk to do some exploring and look for dinner. I was staying in the Higashiyama district, near the Gion district, so I walked towards that, and I was able to see the Yasaka-jinja Shrine. I then walked across the river towards one of the restaurants that I had read about. Instantly, I loved the vibes of Kyoto. Especially in the evening, it just had a nice energy about it and the buildings had character and you could see a lot of history (I found out later that this is because Kyoto is one of the places in Japan that doesn’t get hit by earthquakes, so a lot of its old buildings have been preserved, unlike Tokyo, which gets hit by earthquakes quite often). I went to Kyoto Engine, which I had read about on my gluten-free app. I also read that it’s always very busy, but I decided to try my luck. It was after 9pm anyway. I got there and they didn’t have any tables available, but I luckily didn’t have to wait longer than 5-10 minutes. I was able to get a gluten-free ramen, but this ramen was different because it had a creamy broth. It was one of the best ramens I’ve ever had – I could see why it was so popular! After my late dinner, I headed back to my hostel and went to bed.

The next day, I got up early and decided to go to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. I read that you should go early or it gets extremely busy. After I got to the train station, I was on the search for coffee (naturally), so I found a coffee stand that sold (expensive) lattes. I got one and headed to the temple, only to see a sign that said no food or drinks in the complex (this was weird though because once I went IN to the complex, there were vendors selling food and drinks). I didn’t want to be disrespectful so I tried to start AND finish my coffee before entering. It was piping hot and I think I burnt my mouth multiple times, but I did it! I kept watching more and more people enter, and I knew that 9am wasn’t early enough. However, I soon realised that the further I walked, the less people there would be. The temple has about 10000 orange torii (gates), and it really is quite beautiful! There was a hike up a mountain, so I decided to do that since there would likely be less people. I passed more and more people, and ended up being able to walk a lot of it on my own. However, when I got to the top, there wasn’t even a view point! I watched other people arriving, looking just as confused as I felt. Well.. that was a bit anticlimactic.

I headed back down and as I stopped to take pictures, a guy from San Francisco asked if I could take his picture. We walked the rest of the way together and then he said he was going to Nishiki Market and asked if I wanted to come. I had time to kill so I joined him, and we took the subway there. The market was so busy! It was basically one row that went on for blocks, with stalls on either side. And the rules were if you bought something, you HAD to stand in front of the stall and eat it there – you weren’t allowed to walk and eat. I pretty much couldn’t eat anything since most of it was either deep-fried or marinated in soy sauce, but it was still cool to explore. I finally found some salmon sashimi and decided to get some of that, just so I could have something. We said our goodbyes and then I walked towards where I had booked my walking tour. Luckily, it was in front of a McDonald’s so I got some fries to tie me over since it would be a 3-hour tour. On the tour, I met Brie (from Singapore) and Farzaneh (from Iran), and it was so refreshing to meet some other solo female travellers! On the tour, we visited Maruyama Park, Chionin Sanmon, Ninen- Sannei Zaka district, Kiyomizu Temple, and were told about a lot of the history of Kyoto. Every turn we took was gorgeous – I really enjoyed Kyoto!

After the tour, Farzaneh, Brie, and I decided to explore the area a little bit more. We walked around the district and then went back to where our tour had started so we could find some dinner (this is because where the tour ended would be the most expensive restaurants, and where the tour started was where the cheapest ones were). Coincidently, we ran into our tour guide again so we asked him where to eat. We headed to the restaurant that he recommended, only to find out that it was closed for the holiday. So we happened to just walk into the one across the street (Komefuku), not knowing how popular it was. It was an Izakaya restaurant, so I knew I’d probably have to eat some gluten, especially when we found out that they were known for their tempura. We had to wait quite awhile for a table, but we finally got seated in our own isolated booth with a curtain – we were completely singled out from the rest of the restaurant (maybe they wanted to hide the tourists? Haha). I got some tempura and settled on a shrimp dish, which I didn’t realise was battered so I definitely got my gluten for the night! Even though we had already put in 20000+ steps in that day, we decided to walk another 20 minutes to Kōdai-ji Temple. This was another temple that was doing a light show because of Golden Week. We paid the fee and then watched a bunch of illuminations on the temple, which was cool. Then, we walked around the grounds for a bit. The three of us decided to meet up again the following morning so that we could go to the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove together. So we said our goodbyes and headed to our own accommodations.

The next day, I got up and ready, stopped at a convenience store to pick up breakfast, and then took two subways to the Arashiyama stop. I met up with Brie and Farzaneh at 10, and we headed towards the Bamboo Grove. It was pretty cool to see so much bamboo in one area, but it was also quite busy. After going through the grove, we aimlessly walked around for a bit. When we got to a small countryside suburb and realised there wouldn’t be much left to look at, we turned around and headed back. We then walked towards the Togetsu-kyo Bridge, which has a history of over 1000 years. We walked across the bridge, explored the area there, and checked out some of the food vendors. One of our favourites was yatsuhashi – a triangle shaped pastry stuffed with various flavours. We had a lot of fun sampling all of the flavours! A lot of locals would be walking around with pickles on a stick. I finally decided to see what all of the fuss was, and it was actually so good! It didn’t taste like a pickle at all (as in it wasn’t vinegary), but instead, it had a salty lemon flavour. We also tried yuba & cheese, which is basically the skin of tofu stuffed with cheese and deep fried – so good! And of course, I always ate anything made with mochi. Brie had suggested doing the Sagano Romantic Train, which goes along the river with nice views. It’s a bit pricey – about $10 one way, and you really only get a view for about half the time because the view switches to the other side of the train. We all figured that we could probably get the same views if we just took a regular train and got off at the different stops. After that, the girls wanted to go to a temple (which I had also had on my list), but I still wanted to go to Nara and since it was supposed to rain the next day, I knew that this would be my only opportunity. I said goodbye to Brie and Farzaneh, and headed to Kyoto Station to take the one-hour train ride to Nara.

Nara is mostly known for its deer park, which is exactly why I was going. Once I got there, it was about a 20 minute walk to the park or you could take a bus. I opted to walk and also walked through the temple grounds on the way by. Once I got to the park, it had just started to drizzle. I saw that some people were feeding the deer and you could buy some deer cookies from a local vendor for 200 yen. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it, but I met a girl from the United States and she convinced me to make sure I did it. Luckily I decided to buy the cookies when I did because right after, it started raining and the vendor packed up his stuff (and the deer all ran away into the forest). I followed the deer into the forest and it was a lot quieter since most of the people had left once it started raining. The rain didn’t last long, so I was able to enjoy some time hanging out with the deer. I basically had to walk away immediately after feeding a deer or it would keep head-butting me, and I had read that they can sometimes get aggressive. However, it was such a cool experience to be able to be close to such majestic creatures!

After spending some time with the deer, I walked back towards the train station and decided that I might as well stop in Osaka for dinner. It would be another 45 minutes there from Nara, but apparently if I took the bullet train back to Kyoto, it would only take 15 minutes! (Spoiler alert: I didn’t end up getting this train back so it took longer). As soon as I got off the train in Osaka, everything was flooded with people again and I instantly felt stressed. I headed to the main food street called Doutonbori Street, which was quite flashy and busy. It seemed like if a restaurant didn’t have a large octopus or lobster or anything large on the side of its building, it wouldn’t be allowed on the street. It reminded me of being in Las Vegas. It also started raining as soon as I got to Osaka, so I decided to go into a restaurant called Kura, so that I could finally get a proper taste of sushi. This was a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, but you could also order your own dishes from the iPad that was at every table. When I got there, it was about 7:30 and you had to go to a screen to reserve your spot. Two people had walked in before me, so I watched them click that they needed a table for two, and then I saw that their table would be ready after 9pm. Was I really willing to wait that long for a table? I didn’t have long enough to decide because I was already next, and there was a server there to help. When I said for one, he didn’t even let me touch the screen and then he took me to another screen that printed out a receipt with an 18 on it. “Oh, this is how long I wait?” “No, this is your table number.” So I got to walk past the huge crowd of people that were waiting for a table and go straight to my own table. See? There are perks to travelling alone! I got to my little area, which had a curtain behind me, so I was completely isolated except for the conveyor belt in front of me. I wondered where everything was (chopsticks, soy sauce, etc.) and then I realised that the table could be lifted up, and there were storage areas inside the table! AND they had a bottle of gluten-free soy sauce!!! (The location in Kyoto didn’t though, but the one in Tokyo did!). I decided to just order from the iPad. I was shocked when after a few minutes, the dishes just showed up in front of me – I could definitely get used to this! I wasn’t as adventurous this time around, but I had some tuna and salmon, some albacore (wasn’t a huge fan), an amazing crab-topped avocado dish (which wasn’t at any of the other locations that I went to), and something called a probiotic drink (it was good, and I had it again the next two times I went). The dishes are all quite cheap, 132 yen each (unless it’s a special dish) and then when you’re done with your plates, there’s a slot that you can drop them down. Once you drop 5 plates, you can play a “game” to try to win a prize (the game is really just watching a show on a screen – you didn’t have to do anything). It wasn’t until the end of my meal that I realised that there was green tea powder in the table compartment – I had thought that they were only supplying hot water! Rookie mistake. After I was happily full, I had to pay. The receipt that I got at the beginning had a QR code on it, so I had to go to a self-checkout, scan the QR code, and either insert the right amount of cash or scan my card. So high-tech! Literally spent the entire service not having to talk to anyone – my kind of dining! Luckily the rain had stopped so I walked up and down Doutonburi Street, as well as the river. I finally decided to head back to Osaka station so I could take the train back to Kyoto. There must be a time that the bullet train stops, because I ended up having to take the slower train, which took about 45 minutes. I got to my hostel quite late, and went to bed.

The next day was the day of rain. And I don’t mean 15 minutes of heavy rain, and then it stops. Nor do I mean a light drizzle all day. This was a full-on heavy rain that lasted the entire day. No, it didn’t slow down or stop. I only had my water-resistant pants and my rain jacket so in the morning, I walked 5 minutes to the nearest cafe (Dot Coffee). I was soaked by the time I got there! However, it was worth it because I got the biggest coffee that I’ve had in Japan (usually they give the tiniest cups). They also had gluten-free Basque cake, so I tried one of those. I tried to work on my blog, but had no motivation. After hanging out in the cafe for longer than I probably should have, I headed back to my hostel to decide what to do. Again, I was soaking so I just hung out for as long as I could, until the guilt took over (I find it very difficult to just sit and waste a day when I could be exploring. Even when I was sick in the Philippines, I felt guilty and was trying to convince myself to do something). After a couple of hours, I decided that I’d walk towards the shopping arcades because at least I’d have a roof over my head. However, I’d still have to walk 20 minutes to get there. I decided that once I’d get there, I’d try out a Nepalese restaurant but on the way, I saw another Kura Sushi. I was starving… why not? I walked in and there was a huge group of people in the waiting room. I went to the screen to click one person, got my receipt with my number, and sat down in the waiting room. Less than 30 seconds later, my number came up on the screen (it’s exactly like a doctor’s office haha), so I headed to the next screen as all of the people in the waiting room watched me go, probably wondering how I got to go so fast when I just walked in. I went to the next screen to put my number in and then it printed out another receipt with my table number on it. This time, I was a bit more adventurous. I still had salmon, tuna, and shrimp, but I also tried salmon belly (still prefer regular salmon), scallop, and horse mackerel. And I have to say that scallop might be my new favourite kind of sushi, although I’ll probably never have it again because I don’t think I would trust any other sushi places outside of Japan. I also had a Warabimochi desert, which is a mochi made of something called warabi starch (as opposed to regular mochi, which is glutinous rice flour). After lunch, I walked around all of the arcades and shops for a couple of hours, and then I found a coffee shop (a chain called Doutor) to try Japanese bubble tea. Again, I tried to write my blog but had no motivation. Farzaneh messaged and asked where I was, so she met up with me. We chatted in the cafe before deciding to get dinner at the Nepalese place that I was planning to go to earlier (Yak & Yeti). I ended up getting a set meal, which was so much food! It came with an appetiser, curry, rice, salad, and ended with ice cream. We finished at around 9:30, so we said our final goodbye (since I was heading back to Tokyo the next day). I did the 20 minute walk back to my hostel (the rain STILL hadn’t slowed down or stopped) and was drenched again by the time I got back.

The next morning, I got up and headed to Dot Cafe once again to have a coffee and this time try the matcha basque cake. Then I headed back to my hostel to pack everything up, check out, and take the subway to Kyoto train station. My time in Kyoto was unfortunately done, and it was my favourite part of my time in Japan. It was time to head back to Tokyo for one final night in Japan. Love always

From Nagano, I reserved my seat for the train to Kanazawa, and then I went to the platform to wait. It would only take about an hour and a half to get there. Once I got to the train station in Kanazawa, I debated paying for a locker so that I could explore, since I wouldn’t be able to check in to my hostel anyway. I went to the station’s locker room to find out that all of the lockers were full. There was a sign showing two other locker rooms to go to, so I checked both of those out. Both of them were also full, and people were continuously coming into the locker room with suitcases, also looking for lockers. I decided it would be a lost cause and chose to head to my hostel. I bought a day pass for the bus (which I didn’t actually end up needing because I just walked to most places). The interesting thing about buses in Japan (or at least the buses that I saw) was that you enter the bus from the back and sit down. Then when you get off, you get off at the front and you pay the bus driver as you leave. You would think that this would completely slow everything down, but the Japanese have a structured way of doing things. My hostel allowed me to check in early and since I was only staying one night, they got me through as fast as they could so that I could explore the city. I dropped my stuff off in my room and went back to the bus to head to the Higashiyama district, which was also known as the geisha district. Walking onto those streets made me realise that I was no longer in a nice, quiet town anymore. Once again, there were people everywhere! I pondered getting something to eat since I still hadn’t eaten a proper lunch, but everywhere seemed extremely crowded and very expensive.

I continued walking to the Kazuemachi district, which was right next to the river. It was quieter and quaint, but there seemed to be nothing that was open.

So I walked towards Omicho market. Most of the stalls had already closed, or they were about to close since it would be closing time in the next half hour. I went to the basement of the market and there happened to be a sushi shop putting discount stickers on all of their sushi. Well, at least it would get me by until I found something to eat! I walked towards the Naga-machi district, which is also known as the Samurai district, and I planned to eat at an Indian restaurant, as it seemed to be one of the only places listed as gluten-free. On the way, I stopped at the Oyama Shrine, and explored the garden and pond there.

I went to the Indian restaurant and got there before it opened and it already had people waiting outside, so I decided to take a walk around the Samurai district. A lot of it was closed, but there were streams that ran in front of all of the store-fronts and houses, which was really cool!

I came back to the restaurant to see that there was a sign on the door, stating that they were full and it would likely be an hour to an hour and a half wait. I looked at some of the other restaurants closeby, but they also seemed to have lineups. I decided to just wait at the Indian place and finally, a couple left. I went up to the door and the chef said that they still had reservations, and I’d have to come back in two hours if I wanted a table. Shucks! There was another place close by, but I was avoiding it since it was pricey. However, it had open tables so I decided to just go in. It was called Love For All, and I think it’s more of a tapas-style place. However, after looking at the prices, I decided I could only afford one plate and possibly a dessert (only because they had gluten-free cake). They brought me an appetiser as soon as I sat down, which was kind of weird because you still had to pay for it (I guess as a cover charge?). I decided on the California Crab Avocado Boat, which they seared right in front of me using a blowtorch. I have to admit it was really good, and I would have loved to try more dishes if I could afford it.

I got the chocolate cake as well, and then I decided to walk to Kanazawa Castle. The good thing about it being Golden Week is that some cities had light shows after sunset, and this was one of those cities. They lit up the castle grounds, as well as the garden, which was a cool way to see the sites (and it was free!). I enjoyed my time walking through the castle grounds but once I got to the gardens, I realised that they were already closed. So I walked back to my hostel, which seemed to take a lot longer than Google Maps’ estimation of 30 minutes.

The next day, I got up early to see if I could do my laundry at the hostel (I figured it would be more expensive in Kyoto). It finished right at check-out time, so I packed everything up and left my bag at the hostel. I decided to explore the Kenroku-en Gardens since after reading the reviews, many said that if I had to visit ONE Japanese garden, it should be this one. I caught the bus there, and stood in an extremely long line to buy a ticket. Then I spent about an hour and a half walking around the garden. To be honest, I didn’t think it was THAT impressive (keep in mind this is coming from someone who’s not a flower/garden person) but I DID share my opinion with another traveller and they said the same thing. It was really just a bunch of trees – not really any flowers, and (oddly enough) VERY few birds.

I walked back to the Geisha district since the buses were extremely packed, and I decided to tour a traditional geisha house. I had to pay the fee, take off my shoes, and store all of my stuff in a locker. Then I got to walk around the house and see all of the rooms. If I paid extra, I could get matcha tea with a treat, so I decided to give it a try. The matcha was a bit too bitter for my taste, but the treat was really good and I don’t even know what it was! After the tour, my goal was to go to a pancake place that I had seen the day before (Cafe Tamon) because it was entirely gluten-free. I was struggling to choose between a savoury pancake (Eggs Benedict), or a sweet one. But knowing how I handle sweet things, I decided to go for the Eggs Benedict. So.. not trying to be overly dramatic but this was probably the best pancake I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! No joke, it felt like I was eating a cloud. I’ve never had a pancake that fluffy before! Absolutely amazing – 10/10, even though again, it was pricey (but totally worth it). I caught a bus back to my hostel, but the traffic was so bad, it took forever to get back. Then I grabbed my stuff, waited for another bus, and went to the train station. Again, traffic was horrible so I had just missed the train. Luckily, there was another one within 30 minutes to Kyoto. But I’ll save that for the next post. Love always

The next place I was heading was called Nagano. I left my hostel in Tokyo and I went to the train station to finally get my JR pass. I tried to do this the day before, but I had left my passport at the locker in the hostel, and they needed it for verification. I finally got my JR pass, which would allow me to take most trains across Japan for two weeks. However, the pass was a bit wider than a credit card (so it couldn’t fit in my wallet), but still shorter than a credit card. And it was the exact same size as all of the other train tickets, so it was very easy to lose (and I’ve heard of this happening before). I got on the bullet train to Nagano and once I got there, I bought a 2-day Snow Monkey pass. This pass would allow me unlimited train and bus rides in the area, as well as free admission to the Snow Monkey park. I used that pass to take the train to Suzaka, which is where my hostel was (Guest House KURA). I got there at 3pm and was told that check-in wasn’t until 4pm (this seemed to be the case everywhere in Japan – late 4pm check-ins, and early 10am check-outs), but luckily they let me go to my room early. The guesthouse was a traditional Japanese house, and I had to set up my futon, which was a cool experience! I had booked a girls dorm, but since I was the only girl there, I got a room to myself. I decided to explore the neighbouring town of Obuse, which is famous for harvesting chestnuts. However, when I got there, it started to rain and most things were closed or were closing soon. I found a cafe called Cafe Saku G, which served chestnut parfaits, and it was so good! I didn’t think I liked chestnuts, but this was so tasty. After my dessert, I decided to head into Nagano. My gluten-free app only had one option in the entire area, so I decided to go to that. It was a place right next to the station called 信州十割そば てん, and they even had a sign on the window that said gluten-free. They had an ordering system outside, but it was all in Japanese so I just walked in. The chef had great English and said that they didn’t have an English menu, so I asked about gluten-free. He said that I could have the soba noodles cold, since the broth had gluten. Soba noodles are made with buckwheat, but some places still mix it with flour, so it’s difficult to find 100% buckwheat noodles. However, this place did them and they also did gluten-free tempura! I used my Google Translate app to look at my options, and decided to go for the cold soba noodles with lotus root tempura and chicken tempura. The chicken tempura was so good! I had never had cold noodles before, so that was interesting, but they were still good as well. I walked around the city for a bit, but it was so cold! I was in the mountains, and it felt like I was back in Canada – I couldn’t stop shivering! I got on the train and headed back to the hostel, where there was a guy from Israel and a guy from the UK, and they were hanging out with the three Japanese hostel workers. The hostel workers tried to figure out how to write everyone’s name in Japanese symbols. Mine translated into “attractive, calm flowing water,” but is still pronounced Janelle. We stayed up chatting until late, and then went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up and went to the convenience store to get coffee and breakfast. The guy from the UK (Ash) was also planning to go to the monkey park, so we decided to go together. We caught the train, which took us to the end of the line, and then we had to get onto a bus. After that, we still had to walk about 20 minutes just to get into the park. But we immediately saw monkeys! They were so chill, and fun to watch. I had developed a fear of monkeys after my time in Thailand and Malaysia, since the monkeys there were so vicious. However, these ones were so nice and didn’t even acknowledge humans. During the winter, there’s snow in the area so the snow monkeys usually hang out in the hot springs. We waited and waited for them to go into the water, but none of them did – they’d only dip their heads in for a drink. We must have stayed for a couple hours just to watch them. There was another hot spring (called an onsen in Japan) closeby, where both humans and monkeys could go, but I decided to pass.

We walked back to the station, which would take about an hour at a regular pace. But we were taking our time, so it took a lot longer. My gluten free app pointed us to a restaurant called Soba Yariya, but as we walked through the area, everything seemed closed because of the holiday. There was one place with a curtain and we saw that it was a restaurant, so we just decided to go inside. It was after 2 by that point, and we were just happy to find an open restaurant. It was covered with the most random figurines and artwork, and then I saw a sign that said Soba Yariya – we were in the right place! Another soba place, which the area is known for. I said that I was allergic to wheat, so she told me to get soba and I got it in a broth. When it came, I saw that the broth was a brown colour and I was skeptical – surely it must have soy sauce in it. But I just ate it anyway, and I felt itchy shortly afterwards! I should have probably just ordered cold noodles again, but we were already cold enough outside, so I was just happy to have some warm soup. We continued on our walk and came upon this little shop that sold onsen pudding. It was made with local eggs which are heated in the hot spring water, and it was basically like a custard. There was no one in the shop – it was just an honesty shop where you’d leave money. And there was one vending machine with a variety of puddings, so we both decided to try the original. It was actually so good! We continued to the station and then decided to stop back in Obuse on the way. Again, it was nearly 5pm so everything was closed or nearly closed, but at least it was nicer weather compared to the day before! We went back to the same cafe that I was at, and we each got another chestnut parfait – totally worth it! We went back to the hostel to relax for a bit, and we met another Canadian (Daniel) and a Polish guy (Adam). The four of us went out for dinner to an Izakaya restaurant 枠屋 (Izakaya is kind of like a Japanese tapas bar), and I ordered a variety of things. I knew it would be impossible to avoid gluten here and since I had already reacted from lunch, I decided to just go all in. I ordered a soft tofu dish, some gyoza, and some of the best (and cheapest) salmon sushimi I think I’ve ever had. It was kind of ironic that I had brought my own gluten-free soy sauce to dip my gluten-filled gyoza into. We went back to the hostel late, hung out for a bit, and then went to bed.

The next morning, the four of us all caught the same train into Nagano. I grabbed some coffee and breakfast to eat before leaving, and then we all headed to the train station. When we got there, we were all heading in different directions, so we said our goodbyes and separated. I was going to Kanazawa next, which I’ll save for the next post. Love always

The flight from Manila to Tokyo was meant to leave at 2:10pm but by 3:10, we still hadn’t gotten in the air. Finally, we did shortly after! The flying time was only four hours, but it seemed like way longer. Probably due to the two annoying kids behind me, who kept kicking the seat and continuously opening and slamming the tray table. We arrived about 20 minutes late (8:20pm) and then I had to wait in the long line for Immigration. This time, I was prepared and filled out all of the paperwork beforehand, so I just had to show them my QR code to go through. Then, I had to do the same thing when I went through customs. I was finally able to exit, and I went to figure out where I could get my Japan Rail Pass. I had read that you have to buy your Rail Pass before entering Japan, so I had ordered it the weekend before I left Melbourne. What I didn’t realize was that they actually MAIL you the voucher. A voucher that was worth $550AUD. When I ordered it, I was told that it would take exactly five business days to arrive, which was the exact amount of time that I had left in Melbourne. Fingers crossed! However, on Tuesday, I got an email that it had been sent and it would arrive in five business days from THEN. I didn’t have five business days! If worse came to worst, my flatmate would have to express post the voucher to me in Perth. Luckily on Friday afternoon (the day before I left Melbourne), the voucher arrived! And then, I had to carry that $550 voucher with me throughout Western Australia and the Philippines. I couldn’t wait until I could exchange it because I was scared that I would lose it. When I got to the JR Pass office, there was a sign saying that they were no longer taking anymore customers and that the voucher could be exchanged at another train station. This meant that I’d have to pay for my trip into Tokyo (rather than have it covered by the pass). I was in such a hurry because my hostel reception was supposed to close at 10pm and I already knew that I’d be late (I didn’t realize that it would take me nearly two hours to get there from the airport). I went to a ticket office to buy my ticket and then I waited for the train. It wasn’t until the train finally arrived that I realized that there was a seat number on my ticket. Luckily by random chance, I happened to be standing in front of the right door. I did feel quite lost in Japan. Normally, I can figure things out quite quickly, but since Japan is so large, busy, and advanced, I felt like I was constantly trying to figure things out. This could also be due to the fact that I decided NOT to get a SIM card at the airport. Therefore, I had to figure out the trip to my hostel while at the airport, take pictures of where I needed to go, and hope for the best. After my first day on public transport, I got used to how things worked and I was able to figure things out a lot more quickly. Once I took the train into Tokyo, I had to take two subways. This was also quite confusing since you had to buy tickets from a machine and select what cost you were going to pay, but I didn’t know which one to choose. Again, after a few times doing this, I was able to figure it out afterwards. I finally got to my hostel right before 11pm and checked in. I dropped all of my stuff off in my room and then went to find some dinner since I hadn’t eaten since lunch. After walking around and realising that everything was closed, I headed into a 7-Eleven and settled on a couple of seaweed wraps (which became my regular train snack), and a salad (which I had a bad gluten reaction to – must have been the dressing).

On Sunday morning, I slept in until my alarm… At 9am. Which was weird for me since I had been waking up naturally early during my entire time in Western Australia and in the Philippines. The time difference was only one hour ahead but during my whole time in Japan, I found it almost impossible to get up early. I had some coffee at the hostel and figured out what I should do that day. It would be my only day in Tokyo (for now) since I’d be coming back at the end of my trip. I decided to focus on the districts in the west, and I booked a free walking tour for that evening at 7pm. I took the subway to the Shibuya district, and went straight to a gluten free ramen place, called Shin-bu-saki-ya Seared-Miso Ramen Shibuya branch and walked in. “Hi, for one?” The server just spoke to me in Japanese – I was so confused. This is one thing that I quickly learned in Japan – they don’t cater to tourists. In the Philippines, where I was constantly acknowledged and asked if I wanted a coconut or a tuktuk ride, Japan was the complete opposite. I was hardly ever acknowledged unless I walked into a store or restaurant (and the cool thing is EVERYONE acknowledges you – all servers and all chefs), and I was usually still spoken to in Japanese, even though I had no idea what they were saying. A lot of the restaurants didn’t have English menus, so I had to rely on using Google Translate or looking at pictures. The server asked, “Ticket?” And I was even more confused. She told me, “Outside,” so I went. There was an electronic menu outside, where you had to order on the screen and pay. Then, you brought your ticket inside to give to the server. Whoa.. I never would have figured that out on my own! I finally got to have my first gluten-free ramen in three years, and it was great! After I finished my meal, I decided that I’d need to get a SIM card. With all of the transportation that I’d be taking AND having to eat gluten-free, I realized that it would be a lot easier to have internet access at all times. I went to BIC Mobile and had done my research beforehand, so I showed a picture to one of the workers, and he led me to the SIM card that I was looking for. It was a 10 day card with 5GB of data, which would last me for my whole trip. I decided to check out some of the touristy places, starting with Shibuya crossing. It’s a famous crosswalk because it goes in about five different directions, and hundreds of people go across it at once. I went to the Starbucks on the corner and waited in the long line to get a coffee. The Starbucks is on the second floor, and is a prime location to watch the crossing. Unfortunately, tons of other people had the same idea as me. However, I was able to snatch a seat quite quickly, where I watched the crossing and figured out how to activate my SIM card.

After this, I walked to the Harajuku district, where I walked down the famous Takeshita Street. It was FULL of people! What I didn’t realise when I planned my trip was that I planned it during the entire Golden Week holiday, which meant that all of Japan was touring their own country. Everywhere was busier than usual, and apparently accommodation was hard to find (good thing I booked early!). After walking through the street, I went to the nearby Meiji Jingu temple. This was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle, and it was great to walk through a nice, quiet forest.

I decided to keep walking to the Shinjuku district, which took quite awhile. By the time I got there, I realised that I should probably get dinner before my walking tour so I went to a place called Teppan Baby. They asked if I had a reservation and I said no, but they said they could seat me as long as I was out by 7:15. Perfect! It was so cool to be able to sit in front of the grill and watch the chefs. By the time I got my food, I only had about 20 minutes to eat it – and it was huge! But it was so good! I got through about 7/8 of it, but I was fully stuffed!

Then I headed to my walking tour. The walking tour went through the area of Shinjuku and focused on the nightlife in Tokyo. We got shown Godzilla Road, and ended at Golden Gai, which used to be an exclusive area that you’d need a membership in order to go into certain bars. However, tourism somewhat forced most places to open their doors to everyone, but at a lot of places, you still have to pay a cover charge to enter. During the walk, I met a girl from Melbourne named Patricia, so her and I went for drinks afterwards (and she had dinner, but I was still stuffed from my meal). By the time we finished, it was 11pm so I headed back to my hostel to go to bed. The next morning, I got up to have coffee, and then packed up my stuff to head to my next destination. Love always