Random Things About Japan That Captivated Us

Sapporo’s Underground World

As winter approached, we expected the cold to dominate our Hokkaido trip. Instead, we discovered a sprawling underground city. Malls, restaurants, and shops are interconnected, making it easy to explore without braving the chill.

 

Sapporo's Underground World

Combini and Culinary Delights

Japan’s combini stores are a foodie’s paradise. From ready-to-eat meals to exquisite desserts, they have it all. Add street food and fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s with exclusive menus, and you’ve got a culinary adventure unlike any other.

 

Which one, Lawson, Family Mart or 7-11? They're all good

Thrift Shopping Heaven

For some, visiting Japan means diving into its thrift shopping scene. From stylish clothing to luxury bags, these shops offer treasures that make the hunt thrilling and rewarding.

 

Non-stop shopping for luxury items

Surprising Attractions

Unexpected gems abound in Japan. Think public restrooms with glass walls that turn opaque for privacy or a Starbucks in a serene park, offering a tranquil, zen-like atmosphere.

 

Glass public restrooms and Hachicko Statue in Shibuya

Everyday Fascinations

Even the ordinary feels extraordinary in Japan. Vending machines with unique items, perfectly designed public spaces, and a meticulous attention to detail elevate daily life into something special.

 

Streets of Honcho with Mt. Fuji and Nissan cars on display in Shibuya

The Never-Ending Discovery

No matter how many times you visit, Japan always offers something new to fall in love with. Its mix of innovation, tradition, and surprises makes every trip unforgettable.

Starbucks in Daikyocho

In an instant

When you're at work and have those few minutes to spare to do whatever. I spent mine doing a 6 day Japan itenerary for my aunt's. Conditions were very simple. Make it cheap, some thrift shopping, do it in 4 to 5 days and they were specific they should at least be able to go to the bamboo forest.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Normally, I would not even take this challenge and deem it near impossible. But I wanted to see what are the posibilities and if they don't like it, then it's ok. Immediately, I had to negotiate, since 4 days in Japan is a waste of money and it needs to be more.

Osaka Castle So there I was googling my way. Looking through flights and schedules. And this is the same time were in Japan as well (November). This is just 5 months away, and I'm having doubts with the rates already. Four hours after, I came up with a rough draft. And this is how it turned out.

Japan right now is a good destination. We were there pre-pandemic and it was a bit pricey and yet worth every penny. It's a no brainer to not go and spend a few weeks there now. Again, 10 days is not enough. The amount of things to do, places to go. Immersing yourself to their culture and understanding how they look at the world, gives that perspective on how we should be living as humans. You wont understand till you go there, and stop behaving as a tourist, go down on whatever pedestal you're standing on and experience on how to be a local. And you would start questioning yourself why can't we be like the Japanese with regards on how respectful they are, disciplined and just in general. Dotonbori, Osaka Anyways, the auntie's are thinkin about it. But again, if I'm in their shoes, decision would be in an instant, a very clear "YES!!!".

Fits the name

This is day 2 of our Japan trip. At this moment, we're in Kyoto for 3 days. The sun is already down when we got here. Just went for a quick walk to the nearest mall to grab whatever has Uniqlo can offer.

On the way back to the hotel, we had to make a quick stop at Lawson around the corner. We were only to buy water, but I had to get my ice cream fill even though its 40 degrees outside. But then, the keto in me had get my regular fill of fried goodness.

All these convenience stores here have their own version of different sorts of deep fried chicken, shrimp or whatever meat they can deep fry. This is my second time to actually buy deep fried goodness from Lawson. I got the hot/spicy chicken and the minced meat ball. Both are so good that I can actually see myself eating these things almost everyday.

And these things are so cheap with an average price of $2 each, buying multiples would not hurt your pockets

And we are here

Japan was on our top list of go to places. We maybe Asians, but Japan was totally foreign to us. The knowledge that we had are from YouTube videos and feedback from people that have been there.


The moment we stepped out of the plane, we had to do several things right away. We had to looked for the kiosk where we need to pick up our hotspot gadget. I ordered it online from FoxWifi, I just had to give them the info of my airline and date of arrival. And it was mailed at the post office by the airport.


Next was to pick up our JR pass. To my delight, there were rows upon rows of capsule toys that would greet tourist before boarding the train. You can also pick up Suica cards here, but we opted not to. And another important thing was try not have your money changed here, since the rates are not as good compared to having it exchanged at the city.


And by the time we boarded the train, we definitely recommend getting the JR Green pass before your trip. The extra dollars would save you more at the end of the day.

May look good but

Spring is here and we've been seeing of the super bloom all over social media. Anza Borrego was the go to place to see all those wild flowers.

It was a 2 hour drive from Chula and the weather was in the 80's when we got there. We also had to cross the mountains and seeing this desolate town in the middle of the desert was just pretty amazing. 

Made us wonder how it feels like to live here. Vegas is filled with so many things and Palm Springs is less congested but it still has everything you need. While Anza Borrego is really tiny with mom and pop shops, long stretch of asphalt roads, hiking trails and a rotunda in the middle of the town with picnic tables.

We also went around to see the metal structures that they're famous for. 

Cheap paradise

 Amazon is our go-to [virtual] place when it comes to books. And I guess 80% of people for that matter.

 But no matter how convenient online shopping can be, you still need that feeling of being able to touch the thing you've been longing to buy, to see it in person and gauge how big/tiny or what material it's made of, before you eventually decide whether your hard earned penny is really worth spending on it.

  

 A few months ago, we happen to stumble upon Book Off. We've been ignoring this place for the  longest time. It's a Japanese chain store that sells mostly pre-owned items. Whether it's DVD, electronics, toys and even instruments. But they carry mostly books which was the next best thing besides Amazon, as I mentioned.

 Zion, Prime Grill, K-Bbq, Kura, Somi-Somi, Mini Cooper, Bonchon, H-Mart, Murakai, Costco Business and etc. We have added Book Off on our long list of places to go in Clairemont as another "excuse" to drive up. In fact, the drive does not matter when most of the things or stores we like are all located in one place. And it's a soiree of our so-called cheap paradise.

Address: 4240 Kearny Mesa Rd #128 San Diego CA 92111
Website: BookOff

No more long drives

Din Tai Fung has come to San Diego

 Anna saw this on Facebook and immediately made reservations. We would drive all the way to Irvine just to eat there.



These are one of those places we eat at. A bit pricey and has small servings. By small serving means normal in Asian standards. Were we get to finish all the food we ordered and rarely taking some left overs home.

Only thing that would suck is, by October, La Jolla UTC would start charging for parking, which pissed a lot of customers.

Quickie

A month ago, Archie told me he's heading to LA for a few days and we decided to meet up. Been a while since we saw each other.

We now have an excuse to head over to LA and eat. Do a few sight seeing on the side and enjoy the all day traffic (the last one was just sarcasm).



We're supposed to be there at around 9AM so we can get things done early, but we all know that's impossible since it's a Friday, and we're talking about LA. Traffic is just like air. It's everywhere. We picked him up and just decided to head on for lunch.



We got at Ook Kook at exactly 11:45AM before the crowd started showing up. For now, this is our go to place in LA when it comes to AYCE Korean bbq.

We now have to walk all that meat off our body, and went over to Staples center. We did the usual, looked around the stadium and took pics by the bronze statues. There's really nothing to do there so we head towards "The Walk of fame".



It was pretty warm that day. And by the time we're done taking pics around, it was already 5PM. we then had to drop Archie off and call it a day.



And yet, on our way back, we can't just head home empty handed. So we then decide to stop over by Portos. Hate going here. Every single time, we'd go over board and just end up buying boxes upon boxes of bread.



This day was filling, tiring, fun and sweaty. It was a good quickie.