Stephen: The Robot Restaurant is an infamous attraction in Shinjuku, which is more of a show than anything else, despite what the name might infer. At first, I wasn’t really keen on going, as it seemed like a bit of a tourist trap. Tickets were definitely not cheap either, coming in at about 50 quid a… Continue reading Robot Restaurant
Underground Gigs and Karaoke
Stephen: Something that readers who are unfamiliar with Scottish people may not realise, is that there is a general rule: No matter where you are in the world, you can probably find somebody that you know from back home. This trip was no exception, as one of Al’s friends from Glasgow (Kuv) happened to be living… Continue reading Underground Gigs and Karaoke
Back to Tokyo for the Final Leg.
Stephen: After our time in Osaka came to an end, we had just under a week left in Japan, and were going to spend it back in Tokyo. For this part of the journey, we were staying in an area of the city called Ikebukuro, which is a wee bit north of Shinjuku. We had ‘splashed… Continue reading Back to Tokyo for the Final Leg.
Osaka Part Two – Booze, Castles, and Towers
Stephen: In the second part of the blog documenting our time in Osaka, things get a bit out of synch at times, as we ended up doing our own thing separately for a couple of days. Some days we all spent most of the time together, and other days we just got drunk, or were like… Continue reading Osaka Part Two – Booze, Castles, and Towers
OSAKA – Part One
Stephen: Here we are in Osakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. We can’t quite remember who said this (but Al says he will take the credit), but compared to Tokyo, Osaka has less of the big city sharp and proper ness, and more grittiness, but arguably more soul underneath; not dis-similar to how many of us feel about Edinburgh vs.… Continue reading OSAKA – Part One
Kyoto Part Two – Monkeying Around in Arashiyama
Stephen: On our second and final full day in Kyoto, we headed out to the outskirts of the city, to a place called Arashiyama. Kyoto was the first place on the whole trip where we had become acutely aware of the fact that we are foreigners, feeling more like sightseers than anything else, which wasn’t… Continue reading Kyoto Part Two – Monkeying Around in Arashiyama
Kyoto – Part One
Stephen: We left the bustling metropolis of Tokyo behind us, clattering away at some ridiculous speed on the Shinkansen bullet train. It was remarkably comfortable, and got us all the way to Kyoto in just a shade over two hours. Getting the tickets had been a breeze too, with help from the friendly staff at the… Continue reading Kyoto – Part One
Health and Sports Day – aka the day Al got sick
Stephen: This was our last full day in Tokyo, and one which saw us divide the threesome. It was a national public holiday to commemorate the Olympic games being held in the 60s – ‘National Health and Sports Day’, and ironically, Al didn’t feel too great, so decided to have a rest to try and… Continue reading Health and Sports Day – aka the day Al got sick
Electric city – Akihabara
Stephen here. I have completely lost my voice, which has made communicating that extra bit more difficult, so prepare for a more verbose blog entry. The fact that people can still legally smoke in bars and cafes here hasn’t really helped matters. Viva la ban. Our next stop on the trip has been to the… Continue reading Electric city – Akihabara
It’s Harajuku and Shimokitazawa
Stephen: In the past few days we’ve ticked a bunch of things off of our lists. We headed over to the Meiji shrine first, where we were lucky enough to spot a couple of weddings. There was a bunch of people dressed in their traditional wedding gear, and a few even asked us to take… Continue reading It’s Harajuku and Shimokitazawa
Japan à Trois 