Author: Jessica

May 23rd:

Because of our busy schedule for the next week I woke up at 7 which was much easier when I first got here but unfortunately I’m starting to adjust to the schedule here. Luckily there is a very fancy automatic coffee machine that I will definitely be taking advantage of. We were also given little breakfast boxes and a short presentation before heading out to the tour bus.

First Stop: Kinkaku-ji Temple

The temple was a gold covered building in order to show the Shoguns power and wealth to domestic and international peoples. The rocks around the building represent Japan’s main land and to also show wealth as rocks were very valuable at this time.

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Second Stop: Arashiyama Park, bamboo path

Next up was a bamboo path, here I got a stamp book with another talisman type thing (for a door ig?). We also go free time to go to shops and get food! I don’t have much to elaborate on as it was more of a sight-seeing mini hike.

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Stop Three: Kiyomizu-dera temple

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The is the most popular temple in Kyoto and possibly even Japan. Also the oldest (as many of the others have a frequency of burning down). These temple are made with NO NAILS only crafty word working. The town in the surrounding area was very old Japan style and super crowded.

Stop 4: Fushimi Inari Shrine:

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This shrine was a very quick stop but one of the most beautiful. I really want to do the entire mountain hike someday.

Omokara Ishi was my favorite part of the shrine. You think of a wish and then pick up a stone on top of a stone lantern. If the stone is heavier than you expected the wish will be harder to achieve. If it is lighter it will be easier!

Dinner Time:

Finally after a very busy day we watched the Demon Slayer Movie and got food!

As soon as I got used to walking around Asakusa it was time to move to the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. To get there we had to navigate the subways and thank god I wasn’t alone because I had no clue what was going on. Finally we excited the subway right in front of our new hotel for the night.

It is the largest hotel I’ve ever seen it’s the size of an entire college campus and more. We rushed to get food. I got pizza although it’s one of the least Japanese foods I could’ve gotten.

In the morning we stopped at a small cafe in the train station. I ate a lot of Family Mart snacks the night before so I stuck with an amazing カフェオレ. Not too expensive and super delicious. Now it’s time for the aquarium!!!

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The aquarium was a bit pricey and not too big but it was part of the hotel. There were a lot of cool attractions and layouts however it seemed like they treated a lot of the fish more like art than animals which was sad.

I left at 8 with a driver and arrived at the airport at around 11. Getting through security was super super easy and then I just listened to an audio book while I waited for the flight.

The following 10 hours were filled with Fire Emblem and more movies and snacks. It honestly wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be until the last three hours I was getting pretty antsy.

FINALLY I landed and took a taxi (too afraid to take the train alone after pulling an all nighter) and settled into the Vessel Inn Hotel. It was pretty nice but a little cramped. I fell asleep very quickly that night.

The next morning I met with Belle and Megan and explored the Sky Tree. There are an endless supply of shops to explore. We ended up spending two whole days at the Sky Tree as there was too much to do.

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Very tired but even more excited to be here!