The Adventures of AnderCar

Day 11 is our transit day between Nagoya and Tokyo. We start our day going to Nagoya station and boarding the Shinkansen bullet train all the way to Tokyo. It was a very fast travel to Tokyo and it took less than 2 hours to get to Tokyo Station. My family even got a glimpse of Mount Fuji but I didn’t because I was asleep. When we got there it was raining heavily so we couldn’t walk around the station and we also got there so early that we couldn’t even check into our apartment yet. Dad and Carter sat down in a corner of a mall and me and mom went to explore Tokyo Station! We walked around the malls and stumbled across a former bib gourmand restaurant that served Hiroshima style okonomiyaki. We decided to try 1 for ourselves and it was okay. We felt like it wasn’t bib gourmand level because there was too much plain noodles and not enough sauce or protein. Then we walked the Tokyo character street that had stores of all of Japan’s adored characters. It was fascinating seeing all of the specialized stores. I ended up buying some more packs of Pokémon cards at the Tokyo Station Pokémon centre there. After when the rain cleared up we headed to the other Pokémon centre in the area, Pokemon Center Tokyo DX. We ended up not buying anything there because things were sold out but it was stuff fun to see all the statues of Pokémon again! Then, we headed to check in to our apartment out close to Skytree to we took the subway to the Oshiage (Skytree) subway stop. The apartment was very PINK. Like very very pink. Everything was pink… Anyways, after that we went closer to the Skytree to get something to eat and ended up going to Kura Merry-Go-Round Sushi. It was a little pricey but very yummy because we got to try lots of fresh and freshly grilled sushi pieces! It was a pleasant experience with a nice surprise at the end. We found out that every 5 plates you get a raffle to play some gachapon. We ended up winning a chance to get gachapon by shorting fish and Carter got the “gold” tier for points and ended up getting 3 balls of gachapon. We got little cute charms of sushi and their mascots. Then went to the Skytree mall to cross off our third and final Pokémon center for the day. This was the Pokémon Center Skytree location with Rayquaza as its mascot. It was nice seeing the statues but the Pokémon cards were all sold out! Right outside of Skytree there was a cool performance we saw people performing. It was like a traditional Japanese dance that all of the older people knew. It was called the Bon Odori dance festival. There was an elevated stand in the middle where people were drumming and playing instruments and people surrounding it dancing in a circle. It was a really fun and exciting first day in Tokyo!

Day 10 in Nagoya started our day going to Hongo-Tei Ramen again and this time I got a seafood and chucked soba one. The noodles didn’t look or taste like soba at all. It just looked like and tasted like thinner ramen. Kind of weird but I think it got lost in translation. Still very good like the last time. Then after that we took the train from Nagoya station to Osu cannon station to go to the shopping street and see the temple there. First thing we did was visiting the Osu Cannon Temple. It was not as big as my mom imagined. Inside the temple was a small statue of the god Cannon who is the god of mercy. After that we walked down Osu Shopping Street and just went into any shops that looked interesting. We ended up buying a few things. Then we went to an arcade and some card shops until Dad and carter left to go home while me and mom kept on exploring the Osu area. During our extended time there, we ended up getting a deal to sell 2 of my Pokémon cards but I’ll talk about that later. Me and mom got something to eat and it was perfect how 3 food shops were all open right next to each other. When all other shops were closing up, 3 food shops were still open and we got food from all of them. First we got roasted dango which are glutinous rice balls that are coated with either a savoury sauce or a sweet powder. The dango was amazing because it was very fresh. Second we got a croissant taiyaki which was extremely flaky and had a nice custard inside. Lastly, we got some takoyaki with lots of fresh spring onions on it. The takoyaki had a nice, crispy outside with a good amount of octopus and green onion! Then we headed home for the day. But on our way home we sold 2 of my Pokémon cards. One I sold for 3000 yen and the other for 2500 yen. These were the most expensive Japanese Pokémon cards I’ve sold and I don’t even remember where I got them from. This was a nice, fun day in Nagoya and was not as boring as I thought Nagoya would be.

Today it was day 9 in Nagoya and we first visited the Ozone Tanabata Festival. We got there right when it just opened so not all the stalls were ready yet. It was fun walking around a not crowded or busy festival and seeing all the displays around the Oz Mall shopping street. Mom and carter wrote a note and put it on the wishing tree before we left. Then we went to go walk around Nagoya Parco which was south west of Oz station. Nagoya Parco had 3 wings so it was confusing walking around and navigating the mall. Outside of the building there was an event for a sporting company and there was a show. Then, we walked to Pokemon Center Nagoya where we had to wait 30 minutes to get inside the store. The Pokémon center was so busy that they had a queue you had to wait in to get in. I ended up buying many packs of Pokémon cards there. Then for an early dinner we went to Sweets Paradise and their all you can eat buffet. It’s mostly sweets like cake and tarts but there was also salads, pasta, and curry too! Another cool thing was that for an extra $1 , you can have access to unlimited Hagen-Dahz ice cream. Most things were very yummy like the curry, ice cream, and drinks to name a few. On the other hand, the desserts were usually not the greatest which was disappointing. Nonetheless it was a fun experience and definitely worth it for the price of 1699 yen. Then we capped off our day with a little more shopping and taking the subway home.

Day 8 was a pretty chill day in Nagoya. Me and dad started the day a bit earlier exploring around our hotel and going to the many cool anime stores around the area. After an hour or so, we met up with carter and mom for lunch at Hongo-Tei Ramen. We saw this on our first day walking around and wanted to eat at this place for lunch because it had unlimited rice and kimchi for lunch. For the price, it was very big and delicious. The bowls were humongous for around $10 each and the broth, noodles, and everything about it was amazing. The only thing I didn’t like about the place was the kimchi. The kimchi was a little too bitter for my liking. Next we went on the subway to go to the Edouji Tanabata Festival street. We saw many shrines and places of warship as well as different paper structures. Me and my mom ended up filling out a survey and got a chance to win something and my mom got a better prize and won an exclusive towel! We were still so full from the ramen that we didn’t end up eating a dinner so we just went to our local grocery store and getting stuff there. On the way there we picked up some discount snacks at the convenience store like the salty vanilla pocky which is exactly what Carter is! This was a pretty cool day in Nagoya and another day of fun!

Day 7 was our transit day between Osaka and Nagoya. We took the JR Osaka Loop Line from our home station Tsuruhashi to Osaka-Umeda station and went back to the Osaka sky building to board our bus to Nagoya. The bus seats were very comfy and there were dividers between the seats. The most funny thing is that each seat had like a cover so you could nap in darkness. It was pretty funny how every single seat had it. Throughout the bus ride we passed through lots of different scenic views but mostly I napped. Then after a few hours we arrived at Nagoya Station… kind of. We got dropped off at like the side of the road but luckily it was closer to our hotel then Nagoya Station. We made our way to the Grand Base Hotel. The room was very nice but a little small. The best part about it was the bathroom. Unlike Osaka’s house, this hotel had a really good toilet with all the buttons and a rain shower! Then we ended the day going to a more traditional Japanese restaurant where they served fish with a soup, rice, and other picked vegetables. It was a nice hearty meal for our first in Nagoya!

This was day 6 in Osaka and our last full day. After a long day at Universal, Mom and Carter were lazy and ended up staying home for most of the day while me and my dad took a train to Osaka-Umeda station. We went to a few malls around the station but most importantly saw the Osaka Pokemon centre! I got an exclusive pin with the mascot of that Pokémon Centre, Koraidon and Pikachu. Also on the same floor there was a Nintendo store. Both stores had lots of cool statues like a pixelated Mario and Koraidon. We got free stickers there and looked at all of the Nintendo merchandise. Then we went to a store called Yoshiba Camera. This store was huge and had like 9 floors that were humongous. Then we walked around Osaka-Umeda station to try to get to the Umeda Sky Building but since there was construction it was hard to get there. Eventually, after 45 minutes, we got to the building where we booked the bus tickets to get to Nagoya for tomorrow. Then it was about 4 and we heading back to Den Den Town for one last round of shopping for Osaka. In Den Den, I ended up visiting some new stores but also went back to some other stores to buy some figures and other anime apparel. Then we ended off the day getting some udon and takoyaki in Dontonburi which we didn’t get the chance to eat in Osaka. We got a curry udon and a tempura egg udon. The udon was surprisingly good for the price. The takoyaki was very good but a little undercooked for my liking. Back to Carter and mom, they chilled all day and went out to eat ramen for lunch. It was a pretty fun day to wrap up our time in Osaka, Japan!

Day 5 in Osaka started by getting up before the cicadas at 6:30 am to get ready for our big universal day. We kind of splurged and bought some fast passes for the rides with long waiting time so we were so excited. We took the JR loop line to get there but got lucky and caught the express one that went right to Universal Studios. We got to the park 30 minutes before it officially opens but it had been open for an hour before that! Our first ride we went on was the minions ride. We were in our own little pod and went through Gru’s house from the Despicable Me movies. Other rides we went on chronologically was the Flying Dinosaur, Hollywood Backdrop, Jujutsu Kaisen 4-D show, Flight of the Hippogriff, and others! My favourite one was the Hollywood Backdrop because I got pick the music I listened too while riding the roller coaster. Out of 5 options I picked the song Kaikai Kitan by Eve which is the theme song from the anime Jujutsu Kaisen. There were lots of Jujutsu Kaisen themed stuff and I even got the Jujutsu Kaisen Gojo popcorn bucket filled with caramel popcorn. Harry Potter world was also very cool! Diagon Ally looked really good and we got a frozen butter beer there too! The most unique thing in the park was definitely Super Mario land. To get into the land we went through the iconic green Mario pipeline and was “transported” to the world of Super Mario. Everything was decorated as Mario. The scenery, staff, floors, walls, and everything was all Mario. It was crazy how everything looked. In Super Mario World we went on Yoshi’s adventure that took us on a tour of Super Mario World. The other ride in Super Mario World was even crazier. It was an AR (augmented reality) version of Mario Cart. It was an interactive ride where we have a steering wheel with triggers and we can throw shells and ‘steer’ our vehicle. It was a really cool concept and it looked really good too! Then we ending our day with one last ride going on the VR (virtual reality) Doraemon ride. It was fully digital and it was a fun adventure that was pretty long. Overall Universal was a fun, exciting but tiring day.

This was day 4 in Osaka, Japan and the main thing was the Pokémon centre. We slept in and then made our way to Pokemon centre DX and cafe for our reservations. In the same mall we checked out other stores like the Shonen Jump store and the Lego store. Then me and my brother went to go to our reservations at the Pokémon cafe. The whole cafe was decorated in Pokémon things. There were things on the walls and statues of Pokémon and little set-ups of Pokémon eating the food that you can order on the menu. I was a bit disappointed that the chairs or water glasses were not Pokémon themed but everything else was amazing. After taking photos, our food arrived. I got the Jirachi dessert set with a custom Rayquaza drawing on my latte and my brother got the pikachu meal set with a ditto drink that had a light on the bottom. The drinks were really cool! The ditto drink had a light on the bottom which when you mixed the drink it turned into the colour of ditto and tasted like ditto too! My drink was a normal latte but the Rayquaza drawing was very special. My Jirachi dessert plate was so cool! It came with a placemat that I kept and had 4 different desserts based on different Pokémon. Carter’s pikachu meal looked good but was cold when we got it. During our meal Pikachu came out and did a little funny dance. Then back at the Pokémon centre I bought lots of Pokémon cards and other Pokémon items. Later that evening we went to see fireworks at the Tengen Festival. We went early to see the vendors and to stake out a spot to view the fireworks. Then we saw the fireworks and the over an hour long. The fireworks were really close to us so they looked pretty big.

Second full day is Osaka, Japan was amazing yet again. We started our day visiting two temples near Tennoji Station. At one of them there was a turtle pond with so many turtles in it. Crazy how there were so many! The sunlight was beaming so we didn’t end up going to Tennoji zoo but we went to see Tennoji tower up close. We explored the shops around the tower and got some snacks. Next, for lunch we went to Albeno Q’s mall. I got a more traditional Japanese meal and it was surprisingly good. Then me and mom separated again with dad and Carter to explore around Tennoji Station. We explored the malls and shops in the area and then at underground in the train station. There was an underground food court where we had tempura with rice. Everything was very tasty.

-Andercar

Put first full day in Japan was a crazy day. We first started our day at Nipponbashi station and made our way south through Kuromon Market (no photos). Then we explored a bit of Osaka’s Den Den Town before stopping for lunch at a curry restaurant. I (Anderson) got a bowl of curry ramen with a pork cutlet. The cutlet was so crispy even though it was drenched in curry broth. The noodles were also amazing too and it all worked together. My brother and dad got curry with rice and my mom got curry ramen as well. Then we went to the indoor mall of Namba City. In the mall be explored different shops like Seria and Uniqlo. Next, Dad and Carter went back to our home early to get some extra rest while me and my mom went out again to try to see more of Den Den Town. We bought some more anime apparel and ended up at a ramen restaurant. My mom got spicy chicken ramen with fresh chilies and I got seafood and chicken tsukemen. Tsukemen is a bowl of noodles and a bowl of soup and you dip your noodles in the soup. This was my first time trying tsukemen and it was phenomenal. The thick noodles paired well with the thick broth and the egg and pork. Then we ended the day exploring a bit of Dontonburi visiting different stores like Don Quioxite. This was an awesome first day in a Japan and I’m excited for the next 26 days!

Long 28 hours in transit on 3 different airplanes and 3 other modes of transportation to get to our AirBNB. Lots of sleeping on every vehicle. In Japan I bought an exclusive Pokémon luggage tag and some Pokémon T-shirts and ending the day splurging on food.

On our way to Japan!! Toronto to Chicago and then to Tokyo then Osaka. Posting about our Summer travels!

Mango shaved ice. Specialty (made in store) ice creams - dragon fruit, black sesame, mulberry, blueberry, kiwi, passion fruit. Three scoops for only $2 CAD. So yummy!