I came back from a 2 week trip to Japan last week, and it was fantastic! As usual I’m too lazy to do a detailed writeup… maybe later once I’ve finished going through the thousands of photos I took (no, that isn’t an exaggeration… photos so far are up on Flickr). So for the moment, here is the trip in various lists.

Places Visited

• Osaka
  Osaka Aquarium
  • Dotonbori
  • Umeda
• Hiroshima
• Miyajima
• Himeji Castle
• Kyoto
  • Gion
  • Kiyomizu Temple
  • Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavillion Temple)
• Nara, Daibutsuden
• Koka (ninja village!)
• Karuizawa (skiing! I think it’s in Nagano…)
• Tokyo
  • Asakusa
  • Shinjuku
  • Shibuya (yay Mandarake book store!)
  • Odaiba
  • Harajuku, Yoyogi
  • Akihabara
• Hakone (hotsprings!)

Foods Eaten

• Okonomiyaki
• Sushi
• Sashimi
• Kushi katsu
• Tempura
• Curry
• Steak (you start missing Western food after a while, okay?! And it’s not as expensive as you’d think)
• Shabu-shabu
• Takoyaki
• Momoji cakes
• Ramen noodles
• Melon bread
• Sakura mochi
• Gyoza
• Shaka shaka chicken (from McDonalds. Who can resist such a cool name?)
• Odango
• Moz Burger
• Omuraisu
• Umeboshi (pickled plum - not too bad to nibble at, but far to sour for me to eat whole)
• Onigiri (riceballs are nice a cheap there, although I didn’t really like them that much…)
• Too many sweets and pastries to name

Um… yeah. I’ll come back to this with more details eventually!