The last day in tokyo

So today we are here for our last day! It is so sad and frustrating but we are still glad to go home at the same time.

Today was all about shopping so today I wont be posting anything besides this!

Thanks for following my trip this time again!
I am truly humbled and grateful!

Cheers!
Robert

Takaoka and back to Tokyo!

So as said I went to Takaoka which lies in Toyama prefecture near Kanazawa. I went there to meet my Japanese "mother".
   We went together with my girlfriend and my mom was so happy to see us as were we to see her!
She was still the same super energetic gal she always has been and that I remembered. Unfortunately she had still a lot of work to do and we only had one night there so we stayed at the house to wait for her and in the evening we went to a great Spanish restaurant where they served some AMAZING tapas and food. We ordered and ate a lot!
   Well mom had work in the morning and was coming back first at 2 p.m. so we slept until a bit before twelve.

After a quick shower I popped into the local supermarket to get some ingredients to make cinnamon rolls (Finnish style). We barely had made them ready when we already had to leave to the train station.
We said our farewells and left towards Tokyo.
There we met up with my girlfriends sister and went to Akihabara to browse the stores for anything interesting. I bought some retro games for my brother.

After a while we started to get hungry and we wanted to go eat some BBQ since it would be our last chance for it now here in Japan!
We searched and searched and when we started to be super hungry we quickly returned to our Hostel and checked the internet for answers to our troubles and found a good place just 5 min.'s away so we we dashed there!

It must not be left unsaid: I so F*cking LOVE IT ! We ordered, grilled and munched our stomach full!

Tomorrow will be our last full day here and we have to be very smart in using it to its full capacity!

Cheers! And as always, thanks for reading!
Robert

past passing days here in Japan

So I have been a bit busy here in Japan during the evenings so I have not had time to write.

Well about the hanami on the 4th... We arrived around three o'clock in Toyko that day so we made our preparations as quick as we could and I was really looking forwards to it.
When we made it there it was already near 6 o'clock!!!!!!! Well we saw people leaving the park and the event had clearly ended and I got super depressed thinking I had missed my chance to meet a few youtubers I wanted to meet.

Well we walked back to the station and I connected to the internet to check the event page. Thank God that there was a after party planned at the Hub, a british style pub chain here in Japan.
We made our way there and lo and behold there they were! The people I had been longing to see where there. I got there and said my greetings and we chatted a while and it felt very absurd yet awesome.
   The evening went by nicely whilst socializing and drinking.

The next day we woke up early for no real reason. It was the day we were to meet a couple I had talked with on Couchsurfing, to go do an Izakaya tour.
We were to meet at the Kaminarimon police box at three so we had plenty of time to go and eat breakfast and to eat lunch and then we also circled around Ueno for a while to kill the time.

After that we met up with this REALLY NICE couple. They were so super friendly and fun!
They had even gone so far as to meet us at a location that was most convenient for us and even done some beforehand research of the places!
   The first place we went too was a small one where we had to stand, but for us it is nothing wrong with that. We drank and had a really nice chat with our host and the patrons at the bar.

From there we went to a nice Izakaya which was owned by a husband and wife team :)
The husband was working as the chef and the wife was the server etc. They were quite old but it only gave the place a even better and homelier atmosphere!

From there we went to a standing bar where we had just a few drinks and I tried for the first time in my life something that was called a Wine highball. I have tasted a whisky highball before but this was surprisingly good. Highball is a drink where you mix the alcohol base with soda water and pour it on ice.

From there we went to our last place which was underground so you could really say it was a underground bar hahaha :) But it was fun and above all not so expensive. Actually none of the places were expensive.
We had so much fun that night and we are so grateful to our host!

Today we are going to Takaoka to meet my Japanese mother!

Cheers
Robert

Hiroshima and Miyajima

So I was a bit lazy yesterday and didn't write any blog but today will be about the only two days we had in Hiroshima.
Yesterday we after arriving and checking in to our J-hoppers hostel we didn't waste any time and went straight to the Atomic bomb dome, the peace park and the memorial museum.
The weather was really lovely and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom over here.
   I didn't know that the dome and museum was undergoing some restorations so it was a bit sad that we only got see the main exhibition at the museum. But as always it was really impressive and it always leaves you silent afterwards.

From there we walked the shopping district for quite a while and finally made our way to my favorite place: Okonomimura. There we went to eat Okonomiyaki "pancakes". The smell was mouthwatering and it was very entertaining to watch it being prepared in front of you. We struck up a conversation with some of the patrons of the shop and had a good time alongside the delicious meal.

From there we walked to the peace park to have a couple of drinks and to watch the sakuras since they were just SO beautiful!

Today we woke to a rainy weather which was a bit depressing since we only had two days in Hiroshima and today we were going to Miyajima. Well the weather may not have been the most optimal, but the scenery was just as great. The only thing that really bothered was just the wetness and the puddles on the ground. We walked to the Itsukushima shrine  and patted some deer on the way.
They were totally soaked so it was a bit like patting a wet dog, not so pleasant though cute.

The surrounding nature was very beautiful and the cherry trees against a mountainy background was really something to see. The mountains were clad in clouds and looked just so amazing. It is sad that we in Finland don't have so many mountains.

After we started to get wet we started to leave back to the hostel since we were not in the mood to do anything else this day anymore. Tomorrow we will go to Tokyo and to the Tokyo Youtube Hanami!
Looking forward to that!

Cheers
Robert