Adventures of David and Paul

The final stop on our Asian city vacation was Tokyo. We've both been here before, but since we had to connect here anyway we set up our flights to spend a few days in this Japanese mega-city. The flight from Kuala Lumpur is long (about 6 hours) so we didn't arrive until early evening. Landing in Narita, it was quite confusing trying to get the express train into the city. The airport station was very crowded, with lines of tourists waiting in various queues for the different train systems. We eventually got in the right line, and got tickets for the Narita Express. After transferring to local rail (which was also a bit confusing), we had a short walk to our hotel.

We stayed at the BnA Studio Akihabara, which was a really cool small hotel where each room was designed by a different artist. Our room, the "Hailer" room, was really large and even had a little kitchenette. It was themed to Raijin and Fujin, the gods of thunder and wind, and had a really cool dark atmosphere. It was already evening, so we took a walk around our neighborhood to find dinner. We found a little hole in the wall restaurant (they're all over Tokyo) and shared a bento box and some tempura. After dinner we walked around Akihabara for a while and visited some stores, including Don Quixote with its catchy song. Many of the stores were closing at 10pm, so we called it a night and went back to the hotel.

I mean...come on Japan...with the Pokémon right off the plane?!

Art above our bed.

Nice first dinner in Tokyo.

Akihabara is... a bit much. 😂

David is either happy or terrified. Or both.

Our first goal on Thursday morning (Feb 29! Bonus day!) was to get Paul a transit card. Tokyo has a complex web of train systems, but luckily there are transit cards ("Pasmo" and "Suica") that work on most of the systems. David was all set because with iPhones you can pay by phone - but Paul has an Android, and this feature isn't available for non-Japanese phones. To make things more difficult, Japan is currently experiencing a microchip shortage, so you can't buy transit cards at any of the machines in the stations. We did some googling and found there were a few locations where foreign tourists can buy Pasmo cards, and luckily one was in a train station a 15 minute walk from our hotel. We walked there and found the office, but they required a passport to buy the card. So we walked 15 minutes back to the hotel to get Paul's passport, then 15 minutes back to the station. The worker escorted us to a back office where it took just a few seconds to buy the transit card. Everything in Japan this trip was just a bit harder than similar experiences in Seoul, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur (from restaurants, to transit passes and just getting around in general).

With that all set, we had a quick 7-11 breakfast of iced coffee and a maple pancake, then took the train to the Odaiba neighborhood. This is kind of a tourist attraction neighborhood on reclaimed land, and has some unique attractions. We were there for Joypolis, an indoor video game theme park. Paul visited way back in 2007 and rode the Spin Bullet coaster, but that was removed and replaced in 2012 with the Gekion Live Coaster. We arrived right at opening, and Paul got in line for the coaster. Due to low capacity and slow operations, it was still about a 20 minute wait. The coaster was bizarre - in fact, probably the weirdest roller coaster Paul has ever ridden. It's a spinning, launched coaster with an upside-down barrel roll and a lengthy rhythm game section where you follow moving screens and use buttons on your restraints to play along to the music. On top of that, it's currently themed to both Sonic the Hedgehog and the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's a unique and fun ride.

Leaving Joypolis we walked through the attached mall, and went to the "takoyaki museum" and had takoyaki with spicy sauce. Overall, this iteration of the Takoyaki Museum was not as good as the one we visited in Osaka in 2011. We jumped back on the train and went a few stops to our next stop, teamLab Planets (yes, that's the capitalization scheme they use).

Waiting for the roller coaster.

There was nothing educational about this "museum" it was just takoyaki venders.

View of Tokyo from the mall in Odaiba.

Takoyaki time!

The train in Odaiba is technically a bus in a concrete guideway.

TeamLab Planet is best described as an interactive art exhibit. It's a series of large rooms, each with a unique immersive exhibit. It had rave reviews and had to be booked ahead of time, so we decided to check it out. Paul was worried it might just be pretty sets where people take pics for social media, but it was actually a really cool experience. When you enter, you have to take off your shows, and you go through the entire exhibit barefoot (kinda eww, but also the first exhibit essentially washes your feet so that's helpful).

Our favorite part was a huge room with calf-deep warm (stick with us), white (hang in here), water with projected fish swimming around. There was also a room with thousands of orchids hanging from the ceiling that slowly moved around. It may sound odd, but it's definitely worth a visit.

This is where they secretly wash your feet at the beginning of the experience. They provide towels at the top.

There were a lot of dark corridors between exhibits.

A giant pillow room. Also, a blurry Paul.

This area was like a maze of crystal lights and mirrors.

Here we are!

The fish room was spectacular.

We stayed in the fish room for probably half an hour.

David catching a digital fish, which then turns into flower petals.

The multi-color ball room.

They changed color every few seconds.

He's like those ipod commercials from the 00's!

David holding up the balls.

This room had a huge domed ceiling with flower projections.

Looking at the ceiling. This was super trippy and very cool.

Alien eggs?

Paul definitely not about to be attacked by a facehugger.

The orchid room. The only part of the entire teamLab Planet experience that your time was limited.

Paul among the orchids.

After leaving TeamLabs, we took the train and had a late lunch at Fukki ramen near Daimon station. It was simple but delicious. Paul thought the ramen was one of the best meals of the trip, and the gyoza were great too. Like many small restaurants in Japan, you order at a machine before sitting down and there were only about a dozen seats total. We added an egg to our ramen, not knowing it already came with one. Double egg ramen!

Yummy gyoza with the crunchy skin.

Ramen time!

Small cozy restaurant.

After lunch we walked to the nearby Zojo-ji temple. This is a large temple right in the heart of Tokyo, near the Tokyo Tower. We had some nice views despite the overcast weather, and then checked out a couple of early blooming cherry trees in the adjacent Shiba park.

Gates leading up to the temple area.

The main temple gates.

The temple with the Tokyo Tower and the Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower, which is the tallest skyscraper in Japan.

Inside the temple, where the monks were running around.

Little red hats to ward off bad spirits for children.

Blossoms and roofs.

Yay, cherry blossoms!

Next, in the day that apparently never ends, we took the train to Shinjuku, on the west side of the city. The areas around Shunjuku and Shibuya have a much more modern and contemporary feel than the eastern side of the city, with glassy skyscrapers and vibrant public spaces. Despite making sevearl trips to Tokyo, we've never spent too much time in this neighborhood. Exiting the train we were in a large sunken plaza between office buildings that had a clean and cool vibe. Our goal here was to go shopping at Café Artnia, a Square-Enix themed store and café in an egg-shaped structure. After David picked up some cool souvenirs, we walked around Shinjuku for a while, stopping by the Hanazono shrine. We went through Omoide Yokocho street, a cute alleyway bar street that is crowded but atmospheric. Generally the Shinjuku area is vibrant and bright, and is what westerners often think of as "modern Tokyo." We next walked over to a craft beer bar called the Watering Hole, where we relaxed for a bit and waited out some light rain.

Davis with his goodies.

A nice little pedestrian walkway.

Why is there a bucee's sticker in Tokyo!? 😅

This area had lots of bars, including one called "troll II."

Hanazono shrine.

A row of torii gates.

Who doesn't love a good torii shot?

A fox at the shrine, typical at shinto shrines.

A cool pathway leading from the shrine.

Giant crab? Why not!

Godzilla poking above the buildings!

People drinking at a bar in Omoide Yokocho.

Omoide Yokocho street is super cute! So Japanese.

Craft beer time!

DRINK BEER DRUNK BEAR

They had a sign from Terrapin, one of our local breweries in Georgia!

After having a drink, it was already dark so we took the train back to our hotel area, then went out for some shopping and dinner. We started at the Square Enix Cafe to get some souvenirs, and continued on to the Yodobashi Akiba store, which is a huge department store with seven floors. One floor had tons of video games, hobbies, and toys.

After shopping we has a small dinner at 9:30PM at Nakau, which is a chain place with simple food. We stopped for some dessert taiyaki (pastry shaped like a fish filled with custard or red bean) to go from a corner window shop. Heading back to our hotel we noted this was the biggest walking day of the trip so far - David had 29,700 steps (13 miles). All in all, not a bad way to spend a leap day.

David with a Mario lego exhibit.

So...much...Nintendo!

A cheap and filling dinner on a chilly rainy night.

Surprisingly, David's only tonkatsu in Japan.

Our favorite little corner taiyaki spot.

Our time in Kuala Lumpur was coming to an end, and for our last full day we decided to visit a few different neighborhoods and do some tourist shopping. We started with breakfast at Common Grind, which was close to our hotel. It was a cute little place, and we split a nutella donut.

From there it was a short walk north to catch the monorail (which in itself is a tourist attraction for the views of the Bukit Bintang area), but there was a large divided road in the way. There was no way to cross the street unless you climbed the stairs and tapped in and out of the monorail station. We saw this a few times in KL. While there are walkable areas and transit is great, there are several large roads that serve as hurdles to walking. We managed to find a break in the barrier and ran across the street, heading into Quill mall. We walked around for a bit, then caught the monorail.

This street by our hotel, called "the Row," was super cute.

Iced latte and a nutella donut.

Crossing the street "legally".

Well at least this one has a bike lane?

Inside Quill Mall, which had already taken down lunar new year decorations.

Thank Quill it's Friday! (Narrator: it was a Tuesday)

Buttermilk pizza?

We took the monorail to Maharajalela Station, and from there took a walk stopping by multiple small attractions. We started at Kuan Yin temple right next to the station. It's a small, quiet temple, and a modern addition was under construction. We then walked to the adjacent Chan She Shu Yuen Clan Ancestral Hall. This was a cool little stop, with interesting decorations and a small museum.

We walked to Chinatown, which wasn't far away, but it was quite hot and sunny by now. We had some pandan soft serve and local soda (nutmeg, calamansi, and sour plum) at Ching Ching by Pandan Republic. It was nice to sit and enjoy the AC and icy drinks. There was a nearby DurianBB world, which opened at noon, but the upstairs "museum" part was closed for a meeting. We decided to skip it since it looked mostly just like a tourist shop disguised as a museum so we left. Instead, we continued on to the Central Market. It's a great place to do some tourist shopping, with a wide variety of things from locally crafted to mass produced, plus food, in an air conditioned building. We stocked up on some final tourist gifts from Malaysia.

Monorail time!

Great views from the monorail.

The Kuan Tin temple.

View from the courtyard of the ancestral hall.

Despite having no real idea what a "clan hall" was, we still thought it was neat.

Colorful and intricate decorations.

Gecko time!

A taco truck? It was still morning so it wasn't opened yet, otherwise we may have tried it out of curiosity.

Pandan soft serve!

David with his soda.

We walked by where we had eaten on our food tour, and there was still firework litter in the street.

Chinatown had lots of great street art.

Durian BB world.

Walking through Pedaling Market.

The main entrance of the central market.

This is what we drink every day in America. Authentic flavor.

We went back toward the neighborhood our hotel was in, and had a late lunch at at Limapulo Baba can cook. It's a casual restaurant but is Michelin rated. The food was great, and we'd recommend this for trying various local foods. We had pai tee, nyonya lahksa, nasi tomato rice, and sambal terung eggplant. Paul also had the house Peranankan ale, a refreshing non-alcoholic drink. Overall, this was probably the best single meal of our trip to Kuala Lumpur.

After relaxing for a bit in the AC at the hotel, we took the train over to grab drinks at Bar Trigona, a fancy bar in the four seasons hotel that was ranked the top cocktail bar in Malaysia. A lot of the cocktails focused on the namesake trigona honey. We enjoyed a flight of honey cocktails, and an interesting cocktail with a "menthol candle" on top that looked like steel wool set on fire. We had a light dinner and some beer at Gavel next to our hotel. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped by Kooky Plate for a togo dessert. We walked by this place every time we left/returned to the hotel and it looked cute, with lots of people hanging out eating pastries, so we were happy to give it a go!

A Malaysian feast at Limapulo (Baba can cook)

David at lunch.

Make sure to check this place out.

We never got sick of views of the Petronas towers while walking through KL.

A nasi lemak truck? Bring this to Atlanta!

Skyscraper views.

Unique cocktails at Bar Trigona.

David at the bar.

Yay for more bougee cocktails!

All of the cocktails were creative and looked great.

This one included a chocolate liquor ball.

The flight of three honey cocktails.

My cocktail is on fire!

A Hong Kong beer at dinner.

Asparagus and goat cheese toasted bread.

Night view of the towers.

David's blueberry & lime cheesecake slice from Kooky Plate.

The next morning we woke up before 6am, and took the express train to the airport. There was a pretty big line for immigration to leave the country, but David had heard that as of this week U.S. citizens could use the "auto gates." So we went over and tried them, and they worked! We avoided a long wait using these automated gates. The flight was pretty uneventful, and did include a particularly bad lunch which they claimed was "butter chicken." Next stop, and our final stop of the trip - Tokyo!