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quote:For the "ryokan somewhere" we're having a little more trouble figuring out, if anyone has good suggestions? We'd look for somewhere between Gotemba and Kyoto, inclusive of either, fairly easily accessible by public transport South Gifu prefecture has a good balance of transport access and history/mountains. 料理旅館いずみ荘 0575-33-0426 https://maps.app.goo.gl/zqBH5BtLveeMcfXj8 peanut fucked around with this message at 13:38 on May 24, 2023 |
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May 24, 2023 13:24
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peanut posted:South Gifu prefecture has a good balance of transport access and history/mountains. It looks like by train that about 5 hours of travel time (5 hours from Gotemba to there, 3 hours from there to Kyoto; vs. 3.5 hours from Gotemba to Kyoto). We thought about renting a van to go around, but in the end the trip is so big-city-focused it's not worth hassle to save a few ¥¥¥ by renting a car. Maibara is a normal stop directly on the main train line from Tokyo to Kyoto and is next to the lake and hills... and I also just noticed that booking.com specifically lets you select "Ryokan" which is pretty neat so I think I've just solved my issue. I had been looking at Japanese websites with Ryokan lists but the ones I found, at least in English, feel like they were designed in 1999 and I'm unsure if they've been updated in a decade, like this one: https://www.ryokan.or.jp/english Some of these places look incredible, like https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/kyoto-garden-ryokan-yachiyo.en-gb.html
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May 24, 2023 16:34
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Heckin lovely :3 Booking.com is p good in Japan, do whatever makes the most sense for you and your group!
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May 25, 2023 07:06
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Lol I couldn’t tell if that was an earthquake just now or if the beer I just slammed on an empty stomach hit really hard.
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May 26, 2023 11:08
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some kinda jackal posted:Lol I couldn’t tell if that was an earthquake just now or if the beer I just slammed on an empty stomach hit really hard. Apparently a 6.2 just tumbled off Ibaraki. The surest sign that there’s an earthquake is foreigner-in-Japan Twitter/Masto, it’s line rushing to comment “First!”
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May 26, 2023 11:19
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I was grabbing a bite and it felt surreal that no one in the joint really stopped eating so I was like 50/50 “this is an earthquake” and “I’m really drunk unexpectedly”, until someone said 地震ですね and I was relieved to see at least I wasn’t making it up  Anyway, tomorrow’s my last day. Thanks for all the advice etc., everyone. It’s been a great three weeks but my feet are absolutely killing me and I’m at the “ready to go home” stage after some last minute gift shopping.
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May 26, 2023 13:13
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some kinda jackal posted:Anyway, tomorrow’s my last day. Thanks for all the advice etc., everyone. It’s been a great three weeks but my feet are absolutely killing me and I’m at the “ready to go home” stage after some last minute gift shopping. This is the point where I get depressed and panicky.
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May 26, 2023 15:07
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Two of our favorite places to eat while visiting Hong Kong were actually chains: Din Tai Fung and Tim Ho Wan. I realized yesterday that both have a location under 15-minute walk from our hotel in Shinjuku. So now I'm super stoked to eat more dim sum in.....Japan. Edit - I knew there were Din Tai Fung locations in the US but didn't realize there are also Tim Ho Wan.....learn something new every day. Kaddish fucked around with this message at 15:56 on May 26, 2023 |
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May 26, 2023 15:53
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Unless someone is seriously injured or dead, your earthquake post is worthless.
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May 26, 2023 19:57
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Kaddish posted:Tim Ho Wan..... Tim Horton's with Chinese Characteristics
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May 26, 2023 23:33
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Kaddish posted:
Din Tai Fung are everywhere, we have them in Australia and I've been to one in Singapore. Pretty sure there's a Tim Ho Wan in Melbourne too 
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May 26, 2023 23:46
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Oh, I get that they're chains and ubiquitous in Asia but no locations around us, and the truffle soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung are probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. Evidently the one in Tokyo has crazy wait times without reservations, which is probably a good thing for us.
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May 27, 2023 15:58
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Speaking of food, any recommendations for 'you need to book months in advance, but it's totally worth it and the $$$ to eat there' places for a date night? We're visiting Tokyo, Okayama, Kyoto and Osaka so I would love to hear about awesome restaurants in any of those places please
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May 28, 2023 00:19
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Kaddish posted:Oh, I get that they're chains and ubiquitous in Asia but no locations around us, and the truffle soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung are probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. Evidently the one in Tokyo has crazy wait times without reservations, which is probably a good thing for us. There are like six in central Tokyo by my count, and a few more further out or in Yokohama. The waits can be bad but maybe 30 minutes or so? Which isn't out of the realm of feasibility in my experience.
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May 28, 2023 01:25
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I wouldn’t say it’s ultra expensive but you might need to book ahead of time. Genkai shinjuku, the food there can’t be found out of country
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May 28, 2023 04:57
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Wonton posted:I wouldn’t say it’s ultra expensive but you might need to book ahead of time. what is this? Chicken soup?
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May 28, 2023 05:23
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(Kyoto) holy poo poo the humidity now that the rains hit
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May 29, 2023 10:37
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Lol, this is nothing
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May 29, 2023 11:48
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It was worse when I was in Guangdong/Canton, China in summer, before the pandemic. I still don't like it. My body isn't made for this weather. Anyway I visited Nara today and I'm going to Hiroshima tomorrow.
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May 29, 2023 11:54
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the rainy season is nice. much better than summer.
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May 29, 2023 13:28
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Carbon dioxide posted:It was worse when I was in Guangdong/Canton, China in summer, before the pandemic. After spending July and August in Japan once I was happy to get back to the pleasant coolness of subtropical China.
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May 29, 2023 16:27
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I can’t even imagine the summer tbh. I was drenched walking anywhere last week and that’s just end of May. Unless someone tells me there’s a better window to get a good mix of fall jacket weather and colours, I’m going to aim for late October or early November for a 2024 trip.
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May 29, 2023 17:24
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some kinda jackal posted:I can’t even imagine the summer tbh. I was drenched walking anywhere last week and that’s just end of May. Last week was alright, the humidity came on over the weekend though. Yesterday is probably the last jeans day until late September. More into November is probably better, it’s been staying in the 20s until Halloween in recent years in Tokyo area.
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May 30, 2023 03:08
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I'm trying to plan a ~3 week trip either in fall or spring, almost certainly next year. I really don't like heat and humidity. Having never been to Japan, does it make sense to do something on the order of a week in Tokyo (either start or finish) and then go north, with the idea being getting to Hokkaido/Sapporo? Most of the discussion about Japan seems to revolve around the "middle" with Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka/Nagoya. What, if anything, is in the north chunk of the country? We like nature and culture/museums so having "exciting fun" isn't critical. Also eating and booze (I'm curious about their craft breweries). And probably a Disney park because we are stupid. One catch though is that we take a slightly dim view of "nature that we can get in the US" - friends of ours recently went to South America and a lot of their hiking/biking looked like... California, and without much else since being out in nature-areas means there tends to be a lot fewer people and accompanying "stuff". Which I get, California is a huge loving place with ferocious geographical variety and what it doesn't have the nearby states fill in a lot of gaps. But ideally, something different from that, within reason. I've planned out a few bigger overseas trips in the past and was able to rely on Rick Steves as a pretty good filter for things that are worth seeing if you'll likely never go back - is there a Japanese equivalent? As people have griped, Google SEO is making this harder to figure out than I thought. Should I just rely on Fodors/Lonely Planet? I realize how insanely broad this seems but I don't really know what a good starting point is.
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May 30, 2023 07:09
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Onsens are natural and unique to Japan I would say. Cherry blossoms, good snow, autumn leaves.
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May 30, 2023 07:15
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Mister Chief posted:Onsens are natural and unique to Japan I would say. I am interested in onsens (and ryokans); are there better regions for these or are they generally ubiquitous? I guess for comparison if someone asked for creole food and swamp adventures in the US I would point them to Louisiana, not North Dakota.
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May 30, 2023 07:40
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Zachack posted:I am interested in onsens (and ryokans); are there better regions for these or are they generally ubiquitous? I guess for comparison if someone asked for creole food and swamp adventures in the US I would point them to Louisiana, not North Dakota. Well Beppu in southern Japan has the largest concentration I guess. I love an open air onsen in the snow which would be an option if you choose to go north. But yes in general there are onsen towns and such around Japan like Karuizawa/Kusatsu, Kaga, Beppu etc.
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May 30, 2023 08:25
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Let me try to go point by point here:
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May 30, 2023 08:47
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Onsens are all over Japan, but as somebody who has been to like every major onsen town, I will openly say that I have strong preferences for certain ones. In Kyushu my top ones for feel is definitely Kurokawa, although there is a lot of good water all over.
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May 30, 2023 20:26
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ntan1 posted:Onsens are all over Japan, but as somebody who has been to like every major onsen town, I will openly say that I have strong preferences for certain ones. What are your thoughts on kinosaki?
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May 31, 2023 04:32
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It's ok --- the service is going to be generally pretty good, with a decent amount of competition on food and just general room quality. The main issue with Kinosaki is that the onsen water is sodium/calcium sulphate, which is one of the most common and simple in Japan. The town center is pleasant, but nothing particularly different or unique compared to other hot spring towns in Japan.
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May 31, 2023 06:54
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Any recommendations on what to do in Kyoto and Osaka after 6pm? I do plan to go to Spa World in Osaka unless there's reasons not to do that.
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Jun 1, 2023 01:30
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Kyoto - chill out/have dinner next to the Kamogawa. Hit up Pontocho. You said you liked jazz and Kyoto is fairly famous for it, there's a bunch of jazz bars around the Gion and Shijo area. On the other hand, you might not want to do this today or tomorrow...
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Jun 1, 2023 03:51
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I’m visiting October 30th for two weeks so around then
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Jun 1, 2023 04:02
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Oh then that's the perfect time.
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Jun 1, 2023 04:20
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Kamogawa at night has such a good atmosphere. I ended up falling asleep on the riverbank and when I woke up the next morning an old lady in a kimono was looking at me from her backyard and did not seem pleased.
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Jun 1, 2023 04:51
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Osaka after dark, go to Dotonbori or Umeda (E Street I think might be the main strip.) Halloween definitely do Dotonbori.
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Jun 1, 2023 08:17
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Charles 2 of Spain posted:Kyoto - chill out/have dinner next to the Kamogawa. Hit up Pontocho. You said you liked jazz and Kyoto is fairly famous for it, there's a bunch of jazz bars around the Gion and Shijo area. I'm in Kyoto today and tomorrow... What did I miss?
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Jun 1, 2023 09:10
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Nothing huge, just the weather's gonna get pretty lovely.
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Jun 1, 2023 10:10
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Charles 2 of Spain posted:Nothing huge, just the weather's gonna get pretty lovely. Ok, that's what I figured. I got in a full day of stuff today. If only one day of a 2 week trip in late-May/June gets rained out I'll consider that a win.
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Jun 1, 2023 10:27
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