Spot me some supper and send me on my way

1997

Sipping directly from a gigantic orange while in the backseat of the Jeep on the way to Abidjan

2000

Salivating over a box of mulberries in the Opel Corsa through the ghats on the way to Panchgani

2004

Stuffing myself with fresh Rabdi from a clay pot in the 2nd class sleeper train at Mount Abu station

2005

Snarfing down a quintessential NYC hot dog while admiring the Lady of Liberty on the Staten Island Ferry

2006

Sitting, mind simmering with steaming plastic containers of Gushtaba on my lap in the Shikara on Dal lake

2010

Sampling my first ever Starbucks gazing out of Star Ferry on the way to Tsim Sha Tsui

2011

Sharing a pack of Haldiram's Aloo Bhujiya on the bus to Mysore Palace

2013

Snacking on a Princessa candybar on the Polskibus to Krakow

2013

Satiating my appetite with some Boots meal deal sandwiches on the London Tube to Camden Town 

2015

Scooping greedy bites of strawberry cheesecake icecream on a Ferry in Sydney's Circular Quay 

2016

Snarfing down a magazine coneful of Sukha Bhel on a Local train to Vashi

2017

Savouring a 7-Eleven Onigri while on the Shinkansen to Shibuya

2018

Snarfing down an unhealthy amount of Skittles while riding shotgun into Flagstaff

2019

Swallowing handfuls of roasted whole peanuts on the Neeta bus to Pune

'MURICA!

My STAs seem to have taken a backseat for wonderful sibling bonding trips instead. And I'm not complaining! 😊

This post is going to be super long and unlike Japan's post, this one's actually co-written by both Harshita and I. It's long overdue! I was back home in July, but never had the motivation to bring my laptop home from work to actually write until today.

This is from Harshita's daywise + citywise journal followed by mine (she stopped notetaking in Houston) and of course with plenty tiny photos :)

Day 1


Arrived LA airport after a long 12 hour flight on Cathay Pacific from HKG. Food and service on the flight was crap, but what more can you expect in economy.

It was a long wait at customs. Got my bags out and one of my wine bottles broke. Met Kamna,  got a shuttle bus to Hertz, hired a Nissan Illinois plated red vehicle there and drove to Westfield mall to get a SIM.

Drove to Calabasas down the I-405 and had Thai takeaway dinner with the family. Had a nice time chatting with Nikki, Shaina and Manu. Manu's our cousin. They live in a beautiful gated community in Calabasas.

Day 2

We woke up at 12pm and had a shower. Nikki made us delicious paninis then Shaina came home around 2. We went to the Shrine of Self Realization and walked around the beautiful lake, saw some cute turtles. Ventured up some stairs that we weren't supposed to go up and got into trouble.

Then we went to get Poke to go and ate the poke at a beach somewhere in between Santa Monica and Venice beach. Then we learned how to skate board at the beach and found motorized scooters by a company called Lime. We downloaded the app and hopped on to the scooters.

Then we made our way back to the car and drove to Buffalo thrift shop. Kamna bought a top and Shaina bought a skirt and jacket. We then walked to Santa Monica pier and rode the Ferris wheel and drove back home listening to "simp" music like "My Dil Goes Mmmmm" lol

Day 3

We started our day early. Woke up at 7:15 am and got dressed for the gym. Spent sometime chatting with Nikki before she dropped us off at the Oaks of Calabasas - a gym for all the members of the gated community. We worked on our upper body with free weights and used some machines to work the lower body.

Then we drove to Rite Aid to pick up a few things. The area was full of fancy little shops and we walked into a bakery - La Pain Quotain and sat outside listening to some Frank Sinatra,  eating a breakfast sandwich and sipping a berry almond milk smoothie.

Then we headed back to the house and got dressed. Shaina drove us to Millennium Dance Company in Studio City and the three of us checked out the place. It's a very popular professional dance company and we enjoyed watching the talented dancers of LA strutting their stuff.

Starving, we went to Joan's on Third for some yummy salad and sandwiches. We loved the place! So LA, and so "Instagram." Then we walked up to a Tattoo place called Maldoro and Harshita got a tattoo! Of a small smiling sun emoji by the side of her stomach on her right rib.

Then we drove up to Griffith observatory. The view from up there was spectacular. You could see the entire city's skyline and the Hollywood sign too! We watched the beautiful sunset there, walked around in the observatory and then left.

We joined Nikki and Manu at Kabuki restaurant, a place known for their sushi. It was great catching up with the family over dinner and we cleaned off plates of yummy sushi with different flavours while enjoying hot Sake.

We ended the night relaxing with cups of green tea and home baked choco-chip cookies before crashing to sleep.


Day 4

We woke up around 9 am and got our bags packed and got dressed for our road trip to San Diego. It was sad saying goodbye to the family, especially little Samy - their 8 year old Maltese doggo.

Before leaving LA, we took a detour to check out Beverly Hills. We parked near the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons hotel. We walked around Rodeo Drive and all the high end fashion stores. We also tried some cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory.

Then we drove to San Diego. Our first stop was La Jolla Cove, a beautiful stretch of cliffs, coves and beaches. We saw seals at a beach and even a baby seal with its mother swimming up to shore.


Then we drove to Urbn Leaf, a weed shop in San Diego! It was so upscale with two attended counters in the front where they enter all your identification details and 2 armed security guards. We lined up for recreational marijuana and had to wait for about 15 minutes before we got in. Inside there were so many varieties of weed and edibles too! We bought 4 pre rolled joints and a small bag of sour candy infused with weed.

Then we headed to the CSers house which was only 10 minutes away. The house party was already on. They had a BBQ going and music inside the house. We had some of our urbn leaf goods and Kamna did some karaoke later. We went to bed around 4am.

Day 5

Sunday morning we woke up around 12pm. We hit the road to drive to Flagstaff which was an 8 hour drive. We first stopped at Ocean Beach and had breakfast at OB Surf Lodge. Kamna got an eggs benedict with pulled pork and potato squares and I had avo on toast with a peanut butter banana protein smoothie.

Then we stopped at Yuma for a quick break at a Subway. We reached Flagstaff at 11pm and stayed at Mark the Couch Surfer's house.

Day 6

We woke up around 8 am and went to breakfast at a local cafe called Macy's. We passed the famous Route 66 and simply had to stop and walk back for this photo:

Then we drove to Horse Shoe Bend which was about 2 hours away. The view was out of this world. It was about 40 degrees at that time.


Then we drove to the southern rim entrance which was about 3 hrs away. We stopped at desert view watch tower. Again the view was just breathtaking. The grand canyon is so neverendingly vast. We were around 2000m above sea level. The watch tower was beautiful too with lots of viewing windows and Indian artwork.

We then drove to Grandview point which was 2200m elevation. Then we drove to a car park near the rim trail and walked down the trail to find a good sunset spot. We watched the sun set at the canyon and then watched a 40 minute presentation at an amphitheatre along the trail. The presentation was about Kolb brothers,  Emery and Ellsworth Kolb who started a photography business at the canyon in the early 1900s.

By the time we left the canyon it was 9.30pm and we were rushing to get back to the CSer. We stopped at McDonald's drive through for a quick dinner on the way.

Day 7

We woke up at 8am, said goodbye to Mark and went to Late for the Train in Flagstaff for breakfast. It was a cool cafe with breakfast burritos and merchandise. I had a classic burrito with ice cold drip coffee and Kamna had a farmer's market burrito with a mocha.

Then we drove to Hoover damn at the Arizona-Nevada state border. We walked across the memorial bridge built in 2010 for a bird's eye view of the dam. We walked over the dam later in the scorching summer heat.


We got back into the coolness of our car and drove to Las Vegas. There we checked in at the Bellagio Hotel. We spent some time by the pool side and jacuzzi and had a couple of cocktails.


Then we got dressed and went to dinner at Noodle restaurant in the hotel after which we went to the casino and tried our luck at roulette but didn't win anything. But we did get free entry and two free drinks at Hyde night club at the hotel! The club had an open porch area overlooking the fountain pond, Eiffel tower and hotels across the road. But the fountain wasn't flowing. It only ran from 3pm to 8pm on weekdays and we missed it! Anyway, we danced at the club until 3am then walked down the Las Vegas Strip,  saw the Flamingo hotel, Caesars Palace then we walked back to Bellagio and crashed into our comfortable hotel bed.

Day 8

The window blinds were so dark that when I woke up at 10 am it felt like it was still night. We slept very comfortably. We checked out of the Bellagio and wandered around the rest of the hotel. We went to the beautiful fountain and garden in the hotel and saw the world's biggest chocolate fountain.

Then we walked down to Las Vegas Strip again and got food at Chipotle in a mall. I got a burrito and Kamna got a bowl. Very good morning-after food. We walked into Sephora too and tried Rihanna's Fenty beauty makeup. I loved the blue glitter lip gloss and Kamna loved the Stila micro eye liner.

We drove to the famous welcome to Las Vegas sign about 10 minutes away and took a quick photo there. There were two Elvis lookalikes there. There was a line up to get a front view photo with the sign but we just took a photo from the side.


Then we drove to the Venetian hotel and walked down the beautiful canal mall. There were Gondolas and guides singing beautifully taking the tourists down the canal. There was a fake cloudy sky which looked beautiful.

After the Venetian we drove to the airport and flew to Houston,  TX.

We arrived Houston at 11.50pm and met Chandan uncle and Pranik for the first time in 5 years, and 13 years for Kamna! Pranik, now 16 was driving and so grown up. We briefly caught up on the drive home then got home and slept in the room downstairs.

Day 9

The next morning we ended up sleeping in pretty late - till about 12. We caught up with Chandan uncle's dad while we waited for Chandan uncle to get off work. Then we drove to Pranik's University where he was doing a part time job to pick him up. We were starving so we went to a nice Farmer's Market and gorged on yummy organic salads and other food.

Then we went to the Houston museum of fine arts. It was huge and quite interesting. It was great catching up with family friends. Then we went to an amazing chocolate dessert place called The Chocoloate Bar. We loved the place. There was lovely jazz music playing and people dancing there too. We got some yummy desserts and then decided to go get sliders and beer at Hopdoddy, a burger bar. Right opposite the place we planned to go to, we spotted a long queue for hot dogs. It looked like a really happening place and we just couldn't resist. After stuffing our faces with some pretty yummy hot dogs, we headed to the burger place. We weren't too hungry but had some beer anyway with some sliders.

We went home and watched some Rick and Morty on Netflix and then crashed into our bed in the guest bedroom.

Day 10

The next morning we woke up around 9 and left around 12 pm for our road trip to New Orleans. We stopped at a popular gas station named Buc-ee's to load up the car with snacks for the road. I got some diced watermelon in a cup and a salad to-go and Harshita grabbed some beef jerky.

Both father and son have a fantastic taste in 50s-80s American jazz and pop and the road trip was musical, and full of fun anecdotes.

The highlight of the road trip was driving through the amazing Louisiana wetlands. It was simply unfathomable how they were able to erect such highways on top of the wetlands in such long stretches. We made two more stops on the way - Menchie's for some frozen yogurt and a kebab place for dinner before checking in late at Embassy Suites by The Hilton.

We still had some time before we wanted to call it night so we drove through the gorgeous streets of the French Quarter area and stopped at Cafe Beignet for their world-famous beignets (pronounced ben-yays). It's basically like a powdered doughnut which is nice and warmed up and served best with coffee.

Day 11

We started our day early, hitting the breakfast buffet spread the hotel before checking out. We drove through French Quarters again to experience the fascinating architecture and to get a nice vibe of the jazz bands playing through the morning in old cafes.

We grabbed some Starbucks before driving out to Dr. Wagner's Honey Island Swamp Tours to spend the afternoon with some mean looking but sweet hearted gators. The swamp was pretty big, about 650 square kilometers and pretty humid even though we were in a fast moving boat. Our guide was very entertaining and we enjoyed learning about the natural history of the swamp while snapping hundreds of photos of the hungry alligators.

The best part was that the guide was feeding them marshmallows! There were baby gators too and when they'd leap up to catch a marshmallow, their entire bodies could be seen for just that split second. We also saw a bunch of raccoons (my first time!) and egrets and a few snakes. We also spotted some tiny lounging turtles on some fallen trees in the swamp.

Most interesting were the people lining the swamp. They were sitting at what looked like fishing outposts / outhouses mainly with lawn chairs and some of these groups had small boats, and some had dogs too! It was an authentic insight into swamp life.

For lunch we headed back to the kebab place from the night before and gorged on some delicious hummus and chicken platters before hitting the road back to Houston. We stopped at a lovely cafe called Highland Coffees in the city of Baton Rouge on the way. Baton Rouge seemed like a quiet university town, and the cafe was crowded with loner students sitting with a mac likely getting their coursework done.

We reached Chandan uncle's home late that night, exhausted from our short trip.

Day 12

We took it really easy on our last day in Houston. We started the day late, and visited the Farmer's market again to watch a live band performance and enjoy some salmon burgers. Then we walked through the actual market. Being a huge lover of fruits, I added all the exotic looking stuff I wanted to try to little plastic bags. There was a lot of interesting fruit I never tried before - kiwano from New Zealand (like Kiwis but weird looking), mango+papaya (yes! a combination), and some exotic looking peaches and pears.

We were all feeling like some dessert so we headed to Cacao and Cardamom, our second chocolate obsessed store in Houston for the trip. It was a lovely experience seeing all the artisan chocolate. I enjoyed their chili chocolate pyramid, Harshita grabbed a piece of chocolate that looked spray painted, and were both tempted to try some of their chocolate lipsticks.

Then we met up with Divya aunty, Pranik's mom, who took us to the cinema to watch Sanju, the new Sanjay Dutt movie. It was lovely catching up with Aunty after so many years and the movie itself was very emotional and entertaining. We went home and I cut up all the new fruit and then we spent some family time with Pranik, watching him play his grand piano in his amazing music room full of all kinds of instruments.

We said our goodbyes to the family and then called it an early night.

Day 13

We had a super early start to our day - Divya Aunty was sweet enough to drop us to the airport at 4 am for our flight to Newark. We flew Spirit Airlines for the second time and had a nice experience. No delays, comfortable, clean seats and great in-flight customer service. We landed in Newark around 9 am and hailed the Newark Express bus straight to Manhattan. We had to lug our bags to a souvenir store where we had booked locker space. Thereafter we relaxed at a Starbucks and then walked to the New York Public Library.

We loved the place. It was so big and so charming - like out of a book. And all about books! We first sat down for a free screening of the history of the library as well as an overview of the all the archives. If we had more time, we would have probably stayed there longer and gone through all the serious rooms. We went to the Maps room, and a room about children's books where we saw the original Winnie the Pooh teddy bear. The halls were so wonderful - like out of a 1900s ballroom with the most enchanting painted ceilings and windows.

Later, we decided to walk through Central Park to get to Gray's Papaya. We were really starving but decided to walk down anyway because the place was supposed to have New York's best hot dogs. The hot dogs were great, but we were famished so we couldn't be sure if they were the best we ever had. We also tried their papaya juice which was too sweet for our liking. Walking through New York City was lively and full of shiny distractions and even though we were tired, hungry and hot, we enjoyed our day. We also stopped to see the lovely St. Patrick's Cathedral on the way.

The highlight of our day was catching up with one of our closest and oldest school friends, Tushar. The last time I saw him was when I bunked with him in his flat in London in 2013, but Harshita saw him after 10 years! We found a nice shady spot in Central Park, got some wine and cheetos and just reminisced about the good old days and shared our life updates.

After a long day, we made our way from Central Park back to the luggage, and then to Grand Central Terminal to board the train to Stamford. We reached the station at about 10 pm and were met and picked up by our Pikumama (maternal uncle). We drove to a South Indian restaurant and met all our other family members - including our mom! It was lovely to see our mom hanging out with her family gang - the wedding troupe seemed to be having the time of their lives. We enjoyed some authentic dosas and idlis after our long day. Our sisters holiday had ended, and our family holiday had began, and we were excited for the wedding fun that was to follow.

It was well past midnight by the time we drove to our Mama's house in Fairfield, showered, chatted with family (met up with cousins after 13 years!), and got into brand new matching pyjamas I bought for myself, Harshita and mom, before slumbering off into our lovely bedrooms downstairs.

Day 14

We were prepared to have one quiet day before the wedding festivities began, and slept in comfortably before heading out with our cousin sisters Muskan and Sanjna to gobble some chicken wings. It was very nice to talk to the girls and see how they'd grown up. I'd last seen them when they were 3 and 1 respectively, and Harshita was seeing them after 5 years. Later, Mami drove us ladies to an Indian lady's house to get our eyebrows threaded. Then we came home and were relaxing in their comfortable home. Harshita developed a backache from all the driving stress she'd undergone in the days before and decided to take it easy. Meanwhile, Mama, mom and I went back to Stamford to spend the evening with my other Mami and Mama.

The family was totally excited for the wedding, and as we sat in the living room, I watched the couples and groups take their turns rehearsing for their dance performances. My mom decided to stay back with her wedding pals for the night and Mama and I drove back to Fairfield.

Day 15

The next morning began slow and sleepy for Harshita, while I woke up bright and early for an online training session with my PT. She really needed a nice massage, so our sweet Mami drove us to the mall where Harshita checked in for her massage, and we did some shopping. I got my heart's wish when I found the Stila micro liner, and my Mami picked out a cute mini dress for herself for our trip to Leesburg the next day.

Harshita was still a bit stiff after her massage, so we got some takeaway and some meds from the mall and drove home. She took a nap and started feeling better soon after. Then we all started getting dressed for the Mehendi at the bride's home that evening. It was fun getting prettied up in our Indian wear and posing for some candid boomerangs and photos with the girls.

It was quite a drive away and when we finally made it to the venue, it was nice meeting up with the bride and groom (our cousin Vishal). We took turns getting our mehndi done, whilst singing, eating, talking and dancing with the cousins and new friends from the bride's family. We were happy to be spending quality time with our cousins, and the car ride back home we sang Bohemian Rhapsody as loud as humanly possible with all our heart.

We got home to find our Mama and his close friend sipping some whiskey on the rocks by the fire and listening to some Bollywood music. We joined him for a bit, and then I decided to try out the trampoline in the backyard. Harshita was pretty tired, so she packed up and fell asleep in her room downstairs. But I had all that unspent testosterone from my early morning workout! After, I made myself a yummy hot chocolate using their coffee machine, watched an episode or two of The Office and then packed up for our trip the next morning and went to sleep myself.

Day 16

The next morning we all woke up pretty early and got dressed up and packed up the car for our long road trip to Virginia. We decided enroute to take a detour to visit the Hershey park in Hershey, Pennsylvania and of course to try some Philly cheesesteaks. Harshita really wanted to go because back home in Australia, all her friends call her "Harshi" which sounds like Hershey. Hehe!

It was fun! Another road trip with family, and no trip was complete without Starbucks! Harshita and I grabbed our trip fave - a Java Chip with no sugar and decaf. We loved Hershey before even got into town. It was so scenic - green meadows with grazing cows and lush fenced properties; just the perfect kind of utopian American town. We just had to go into the Hershey park and grab matching t-shirts and of course some chocolates to take back home. But first, we gorged on some amazing Philly cheesesteak sandwiches at The Chocolate Avenue grill in downtown Hershey. We even got some to go for our brothers Vishal and Amit.

We finally checked in to our hotel for the fine evening - the Courtyard by Marriott around 7 pm. Now we really felt the wedding fever with both families, groom's and bride's bustling through the hotel lobby. We (the groom's side) decided to head to the closest Cheesecake Factory for a jumbo family dinner and it was a lot of fun catching up with Vishal, the groom, and all cousins. We also made friends with Queenie, Vishal's cousin from Jamaica who just flew in for the wedding festivities.

It was a fun day, and we were happy to dive into our comfy hotel beds for the night and prepare ourselves for the next few days.

Day 17

That morning, it was my turn to be slow and sleepy while Harshita had a bright and early start hitting the hotel gym with Queenie, our new friend. Everyone was in a hot rush to get dressed up quickly and to check out from the hotel to check into Landsdowne Resort & Spa, the wedding venue for the next 2 days. We assumed our wedding duties as cousins and helped load up and unload the vans and cars with all the wedding gifts and party luggage. The resort was massive and on a very well maintained plush property. By the time we got into our rooms, it was time to begin getting ready for the pooja and then the Sangeet party after.

Indian weddings are a lot about great family time, a lot of music, and a lot of great food and alcohol. The Sangeet party was a ball. Harshita and I had a 10-song performance especially rehearsed for the bride and groom and we were so excited to sing for them and everyone else. The party was by poolside and the weather was perfect - nice and cool. We kept them gin and tonics comin' and the night flew by with us having a fun time on the dancefloor. Being an old lady in her twenties, I went up to bed pretty early on while Harshita kept the party alive with the cousins.

Day 18


Wedding day! Woke up and got dressed up for the wedding ceremony. We had an elaborate baraat with the groom on the horse and a lot of dancing before we reached the mandap: a divine outdoor setup with flowers and neat little chairs leading up to the mandap-stage. We took to our name-matched seats and what I found really meaningful was that each seat was given a sheet of paper describing exactly what was to take place on the mandap and what each of the rituals meant and their significance in defining the bond of marriage.  It was hands down the most beautiful wedding ceremony I ever attended. Peaceful, sweet, and such a nice sunny day.


During the ceremony, wedding duty called for us sisters to assemble a bunch of flowers on the groom's car. It was like a fun time-bound math puzzle; working backwards from how many flowers we had and calculating what would go on which side of the car. Pleased with our effort, we rejoined the ceremony. Later, we shot a whole bunch of family photos and selfies, and then went to enjoy the lunch buffet.

The wedding reception wasn't until much later that evening. So, finding time on our hands, a group of us girls leapt at the opportunity to chill by the pool with some cocktails and fries. It was a lovely sunny day and I decided then and there that I needed to go for an early morning swim the next morning before we checked out.



The evening was a blur between getting our hair done, eating fries, and redoing our eyeliner before we were all set to welcome the new couple at the final event. The new couple, Vishal and Aditi looked stunning and like they were made for each other as they did their first dance as a married couple for the guests. Just like all events so far, the reception was grand, very well organised, and with a great food & drinks setup. I crept away to the comfort of my bed with my mom once again before the regular adults began the afterparty.

Day 19

As decided, I woke up bright and early for some alone time relaxing by the pool. I managed a run of 15 laps before snoozing in the sunkissed jacuzzi. Worth the tan? Hells yeah! After a quick breakfast, we got all our bags down. Our last day checking out at the resort was almost as chaotic as the check-in, but there was a tired smile on everyone's face for a wedding weekend well executed as planned.

We huddled up in a car with Vishal, Neha (another of Vishal's cousins) and Queenie and set the road trip playlist to "shuffle." Our plan was to make a pitstop with the rest of the groom's party at Washington DC before heading back into Connecticut.

We reached DC around 2 pm and checked into Starbucks for our good old cup of Java chip cold coffee. We walked together, one jingbang family headed towards the White House, led by Vishal and Amit. The White House was just like in the movies, heavily guarded, very elegant and distant, even though we were pretty close. It was hilarious: there was a man dressed up like Trump right in front of the White House making money off impressions and stuff.

Since we were at the White House, even though we were off track on our planned time in getting home, we still walked up and checked out the Capitol and spent some time having ice lollies at Lincoln Memorial. The brothers were kind enough to help us aunties by bringing the cars around. Queenie had plans to continue on from DC with her friends, so we said our goodbyes and set off for our trip back home to Stamford.  We stopped on the way at Five Guys, for their popular burgers and fries combo which was really good, perfect after our night of drinking and walking around in the day.

It was great bonding with Vishal and Neha in the car on the way back, and I remember feeling really sad about the trip coming to an end and watching the sunset while listening to John Mayer. We finally reached home around midnight and collectively collapsed after quick hot showers.

Day 20

With the wedding over, it really felt like the trip was over, and since we just had 1 day left, we decided to spend the day with our mom, Mama and Mami in New York City and take home as many memories as we could. It was a day for goodbyes. Vishal was leaving to head back to the city where he lived and then Pikumama and Mami came over with all our stuff. It was sad that we didn't get a chance to say our goodbyes to the girls, but we spoke to them over the phone, and Muskan even sent us friendship bands she made for us herself. It was very sweet and thoughtful.

On our last trips in '04 and '05, we'd seen all the cool points of interest like the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, so this time we planned to do things like a local would instead. We began our day in the city by heading over to the Brooklyn bridge. Somewhere close by, we found parking and left the car there. Harshita rented a bike and biked over the length and back on the bridge while I walked with the family. The skyline was quite a view from the bridge, and being a Monday, it wasn't too crowded besides the tourists.


After the Brooklyn bridge we walked to the 9/11 Memorial where we paid our respects to the lives that were lost in the tragedy. Thereafter, we headed to a mall food court and grabbed some mexican food and dessert. Then, we booked an Uber to visit Chelsea market. Before we went to the market, we took a quick detour to do the High Line. It's a very nice elevated walkway where a lot of artsy stuff happens, and where one can sit on a bench and take their midday meals. Chelsea market was a wonder market - a lot of little stalls underground selling different kinds of artisan food and things. We loved the vibe of the place and were so glad we could tick it off our list. It was nice to imagine what life would be like if one lived in the city. Central park on the weekends, biking on the bridge in the mornings, and visiting the little farmer's markets scouring the best produce whenever one felt like it.

We had to say goodbye to our Pikumama and Janu Mami which was sad, and then we got another Uber to visit Tushar one last time before leaving. We went to his flat that he shares with his partner Patrick, and it was lovely catching up again, talking about our lives and making plans to meet again soon. We called for some authentic aloo rolls for dinner and drank a fair bit of white wine before hailing yet another Uber to take us home in Stamford.

Both of us packed all our stuff and called it an early night for we had to wake up super early the next morning for Harshita's flight.

Day 21

Our morning began before the light broke, with both sisters showering, eating cereal, and very sad and tearful goodbyes with mom, Shalu Mami and Raju Mama. It was sadder still for us sisters, and sleepy, sitting in the Uber that was taking us to JFK, knowing that we would only see each other again in Jan next year.

I dropped her off at the airport, checked in my luggage in the airport locker facility, and caught the AirTrain to Penn station. My flight was that afternoon, so I decided to make the most of my time by doing some last minute shopping for folks back home as well as have a New York City experience of my own. I saw the city by foot, the best way to do it really, and my first pitstop was Bed, Bath and Beyond. Having enjoyed my IKEA experience in Australia, I was pretty excited about this. But I was disappointed as it wasn't really a huge outlet, and had only basic shelved inventory, where I was imagining full-blown living room setups. I really had to pee then, so I found the closest toilet in a mall nearby.

Later, I walked up to the closest Trader Joe's. God damn I fell in love with that place! I wish we had one in India, I would only ever shop there. I went a little crazy shopping for office people and even got myself some treats for the plane. By the time I was finished I was pretty hungry and I planned then and there to grab a chicken and rice combo from the nearby foodstalls like a local would. I wanted to sit in a park so I found the nearest one, Greeley Square Park and got myself a nice diet coke for my last proper cheat meal before home and reality.

The heavy duty meal of rice and chicken was perfectly appetizing and made me so sleepy. I walked myself back to Penn station and found myself at JFK, snoozing away at my gate 2 hours before departure. And that, guys, is how my 21 day American trip came to an end.

Wow, I think this has to be my longest post yet. I started writing from the Houston day till now, and it's been 4 hours! A Saturday evening well spent? I think so.

8 Observations about Japan as a Tourist

It's been a few days since I returned from my holiday with my sister in Japan and I'm still happily recovering from the sights, sounds and smells of that literally fantastic country.

1) Amazing sanitation systems

Japanese cleanliness is simply unbeatable. Their toilets are the most elaborate you'll ever see. Self flushing? Check. Self cleaning? Yes. Self opening?! YUP.

They even have toilets where you can turn on recorded water flowing sounds for those who are self conscious about having too noisy a pee. My mind is most blown by the sheer options of ways your poop taking experience can be enriched.
I'm so tempted to start a retail business of Toto/Panasonic washlets!




2) Stations, JR Lines, Subways & Shinkansen

To a tourist, the public transport systems in Japan can be quite challenging to figure out just because of the complexity of various service providers and lines. Compared to the London Underground, which I found to be large, Japan's railway and subway system is easily a lot bigger, more intricate and complicated. As a JR pass holder, most routes are easy to figure out using a city map about public transport. We also found that the NAVITIME app made things easier. The Shinkansen bullet train experience is definitely recommended. The best way to describe the speed would be to say that it's like when an aircraft is preparing for take-off. It goes so fast, my ears would pop!

People watching is fun, and most of the crowd in the cities on public transport are office goers with iPhones and cute old people with Sudoku and other activity books in their frail hands.

As I work for a company that sells headphones and I've heard that in Japan it's considered disrespectful to leave before your boss does, I could tell the abject difference in quality of headphones with a 7 PM crowd and a 9 PM crowd.

3) Vending machines everywhere

I have to say, no man can ever be thirsty while in Japan's cities because there are vending machines for the most interesting drinks everywhere imaginable. Japanese people love their coffee and cold teas. I think they prefer coffee to tea, surprisingly as I saw in lots of cafes where the wording was "Coffee & Tea" and practically all their vending machine drinks are cold coffees from 100+ brands.

4) Unbelievably sheer stockings... or just great skin?

It's very hard to tell if a Japanese woman has stockings on or if her legs are just that perfect. This is not really a Japanism but this happened to me way too much to not strike out in my memory. I also admired everyone's hair there: so sleek, black and straight!

5) Iced water served at every restaurant

Every restaurant experience we had, the first thing we would get served is a nice glass or water filled with like 6 ice cubes. Now that I think of it, even the glasses looked the same.

6) Packets of tissues as handouts

Outside most busy stations, we'd inevitably get handed out some kind of ad campaign in the form of a packet of tissues. A pretty nice idea, I would think, as most people just chuck handouts, and with tissues, psychologically there's a lot of utility and safekeeping.

7) Cutesy advertising

There is nothing sexual or sensual about any of the female ad posters in Japan. It was very interesting to see how so many ads showed grown ass women in a childlike, innocent and dewy form. I don't recall seeing any ads with men in them either. I found this strange.

8) Sliding doors

It seems to me that the concept of sliding doors probably emerged from Japan seeing how its space saving and how much wood and glass is used. Very Japanese, indeed. We stayed at a 150 year old traditional house which had wooden flooring and sliding doors everywhere. I loved it!

9) Pachinko gaming buildings

We chanced upon a lot of deafeningly loud Pachinko gaming rooms full of middle-aged people (mostly men) playing arcade or first person shooter type of games in buildings where you're greeted by a well-dressed young woman. I saw a lot of people in their work clothing just sitting in front of a game with big mugs of beer and lots of cigarette smoking.

Arigato Gozaimashita!

Call me a creature of habit, but I have this complacent, almost romantic idea about travelling the world. I indulge myself in consistent, predictable travel quite unlike a adventure junkie with eyes pouring with wanderlust.

Two weeks ago though, I felt a change in this attitude when, ditching the usual Uber called 45 minutes in advance, I stepped out of my house and hitched a rickshaw ride to the airport. While the aircraft was taxiing the runway, my fingers refused to search for my take-off song ("Bed" by Jahzzar). Instead, I surprised myself by just listening to whatever the iPod god decided I should hear then.

15 days later I'm sat at the boarding gate for a flight that will take me home just overwhelmed and grateful for all I've had the opportunity to enjoy in the Land of the Rising Sun. 

Harshita, my sister who lives in Australia, was my companion for this wonderful holiday and thanks to her diligent notekeeping, I've decided to do compile it all together for this blog post.

So here we go! This is from Harshita's daywise + citywise journal only slightly edited and embellished with some photos :)

3 Days in Tokyo

DAY 1

Got breakfast at a local bakery just around the corner from the hotel where we were staying. The bakery was called Cattlea on KiyoSumi Dori. I had a bun that had some sort of bean jam inside. Got the train to Asakusa and walked to Buddhist Senso-ji Temple. It is Tokyo's oldest temple built in 628 AD. On the way to Senso-ji we stumbled upon an owl cafe where there were many owls and other animals like capybara, parrots, and squirrels.

whatchu lookin' at!

Kamna then got a caricature at a place opposite the owl cafe and we continued on to the temple. It was very crowded with tourists. At the entrance of the temple there was a massive red paper lantern. We got some matcha ice cream at a shop near the temple. The ice cream was amazing and perfect time to enjoy it under the shade on a hot 30 degree day.

Then we walked about 2 KMs to Tokyo National Museum. The museum was huge full of art and antiques of ancient Japan. But Kamna and I were bored so we just walked around for a bit and left.

Then we headed to KFC in Takadanobaba for unlimited happy hour booze. It was quite a struggle trying to order and ask for the happy hour deal. It ended up costing us a fair amount of money. Afterwards we got the JR line back to the hotel and hung out at the terrace before going to bed.

DAY 2
Woke up early at 6 to get sumo tickets at Ryokugu. Waited in line until about 8.30 and got two tickets. Walked back to the hotel and got breakfast at Ono Cafe right next to the hostel. Got some amazing thick Japanese pancakes and a cold iced coffee. One thing we quickly noticed while walking through the streets was that a lot of people use bicycles to get around. They can ride on the wide pedestrian walk ways. It's so convenient and good for environment and traffic congestion. There are whole parking lots dedicated to bikes and even train stations have their own dedicated parking lots for bikes. Another thing we noticed was that there was virtually no obesity in the country. Everyone looked so fit and healthy.

Napped for a little while then headed to lunch at Tonkatsu Ichikatsu just next to the Ryogoku station. We had battered pork with rice, miso soup with mini clams, shredded cabbage salad and cold tea. Tonkatsu is the name of the dish. The food and experience was authentic with people sitting around the small kitchen on bar stools.

"did u see that ludicrous display last night?"

Then we headed to sumo wrestling at Ryogoku Kokugikan just in time for the senior sumo competition and tuned into the commentary radio. It's an interesting sport with a lot of theatrics, intimidation and build up to the actual fight that lasts less than 10 seconds. It was entertaining to watch.

After sumo we went to Harajuku shopping precinct where we walked down the main Takeshita Street. It was bizarre and enthralling. We went to a weird selfie/photoshop shop full of photo booths and weird young Japanese girls posing for photos. Then we went to the cat cafe that had about 20 cute little purrfect kitties. It was unbearably cute. It was like a little cat fairy tale. We got tickets to spend 30 minutes with the cats. At the entrance there was a slipper dispensing machine so we could change into them before entering the cat room.

After lots of cat photos, we continued to walk down Takeshita Street and saw some interesting shops like Crepe Dessert shops, jewelry and clothing stores. Really wanted to get the flower lipstick but it was too expensive (2000 yen). We also stopped by a nice accessories shop and window shopped for a while.

Then we went to Shibuya crossing and posed with the Hachiko dog statue. Hachiko was an Akita known for his loyalty. He would meet his owner Ueno at Shibuya station every day after work until one day his owner died and did not return. But Hachiko waited at the same spot everyday for 9 years. What a heart touching story. We walked through the famous busy Shibuya Crossing. The place was so busy. We walked into Don Quijote mega store which pretty much had all sorts of goods but we mainly looked at the confectionery section with all kinds of sweets. Kamna bought some carrots and what looked like 'giga puddi' (caramel custard). They also had a whole bunch of interesting Kit Kat flavours.

Then we had dinner at Doutor Cafe, just some pork rolls after which we walked around Shibuya for a bit before heading back to the hostel.

DAY 3

We started the day with a trip to Bunkyo Civic Centre where we got an amazing Tokyo City view. The observation floor was on the 25th floor. We you a good city view without having to pay which is what you would need to do at the Tokyo Sky Tree.

paper done right

Bunkyo is a residential and educational Ward in Tokyo. We then made our way to LaQua which was essentially a mall with a roller coaster. Did some window shopping there and really liked the red framed glasses worth 9000 yen, then headed to Ochanomizu Origami Kaikan which is the world's first Origami centre. Over there I bought some artwork for home. The origami was interesting and beautiful delicate artwork. There was a room full of origami demons.

We then headed to Tsukiji to see the fish market only to realise that it was closed since it was about 5.30pm by then. We walked through Shimbashi suburb which seemed like a very high class business district. There was a new local subway station called Shiodome station that looked so clean and fancy. We got the subway from Shiodome to Shimbashi (1 stop).

After that we headed to a Ramen restaurant in Shimbashi and had a spicy pork Ramen and some dumplings. We then walked into what looked like a pokies arcade type of place but it was full of middle aged men playing "Goldstorm". It's called Panchiko slots and looks like pinball. The players were collecting little metal balls in large containers. Not sure how the game works but on googling it the aim of the game is essentially to collect as many steel balls as you can to exchange for a prize at the arcade. Gambling for cash is illegal in Japan so players can't get cash at the arcade but can sell the prize for cash.

After that we headed back to the hostel then and planned our transport for the next day.

Accommodation

Oak Hotel Edo close to Morishita Subway and 1.5 km to the closest JR station: Ryogoku

2 Days in Kiso Valley 

DAY 1

Checked out of the hotel and got some more medicine for a fever. Headed to Sakashita station via Nagoya and Nakatsugawa. The Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya took about 1.5 hours and was so fast and clean and comfortable. It was about a 4.5 hour journey to Sakashita.

a welcome well done

We were greeted by a cat on our way from the station to our AirBnB. The room we got to stay in had a typical sliding door entry and wooden floors with a low wooden ceiling. The house itself came with wooden ceilings and floors and old vintage furniture collected from old houses being renovated in the area. The bathroom had a deep stainless steel tub.

We dropped our stuff in our room and walked to a nearby grocery store to buy some food. We then walked back and had some cup noodles and called it an early night since I still wasn't feeling too well.

DAY 2

In the morning we made our way to Tsumago via Sakashita and Nagiso station. Tsumago was the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. The cute little Japanese shops and homes were wonderful. There was a beautiful cafe with huge Japanese fish in a pond at the entrance. There was also a chestnut sweet shop where they served warm green tea to go with the sweets. It was so decadent.

bibbity bobbity boo

We continued walking down to the famous photogenic Terashita area and took lots of photos. I bought some postcards and a fridge magnet from a souvenir shop and Kamna bought some Sake from an alcohol vendor. Then we headed back to the bus stop and took a scenic route up the hill to Magome.

At Magome we walked down a hill and on the way stopped at a cafe with an amazing view. We had a stuffed mixed veggie bread (I think it's called anpan) and pancakes with banana and strawberries. We also saw a couple of Ryokan that looked really nice on the outside. I wish we'd known about them so we could stay there instead. We walked past the village water wheel that generates electricity for the entire village. When we hit the bottom of the hill we climbed back up and half way through visited the village temple.

We continued walking further up the hill to a look out point. The clock struck 5 and the village played some very cute music reminiscent of the Japanese anime Heidi. In fact they played this music at a few key times in the day - morning at 7, noon and evening.

Then we caught the bus to Nakatsugawa and the train to Sakashita and walked back home. The weather was horrible that night with a typhoon in the area. Windows rattling made it very hard to sleep.

Accommodation

The AirBnB was owned by Misaki who lived there with her infant Leo and husband Keiki. The house was a 150 year old traditional Japanese house a 5 minute walk from the Nagiso station.

4 Days in Kyoto

DAY 1

serenity = parallel lines

We got some souvenirs from Misaki and were on our way to Kyoto via Nagoya. It was roughly a 3 hour journey. Kyoto station was gigantic. Impressive to say the least. Lots of shops and 33 platforms including JR and subway lines. Our hostel was only a few hundred metres from the station. The hostel was nice. We got there early so left our bags and got some lunch at a nearby restaurant. We had to order our lunch from our table with a tablet device.

We checked in, left our bags and headed to the Fushima Inari shrine. Then we headed to Pontocho area that is by the Kamo River. It was a lane full of restaurants by the river. Kamna tried some takoyaki - octopus dumplings. I thought they were too salty. The restaurants there were quite pricey so we ate at Mr Young Men where I had Okonomiyaki.

Then we walked around and saw some shops before we headed back to the hostel.

DAY 2

pugggggieeeee

We started the day in Arashiyama west of Kyoto. We went to the bamboo forest there. Then we headed to Katsuragawa station and did a long walk for the pug cafe where they had about 11 pugs. I thought they were quite stinky and catlike but Kamna loved them. Her dream come true. We spent an hour there and then headed back to Kyoto station building. We had dinner at a French looking restaurant called Mollete, like an anagram of omlette, where I had a paella type dish with egg and mushrooms. The restaurant was on the 11th floor of the Kyoto station building.

On our way back we took the escalators down and saw a light display on the stairs celebrating the building's 20th anniversary.

We then walked to the city centre which was right outside the station and saw the Kyoto tower. We walked down a street with some pubs and saw one pub with 6 Pomeranians stationed outside. They were all so cute and friendly and well behaved. We then had a couple of beers at the British pub called Hub before heading back to the hostel.

DAY 3
We started our day at Nara Park where there were lots of deer. It was lovely. They were so cute roaming about freely. People could buy what looked like crackers for deer food for 150 yen but there was enough going around anyway so we decided not to buy any.

dat ass tho

We played with the deer for a while then headed to Todai-ji temple. The deer were roaming about freely there too. The entrance gate was impressive, gigantic devil looking statues stood on either side. They must have been guardians of the temple. It was a Buddhist temple. We decided not to go inside having seen so many temples already.

Then we had lunch at a kamameshi place which was a place that serves iron pot rice where the rice on the side is slightly burned called okoge. There was quite a long line up outside the restaurant which is what made us want to try it. We had the Nara speciality which was served with eel, crab and shrimp along with miso soup and pickles.

Then we headed back to the hostel and on the way stopped at Avanti mall where we checked out the Don Quijote shop which was essentially an everything shop where they sold clothing, electronics, make up, etc. We then rested at the hostel for a bit before heading out again for dinner at a sushi train restaurant called Sushi no Musashi. It was in the Kyoto station building. The sushi place was awesome. The biggest sushi train I've ever seen and there was reticulated drinking hot water so you could make your own green tea. We had about 7 plates of sushi where we tried salmon, fish eggs, crab and tuna. Delicious.

DAY 4

the reflection is strong in this one

We started our day at Nijo castle. It's a castle that was built in 1603 and world heritage site. Around the castle is a large moat and there is another smaller inner moat within the outer moat. The Castle was spectacular. It was so well preserved and really did give you the feeling of being in old Japan during the samurai rule. The trees and gigantic stony rocks there were beautiful.

We then headed to Kinkaku-ji temple which is a temple where the top two levels are gold plated. The temple is situated within a small pond which makes it look out of a painting.

We then headed to Arashiyama again to see the monkeys but got there half hour too late since they close at 4.30. We had to walk across the Katsura River and we could see we were surrounded by lush green mountains and the river was so beautiful.

Back in Kyoto we had pizza at an Italian restaurant. It was good to eat some food we were familiar with for a change.

Accommodation

The Lower East Nine Hostel about 5 minutes walking from Kyoto station. Very comfortable stay with free breakfast and cool lounging areas.

2 Days in Hiroshima

DAY 1
First thing in the morning we took the Shinkansen to Shinkobe on the way to Hiroshima.

At Hiroshima we transferred onto the Sanyo Red line towards Iwakuni and got off at Nishi-Hiroshima where our hostel was. The worst hostel so far. Dirty to say the least. But we weren't going to spend much time in the hostel anyway. We left our bags there and headed to Yamato maritime museum.

I like big boats and I cannot lie

The museum was centred around how the town of Kure developed into an important shipping industry during the world war. This is where the battleship Yamato was built. We spent some time walking around the small museum then headed back to the hostel, checked in and headed out again for dinner.

We ate at Okonomiyaki Nagata-ya which was a Hiroshima style okonomiyaki place. On the way there we walked past ground zero where the A-bomb first hit in 1945. At the restaurant they had some stools along the kitchen where there was a huge cooktop along the seating area. There were also cooktops at individual tables. I got the kimchi and bacon okonomiyaki and Kamna had the deluxe okonomiyaki and a Hiroshima special lemon shochu. I also had a carp drink which I think was some sort of spirit and soda.

We walked down Hon Dori Street past all the restaurants and the shops. We saw a Japanese busker singing popular pop songs and Kamna joined him to sing along to "If I ain't got you." We bought his CD with like 4 songs on it too. We then headed back to the hostel.

DAY 2
We started the day off with breakfast at a cafe in Hiroshima station. Then we got the JR tour bus to A Bomb dome. The building was used as a convention sort of building before it was hit by the A-bomb on Aug 6 1945. The bomb exploded 600m in the sky about 200m away from the building. The bomb actually exploded above a hospital killing all the people in it.

still standing with purpose

The target was actually a 3 way bridge not far from the hospital. After many years of oposition, the people of Hiroshima finally decided to preserve the A-bomb dome building as a reminder of the importance of peace.

We then continued walking towards the peace memorial Park and on the way read through the history of the world war in some booklets that were set up by an in-utero survivor Mito Kosei. He said that the information in the museum is not fully accurate and he spent 5 years putting together this booklet. It was very informative. Interestingly, the A-bomb was not necessarily what ended the war and forced Japan to surrender. Japan had already suffered many casualties before the A-bomb and was at the brink of surrendering. The only condition they had was that the emperor would need to remain as head of state but unfortunately negotiations did not go as planned and the US decided to bomb Japan. It may have also been to justify spending 2 billion USD on the Manhattan project.

We made our way to the peace memorial park where there was a fire that is lit forever and we could see it through the cepotaph which had a clear line of sight of the A bomb dome. We then visited the peace memorial museum and learned more about the war, nuclear weapons and their destruction.

After that we headed back to Hiroshima station and got the train to Miyajima station. From there we took the ferry to Miyajima island where the Great Torii and Itsukushima shrine are located. There were also freely roaming wild deer on the island.

After seeing the Torii gate we walked down the restaurants and shops alleyway and had an amazing deep fried cake with custard and cheese filling called Agemomiji. We also had one that wasn't deep fried with chocolate filling. So delicious. Then we had a banana milkshake and walked back to the ferry.

Once back on the main island we waited for the JR tour bus to go to Namiki Dori which was a high fashion shopping area. We had dinner at a pub sort of place called the Hiroshima Diner then headed back to the hostel and planned for the next day.

Accommodation

Guest House Carpe about 5 minutes walking from nishi-Hiroshima station. Terribly unclean. Not recommended.

Day Trip in Kobe & Night in Osaka

First we made our way to our hostel in Osaka to drop our bags off. Once we did that we headed back to Osaka station and found the Baked cheese tart place in the basement of Hanshin building opposite the station. The basement was a "food hall" full of amazing food stalls with desserts, cheese, fish and fresh produce. Everything just looked so delicious. We got a lemon and cheese tart and a plain cheese tart. It's the fluffiest cream cheese I've ever had. It tasted like a cheesecake tart. Exceptional.

We went back to the south gate of the Osaka JR station and saw a water fountain clock that was very cool. The South gate was essentially a mall building and we went to the Pokemon centre and Tokyu Hands shop.

blissful hot spring

After that we headed to Arima Onsen (Kobe) about an hour and a half from Osaka. Arima Onsen was a little Hill station type of town with a beautiful river and cute little shops. We first went to Gin No Yu Onsen which was so relaxing. We had to wash ourselves properly before entering the natural hot spring. Ginsen hot spring is created by channeling water from tansan source and combining it with a radium spring. The waters are clear and this is a traditional hot spring.

We spent about 30 minutes there then headed to Kin No Yu Onsen which is the third oldest hot spring in Japan built in the 1800s. The water here is golden rich in iron and sodium chloride. There were two golden baths - one at 42 degrees Celsius and the other at 44. The 44 felt significantly hotter and we had to ease our way into it and could only spend a maximum of 2 minutes in it at a time.

We felt so refreshed and rejuvenated after the hot spring. We then walked to a nearby okonomiyaki/tepaniyaki restaurant called Ikkyu where we had tepaniyaki chicken gizzard, bacon and egg, Kobe beef and gyoza. The beef was so tender melts in your mouth. It was 3000 yen for about 13 pieces of beef. The beef comes from Waygu cows in Kobe. Kobe beef is one of the three top brands of beef. We also had some Sake along with our dinner which I think was 50% alcohol.

After that we headed back to our hostel.

Accommodation
Sun Village Tamatsukuri is 5 minutes walking from Tamatsukuri station. Very comfortable stay and clean too.

Last Day & Night in Tokyo

The next day we headed back to Tokyo which was a 3 hour journey from Osaka. We had sandwiches from 7/11 for breakfast and lunch since we were running out of yen. When we got to Tokyo we headed to a capsule hotel to check in. The hotel was just amazing. There was a locker room on the first floor, showers on the second floor and capsules on floors 3 to 7.

captivating capsule cocoon

The lockers were operated by QR codes on the key card provided by the reception. The shower had a pillar of water flowing through the middle which was supposed to simulate the feeling of being in a relaxing bath. The capsule was cozy and comfortable like sleeping within a cocoon.

After leaving our bags at the hotel we went to Shibuya to the Don Quijote store to buy Kit Kats. We walked around Shibuya for a bit. It was crazy that it was so busy on Monday afternoon even. Then we headed to Harajuku to buy some accessories we saw before. Kamna got a ring and I got some earrings.

Then we headed to Shinjuku and walked down Omoide Yokocho which was an alleyway with lots of cute restaurants. We ate at a gyoza place and then headed back to the hotel. On the way back we saw lots of bustling restaurants in Kanda near our hotel. There was one which could only occupy 6 people standing around a small table.

When we got to the hotel we had the most amazing shower and called it a night.

Accommodation
9h Ninehours Woman 5 minutes walking from Kanda station. Absolute highlight in terms of stay! Highly recommended.

_____

That's all folks! My hope is that these notes will help those who want to visit better plan their trip. Pro tips: Get the JR Pass and book your flight tickets at least 3 months before your dates.