I spent two days in Izu Peninsula back in March with two of my close friends. This was along the same time as Hina Matsuri, so we got to enjoy some of the festivities as well. I must admit I didn’t do any planning prior to going. All I did was show up at Shinagawa Station that morning with my overnight bag and they did the rest. =) Perhaps because of that, I was a little surprised that the train we took to…
Shizuoka was originally intended as a day trip with my friends, but because I got so sick I had to cancel last minute. Since I was upset I couldn’t go as planned, I made a spontaneous stopover in Shizuoka on my way back to Tokyo. It was already late by the time I left Nagoya, so I arrived in Shizuoka close to 4pm. Unfortunately all the places I wanted to see like the Miho no Matsubara and Kunozan Toshogu are…
Kyoto always seems like my go-to spot to visit whenever I do day trips from Nagoya. It’s about an hour away by bullet train and there’s enough places I enjoy visiting that I just alternate between locations whenever I go. This time I took Taku-san’s recommendation and visited Kitano-Tenmangu to see the plum blossoms and I also went to Njio Castle for the first time. After arriving at Kyoto Station I took the JR Sagano line over to Enmachi Station,…
I had a couple side trips planned during my week in Nagoya. Before I left for Japan I bought a JR nationwide pass for travel within 7 days. I had to calculate the cost of all the trips I was taking to make sure the pass would be cheaper. Even though I missed one of the trips (more on that later), it was definitely worth buying. I saved not only on the bullet train but also taking the local JR…
The next leg of my trip I spent mostly in Nagoya. I think this is where I crammed in too much of my activities. I was out everyday trying to meet people and by the end of the week I was so exhausted I was in need of another vacation. =P I think what I missed most about living in Nagoya was all the things I used to do daily. Browsing the shops on my days off, going grocery shopping…