2020 Gratitude: Japanese Food

*HELLO KITTY TAIYAKI! FILLED WITH APPLE CREAM! TELL ME WHERE TO GET THIS IN THE STATES! (image from burpple.com)*

There were only three major things on my to-do list before our big Japan trip earlier this year: (1) Tokyo Marathon, (2) Tokyo DisneySea, (3) food. I wasn’t able to do the first two, so I took every possible opportunity to indulge in the third!

*I burnt my tongue on fresh takoyaki (image from japan-guide.com)*

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Japanese food in Japan lived up to all of my expectations and wildest dreams! I don’t know if it was just better quality ingredients, better technique, more options, my mind tricking me during a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or all of the above – but almost everything we had was great.

*Even conveyor belt sushi was miles ahead of any sushi that I’ve had back home. (image from japantoday.com)*

I’ve already gone on and on and on about all the food that I took pictures of on my past Japan blog posts. However, the beauty of the country and going on a nice, long trip is that there were many delicious foods that we didn’t get to take pictures of! This is my excuse!

*My go-to breakfast! (image from byfood.com)*

Though my boyfriend and I love Filipino food, we did get homesick and started craving pizza after two weeks on vacation. I was worried about something similar happening in Japan, but alas! Nope! I was still looking forward to my morning canned coffee and onigiri breakfast, even on our last day.

I’m already looking forward to the next time we get to go to Japan – hopefully I can knock (1) Tokyo Marathon and (2) Tokyo DisneySea off my list! (And hey, I’ve heard the food at DisneySea is great too!)

JAPAN 2020: Final Thoughts

I feel like I had so much to add to the individual destination-based posts that didn’t fit into the format, so I’m closing out my Japan trip reports with a catch-all post.

Keep reading for specific thoughts about going abroad as Covid was starting to spread worldwide, as well as random thoughts about Japan and some random tips that I learned during our travels!

*The one-page manga that I made during our manga class!* *Inspired by real life!*

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JAPAN 2020: Nikko

Our last destination in Japan was one that had never really been on our radar before planning this trip: Nikko!

We had planned to mostly spend our time in big cities, so we thought it would be appropriate to schedule some time to relax at a hot spring town as well. While we looked into other towns, including Hakone (which, at that point, was still recovering from flooding), we eventually settled on Nikko, as we found a great place to stay and the Tobu Nikko Pass would make travelling there a breeze (not sponsored, just enthusiastic!).

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