This is my short note from the travel.
2017.11.10
My second day in Japan actually started with strolling around Yanaka in early morning before meeting up with my family in Nishi-Nippori (西日暮里). After getting together, we headed to Enoshima (江ノ島) and Koutoku-in (高徳院) via Enoshima-Hase.
2017.11.11
After visiting Enoshima, we spent most of our time in Harajuku before wrapping the day with a very good Tonkatsu in Shinjuku.
2017.11.12
We started the third day of the family trip at Tsukiji Market. Originally, we are planning to see the fish auction but due to fatigue and logistic issues, we just decided to show up in late morning. Luckily we did not try to rush to the place this morning because the market closes every Sunday.
Then, we moved on to Ginza and then broke up into two parties: the shopping party and the Miraikan party. My brothers and I surprisingly convinced my dad to pose for some interesting shots.
In the evening, we all got back together again and headed to Tokyo station. It is my first time to actually stop at the station. We decided to stop here to meet with our cousin and have dinner together before she hopped on the Shinkansen.
At the end of the day, only my brother and I went to Yodobashi Akihabara to find an accessory for X100S.
2017.11.13
With the ticket we purchased two day earlier, we head to the Mount Fuji (富士山) area by bus.
For breakfast, we bought mostly from the bakery nearby but I was the only one who went for Yakisoba, boiled egg and melon pan from 7-11 at the platform which is on the fourth floor. (I got scolded by an old staff on blocking her way but no one else got the same. 僕は高校生じゃないよ。)
We went to Fuji Q for a short period of time, had fun with staffs from Fuji Q (in a bad way) and Orange Cabin (in a good way).
It was the first day that I had chance to try flat udon which I forgot the name of the dish.
While I tried to speak in Japanese just for the sake of smooth trip, a staff at one of the restaurant was very happy to deal with us.
2017.11.14
So, we only managed to stay just for 36-48 hours in Kawaguchiko.
My brother and I went to Lake Kawaguchiko twice in the morning to capture the photos and boring timelapse while the other one took a few shots from the cabin.
Due to more time we have with the car, we decided to spend to drive around for some local food like Hoto and went to a couple places that we originally thought we could not have had chance to visit, like Chureito Pagoda and Kawaguchi Asama Shrine (https://en.kawaguchiko.net/shrine-en/kawaguchi-asama-shrine/).
With the power of Ame-otoko (me), the weather was pretty terrible all day long but it gave us the opportunity to see Mt Fuji in more dramatic way.
We took the express train back later that day to Shinjuku where we ended all the excitements.
2017.11.15
After a long trip days earlier, we toned down the itinerary by visiting Sensou-ji in Asakusa in the morning before moving on to Skytree, which turns out to be pretty interesting.
2017.11.16
As we literally ran out of idea on where to go, so we decided to visit the Imperial Palace while my brother and sister were finishing their own shopping.
Then, my parents, my eldest brother and I went to the place called the Kitchen Street (5-15 minutes away on foot from Sensou-ji). At some point, I regrouped with my second brother to head to Nihon Ki-in (Japan Go Association) to have two games each while my sister continued her course of shopping.
During this divide-and-conquer session, my parents and my eldest got the chance to try the real Ootoya (大戸屋), a chained Japanese restaurant, and my sister finished her shopping. In meanwhile, my brother (with 2 post-counting victories) and I (with 1 post-counting victory and 1 loss by resign) were surprisingly evaluated as skilled as 1 Dan and 4 Kyuu respectively.
Later on, we all have dinner with my brothers' friend.
2017.11.17
As this was the day my family flied back to Bangkok, I moved to my last Ryokan before coming back to the guest house to send off my family and clean up the guest house. Then, I strolled around Ueno area until the dinner with my friends from PyCon Japan.
2017.11.18
In the morning, after taking a few photos and videos at the Ryokan, I went out to have soba and buy some books before heading out to Haneda Airport.
As I arrived the airport a bit too early, I decided to head out to Haneda City (Ota) to explore the city. I started from Tenkubashi (天空橋駅) where it has literally nothing to see.
The goal is to get the scenary of the green space along the river. So, I chose to walk to the green space near Tamagawa Daishi Bridge via the path along the water. The route was very old but peaceful. The green space literally gave me the image that I want.
However, my choice equipments I could use was limited by as random rain, bad lighting condition and my mini tripod failure (to handle 2kg), and my time was cut short as I got hungry after having walked for more than two hours straight without a break. I could not get the images I planned to take and ended up with Miso Ramen near Otori Station (大鳥居駅) before hopping on the flight back to Toronto.
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