All posts filed under: Travel

Planning A Trip Overseas

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COPYRIGHT © Mochi Things I am a planner. What I mean is, that in general, I plan everything. I am organized and prepared and love to plan my days, weeks, outfits, trips, and vacations. However, planning a trip to Japan is a little different than planning a trip to Wyoming. The first thing obviously before booking anything was figuring out what were the most important sights I felt I needed to see. I am pretty frugal so I wanted to find a way to see what I wanted without spending an insane amount of money. Originally, I thought we might just spend three days in Japan, but those three days were quickly increased to seven because I wanted to do more than just hang around Tokyo. I decided seeing Mt. Fuji, staying in a ryokan, and learning about the history of Japan were priorities. Personally, I was most interested in the history of Japan so I allotted for more days in Kyoto versus Tokyo. I also got a physical book, which was really nice because …

Touring Japan Days 7-8 Osaka

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OSAKA, JAPAN ACCOMMODATIONS Hotel Garden Palace & Kansai Airport Spa, Izumisano This hotel was super nice and a great place to end our trip to Japan as well as relax before heading to China. I chose a hotel not far from the Kansai Airport. The hotel had a restaurant, breakfast buffet, onsen, spa area, sauna, and free airport shuttle. We arrived to the hotel and went to the onsen. After soaking, I went to the foot soak, and massage chairs. I never found the sauna. Apparently the sauna was through a door that I was afraid to go through. I really need to learn to read Japanese. I went to the onsen right after we arrived and again after dinner. There was no complimentary private hour option at this hotel but thankfully no one else chose to visit the onsen at the same time as me.  The rooms were small and most of the hotel was not super fancy, but I did not mind with an onsen and other amenities like these. RESTAURANTS & FOOD …

Touring Japan Days 4-7 Kyoto

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KYOTO, JAPAN ACCOMMODATIONS Izutsu Hotel 52 Daikoku-cho, Kawaramachi-Sanjo-Sagaru-Nakagyo, Kyoto 〒604-8031 Japan Like Tokyo, Kyoto is a big city so this room was on the smaller side but worked just fine. We actually met two people in the lobby who went to the same university that we did. It is a small world. The location of this hotel was great because it was in the middle of everything. RESTAURANTS & FOOD This was our favorite restaurant, Tengu. It was not far down the street from our hotel and we ate there multiple times. They had a “build-your-own-meal” menu so we got to try lots of different things. Plus, it was very inexpensive, the service was good, and the food was great. We tried plum wine, which is delicious and I finally got to have some yakisoba. It is a franchise that has multiple locations in Japan. It would also be a fun place to go for drinks and appetizers. We also ate at the KFC across the street from our hotel a couple of times. It …