Travel Thread

Staying ENSO ANGO FUYA II. So a bit south of Nishiki Mkt, Pontocho etc. but quite walkable.

Oh yeah, very near Pontocho, good location to try. I thought perhaps you meant much further down, near Kyoto Station.
These days I really only get to Kyoto occasionally for its craft beer joints, so unfortunately can’t recommend eateries.

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Staying near Shinjuku station (we were in the Godzilla hotel…)

Whilst it’s not the best food by Japanese standards I loved heading into ■■■■ Alley, which was right by the train line. finding a low seat at the back of one of the tiny restaurants and putting away an icy cold long neck with a few skewers of miscellaneous meats.

You couldn’t take kids there really though, and some of the places fare for locals only.

Also, I think there was a cheap Michelin rated restaurant near the Shinjuku station which I wanted to go to but, kids…

Oh, and if you find your way to the suburb in Tokyo called Akihabra and like ramen.

This place was the best ramen I have ever had, and the best dish I had in Japan. It’s a nothing place, but it was great.

Tanaka Sobaten Akihabaraten

Probably seats about 15 people, and you order/pay at a vending machine outside and then bring your ticket in and sit down wherever you can.

Thanks @tinhillterror

The only silver lining to us sucking is more holidays. We had set aside about 8-10 weekends to travel to Melbourne for the footy but the money will be put to better use now.
Last night we booked 2 weeks in Vietnam during May and over the next couple of weeks look at somewhere else for another week or 2 around August, most likely China at this stage

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Ichiran. Just about the best Ramen in Japan available in English. Also in all the cities you’ve mentioned. Open 24/7.

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I’m a ramen otaku. The best ramen I have ever eaten can be found at ‘Nanashi ramen’. It is Kumamoto-style tonkotsu ramen & unrivalled IMO.

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Flew into Tokyo on the overnight JAL flight, so no real sleep since 4.30 am Thu.
Bit knackered, but enjoying wandering Shinjuku. Coffee at Blue Bottle. Lunch at some random salaryman Ramen place (Ichiran queue was too much) and some great Yakitori for dinner in the backstreets behind Isetan (though Ms gnik struggled with all the cigarette smoke - back to the 80s).

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Thanks for this list.
Staying Shinjuku, so have coffee’d at Bluebottle & Verve.
Headed to Shimokitazawa this arvo & enjoyed Bear Pond Espresso while daughter immersed herself in the vintage clothes shops.
Shimokitazawa has a nice vibe - will consider an Airbnb there another time.
Unfortunately got rained out tonight at Naka-Meguro so got short-changed on the Sakura experience.

@hambo introduced me to a cool bar in Shimokitazawa (called Mother’s Ruin). It is also renowned for its underground music (rock, punk, etc) scene.

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Anyone got suggestions for lightweight, washable, quick-drying shirts and jocks for o/s travels? Probably a couple of long-sleeve and 3 or 4 polos and half-a-doz pairs of Reg’s.

I’m sick of hunting out laundries and/or trying to wash clothes and they don’t dry.

Weather - Southern Italy in October.

Wear lightweight wool and you don’t need to carry half-a-dozen (!) shirts…

10 days until our Japan trip and I am pumped. 6 days in Tokyo and 6 in Osaka with 2 kids under 7 will be interesting in the middle of Golden Week.

Will miss Anzac Day but if we lose and your overseas I don’t think it counts.

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Just sayin…
https://www.bombershop.com.au/isc-authentic?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw8O78bDP4QIVUh0rCh21WQ0SEAAYASAAEgKLW_D_BwE

Avoid buses (if you can). Stick with trains to get around. The traffic jams during Golden Week are insane. Enjoy your trip.

Ah, travel.

Going to Beijing. The “S” in Qantas stands for Sydney, because that is mostly who they care about. So going from WA means getting the midnight flight out, arriving in SYD at 6:30 am.

It is now 4:30 pm. After a series of drip-feed announcements of one hour delays, they now say the plane will not take off till 9pm, arriving 9 hours after scheduled time.

Another 4.5 hours to wait until boarding. Hotel booking $ lost. Full day work ahead after 7 am arrival.

But at least I get to catch up on all the Blitz threads in the meantime.

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Has your company got a policy with Qantas or it just fits your schedule better?
Id be going Cathay personally, often cheaper and the time you waste heading to Sydney you would almost be in HKG. Far better quality also

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Yeah, I know, I usually go CZ to China, but I booked this flight to qualify for P1. It certainly does not fit the schedule better, but I will get a Platinum pass to give to my daughter. At least I have a good view of SYD from the lounge, unlike the poor bastards stewing for 10+ hours at the gate.

Personally I like the Under Armor polos, specifically in their golfing range.