Pacific Islands (10/10) – Japan Favorites

Time flies when you’re having fun. As we were just getting used to the pace and train systems of Osaka, it was time to head home. We flew Asiana Airlines, connecting through Incheon. It was a nice stop as we both were quite fond of Korea.

Guess we stayed in Japan long enough to pick up these silly gestures

The first time I had seen shoulder belt in an airplane seat! 😮

This A350 plane did not have overhead storage above the middle seats. That was odd, but did make the cabin more spacious

It was our second time visiting Japan together. While Japan did not have our favorite food, did not have the most impressive monuments, and was far from the most affordable, overall it might just be the most fun country to spend time in.

Eight years ago, we thought our trip was a splurge. Things changed and we’ve moved up in the world… with 30% more money and 1000000% more points & miles, which enabled us to fly in nicer cabins and stay in fancier hotels. From a logistics standpoint, this was a very different vacation. Relaxation came more naturally when we weren’t caged next to a killer cat or needing Tetris skills to get into the hotel bathroom. However, we learned that things didn’t change all that much, after all. What we had the most fun with this time around were the same small things that put smile on our faces eight years ago. Deep down, we realized that we were still the same young couple on honeymoon.

Here are a few of our favorite things.

ARCADE & PHOTO MACHINES

I don’t understand how Japan, the country that gave us Nintendo, PlayStation, and Pokemon Go could still sustain video game arcades where you have to drop in coins for every round of fun. We’re not talking about Dave & Buster’s, either. These were multi-story enterprises of geeky fun that can be found throughout each city. The two of us were somewhat intimidated by these hardcore gaming places, but at the same time we loved walking through them and admiring the ridiculous levels of fun.

A whole floor of claw cranes

If I didn’t suck at claw cranes I’d totally have to have a capybara

The one thing Hong and I would do at an arcade is photo machines. Similar to the video game cabinets, I was amused by these giant selfie machines at an age when everyone has a dual-camera smart phone in the pocket, equipped with Instagram filters and Line stickers. But who would I be making fun of, when I was in love with these machines myself?

Hong carefully assessing our options. You’d think every machine did the same thing but you’d be wrong

There was even a Korean one! As a couple who loves Korean aesthetics, this one was for us

The Japanese are pretty sexist. All these machines are labeled as designed for high school girls

When in Rome… well I learned to do some cute Japanese high school girl poses, and had the machine apply the beauty filters on me
We got such giant eyes in these photos that our kids didn’t recognize who they were XD

PARFAITS

When it comes to Japanese desserts, people generally think of mochi, matcha Kit Kat, taiyaki, etc. But the truly unique and phenomenal stuff in Japan is parfait – the sweet confection that comes in crazy colors and complex tastes. It’s generally a combo of multiple desserty things that comes in a sundae glass. We love these and insisted on getting one whenever we could find it.

A window display full of parfaits

The simple variants