Singapore to Tokyo
4 Oct 2019Arriving in Tokyo, straight off to the famous "Piss Alley" in Shinjuku for the best Robatayaki. Complete the travel day with a beer at Hitachino Brewing Lab at…
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Dinner at Onsen Yado Shin
5 Oct 2019Dinner at Ikenotaira Onsen yado Shin 温泉宿 進. The chef does a modern fusion to Japanese food.
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Imori Pond
5 Oct 2019A quick walk around imori pond. On a good day, this would be a good place to see Mt Myoko reflected off the pond
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Check-in Ikenotiara onsen yado shin 池の平温泉 温泉宿 進
5 Oct 2019A nice moden ryokan hotel setting. While they spoke only a little english, we felt very welcome and at home.
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Tokyo to Nagano to Myoko Kogen
5 Oct 2019Journey on from Tokyo to Nagano to Myoko Kogen. Having eki bento is a culture I always look forward to on trains.
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Sasagamine 笹ヶ峰 to Koyaike 高谷池
5-6 Oct 2019From Sasagamine (笹ヶ峰) to Koya Ike (高谷池), we had a slow climb of 6.5 hours instead of 4-5 hours. After 6.5 hours in the rain, no one wanted to leave the warn…
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Koyaike 高谷池
6 Oct 2019The marsh in Koyaike was already in its autumn colors. As I sat there waiting for the sun to show its true colors, it dawn upon me the mysterious beauty of the…
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Koyaike Hut
6-7 Oct 2019Our stay for the night, bunk bed in a "hut" with an awesone view of koyaike. Curry rice and whisky, the best cure for hunger and cold.
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Tengu-no-niwa marsh 天狗ノ庭
7 Oct 201920 mins from Koyaike Hut towards Mt Hiuchi peak was this nice apline marshland area. The weather decided to light up the place with 15 mins of sunshine.
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Mushrooms and Flora
5-10 Oct 2019There are about 300 species of mushroom around Myoko area. The moss scape and mushroom has always intrigue me.
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山小屋 明星荘
7 Oct 2019A nice little soba shop at the Sasagamine exit. All ingredients (山菜) are harvested from the area. Nice hot soba while the very helpful owner called us a taxi…
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Back to Onsen yado Shin 温泉宿 進
7 Oct 2019Back to Onsen yado Shin 温泉宿 進. Onsen and dinner was especially good after spending 2 days out in the rain.
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Bye Bye Onsen Yado Shin
7-8 Oct 2019All good things must come to an end. After another fancy breakfast, we bid farewall and continue on with our journey.
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Hike from Imori Pond to Naena Waterfalls 苗名滝
8 Oct 2019Instead of taking a bus, we decided to hike 7km from imori pond to the waterfall, passing scenic paddy fields and quiet onsen towns
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Lunch at Oyado-furuya 苗名滝苑
8 Oct 2019Lunch at this restaurant at the enterance of Naena Falls. Free braised rainbow trouts caught from the river. Restaurant staff to helped get us a taxi to…
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A rainy day at Naena Waterfall 苗名滝
8 Oct 2019Was pouring very heavily, so we ended up eating ice cream while waiting for the rain to clear.
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Tsubame Highland Lodge 燕温泉 燕ハイランドロッジ
8-9 Oct 2019The foggy ride up to the lodge, it serves as a ski lodge during winter. Such a nice warm cosy ambience expecially in cold foggy weather.
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Tsubame Onsen Kogane-no-yu 燕温泉 黄金の湯
8 Oct 2019We got a ride from the lodge to the Tsubame onsen town. From there it is an uphill 500m to this natural free outdoor hotspring. Relax and soak in blue silky…
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Dinner at Tsubame Highland Lodge
8 Oct 2019Western styled dinner served at the Highland Lodge.
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Tsubame to Nagano
9 Oct 2019A leisurely breakfast at the lodge before setting off to Myoko Kogen Station for Nagano. The owner drove us to the train station with a mini tour of a viewpoint…
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Tokyu REI Nagano Hotel
9 Oct 2019We loved this hotel, 1 min across the road from the bus and trains, 1 min to the miso ramen stall and 5 mins walk to all the major eating spots.
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Misoya Ramen
9 Oct 2019Our first meal in Nagano. Nagano is famous for miso, this tiny ramen stall is famous for miso ramen, we cannot go too wrong. They wok-fried the bean spourts…
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Nagano and Around
9 Oct 2019Spent the afternoon roaming the temple and shops around the Zenkoji area.
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Rokukata Izakaya 六方はちべい
9 Oct 2019Selecting an izakaya was diffiult as there were so many and their menu as quite simliar.
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James Nagano Beer Market
9 Oct 2019Great place to end off the day with Japanese Craft Beer. They charge a cover of 300yen. Otoshi was macadamia nuts.
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Togakushi Shrine Okusha 戸隠神社 奥社
10 Oct 2019The famous cypress lined trail to the upper shrine, the scared power spot.
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Togakushi Chusha 戸隠中社
10 Oct 2019The 800 year old cedar tree stands at the entrance of the middle shrine.
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Togakushi Juwari Soba 十割そば
10 Oct 2019The Juwari Soba (十割そば) here is rated as top 3 soba across japan. We hiked to a recommned shop in front of kagami pond bus stop but it was closed! Had to hike…
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Togakushi Kagami ike
10 Oct 2019We were blessed with perfect weather to see the mirror reflection of the Togashi mountain range.
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Daidara Bocchi だいだらぼっち
9-10 Oct 2019I liked the quality of food at this izakaya. A modern version of the typical izakaya. Very small shop so we made a reservation 1 day prior.
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Day Trip to Obuse 小布施
11 Oct 2019Hike to Gasho-in to view the famous phoenix painting of Hokusai, passing by fruit farms along the way and back to the Hokusai Museum.
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Eating in Obuse
11 Oct 2019Chestnut Melon Bun, Chestnut Ice Cream and a great lunch at Kakuri, rice cooked char with seabream
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Masuichi-Ichimura Sake Brewery 桝一市村酒造場
11 Oct 2019A very posh bar area for paid tasting. For a reasonable price, we tasted the Hakkin, Heikken, Kozhan which were all impressive. Our group ended up buying 9…
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Yamazato (山里) Izakaya
11 Oct 2019We could not decide what to eat, so just took a chance with this izakaya which turned out quite good, besides the standard nagano fried chicked, we had the…
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Typhoon 19 in Tokyo
10-12 Oct 2019We caught the Shinkansen from Nagano to Tokyo before train services got suspended due to Typhoon 19. Stocked up food and drink before we check-in to the hotel…
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Ebisu and Around
13-14 Oct 2019A bright and sunny the morning after the typhoon in tokyo city. Guessing that most shops would still be closed, we were on our way to Shinjuku when we stumpled…
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Tsuru Kame 食堂つるかめ 恵比寿店
13 Oct 2019While the beer street festival was quite a non-event, walked in to this unassuming unagi restaurant in a semi-residential like environment and had the best…
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Spring Valley Brewing
13 Oct 2019From Ebisu to Shinjuku, we detoured to this brewery. Having just finish lunch less than an hour ago, we struggled to finish the taster flight of 14 x 100ml to…
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Tokyo Pokemon Center DX
14 Oct 2019After an Instant noodles breakfast (to clear the additional stock from the typhoon), we took a walk to takashimaya nihonbashi, discovered that the pokemon…
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Narita Airport
14-15 Oct 2019We went to the airport 4 hours early in case there was chaos there as this is the first day that the airport re-open after the typhoon. What a pleasant surprise…
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