When I decided I wanted to try the Bétta Carry me! baby carrier, I had been looking into baby equipment marketed in Asia. Many of the baby carriers marketed in the US were just were not comfortable for me. Problems included carriers being too long, too heavy, excessive leftover tail length after tightening, straps lying in uncomfortable places, waist-based types set too high if secure and just better positioning my infant to scream in my ear, etc. Being a shorter torso-ed Asian woman, I hoped that a baby carrier from Asia would suit my Asian body better. (A similar concept…
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The Hakone Open-Air Museum, first opened in 1969, allows for a nice walk and has a very comfortable hot foot bath. One of the main highlights is supposed to be the Picasso Pavilion, but my favourite part of this attraction was the foot bath. The museum is open from 9 AM to 5 PM daily. Adult tickets are JP¥2000 (~US$13.51 in 2023) each. As I already mentioned, my favorite part of the visit was sitting with my feet in a hot foot bath while gazing out at the enjoyable scenery of grass and sculptures. You sit on a wooden bench…
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In 2023, one of travel companions in Japan was a transgender woman. She was a little worried about how she might be perceived and treated, so we all did a little research to figure out if there were any precautions to take or if a trans person in the group would limit us in any way. The main potential things that came up online were that public hot springs would be difficult, that rural areas would be less welcoming, and that you might occasionally get a brief stare/glare for going in the bathroom you think you belong in but someone…
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In 2023, our tickets for Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan, were bought as a group of 6. It sent a single .pdf with 6 tickets. Unlike at Disney, we could not scan the tickets to our individual apps. We had a group talk the night before about what to do if the first pair to go managed to keep the rest of us from scanning the remaining 4 tickets in that .pdf. However, we did not have to all enter at the same time! The two who prefer to arrive early did so and were able to scan the .pdf…
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Toei Park, or TOEI Kyoto Studio Park, is a fake old-fashioned town where period dramas are sometimes filmed. They bill themselves as the only Jidaigeki theme park in Kyoto. (And they are authentic enough that jigaideki filming takes place here.) The park clearly provides side work for make-up artists and stunt actors through the live shows and the dress-up-like-an-Edo-Period-person experience. The park reminded me of a Renaissance Faire— but Edo period. I had a good impression of them from the beginning. Tickets without an attraction pass were JP¥2400 (~US$16.21 in 2023) per adult if in a group of 25 or…
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In my most recent trip to Japan in 2023, I purchased baby cooling gel patches from Pigeon, a line of baby products made in Japan. These patches, typically used for fevers, are a somewhat popular item with Japanese mothers that can be purchased at most drugstores and some Don Quijotes. It is easy to pack away; the box is neither very expensive nor large and can be squished without issue. To further reduce weight/volume, one could consider taking out the contents— which are labeled— and trashing the box. The penguin-decorated gel patches are designed for use by babies (For those…
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Sugi Bee Garden honey has been around for decades and presumably popular, given the number of locations they are sold at in their home country, Japan. In Taiwan, this honey seemed to be a popular souvenir gift for older people from their relatives who had stopped in Japan. I usually saw one of these containers in my grandmother’s fridge in Taiwan when I visited. To enjoy adding this to your drink, you should like honey and fruit flavours. Yuzu is the most common type you can find from other brands, so Sugi Bee Garden decided to set their honey apart…
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In Tokyo, Japan, you can buy cheap suitcases, as in roughly US$50 for a 28-inch, in several of the covered shopping streets. If the shopping streets are closed or you do not want to go there, Ginza Karen in particular is well-known for selling suitcases at that same price point. This shop is extremely popular with Chinese tourists and one location, in Nihonbashi, is conveniently open until midnight! Ginza Karen also sells higher-priced suitcases, but most people who go there— myself included— are looking for the ~US$50 suitcases to quickly and cheaply carry back our purchases. I have purchased from…
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In the Tohoku region of Japan, a common souvenir item you will see is their regional specialty, the Kamome no Tamago, which translates to “egg of seagull”. In English, they frequently refer to it as a “Seagull Egg”. Like most regional specialties, you will have to physically be in Tohoku (Iwate Prefecture is the safest bet), look online (https://saitoseika.co.jp/), or pass through international departures at the airport to find it. Like most of the other regional products, it has a short life; this one typically has 30 days from the date of manufacture. Although they claim that the motif is…
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This tastes like a banana Twinkie, agreed all of my taste testers. I have not eaten Twinkies myself too often and cannot remember what it tastes like, but the Tokyo Banana certainly looks like a banana Twinkie. Tokyo Banana is basically banana filling on the inside and a very soft sponge cake on the outside. The banana filling is rather plain, but it works fine together. (According to a vegetarian friend, these were vegetarian at some point but no longer are. They currently have gelatin. She was very sad.) The packaging is rather nice. The inside box is not plain…