Cody went with 2 of his good friends, Rick Kemp and Joe Bollard, on a guys trip to Japan. He booked round trip business class tickets from Perth, stopping in Tokyo for 2 days, and to the Japanese island of Sapporo for a few days of skiing. On the return trip, they stopped in Bangkok, Thailand for about 8 hours and went to a Muay Thai fight in the city. The round trip tickets were booked with 80,000 United MileagePlus miles plus $95.50 in taxes for the business class flights.
In Tokyo, we booked 2 nights at the Conrad Tokyo (1 night was 24,000 Hilton Hhonors points + ~$150 and the other night was 80,000 Hilton Hhonors points). The Conrad is a great hotel that's located near Shimbashi station and has great views of Tokyo Bay. It is within walking distance of Ginza and close to the fish markets. Normal rates at the Conrad are quite expensive, as are rates using Hilton points.
Just 3 amigos sharing a luxury suite in Toyko.
Cody and Joe met Rick at the Conrad Tokyo. It was late and after walking around Shimbashi and Ginza for about an hour we were all ready for bed.
We woke up the next morning early and caught the train to go about 90 minutes north of Tokyo to Ibaraki in order to do Yabusame. Yabusame is basically archery while riding a galloping horse.
We started out by doing some archery practice, and then jumped on the horses. None of us being expert horsemen, we were actually pretty worried about getting injured and were even less confident in our ability to hit any of the targets at a full gallop. Once we were on the horses there was no turning back.
We were much more successful than any of us thought we would be. Each of us hit all three targets on the course at least once. Joe hit all three targets 3 times. We were each able to run the course 5 times.
We headed back to Tokyo after our Yabusame adventure, ate a bit of food in the lounge at the Conrad and then headed out to the Yuri Izakaya (Ghost Themed Restaurant).
After eating at the ghost themed restaurant, we headed to Shinjuku station bound for the Robot Restaurant. Eliza and I had gone there a few months ago in October, 2014 and Rick and Joe wanted to see it for themselves.
After the Robot Restaurant, we headed for Kaguya Izakaya near Shimbashi station and our hotel. The owner of the restaurant had a lot of energy despite our arrival at 11pm. We ordered a bunch of food and he "entertained" us for a while.
The next morning we got up, had our breakfast and then headed out to a dojo near the Tabata station to learn some ninja and samurai techniques from a sensei from the Musashi Clan.
We put on our ninja suits (gi, hood, mask, belt) and headed into the dojo. We started off with ninja stars and ninja sticks, then moved on to blowguns, and finished up with samurai swords.
We grabbed some lunch near the dojo then headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our flights to Sapporo to hit the slopes.
This is what Yabusame is supposed to be...looks fun, right?
We started out by doing some archery practice, and then jumped on the horses. None of us being expert horsemen, we were actually pretty worried about getting injured and were even less confident in our ability to hit any of the targets at a full gallop. Once we were on the horses there was no turning back.
We were much more successful than any of us thought we would be. Each of us hit all three targets on the course at least once. Joe hit all three targets 3 times. We were each able to run the course 5 times.
Excited and nervous, getting prepped by our Japanese cowboys.
Archery practice.
Picking out horses.
Cody, in action.
It's an adrenaline rush to ride a galloping horse with no hands and try to concentrate on hitting the target.
We loved our experience with Yabusame in Japan and were feeling pretty proud of ourselves.
Cody's best run.
We headed back to Tokyo after our Yabusame adventure, ate a bit of food in the lounge at the Conrad and then headed out to the Yuri Izakaya (Ghost Themed Restaurant).
After eating at the ghost themed restaurant, we headed to Shinjuku station bound for the Robot Restaurant. Eliza and I had gone there a few months ago in October, 2014 and Rick and Joe wanted to see it for themselves.
After the Robot Restaurant, we headed for Kaguya Izakaya near Shimbashi station and our hotel. The owner of the restaurant had a lot of energy despite our arrival at 11pm. We ordered a bunch of food and he "entertained" us for a while.
The next morning we got up, had our breakfast and then headed out to a dojo near the Tabata station to learn some ninja and samurai techniques from a sensei from the Musashi Clan.
Samurai sword training.
Post weaponry training pic.
Meditating like true ninjas.
Our sensei, explaining (in Japanese) how to use various ninja weapons.
We put on our ninja suits (gi, hood, mask, belt) and headed into the dojo. We started off with ninja stars and ninja sticks, then moved on to blowguns, and finished up with samurai swords.
We grabbed some lunch near the dojo then headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our flights to Sapporo to hit the slopes.
