Live(ish) Millennium Japan 19th Aug review

[villauk]

1 minute ago, vickykay said:

Vallauk,

 

Looking forward to your review. We cruised together several years ago.
 

Vicky

 

I remember that cruise 👍. Hope you are well.

[villauk]

Here are a couple of photos of the reception area @Pushka. You can help yourself to those beverages on the photos. If you choose to take their breakfast, it’s 2200 yen pp and you order from reception for the following day.

 

 

 

[Miaminice]

27 minutes ago, villauk said:

Here are a couple of photos of the reception area @Pushka. You can help yourself to those beverages on the photos. If you choose to take their breakfast, it’s 2200 yen pp and you order from reception for the following day.

 

 

👍 Thank you @villauk We already booked the Citadines for a night after disembarkation of our next Japan cruise 05/2025. So it´s nice to get a preview :-) 
We have planned to visit Kamakura again on the day. We have such fond memories of our day trip to the city.

Edited August 18 by Miaminice

[villauk]

Yokohama first evening

The Citadines provided a recommendation flyer for dining establishments in the area. We decided to try the No.1 on Trip Advisor for Yokohama on the list: pork cutlet - Katsuretsu An Bashamichi Sohonten.

 

We walked to the restaurant in about 15 minutes and found it down a back street/alley. There was already a line outside and it was only 5.15! Many locals were in the queue (we felt right at home as the British love a good queue 😂), so we knew it must be good choice 👍. A kind gentleman in front of us explained that we needed to add our names and number of guests to the written list outside the main door. We did as instructed and waited in the boiling heat outside 🥵. To be fair, the queue went down pretty quickly and we were ushered upstairs, where a table for eight had been made ready.

 

The menu was translated into English and photos of each dish were at the bottom of each page. Now this is good, simple food which is well cooked. The main specialty is fried pork cutlets with rice and cabbage. You choose a set meal which comes with miso soup (cooked with clams) and as much rice and cabbage as you want (the lads did do top-ups), together with your meat/seafood choice. Various sauces are on the table and we were given fried seaweed to start with and a pickled offering too. A green tea was also handed out with the water.

 

Now I have no experience of eating with chopsticks, so after a super quick demonstration from my DS, I had my first attempt 😬. Truth be known, I was also watching a young (4ish) girl on the far table thinking how easy she was making it look 😉. I managed quite well with the meat slices, not so good with the rice - yes, the four-year-old was much better at it than me 😂. The Japanese family on the next table were laughing along with us. The food was succulent and tender; the staff were friendly and efficient; and the best bit was the very reasonable price! We paid just over £10pp and that was with our drinks 😲! A real bargain for a quality evening. We’ll definitely pay another visit here in the future!

[Provence55always]

18 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

I will fly to Osaka airport on 28th August and stay in Kyoto till 31-August, then ride the Shinkansen to Yokohama to board the Mille in the afternoon. I have posted some port DIY info under 31-August roll call. Bon Voyage !

Can you please advise the easiest way to get from Osaka airport to Kyoto.  All your port DIY information has been amazing. Thank you.

[Provence55always]

Villauk, thank you for taking the time to post from your busy schedule. You got off to the great start with your 1st dinner sounds like a lovely evening, I love your description of the chopsticks I better get practicing🤣. How are you all managing the jet lag situation?

 

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, Provence55always said:

Can you please advise the easiest way to get from Osaka airport to Kyoto.  All your port DIY information has been amazing. Thank you.

From Osaka Airport (KIX) to Kyoto Station, easy way either by highway bus or express train, both have pros and cons.
1. “HARUKA” Express train (Hello Kitty Themed), travel time 75 min, runs 2/hr, usual fare is ¥3,640, discounted to ¥2,200 for foreign passport visitors. 
https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/one_way/haruka/  
Train carriages are clean with large luggage racks, though is the quickest way, but the Kyoto station platform sucks! Train arrives at Platform 30, a distance to the exit gates.

2. An airport bus, travel time 90 min, runs 2/hr, fare is ¥2,800. You are allowed TWO pieces of luggage per person. Kyoto Bus station locates at Kyoto Station’s Hachijo-guchi southern exit, taxi stand nearby.
https://www.kate.co.jp/en/timetable/detail/KY

 

I usually ride the Haruka express and purchase ticket through klook website, Just scan a QR-code under a scanner next to the station gates to issue the train ticket and on my way. 

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, Provence55always said:

Villauk, thank you for taking the time to post from your busy schedule. You got off to the great start with your 1st dinner sounds like a lovely evening, I love your description of the chopsticks I better get practicing🤣. How are you all managing the jet lag situation?

 

One of my cruise friends who is a bad use of chopsticks, he will either bringing a travel utensils set with case or chopsticks helper to Japan. Cutlery is a scare item in typical Japanese restaurants.

Edited August 18 by monkey@cruise

[DaKahuna]

51 minutes ago, monkey@cruise said:

One of my cruise friends who is a bad use of chopsticks, he will either bringing a travel utensils set with case or chopsticks helper to Japan. Cutlery is a scare item in typical Japanese restaurants.

 

 Reminds me of a funny story.  We were visiting my wife's family and I met up with members of a Japanese ham radio group and we took an overnight trip.  On the highway we stopped at one of the rest stops and went in for lunch.  We ordered our food.  When the waitress delivered our food, she provided my Japanese friends with chopsticks and gave me a fork.  I calmy picked the fork up, showed it to her and said with a straight face "korehanan desuka?" (which means what is this).  She got a shocked look on her face and my friend started laughing out loud.  I politely asked her for some chopsticks (hashi). 

 

[Provence55always]

2 hours ago, monkey@cruise said:

I usually ride the Haruka express and purchase ticket through klook website, Just scan a QR-code under a scanner next to the station gates to issue the train ticket and on my way. 

Great information that is what we will do and I will continue to practice my chopsticks skills👌

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, Provence55always said:

Great information that is what we will do and I will continue to practice my chopsticks skills👌

Practice using chopsticks to pick up glass marbles. Actually Korean stainless steel chopsticks and spoon set - Sujeo (Korean: 수저) are more slippery than common chopsticks, they are definitely way harder to use.

 

KIX airport train ticket gates: using E-ticket

 

[Pushka]

Thank goodness we use chopsticks frequently at home.  I'd planned to buy some good quality ones in Japan. I think the Japanese use a slightly finer chopstick than the usual thicker point ones in all Chinese restaurants. We practised at the beginning by picking up peanuts. They are slippery little suckers, to quote a famous line. Rice isn't too bad as it clings and clumps together. 
 

Thankyou for all the Citadines/Yokohama tips. I'm taking careful notes. 

Edited August 18 by Pushka

[villauk]

8 hours ago, Provence55always said:

Villauk, thank you for taking the time to post from your busy schedule. You got off to the great start with your 1st dinner sounds like a lovely evening, I love your description of the chopsticks I better get practicing🤣. How are you all managing the jet lag situation?

 

 

@monkey@cruise was correct: only chopsticks in the restaurant, no knife and forks. I cleared my plate and rice dish, so where’s there’s a will, there’s a way 😂.

 

I’m not doing so well with the time difference. The boys have instantly got their new body-clock routine. However, I’ve been wide awake at 3am and exhausted by 7.30pm. I found yesterday (I’ll post our tour of Tokyo city next) quite tiring by the time we returned to the hotel. I’m sure I’ll be fine after the first few days 👍.

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, Pushka said:

Thank goodness we use chopsticks frequently at home.  I'd planned to buy some good quality ones in Japan. I think the Japanese use a slightly finer chopstick than the usual thicker point ones in all Chinese restaurants. We practised at the beginning by picking up peanuts. They are slippery little suckers, to quote a famous line. Rice isn't too bad as it clings and clumps together. 
 

Thankyou for all the Citadines/Yokohama tips. I'm taking careful notes. 

Japanese chopsticks are typically sharp and pointed, in order to dissect fish and seafood. They are traditionally made of wood or bamboo, and are lacquered. For Osaka port, will do some kitchenware shopping in Namba. Next to Don Quijote Namba Sennichimae, is the Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping Street for cookware - selling household goods, kitchenware, pottery and tools. The Tokyo counterpart is Kappabashi Kitchen Tools Street near Asakusa Station.

[villauk]

Tour of Tokyo City

 

I’d read much information on various sites about how easy it is to navigate the train system and DIY. If there had been just the two of us, we’d have probably gone our own way but as I previously stated, there are seven in our group so it’s a totally different scenario. Having seen the crowds yesterday, we made the right choice to book with an independent tour guide: Go With Guide.

 

Toshihiro, our guide, had communicated well prior to the cruise. We devised an itinerary for the day, with a view to make any changes should the heat become too much for us. As you will soon see, I am very fair and we are not sun worshipers - we go on vacation to explore and experience.I would have preferred travelling at another time of the year to Japan, but circumstances didn’t allow this. Our kids have always travelled with us and have used their experiences in their academic lives. We are probably not the norm, but boy have we made some memories 😉.

 

I’m not going to say much about the places we visited unless someone specifically asks because I’d rather you experience the places yourself rather than hearing every little morsel from me.

 

Our Itinerary (8 hours):

09:00am start

Meeting Point

Citadines Harbour Front, Yokohama

 

Asakusa

Kaminarimon gate, Nakamise street, Sensoji temple

 

Ueno Park

Biggest park in central Tokyo

 

Ginza

Most prestigious shopping area

 

Imperial Palace - Double bridge

Old Tokyo castle

 

Meiji Jingu shrine

Biggest Shinto shrine in Tokyo

03:30 PM

Shibuya

Scramble intersection called crazy crossing, Hachi dog statue

 

Ending Point

Citadines Harbour Front, Yokohama

 

We decided to take the breakfast through the hotel this morning as we wanted to be ready in reception at 9am to meet Toshi. It runs from 7.30 until 10am with last orders at 9.30am. You purchase from the front desk (2200 yen pp) and they provide a voucher for the coffee shop attached to their building (there’s a back entrance into the shop from the hotel). The choices are limited for the main meal (around 7 choices ranging from pancakes to curry), but you can have as much of the fruit/salad/drink buffet as you want. The pancakes were very filling 👍.

 

Toshi was ready and waiting in the hotel reception as instructed (he had sent me a message confirming he was here). After introductions, we were on our way. It couldn’t have been easier as the metro entrance was next door to our hotel - who’d have known there were trains running beneath us 😂. It was busy - now remember this is a Sunday - I dread to think what rush hour is like on a Monday morning 😬!

 

Our guide showed us how to purchase tickets (we will need to know this for our independent days). We took a photograph of the train station so at least we could always ask someone how to get back should we get lost etc. It was hot and sticky until we boarded the train, but onboard the AC kicked in. I’ll reiterate that this was a Sunday and everywhere was packed full. We were standing for much of our journeys, grabbing seats when someone disembarked.
 

Could I have navigated the whole day myself… probably, but I don’t think we’d have seen half the places we did and you get the added information from the guide. It was hard enough for me to keep our group in check 😂. I’m used to doing head counts, or should I say that I was until very recently.

 

More to follow…

[villauk]

9 minutes ago, monkey@cruise said:

Japanese chopsticks are typically sharp and pointed, in order to dissect fish and seafood. They are traditionally made of wood or bamboo, and are lacquered. For Osaka port, will do some kitchenware shopping in Namba. Next to Don Quijote Namba Sennichimae, is the Sennichimae Doguyasuji Shopping Street for cookware - selling household goods, kitchenware, pottery and tools. The Tokyo counterpart is Kappabashi Kitchen Tools Street near Asakusa Station.

 

Thank you for this as our youngest DS is now after some chopsticks for his new abode. We will look for this shop from Osaka Port.

[monkey@cruise]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

Thank you for this as our youngest DS is now after some chopsticks for his new abode. We will look for this shop from Osaka Port.

Your DS can make his abode as a Japanese one.

 

 

Most of the products are genuine Japan produce, not made in China.
https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Sennichimae+Doguyasuji+Shopping+Street+for+cookware/@34.6637988,135.5034861,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipMgcF_KcJalshOL79WRcHu5eNz-HyZEhRecLDOT!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMgcF_KcJalshOL79WRcHu5eNz-HyZEhRecLDOT%3Dw152-h86-k-no!7i3840!8i2160!4m7!3m6!1s0x6000e76bcede077d:0xf0cb8551dd9d84cb!8m2!3d34.664001!4d135.5034589!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F121pqbfh?entry=ttu

 

One of the famous Takoyaki stalls - Takoyakiza is there (X)

 

[cinnamon]

In preparation for our Millie cruise next month, Gilli brought some chopsticks for me to try out last night. I cooked a Stir Fry with prawns and noodles. I managed better than I thought I would but will keep practicing. Rice will be my next challenge. I tend to eat too quickly so it will be a good way to slow me down. 
We have booked Go With Guide for our two Tokyo days but may struggle to cope while suffering with jet lag 😟

[chemmo]

Enjoying following along! So nice your boys are still cruising with you!

 

Have a wonderful cruise…

[Rick&Jeannie]

We are sailing with you on this cruise. We're fairly experienced cruisers, but typically on other cruise lines. This is only our second Celebrity sailing.

[monkey@cruise]

14 hours ago, villauk said:

 

Thank you for this as our youngest DS is now after some chopsticks for his new abode. We will look for this shop from Osaka Port.

If any family member loves Japanese sushi or Sasimi, the last port - Shimizu, take the free shuttle to Shimizu Station, walk to Shimizu Fish Market and Kashi-no-Ichi Market, waterfront Japanese eatery serving market-fresh seafood lunch, cheaper than onboard "Sushi on Five" and no 18% gratuity 😜. Try 7-Eleven convenience store mixed-fruit sandwiches.

[villauk]

 

This is a photo of the station connected to The Citadines for reference @Pushka.

[villauk]

The basic internet onboard is useless. It won’t post any photos and takes ages to load most things. Use any free premium minutes first before logging on to a basic package.

[monkey@cruise]

18 minutes ago, villauk said:

The basic internet onboard is useless. It won’t post any photos and takes ages to load most things. Use any free premium minutes first before logging on to a basic package.

Most port cruise terminal have free wifi access. 

[monkey@cruise]

25 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

This is a photo of the station connected to The Citadines for reference @Pushka.

@Pushka

Elevator access to street level only via Exit 1 (Pref office) and Exit 4 (Osanbashi/Citadines Hotel).

 

Street level Exit 4, at Citadines Hotel corner. 

•  

 

Edited August 19 by monkey@cruise